Every food is its own industry, and mushrooms are no exception.  Want to sell more mushrooms?  Let everyone know about their cognitive and medicinal benefits. Time to muck out the mushroom market: Leading mushroom supplement experts will take the stage at the Active Nutrition Summit (ANS) to spotlight the dangers of poor-quality extracts and reveal novel methods for ensuring a transparent and fruitful future for the industry.... 

Jerry Mande of Nourish Science tipped me off on this one.  Texas wrote its own dietary guidelines.  He judges them as "pretty good and from Texas, y'all." Indeed they are. The 2025-2030 dietary guidelines are a mess and pretty much unusable.  Perhaps coincidentally, the Texas legislature told nutritionists to write guidelines for Texans. The result: They set the guidelines on three pillars:

I keep repeating: the food industry is in trouble. People are eating le. Eating less is bad for business. Why are food sales down? RFK Jr says the food industry is poisoning America Concerns about ultra-processed foods are reducing sales of the most profitable products. GLP-1 drugs encourage users to eat less. Inflation is raising the cost of food.

Remember former FDA commissioner David Kessler’s petition to the FDA to revoke GRAS status for refined carbohydrates as a way to immediately regulate ultra-processed foods? I wrote about this here on August 14, 2025. David Kessler, a physician, lawyer, and former FDA Commissioner, has done a great service for the Make America Healthy Again movement.  He has written a letter to RFK Jr…

Charles Platkin of the Center for Food as Medicine & Longevity sent me this gem. His summary: Eating almonds improved how people rated their sleep, but most objective sleep measures did not change...Almonds are nutritious, but this is not proof they treat insomnia. The study: Desai SR, Pinto L, Halbe A, Vaidya RA, Udipi SA and Kalita S (2026) Effects of almond consumption on sleep quality in adults: a randomized controlled trial.

When my children, Rebecca and Charles Nestle, visited last week, we took a walk on the High Line in Manhattan, spotted this water fountain at 23rd Street, and I took this picture. Here's what the sign says: Ximena Garrido-Lecca The Golden Crop, July 2026 – June 2027 The High Line press release explains: Ximena Garrido-Lecca uses sculpture and installation to highlight the complex relationship between Indigenous knowledge, colonial history, and modern technological and industrial systems.

I'm doing a book event at Clio's, a conversation with Cari Borja, starting at 7:00 p.m.   Information is here.  For tickets click here.  Clio's is at 353 Grand Avenue in Oakland.

Everyone should read Eric Schlosser's op-ed, Why Did Trump Order Up 660 Million Pounds of Mystery Meat?  We have country-of-origin labeling for fresh produce.  But because of Big Meat lobbying, Beef and pork are notable exceptions to these laws. And that may help to explain why President Trump signed a proclamation last month that will allow the duty-free importation of about 660 million pounds of inexpensive beef.

A bunch of items got me thinking about the gap between what MAHA promised and what it is actually doing: mostly talk, but not much action. I.  This post from Senator Elizabeth Warren on X. II.  The New York Times: How Kennedy did on children's health reforms Everything seems to be a mixed bag: Dietary guidelines advising eat real food and restrict highly processed foods, but also advising more meat, fat, and saturated fat.

It's Climate Week, so this seems ironically appropriate.  Never mind global warming, ruminant greenhouse gas emissions, or food safety. You have to love the double-speak rhetoric: This action aligns research and promotion activities with the Department’s priorities and the original mission of the checkoffs. USDA remains committed to ensuring that every dollar collected from American producers serves American agriculture for the better.

I subscribe to Jerry Hagstrom's "The Hagstrom Report" for his tracking of food events in Washington DC I would not know about otherwise.  He occasionally hosts sponsored posts and I was especially interested to read this one on September 15: "Candy: An American Manufacturing Success Story 250 Years in the Making" by John Downs, the president and CEO of the…

Wish Fast Food Nation a happy 25th anniversary. It's hard for me to believe it's been 25 years since this book first appeared, but 25th anniversary editions of my Food Politics and Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma are also in the works. The book is about the beef industry and what it does to the animals, packing house workers, the environment, and human health.

More and more Americans are taking GLP-1 drugs; the current estimate is 11%. This causes a big problem for the food industry.  Eating less is bad for business. Here are some of the ways the food industry is responding. Analyzing the GLP-1 consumer Overturning 7 industry assumptions about the GLP-1 consumer: The newest evidence challenges some of the food industry’s most comfortable conclusions about GLP-1 consumers...

I was struck by this announcement:  Campbell's is not the only one.  Also see: Food Dive: The biggest food and beverage layoffs in 2025  ProFoodWorld: Food Industry Layoffs Mount as Nestlé, Del Monte Cut Jobs Democracy Now: Over 3,000 Workers Laid Off as Tyson Foods Closes Meatpacking Plants What's going on?  I see four reasons for declining food sales.

If you want to know why school food is so controversial, and improving its nutrition quality is so difficult, follow the money. A reader, Jennifer Windh, says she is a mom of a second grader in Texas (Tomball School District) and a member of "Make Texans Healthy Again."  She tells me she asked ChatGPT to summarize information about food lobbying on the new school food rules:

I learned about this one from a press release: Natural trans fats in dairy do not raise heart disease risk. Trans fats found naturally in dairy foods such as milk, butter and cheese do not increase the risk of heart disease or type 2 diabetes, a new study has found. Who, I wondered, could possibly have paid for this study?

The industry newsletter, FoodNavigator, reports the top  international Big Food companies. The full list is here. Nestlé (no relation) is the clear winner. Among the top 10, only Danone and Tyson report lower sales in 2026 than in 2025. I can only speculate about the reasons, but am guessing problems in the beef supply and reduced consumer demand as factors for Tyson, and maybe the infant formula recalls affected Danone?

Today is my 90th birthday, and this is my 5765th post on this site since starting it in 2007. To quote the late Gloria Steinem, this is what 90 looks like. Photo taken at Autumn Leaves Books, Ithaca, July 2026 As should be obvious, I have had a hugely fortunate life. I was born into a poor family but came of age during the now-understood-to-be-unique period between the end of World War II and the election of Ronald Reagan.  

Yuka, the wildly popular (88 million users) supermarket app for analyzing food labels for nutritional value and health impact, has produced a terrific report: Ultra-Processed Foods: Decoding a Food Transformation with Major Health Consequences. The report Reviews the history of food processing Defines ultra-processed foods Reviews their health risks Explain how they affect health Describes the food system that produces them…

My co-author, Lisa Sutherland, is a former vice president of Kellogg.  We had a great time writing this. Information about the book is here. For a 30% discount at that site, use code UCPSAVE30. Here's the official launch invitation Please come to the celebration and launch for my new book, Tuesday, September 8 | 6:00–8:00 p.m. | NYU Bobst Library.  Registration and further information are here.

On this Labor Day, let's honor the people who do the hard agricultural work that brings food to our tables. Image from Vecteezy.

This will be a conversation with Lane Selman at the bookstore.  Details to follow.

Gloria Steinem was very much a heroine of my generation.  I did not know her personally, although I met her once.  It was a memorable occasion. Gloria Steinem, Padma Lakshmi, Ruth Reichl, and me in 2021. This was a meeting at Gloria's house to discuss menopause, of all things.  I could not figure out why I was invited---I'm a little late for that discussion. 

I've been following the Cyclospora outbreak with riveted interest because it so exemplifies what's wrong with our food system: not enough safety effort from producers and not enough government oversight. So here is Washington Post writer, Tamar Haspel, asking Why we should stop eating lettuce, cyclospora or not.   "Lettuce," she says, "makes us sick, wastes resources and has minimal nutritional value.

Alas, we must now mourn the death of one of the great heroes of food politics, the honorable and immensely inspiring Wendell Berry. His very existence was enough for hope that a decent food system might some day be possible in the United States. When I think of his writings---his many books, essays, and poems---the words "decency" and "values" leap to mind.

MAHA has announced a big win. A study of purchase data from states with SNAP food restriction waivers, "Short-Run Impacts of SNAP Restriction Waivers on Beverage Purchases," finds a 13% decrease in soda purchases within the first two months, with even larger decreases in the poorest households (18.5%).  Yes, 13%, not 12% as the MAHA win poster says.

When I saw the title of this study, I thought I'll bet the Hass Avocado people paid for this one. Bingo. This is a classic example of an industry-funded study producing the desired result. The study: LeBeau K, Segovia-Siapco G, Heskey C ...  The Effect of Including 1 Avocado Daily in a Habitual Diet on the Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load in Free-Living Adults with Overweight/Obesity…

My talk, Nutrition Policy in the Trump Era: Past, Present, & Future, is at a session from 2:30-4:00.

This is a conversation with Evan Kleiman at 4:00 on the UCSB campus, as part of the Bodies Politic series.  Details to come.

I'm speaking at the David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, at 4:00.  Details to come.

Summer J, Classens M, eds.  Teaching Food Studies.  Elgar Guides to Teaching.  Edward Elgar, 2026. 310 pages. I wrote the Foreword to this book (see below), but when it arrived I was stunned and utterly honored to see its dedication: "To Marion Nestle and Mustafa Koç, principled and generous food justice leaders.  And to our families who inspire and nourish us."

I collect items about cannabis edibles and just realized nothing new has come in for a for a long time.  Not much is happening with these products since President Trump reclassified marijuana as a Class III (less dangerous) drug.  The FDA regulates cannabis edibles but has not said anything new about them for the last two years (since July 2024).

Farm Action has produced a riveting new report: Taylor Farms: How One Company's Reach Became a National Risk. Many, but by no means all, Cyclospora cases have been traced back to a Taylor farm in Mexico. The CDC's page on this. The FDA's page on this. Bill Marler's count of state case reports: 31,521 From the Farm Action report:

As anyone familiar with my work will know, I have made a career out of commenting on government dietary advice.  The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are particularly entertaining as quintessential examples of food politics in action, the latest ones in particular. To summarize: They offered two excellent messages--Eat Real Food, and limit ultra-processed foods--but undermined them with unsubstantiated advice (double the protein), inconsistencies (eat more sources of saturated fat, but limit it to 10% of calories), omissions (salt, mentioned but no guideline), and errors (no, beef tallow is not a source of essential fatty acids).

This, from the New York Times on August 21. Here's the headline: A sales growth of ONLY 2.6% dropped Walmart's stock by 9%. OK, Walmart isn't all about food, but it has larger food sales than any other place by a wide margin. As I keep saying, I'm not against profit. But the idea that 2.6% growth is insufficient to please stockholders explains everything about what's wrong with our food system.

Chin Jou.  Captive Consumers: Hunger, Violence, and Inequality in American Prison Food.  University of North Carolina Press, 2026.  344 pages. I have been a fan of Chin Jou's work for a long time and did a blurb for her latest book: Captive Consumers is a tough, uncompromising, and utterly compelling analysis of the ways America’s mass incarceration system uses food as punishment, and must become more humane.

I. DOJ, FDA take raw pet food company to court.  This one comes from Phyllis Entis of eFoodAlert.  She writes: "I thought this might interest you. Last Friday, the DOJ filed a Complaint against Arrow Reliance Inc. (Darwin’s Natural Pet Products) and its owner, Gary Tashjian." The Complaint seeks to block Darwin's from selling adulterated drugs; it argues that Darwin's raw pet foods are adulterated because they:

I was interested to see this report.  Here's why this matters: As can be seen, concentration across all six sectors remains high. Five of them – seeds, pesticides, machinery, animal pharma and pig genetics – meet the definition of an oligopoly, in which four companies control more than 40% of a market. So too does the global market for phosphate fertilisers.

The Government Accountability Office reports: Federal Social Safety Net Programs: Millions of Workers, Including Many Employed by Large Employers, Continue to Rely on Medicaid and SNAP. To learn more about the working adults who used these programs in 2024, we analyzed employment data from 11 states and Census data. We found: About two-thirds worked full time Most worked for private sector employers…

Thanks to Phyllis Entis of eFoodAlert.com for this one. The Study: Minimally processed, human-grade diet alters canine epigenetic ageing: Results from a pilot study. Aimee Chen, Wei Guo, Janina A. Krumbeck, Dan Su, Vincent Michels, Xiaojing Yang.  First published: 05 August 2026.  Results: Dogs fed with MPHGF diet  exhibited a significant reduction in delta age, decreasing from 2.75 to 1.80 years over 6 months (p = 0.02), indicating a trend of slowed epigenetic ageing.

A conversation with Charles Platkin at 12:30 p.m. on  The Wisdom of 90 Years: Dr. Marion Nestle on Food and Living Your Best Life.  Registration is here.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has released its annual report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI). From the press release The good news Global hunger declined for a third consecutive year in 2025, demonstrating that progress is possible. The not-so-good news However, the improvements remain fragile, unevenly distributed and insufficient to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

As is my wont, I collect items about pet food. Safety The CDC's web page on pet food safety makes three main points: Pet food and treats can sometimes be contaminated with germs that make people and pets sick. CDC does not recommend feeding raw pet food or treats to dogs and cats. Talk to a veterinarian for advice on how to maintain a safe and healthy diet for your pet.

Information and registration is here.

I'll say this again.  No, Cyclospora is not a food industry conspiracy to keep people from eating real foods.  It is a serious illness that has put plenty of people in hospitals and killed at least two. At Monday's MAHA press conference (see yesterday's post), the FDA announced: Finally, though not part of today's announcement, with respect to microbiological food safety, FDA will be publishing tomorrow a final guidance document titled "Guide to Minimize Biological Hazards in ready-to-eat fresh-cut produce." This final guidance is intended to help manufacturers and processors of fresh-cut produce comply with applicable FDA requirements and 21 CFR Part 117 titles current good manufacturing practices, hazard analysis, and risk-based prevention controls for human food.

RFK Jr held a press conference yesterday to celebrate "the biggest news in food reform in modern history"---requiring food manufacturers to notify the FDA when they are introducing a new food additive they want considered Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). This wasn't already required?  No, it was not.  This gap is the long-troubling "GRAS loophole." Here's what the press release says (

I keep saying that I can often tell who funded a study from its title, and if I know the funder I can often predict the result.  But sometimes I'm wrong.  This is one of those times. The study:  Effects of Short-Term Broccoli Powder Supplementation on Acute Oxidative Stress and Recovery Following a Metabolically Demanding Exercise Session. Cesanelli L, Venckunas T, Minderis P, Maconyte V, Stasiulis A, Snieckus A, Mickevicius M, Mickeviciene D, Kamandulis S. 

I am totally for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2015, they set targets for the betterment of global populations, to be achieved by 2030. The targets were ambitious from the get go, but it's a global tragedy that so little has been achieved.  Here's the summary. This report is especially thoughtful, not surprising given its authors.  They would like the report cited as:

Most people who eat enough calories get more than enough of the protein they need, so the current protein craze---putting pea, whey, and tofu into everything---doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It does sell products though. It's hard to choose from among the most entertaining protein-supplemented products. Coffee? Protein water? Pop-Tarts? But this remains my current favorite.