Sarah covers how industries like food and tobacco affect Americans’ bodies and minds. Her interests include ultra-processed foods, smoke-free tobacco, and wellness trends like perimenopause products and peptides. Confidential tips can be sent on Signal at sarahlizchar.47.
The Association of American Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO) FIFRA 25(b) Workgroup has released updated guidance to aid registrants in developing product efficacy data to support claims on products that qualify for the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. The previous update was released in January 2019.
The American Journal of Public Health has a new issue focusing on ultra-processed foods (UPF) and the parallels between them and cigarettes. There is a growing body of evidence linking UPFs to a variety of health risks, including cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers and cognitive health decline. Philip Morris acquired Kraft in 1988, and launched Lunchables nationally shortly afterwards.
The American Journal of Public Health has just published a series of papers on ultraprocessed foods. The papers are released today as part of the launch of new initiative, Fed UP! aimed at establishing policies to help reduce consumption of ultra processed foods and prevent their harm to health. The Trump administration’s Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture released the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
By 2050, the world is predicted to generate 9.34 million metric tons of plastic waste every year. In 2018, China stopped importing plastic waste. Indonesia restricted the import of nonhazardous waste to 15 specific ports and in 2025 it banned plastic waste imports. Negotiations for an international, binding treaty on plastic waste started in 2022.
Princeton, Iowa's new water main broke in 2022. The town invested nearly $800,000 to drill a new well and build an accompanying water tower. The new well was contaminated with high levels of nitrate. The city has taken an aggressive approach to limiting nitrogen fertilizer applied near the wellhead but seen scant results.
A pyrotechnic used at a gender reveal party in a Yucaipa park set off the El Dorado fire, which burned nearly 23,000 acres, damaged or destroyed nine structures and killed a firefighter. The U.S. sued the three companies in September 2023 seeking damages. Wholesale Fireworks Corp. and its subsidiary, American Fireworks Wholesalers LLC, agreed to pay $4 million in damages. Pink or Blue Gender Team Inc., a marketer of the device, will pay $50,000.
Ben Cohen, the 75-year-old co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, came to the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility conference in Morningside Heights to ask for help in his fight against the company's parent company, Unilever. The company wants to pull its distribution from Israeli-occupied settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
It's Wednesday, which means it's time to complain in The Gripe Report. This week, we're talking about food, which is one of the topics of Gripe Reports past. This time, they complain about baked beans, craft beer, brunch and pop-tarts.
For more than 30 years, manufacturers of ski and snowboard waxes used per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to make skis and snowboards glide faster over snow. In the 2010s, researchers found a buildup of PFAS in the environment near ski venues and in the bodies of people who wax skis professionally. The International Ski and Snowboard Federation and International Biathlon Union banned fluorinated waxes in all sanctioned competitions beginning in the 2023-24 season.