World

No cow needed: Oat and soy can be called milk, FDA proposes

Published

2 years ago

February 22, 2023

No cow needed: Oat and soy can be called milk, FDA proposes

Soy, oat, almond and different drinks that invoice themselves as “milk” can maintain utilizing the identify, in line with draft federal guidelines launched Wednesday.

Meals and Drug Administration officers issued steerage that claims plant-based drinks don’t faux to be from dairy animals – and that U.S. shoppers aren’t confused by the distinction.

Dairy producers for years have known as for the FDA to crack down on plant-based drinks and different merchandise that they are saying masquerade as animal-based meals and cloud the true that means of “milk.”

Underneath the draft guidelines, the company recommends that beverage makers label their merchandise clearly by the plant supply of the meals, corresponding to “soy milk” or “cashew milk.”

The principles additionally name for voluntary further vitamin labels that notice when the drinks have decrease ranges of vitamins than dairy milk, corresponding to calcium, magnesium or vitamin D. They might proceed to permit labels that notice when plant-based drinks have increased ranges. Fortified soy milk is the one plant-based meals included within the dairy class of U.S. dietary pointers due to its nutrient ranges.

The brand new pointers are geared toward offering shoppers clear vitamin data, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf stated in an announcement. The draft guidelines don’t apply to nondairy merchandise apart from drinks, corresponding to yogurt.

The Nationwide Milk Producers Federation, an business commerce group, applauded the decision for further vitamin data on drink labels, however stated they rejected the FDA’s conclusion that plant-based drinks will be known as milk as a result of it’s a “frequent and ordinary identify.”

The Good Meals Institute, a gaggle that advocates for plant-based merchandise, objected to the additional labeling in an announcement, saying “the steerage misguidedly admonishes corporations to make a direct comparability” with cow’s milk, regardless that key vitamins are already required to be listed.

In recent times, the variety of plant-based drinks has exploded to incorporate dozens of sorts, together with cashew, coconut, hemp and quinoa-based drinks. Though the drinks are made out of the liquid extracts of plant supplies, they’re incessantly labeled – and described – as “milks.”

Within the U.S., almond milk is the most well-liked selection, however oat milk has been seeing the quickest progress. Nonetheless, nondairy gross sales are dwarfed by conventional milk. Gross sales of refrigerated cow’s milk grew to $12.3 billion within the 52 weeks ending Jan. 28, in comparison with $2.5 billion for nondairy milk, in line with NielsenIQ.

Up to now, lawmakers in dairy states have tried to get payments handed that might require the FDA to implement a federal customary that defines “milk” because the product of “milking a number of wholesome cows.”

The company will settle for feedback on the draft pointers via April 23.

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AP Enterprise Author Dee-Ann Durbin contributed to this report.

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The Related Press Well being and Science Division receives help from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Academic Media Group. The AP is solely liable for all content material.

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World

New Lonely Island Song ‘Sushi Glory Hole’ Premieres on ‘SNL’; Raps About Secret Sushi Spots Around NYC

Published

5 hours ago

October 6, 2024

Press Room

New Lonely Island Song ‘Sushi Glory Hole’ Premieres on ‘SNL’; Raps About Secret Sushi Spots Around NYC

In the first Lonely Island song of the 50th season of “SNL,” the beloved trio of Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer debuted “Sushi Glory Hole,” a humorous take on a fictional app where you can find sushi in a hole in a bathroom around New York.

“SNL” alumna Maya Rudolph, who has been portraying presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris during the new season, was on hand for the video. “Gentleman, what do you have for us today?” she asked in the video opener.

“Sushi glory hole,” rapped Samberg. “Imagine that. Instead of getting strange [expletive] you’ll be getting a snack.” A long refrain of “Hear us out, hear us out, hear us out,” played on loop as the trio tried to get others on board with their idea.

Dressed as 1980s businessmen, the Lonely Island members, and Bowen Yang, rapped about sushi in bathrooms, with suggestive lyrics, singing, “So drop to your knees and get ready for some fish.” The digital short featured funny evocative imagery of slices of sushi being presented through holes in bathroom walls. The trio rapped, “Hit the bathroom stall, and find a sushi-sized hole in the bathroom wall.”

“Hit the map,” they said, showing a phone with a lit-up map with “SGH” locations all around Manhattan, where one could find a sushi glory hole. They rapped on, defending the unorthodox food-related business idea, saying, “You got nothing to fear. It’s not weird. It’s sushi being through a hole in the wall.”

They rapped about the different ideal circumstances for a “SGH.” Samberg sang about sushi glory holes in nightclubs and how it’s better than eating in the middle of a street. “Make a wish and prepare for some shockingly high-grade fish.”

“Don’t leave, hear us out. No substitutions or special requests,” they said.

Stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze was this episode’s guest and musical group Coldplay was the musical guest.

World

Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei defends missile barrage against Israel in rare sermon

Published

6 hours ago

October 6, 2024

Press Room

Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei defends missile barrage against Israel in rare sermon

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared in a rare sermon Friday that his country’s ballistic missile attack on Israel earlier this week was “legal and legitimate” and that the “resistance in the region will not back down even with the killing of its leaders.”

The public address from Khamenei was his first during Friday prayers in Tehran in nearly five years, according to the AFP.

Khamenei said Iran will not “procrastinate nor act hastily to carry out its duty” in going after Israel, Reuters reports.

The news agency cited him as saying that Tuesday’s barrage of nearly 200 missiles fired by Iran at Israel was “legal and legitimate” and the minimum punishment for Israel’s “crimes.”

IRAN WARNS OF ‘DECISIVE RESPONSE’ IF ISRAEL CROSSES ‘RED LINES’

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during Friday Prayers and a commemoration ceremony of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Tehran, Iran, on Oct. 4. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)

“The resistance in the region will not back down even with the killing of its leaders,” Khamenei reportedly added, mentioning recently slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during the speech.

The remarks came as the Israel Defense Forces announced Friday that Mohammad Rashid Sakafi, the commander of Hezbollah’s Communications Unit, was killed in an airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon.

“Sakafi was a senior Hezbollah terrorist, who was responsible for the communications unit since 2000,” the IDF wrote on X. “Sakafi invested significant efforts to develop communication capabilities between all of Hezbollah’s units.”

ISRAEL BANS UN SECRETARY-GENERAL OVER ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIONS

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in Tehran

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday that Iran’s missile attack on Israel this week was “legal and legitimate,” Reuters reports. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said earlier this week that the Iranian missile attack on Israel was “defeated and ineffective” and that the U.S. military coordinated with the IDF to repel the strikes.

“U.S. naval destroyers joined Israeli Air Defense units in firing interceptors to shoot down inbound missiles. President Biden and Vice President Harris monitored the attack and the response from the White House Situation Room, joined in person and remotely by their national security team,” Sullivan said during a briefing.

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets during the missile attack, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, on Tuesday, Oct. 1. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)

“This is a significant escalation by Iran, a significant event, and it is equally significant that we were able to step up with Israel and create a situation in which no one was killed in this attack in Israel… We are now going to look at what the appropriate next steps are to secure, first and foremost, American interests and then to promote stability to the maximum extent possible as we go forward,” he added.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

World

Protests across Europe as Gaza war anniversary nears

Published

7 hours ago

October 6, 2024

Press Room

Protests across Europe as Gaza war anniversary nears

The war in Gaza, which started on 7 October last year, has seen more than 41,000 Palestinians killed and decimated the Strip. Almost 100 Israelis are still being held hostage by Hamas, with fewer than 70 believed to be alive.

Thousands of people have staged protests in capitals across Europe in support of Palestine in the run-up to the first anniversary of the war on 7 October.

Huge rallies took place in several major European cities, with rallies expected to continue over the weekend and peak on Monday, the date of the anniversary.

Italy

In Rome, several thousand demonstrated peacefully until a smaller group tried to push the rally toward the centre of the city, in spite of a ban by local authorities who refused to authorize protests, citing security concerns.

Some protesters, dressed in black and with their faces covered threw stones, bottles and paper bombs at the police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons, eventually dispersing the crowd.

At least 30 law enforcement officers and three demonstrators were injured in the clashes, local media reported.

The rally in Rome had been calm earlier, with people chanting “Free Palestine, Free Lebanon,” waving Palestinian flags and holding banners calling for an immediate stop to the conflict.

United Kingdom

In London, thousands marched through the capital to Downing Street amid a heavy police presence.

The atmosphere was tense as pro-Palestinian protesters and counterdemonstrators, some holding Israeli flags, passed one another.

Scuffles broke out as police officers pushed back activists trying to get past a cordon.

At least 17 people were arrested on suspicion of public order offences, supporting a proscribed organisation and assault, the Metropolitan Police said.

Spain

Thousands also took to the streets of Madrid to demand a ceasefire in Gaza.

The protests were peaceful and there were no reported incidents of altercations with police.

“Outrage at this situation, thousands and thousands of people killed in Gaza, now in Lebanon, there are already more than 2,000, more than 10,000 people missing. This has to be stopped one way or another,” said Enrique Quintanilla from the ‘Disarm Madrid’ group.

Germany

In the northern of Hamburg, about 950 people staged a peaceful demonstration with many waving Palestinian and Lebanese flags and chanting “Stop the Genocide,” the DPA news agency reported, citing a count by police.

Two smaller pro-Israeli counterdemonstrations took place without incident, it said.

Serbia

A smaller protest of around 200 people happened in Belgrade with protesters chanting “Free Palestine” and expressing their anger at their government’s support for Israel.

“The main message is that we, citizens of Serbia and Belgrade, are against arms exports to Israel. The Republic of Serbia is exporting arms to Israel. Since October 7 last year, the value of weapons exported to Israel from Serbia is at least 20 million euros. We are against that,” said protest organiser, Mihajlo Nikolic.

Rallies were also planned in several other countries across Europe including Greece, the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland.

Increased security

Security forces in several countries warned of heightened levels of alert in major cities, amid concerns that the conflict in the Middle East could inspire new terror attacks in Europe or that the protests could turn violent.

Pro-Palestinian protests calling for an immediate cease-fire have repeatedly taken place across Europe and around the globe in the past year and have often turned violent with confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement officers.

A bloody year

On 7 October last year, Hamas launched a surprise attack into Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis, taking 250 people hostage and setting off a war with Israel that has shattered much of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since then in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between fighters and civilians.

Nearly 100 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, with fewer than 70 believed to be alive.