USDA Unveils $1 Billion Objective To Curb Egg Prices
Image Source: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
As bird flu rages through chicken farms, prices have skyrocketed. Last month, the cost of eggs shot up 15%. Shoppers, worried for the future, have been wiping out grocery store shelves in efforts to stockpile. The USDA is responding with a $1 billion plan to mitigate the issue. Objectives include funds to boost safety measures at egg farms across the country and to explore vaccination options for affect chickens.
Japan's Worst Rice Shortage In Years Exacerbated By Sushi-Hungry Tourists
Image Source: Food Institute
Japan's rice stocks are at a 25-year low, according to the country's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MFAA). Demand has outpaced production, and MFAA points the finger at Japanese consumers stockpiling rice ahead of typhoon season (and a major earthquake) as well as a summer influx of tourists hungry for sushi and other rice-based dishes. By August, prices had risen to an 11-year high of $111.24 per 60 kilograms, and supermarkets limited rice purchases to one bag per person. Japan's 2024 rice harvest should ease the squeeze but some analysts predict a supply-demand imbalance continuing through 2025. Rice fans take note: Prices may not come back down.
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Boar's Head Adds 7 Million More Pounds To Deli Meat Recall
Image Source: Mike Kline/Getty Images
At least two people died and nearly three dozen others in 13 states have been sickened in a listeria outbreak linked to Boar's Head sliced deli meats, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new recall follows an earlier recall of more than 200,000 pounds and now totals 7 million pounds, including 71 products such as ham, bologna, beef salami, and liverwurst made under the Boar's Head and Old Country brands. The products were manufactured between May 10 and July 29 at the firm's Jarratt, Virginia, plant and distributed to stores nationwide, as well as to the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Panama, Agriculture Department officials said. Details at the Boar's Head website here.
World Central Kitchen Resumes Gaza Operations After 7 Workers Killed
Image Source: Mohammed Abed/AFP - Getty Images
Early last month in Gaza, an Israeli airstrike killed 7 workers from World Central Kitchen (WCK), the humanitarian food aid organization founded by celebrity chef José Andrés. Before the strike, which halted WCK's operations, the organization had distributed more than 43 million meals in Gaza, accounting for 62% of all international non-governmental aid in the region. Analysts say the Gaza hunger crisis remains dire, so WCK has swung back into action, resuming its Gaza operations to deliver almost 8 million more meals on 276 trucks to nearly 70 community kitchens. Someone has to keep feeding the needy.
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100,000 Live Salmon Spill Off Truck Into Wrong Oregon River
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Kroger And Albertsons Continue Merger Bid, Sell Off Stores To Satisfy Regulators
Pandemic Price Gouging Ran Rampant Among Food Retailers, FTC Report Finds
Image Source: Hiroko Masuike
Are skyrocketing food prices simply a result of retailers' rising costs? A new Federal Trade Commission report says no. “Some firms seem to have used rising costs as an opportunity to further hike prices to increase their profits," the report reads, "and profits remain elevated even as supply chain pressures have eased.” Profit margins for food retailers peaked in 2015 at 5.6%; that is, until the pandemic, when profit margins rose above 6% in 2021, then above 7% in 2023. The investigation also found that retailers like Walmart and Kroger pressured suppliers to favor them over smaller rivals, bolstering the FTC's challenge to Kroger's proposed acquisition of Albertsons. Time to rein in the price gouging.
