Happy Friday and welcome to Food Fix! Shout out to John Foraker, founder and CEO of Once Upon a Farm (and former CEO of Annie’s, now part of General Mills), for praising Food Fix on LinkedIn this week, writing: “The subscription is essential in my view for senior leaders across food.”
Ozempic, Ozempic everywhere: In case you missed it on Tuesday, we dove into how the GLP-1 landscape is changing right now. Upgrade your subscription to make sure you never miss an edition of Food Fix.
Off next week: The newsletter is taking a break next week – judging by the number of out of office replies I’m getting, many of you are too! I hope everyone gets some rest before the fall sprint.
As always, I welcome your feedback. Story ideas? Fun food tips from the campaign trail? Hit me up: helena@foodfix.co. Or you can always just reply to this email.
Alright, let’s get to it –
Helena
***
What’s up with the bird flu outbreak?
Bird flu has somewhat dropped out of the news in recent weeks. Maybe it’s because all the oxygen has been consumed by a dramatic shakeup of the presidential election, the Olympics, the Democratic National Convention, or brewing concerns about mpox – truly, who can remember a newsier August?
Another reason this has likely fallen down the priority list is that federal officials were really clear all spring – when bird flu first emerged in dairy cows – that consumers were not going to get sick from eating commercial dairy products (the virus is neutralized by pasteurization). And let’s be honest, this is what most people really care about: How does this directly affect me?
Good news, according to health officials, the risk to the public here remains low.
But wait, how did cows get bird flu? If you’ve been blissfully unaware about all of this, here’s a quick refresher: In late March, health officials identified the first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza – otherwise known as HPAI or just “bird flu” for short – in dairy cows in Texas. A few days later, CDC announced the first reported case of this virus jumping from a cow to a person, in this instance, a farmworker who had exposure to infected animals. Since then, we know of 13 human cases (all mild). The virus has been detected in 191 dairy herds across 13 states, per CDC.
Sidenote: This case count doesn’t include the millions of chickens and turkeys that have been infected and/or culled – bird flu has been a major issue across egg and poultry production in recent years – but health officials have been somewhat less concerned about this, at least from a human health perspective because the virus wasn’t jumping from fowl to humans. There previously was just one reported case in a human with exposure to poultry in 2022. Since then, however, there have been more: Nine of the 13 more recent human bird flu cases in the U.S. have been linked to poultry exposure.
We don’t know how the dairy cows were first infected, but the theory is that there was somehow contact with birds or potentially other wild animals. Avian influenza has been decimating wild bird populations and has also been detected in a wide range of animals, from cats to sea lions.
A growing fear for human health: Federal officials have continued to assure the public that the overall human risk is low, and this appears to still be true, but the fact that the virus continues to spread in cows is making a lot of infectious disease experts quite nervous. The concern is that the more a virus like this spreads unfettered in mammals, the more likely it is to eventually morph into something more dangerous and jump to humans. So far, all of the human cases we know about in the U.S. have been very mild. Thankfully, no one has been hospitalized or died and there hasn’t been any sign of human-to-human spread.
That said, it’s likely that health officials are not detecting all of the human cases due to limited testing. Those most at risk are farmworkers and farmers who have direct contact with animals that may be infected, but both of these groups are not exactly incentivized to get tested. Many farmworkers are undocumented and may fear losing their job or being deported. Farmers, meanwhile, fear a loss of income if they can’t easily sell their milk or their cows.
U.S. agriculture in the spotlight: It’s not just human cases that are likely being missed, either. There’s been some fresh reporting out of the New York Times and Reuters shining a spotlight on how the U.S. doesn’t have a handle on how many cows or herds are infected.
As Apoorva Mandavilli, a reporter covering infectious diseases at the Times, wrote this week: “So far, Colorado is the only affected state that requires bulk testing of milk, a decision that led to the identification of 10 additional infected herds within two weeks … The Agriculture Department has also tried to encourage testing through a voluntary program. Of the roughly 24,000 farms that sell milk in the country, only 30 are participating.” (Emphasis mine. Also, USDA as of today shows only 26 herds are participating, which may suggest some farms have dropped.)
The story cited a USDA spokesperson saying that the fact that the system had identified infected herds was “an indication that the system is working as designed,” but the piece also featured a handful of top experts openly questioning the lack of testing.
“I think the window is closing on our ability to contain the outbreak,” Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious-disease physician who worked at the World Health Organization until April, told the Times. “We’re so quick to blame China for what happened with SARS-CoV-2, but we’re not doing any better right now,” she added. “That’s how pandemics happen.”
Leah Douglas and Tom Polansek (two of the country’s top agriculture reporters, by the way) wrote: “The U.S. bird-flu outbreak in dairy cattle is much larger than official figures suggest due to farmers’ reluctance to test their animals and risk the economic consequences of a positive result, according to Reuters interviews with dairy experts, veterinarians, and farmers in six states with known cases.”
The view from the farm: The fact that so few dairy farms are opting into voluntary testing might seem kind of puzzling at first, but it really all comes down to economic incentives. USDA is offering resources to farmers to test and will cover some costs if a herd tests positive, but producers’ fear of potentially losing major business currently outweighs the aid offering from the feds.
USDA’s dual missions: These outbreaks have also drawn new attention on the Agriculture Department’s main mission – to promote U.S. agriculture – and how that can at times come into conflict with other goals, such as protecting public health. Lest we also forget that regulating farmers in any way is basically a third rail issue in the U.S.
As NYT’s Mandavilli succinctly put it: “The government’s response to the outbreak may be complicated by politics during an election year and by the fact that oversight is led by a federal department that is tasked with both regulating and promoting the agricultural industry.”
Bottom line: This whole bird flu situation is a stark reminder that even in situations where you are not immediately impacted, our food system is inextricably linked to human health. If this situation were to spiral out of control – and I hope that it doesn’t – it would undoubtedly inspire a hard look at the government’s response.
***
What I’m reading
The global power of Big Agriculture’s lobbying (Financial Times). “Behind the scenes the agricultural lobby is a sprawling, complex machine with vast financial resources, deep political connections and a sophisticated network of legal and public relations experts,” write Susannah Savage, Alice Hancock and Michael Pooler. “In the U.S., agricultural trade associations are ‘enormously powerful,’ says Ben Lilliston, director of rural strategies and climate change at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy . . . Unlike other prolific lobbyists, such as the energy, defense or tobacco industries, agriculture projects a wholesome public image of bucolic pastures and earthy men and women tending to livestock.”
Nearly 60% of baby foods in the U.S. don’t meet nutritional guidelines, study says (NPR). “Nearly 60% of food products made for toddlers and babies did not meet nutrition standards set by the World Health Organization, according to a new study,” reports Ayana Archie. “Researchers tested 651 products in 2023, across eight food retailers in North Carolina, including Kroger, Walmart, Costco, Ahold Delhaize, Publix, Sam’s Club, Target and Aldi. Other samples were included from the websites of Safeway and H-E-B. Only about 30% of products complied with the agency’s protein recommendations, while 56% were compliant with sugar guidelines. About 93% of the products aligned with the fat recommendations, according to the study that was published in the Nutrients journal Wednesday.”
Facing a national shortage of baby formula, trade officials opposed a plan to boost imports (ProPublica). “As U.S. parents struggled to find baby formula during a nationwide shortage in May of 2022, the Biden administration frantically sought ways to restock empty store shelves. Among the options was lifting steep tariffs on formula imported from other countries. But as White House lawyers drafted a proclamation to remove the import tax, one federal agency resisted: the Office of the United States Trade Representative,” reports Heather Vogell. “With supplies of baby formula falling precipitously across the country after a major production plant shut down, staffers from the USTR repeatedly argued against lifting the tariff on imports, citing, in part, a concern that it would raise ‘lots of questions from domestic dairy producers,’ according to documents obtained by ProPublica.”
Insurers push ‘food is medicine’ interventions but rarely weigh in on ultra-processed food (Fierce Healthcare). “Overconsumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is increasingly linked to poor outcomes for these conditions and others according to top research institutions, yet explicit language limiting UPFs is rarely included in public health program waivers and generally considered an afterthought by health payers,” writes Noah Tong. “Though limiting UPFs aligns with the objectives of many food is medicine programs, rarely do the programs go as far to ensure UPFs are restricted. ‘I’ve probably had, I don’t know, 5 million conversations with health plans,’ quipped Josh Hix, CEO of Season Health, a food is medicine platform that sells to health plans in value-based partnerships. ‘Approximately zero times have the words ‘ultra-processed’ ever come up.’”
How Philando Castile’s mother helped pioneer Tim Walz’s free school lunch program (The Guardian). “When the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, named the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, as her running mate two weeks ago, the public lauded Walz for bringing free breakfast and lunch to all students throughout the state. Ever since, the topic of universal school meals has become a nationwide discussion. But it’s little known that the work of Valerie Castile, the mother of Philando Castile, helped drive Walz’s legislation.” (In case you missed it, Food Fix recently covered this.)
Why free school lunches for all may become a campaign issue (CNBC). “The idea of offering universal free school meals could become a policy issue in the U.S. presidential race, experts say — especially given Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on the Democratic ticket,” writes Greg Iacurci.
***
Upgrade to get more from Food Fix
Become a paid subscriber to unlock access to two newsletters each week, packed with insight, analysis and exclusive reporting on what’s happening in food, in Washington and beyond. You’ll also get full access to the Food Fix archive – a great way to get smart on all things food policy.
Expense it: Hey, it’s worth asking! Most paid subscribers expense their subscriptions through work. We also offer discounts for government, academia and students. See our subscription options. Individuals who participate in SNAP or other federal nutrition programs qualify for a free Food Fix subscription – just email info@foodfix.co.
Get the Friday newsletter: If someone forwarded you this email, sign yourself up for the free Friday edition of Food Fix. You can also follow Food Fix on X and LinkedIn.
Food Fix is off next week! See you again after Labor Day.
