Information about the Aspen Ideas Festival is here. I am scheduled for a session, The American Wellness Paradox, currently scheduled from 11:00-11:50 a.m., at the East Lawn Tent. This will be a discussion with senior HHS policy advisor, Calley Means. Here’s the blurb on it: “Americans are spending more than ever on healthcare, supplements, wellness trends, and “clean eating,” yet rates of chronic disease and metabolic illness continue to climb. As skepticism fuels the rise of movements like MAHA, debates over what Americans should eat have become deeply cultural, political, and economic. Two influential voices with sharply different perspectives on nutrition and food science explore how food systems, farming practices, consumer culture, and the wellness industry collided to create one of the defining public health debates of our time.”
Food Fraud: A small but ongoing problem
I wanted to know more when I read this article summary:
Food fraud: Spotlight on the most heavily targeted food products: New research shows the same foods – from beverages to dairy – are impacted by food fraud year after year… Read more
And what are they?
What kind of fraud are they talking about?
Leaning on FoodChain ID data, the report shows that botanical and animal origin fraud were the most prevalent in 2024 and over the last 10 years, with dilution also a major issue. In 2024, the use of non-standard substances was classed in third. “Botanical and animal origin fraud were the most reported type of food fraud in 2024, followed by use of non-food substance and dilution…of these frauds, using non-food substances in food has the potential to do the most harm as seen in the Sudan dyes in chilli powder and melamine in infant formula incidents.”
Shades of the early days of food adulteration. It’s still happening, apparently.
