Domestic JBS plant 'again ordered to close by Brazil court'

JBS, the Brazil-based meat behemoth, has reportedly been ordered to close one of its domestic factories amid concerns about Covid-19 – a plant that was also closed recently. 

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Hershey expands confectionery plant in Virginia

Confectionery maker Hershey is investing in one of its largest plants in the US to expand production capacity, a move that will create more than 100 jobs.

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UK meat industry body BMPA calls for government help to tackle labour shortage

The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) has highlighted potential labour issues facing UK meatpackers.

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Landec to close Curation Foods manufacturing facility

US health and wellness company Landec has revealed plans for a manufacturing facility used by its Curation Foods arm.

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Low-sugar candy firm Tweek becomes ingredients supplier Bayn Europe's latest buy

Bayn Europe, the Sweden-based ingredients group, has snapped up another confectionery brand, the listed company has announced.

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Hart Dairy attracts investment, hires industry veterans

Hart Dairy, the fledgling US firm offering grass-fed milk, has received backing from a local investment business, it has revealed. 

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At Least 107 Cases of Coronavirus Are Linked to One Bar in Michigan

Earlier this month, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order, giving bars and restaurants the OK to reopen for limited dine-in service for the first time since March 16. Any restaurant that decided to resume service on June 8 faced a now-familiar list of restrictions, including pushing all of the tables at least six feet away from each other, and ensuring that they never exceeded 50 percent of their total capacity.

When the (Lansing) City Pulse checked out what was happening in the city on that first evening, it noted that some restaurants were mostly quiet, with a handful of occupied indoor tables. "Then there was neighboring Harper's," it wrote. "By 8:30, a long line had formed on the sidewalk. The patios were jammed. If tables were six feet apart outside, customers certainly were not."

In an accompanying photo, one can see black and yellow "Please Stay Six Feet Apart" stickers on the concrete steps into the restaurant, but other than one woman in platform espadrilles, no one else seems to care. Clusters of men in untucked polos and flip-flops and women in shorts and tank tops are clumped together at the back of the line. No one is wearing a mask.

"People are told if you’re not from the same household, you have to stay six feet apart," Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail said at the time. "We have to have people basically respect that. If they don’t, there's not a lot we can do about that."

And then in the least-surprising plot twist ever, last Tuesday, Ingham County officials announced that at least 18 people who had visited Harper's between June 12 and June 20 had tested positive for coronavirus. All of those individuals were between the ages of 19 and 23, and "about half" of them reportedly had a connection to Michigan State University.

In less than one day, the number of positive cases connected to Harper's increased to 43. By Thursday night, it was 51. Then it was 63. And over the weekend, that number jumped to 85 positive cases that were linked to the bar, including 80 patrons and five "secondary infections" among others who had close contact with them. The Ingham County Health Department has since asked anyone who was at Harper's between June 12-20 to self-quarantine for 14 days.

And it gets worse: according to the Detroit Free-Press, "multiple families" in swanky Grosse Pointe Park—almost 100 miles from Lansing—are now in quarantine because at least one Harper's attendee went to a "huge house party" in the neighborhood, exposing dozens of other teens and twentysomethings to the virus. Still others were exposed at a large bonfire that some of the same crowd attended that same weekend.

"I'm just so frustrated," the mother of a 19-year-old COVID-positive bonfire-attendee told the Freep. "I'm so sad. We stayed home as ordered and then let our guard down—and now this." (One woman even acknowledged that Grosse Pointe Park residents could no longer "pretend [coronavirus] doesn't affect affluent neighborhoods such as ours.")

Last Monday, Harper's wrote a lengthy and somewhat tonally bizarre post on its Facebook page. "[W]e have experienced long lines on the public sidewalk in front of our building. We have attempted to instruct customers waiting in line to wear face coverings and practice social distancing through signage on the public sidewalk and with a banner on our railing," it wrote.

"Our oversight of the line on our stairs has been successful, but trying to get customers to follow our recommendations on the public sidewalk has been challenging. Because we have no authority to control lines on public property, we are left with the dilemma of staying open and letting this situation continue, or closing until we can devise a strategy that eliminates the lines altogether."

It also announced that it would be re-closing temporarily to "eliminate lines" and to upgrade its HVAC system to install a vaguely described air-purification system. These improvements, it said, will just be additional costs in addition to the "financial investments" that it put toward upgrading its touch-free restrooms and the "rent, mortgages, car payments, grocery bills and everyday living expenses" that its staff have to contend with.

The post does not directly acknowledge any of the positive coronavirus tests that have been connected to the bar. It also hasn't exactly elicited the sympathy that Harper's seemed to hope for. "So glad that letting college kids get wasted is more important to you than the sacrifices the rest of us have made, working for remotely for months, without child care, to try to keep ourselves and our community safe," one commenter wrote. "This is what happens when we become lax," another added.

By Monday afternoon, 107 cases of coronavirus in 13 different Michigan counties had been linked to Harper's. As a result, Ingham County has issued an emergency order reducing restaurant capacity to 50 percent of total occupancy or a maximum of 75 people, whichever is the smaller number. "I strongly encourage all bars and restaurants to strictly enforce safety measures and to do all they can to help stop the spread of coronavirus in our community," Vail said.

Sounds easier than it looks.

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Easy Entomatadas Recipe

Serves 2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes

Ingredients

3 roma tomatoes (about 1 pound|450 grams)
1 garlic clove
½ serrano pepper, stemmed and seeded
1 white onion, diced
1 ½ cups|125 grams crumbled queso fresco, plus more to serve
6 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 tablespoon canola oil
kosher salt, to taste
cilantro leaves, for garnish
crema, to serve
salsa de aguacate, to serve
salsa de molcajete, to serve

Directions

1. For the tomato sauce: Bring a medium pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the tomato, garlic, and serrano and cook until soft, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain and transfer to the bowl of a blender and purée until smooth. Set aside. Makes 2 cups|238 grams|8 ⅓ ounces.

2. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high. Add half of the onion and cook until golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the reserved tomato sauce and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook until reduced by half, 6 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, cover, and set aside. Makes ½ cup|335 grams

3. Meanwhile, heat a small nonstick skillet over medium. Cook each tortilla until warmed through, about 2 minutes. Transfer warmed tortillas to a plate and cover with a towel to keep warm.

4. Working with one tortilla at a time, dip each tortilla into the tomato sauce, fully coating with the sauce. Transfer the tortilla to a plate and fill with ¼ cup of queso fresco. Fold the tortilla in half and repeat.

5. To serve: Plate 3 entomatadas and top with more of the tomato sauce and queso fresco and the remaining diced onion. Drizzle with crema and garnish with more cilantro leaves. Serve with your favorite salsa.

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Freedom Foods investigation continues as CEO Rory Macleod quits

Australia's Freedom Foods Group has updated the market on the position of CEO Rory Macleod - said to have been "on leave" since last week.

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Freedom Foods investigation continues as CEO Rory Mcleod quits

Australia's Freedom Foods Group has updated the market on the position of CEO Rory Mcleod - said to have been "on leave" since last week.

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Capitol Peak, KKR cleared by bankruptcy court for Borden Dairy assets

Two US-based investors have been cleared by a bankruptcy court to acquire the assets of Borden Dairy Company.

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Synlait attains B Corp certification

New Zealand infant-formula maker Synlait has updated the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on its attempt to attain B Corp certification.

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Midsona strengthens in sports nutrition through Gainomax purchase

Sweden-based better-for-you food group Midsona has bought a sports nutrition brand from a local dairy cooperative.

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Does Food Actually Unite Us?

It's true that everybody eats. Though the specifics of how and what we eat differ across cultures, countries, class status, and whatever else separates us, the fact that we all must feed ourselves is the foundation for an entire niche of food content. In shows like Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown, Dave Chang's Ugly Delicious, Andrew Zimmern's What's Eating America, and most recently, Padma Lakshmi's new Hulu series Taste the Nation, food is relational; as unlikely companions band together over the act of eating, food becomes a way to find commonality and an entry point to political discussions that would be otherwise hard to broach.

The brainchild of Lakshmi, who moved to the United States from India at the age of four, Taste the Nation has the stated premise of being a show about immigrants: from the Mexican American community in El Paso, Texas; to the Gullah Geechee people of South Carolina; to the Indian immigrants who've created the Little India in Jackson Heights, Queens; to the German descendents in Milwaukee; to the Peruvian enclave of Paterson, New Jersey; and more. Lakshmi talks to people from all these groups about why they eat what they do, and what stories food can tell about their communities.

Ultimately, the fact that everybody eats is mobilized to suggest that food is the great unifier: I eat tacos, and you eat tacos; therefore, we can find common ground through our shared appreciation of tacos, no matter our points of division. The language of "food unites us," as it's sold in shows and stories like these, suggests that because we eat similarly, our beliefs must be more similar than we think. Through food, we are all American—or at least, that's the tale these shows want us to believe. But as nice as this idea is—as much as it inspires a wholesome image of a communal American table—who is this narrative meant for, and who does it ultimately serve?

Perhaps the most heavy-handed suggestion of food's ability to unite comes in the first episode of Taste the Nation. Lakshmi sits with the owner of a restaurant in El Paso, Texas as Border Patrol helicopters circle overhead. His restaurant has long been staffed by workers who cross from Juarez daily, but he supports President Trump. Lakshmi refrains from pushing back too hard on his politics, which means that their conversation doesn't go far past acknowledging how much the restaurant needs these workers and their food. Here, food operates not quite as a unifier, but as the crux of a business model dependent on the dynamic between the United States and Mexico.

Food is complicated; Taste the Nation acknowledges that, but through stories like this one, with the owner's dissonance between his restaurant's operations and his conservative ideology, the show suggests that the food these workers make somehow transcends personal and political lines, especially as it's eaten by white locals. An optimist could see this as proof that food allows disparate groups to understand each other, but as Jenny Zhang wrote in Eater, even the owner's resistance to changing his views despite his years of employing Mexican workers undercuts the buoyant promises of "breaking bread."

Shows like Taste the Nation, which use food to go deeper into migration, colonization, and assimilation, prompt people to think more deeply about the ways our cultural histories shape what we eat. Still, every idea that challenges the norms of white American culture is couched within the easy notion that food cuts through it all, and that through food, we can transcend these issues. Via the act of consuming, it implies, white Americans can better themselves.

"The ability to cook diverse food, to eat food from different places and cultures, is too often described as an enlightenment project, as a way to 'becoming' something else," Eric Ritskes has written on his blog Anise to Za'atar. "It is seen as a way to become more attuned to diverse ways of being, to even become less racist, more understanding, a better person, to dismantle biases, or to be less xenophobic." Ritskes' framework relies on what author bell hooks put forth in "Eating the Other," and, as hooks wrote, people within mainstream white culture can step out of it without changing the status quo.

As it's said over and over again, "food unites us" becomes a self-congratulatory aphorism that doesn't prompt white Americans to do anything particularly challenging. There's a performative emptiness in the idea as we think of who is being united with whom, and why those divisions exist in the first place. These stories provide a platform for the immigrant experience, but the effects of the white American gaze are clear, as food becomes a means for validating lives that look unfamiliar.

In Taste the Nation and Ugly Delicious, the show's hosts are people of color, and the stories they choose to amplify are guided by their experiences in the United States. As these stories are packaged for broader markets, the focus returns to white American validation as setting the standard, and reinforces the notion that our goals as "others" should be to prove our similarities. The conversation about the politics of food remains focused on the lowest common denominator.

At its heart, the call to action of the "food unites us" rhetoric is based on the exchange of goods as people consume foods outside their culture. That exchange benefits existing and unequal systems, as immigrants are valued through the ways their labor or cultural products enrich the lives of others. But our personal affinities for certain foods are not meaningful indicators that we revere or respect the people and cultures that created them. As food writer Alicia Kennedy has commented: "I should be able to fuckin’ hate burritos (I do not) and still recognize everyone’s humanity, every person’s intrinsic worth and dignity."

This tale coddles people in positions of power into thinking that the basic urge to consume is enough—that buying a taco and loving it is a meaningful step toward racial justice or equity. A similar story has played out in the recent push toward supporting Black-owned restaurants. (MUNCHIES has promoted such a list.) Given the circumstances of the current political uprising, "what relief does this transaction actually bring?" the writer Ruth Gebreyesus has asked. "At best, it scratches the itch of ego-driven guilt."

The intentions of creators like Lakshmi are lofty and hopeful, but as we repeatedly ask white Americans to see that Black people, immigrants, and other marginalized groups are "just like them," the conversation doesn't move very far forward. With everyone else seen in relation—forced to prove their worth over and over by virtue of what we can provide—the plea to see humanity through the supposedly uniting power of food turns increasingly staid.

It ignores the ways that our differences keep food a point of disconnect: how Black chefs are overlooked in the American culinary canon; how Black restaurant workers are paid the least in the industry; how the coronavirus pandemic has made the jobs of immigrant farm workers even riskier; how prejudice gave rise to the disproportionate closure of Chinese restaurants during the pandemic. It's dangerously naive to suggest that our shared appreciation for certain foods can bridge these massive structural gaps.

Yet the narrative that "food unites us" is one that purposely does not ruffle feathers. It requires little effort from the people doing the consuming, and it poses little threat to the status quo. Its politics assuage people's existing actions and suggest that the steps toward equity are as easy as enjoying a meal. As Ritskes wrote, even "Donald Trump and the people that support him eat tacos, all the while still building a wall to keep Mexicans (and Hondurans, and Guatemalans, and…) out."

At some point, these narratives should move past the idea that food must be a point of similarity. Humanity—as immigrants, as people of color, as whatever group needs to prove our worth—should exist regardless of what foods we bring to the table; it's our humanity that unites us, with our food and the flavor it brings serving as a pleasant addition.

That narrative isn't as easy to swallow, though, because it requires us all to do more than simply buy and eat.

Follow Bettina Makalintal on Twitter.

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Alice Waters' Fascinating and Infuriating Quest for Perfection

Earlier this month, I spent 15 whole minutes watching Alice Waters talk in extraordinary detail about how to put together the perfect bowl of fruit. No chopping, no sugar, no squeeze of lemon or orange juice to try to brighten the taste of the thing—just a plain old bowl of fruit, curated to highlight whatever is perfectly in season on the particular day on which it is served, which is every day at her decades-spanning farm-to-table Berkeley restaurant, Chez Panisse. "It's a way of being in time and place," she says.

In the video—lesson 12 of the American slow food activist and celebrity chef's course on MasterClass—the season is autumn. Today, the butcher-block island at the center of her home kitchen is covered in persimmons. She mentions that she picks them from the trees in her garden; sometimes, she says, the leaves will "become part of the fruit bowl," too. She grasps one juicy orange orb, cuts a perfect wedge, then brings it to her mouth to taste—batting her lashes at the camera as if to underscore the importance of tasting, that the taste of the fruit changes every day.

"Ooo, definitely, I want to put this on the fruit bowl," she says. Later, after placing a few persimmons and a couple curling leaves in the bowl, she glances forlornly at a bunch of plump, burgundy-colored grapes. "Even though it's a beautiful organic fruit, it doesn't look alive to me," she says. "I'll taste it just to make sure it's not worthy of the fruit bowl."

On the off-chance that quarantine-induced anxiety and incessant targeted advertising ended up convincing you that it was a good idea to shell out for a MasterClass membership this spring, you might have found the most striking thing about this sequence to be the visual aspect: Between the persimmons, pomegranates, and dates of her finished fruit bowl and the cookware on display throughout her kitchen (only wood, iron, and copper, as a rule), you've got a near-complete spectrum of the colors of fall. Or, perhaps, it was Alice Waters' voice that transfixed you: crystalline, drawling, and vaguely mid-Atlantic, like that of women whom you might imagine Kelsey Grammar meeting at the wine club on Frasier, albeit with a noticeable predilection for using the American-English version of words that food people usually say in French, like "rocket" instead of "roquette." (Alice Waters is famous for importing a distinctly French culinary sensibility and re-imagining it as the basis for a new "California cuisine," one that celebrates the links between the food you eat and the soil and the farmers that cultivated it, so this kind of makes sense.)

But for me, it was something else that made this moment indescribably absorbing at a time when I couldn't stop ruminating about lost income and how I was going to find time to clean the house. Like Frasier, which for years has been my go-to sitcom during the moments just before falling asleep, there is something charmingly sedative about these Alice Waters videos—and also absurd, in the way that the customs of coastal white liberals are always pretty ridiculous when you hold them up to scrutiny. Who besides Alice Waters, who has written entire books about fruit, has the luxury of spending a quarter-of-an-hour deciding whether a single Bosc pear proffers just the right ratio of juiciness to crispness, even in the name of her so-called "delicious revolution"? And who—especially right now—has the combined mental bandwidth and reliable produce access to think of fruit not just as something you eat, but a matter of monumental importance?

That disjunct—between the impractibly slow, organic-everything, back-to-the-land lifestyle that Alice Waters has elevated to a gospel, and the material and temporal limits of contemporary life—has made her, as one chef put it to the LA Times, "a kind of lightning rod for Berkeley liberal elitism," while also sparking dialogue about misogynist double standards in the food world, such as in the case of the famous 60 Minutes egg spoon incident. Somewhat winningly, it's a recurring theme in her daughter Fanny Singers' new memoir, Always Home, which compiles recipes from her childhood and teenage years while painting a loving but unsparing picture of what it might actually be like to grow up with Alice Waters as your mom.

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Though the book could be read as a 300-page tribute to her mother's unyielding passion for nature and aesthetics, the 30-something writer and curator is quick to point out the ways in which Waters' dogmatic approach could render her "disproportionately blinkered, even insensitive to the widely held belief that hers is an unachievable romantic existence." In chapter one, she tells us that the Edible Schoolyard Project, the farming and food education non-profit Waters founded in partnership with the Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, was born after the "school's principal called out my mom for publicly maligning its quasi-derelict appearance." She goes on to share an anecdote that pretty perfectly illustrates the tenacity of her mother's obsession: When a preliminary edible schoolyard classroom was erected in a trailer, she was unable to tolerate the "industrial taupe of the prefab kitchen building," and reportedly dipped into her personal savings in order to have it painted aubergine.

Ultimately, though, Always Home is a book that approaches its subject with the same tenderness and curiosity with which her mother inspects the permissions. There's an entire chapter devoted to the smells she associates with her mother: woodsmoke and beeswax candles and the smell of "garlic warming but never burning on a stove"—but also, for the first 25 years of Singer's life, a "hippy drugstore formulation" of almond oil and collagen that she wore in lieu of perfume. And another dedicated to her hands: small and surprisingly soft for a chef, but with a nimbleness that Singer reads as a "mirror of her determination."

As bewitching as these images are, it can be a bit hard to relate to an author whose mother stocked home-made chicken paillard sandwiches and fruit macédoine from the garden in her lunch box and whose childhood adventures in France were turned into an actual children's book called Fanny in France. But if you spend enough time with the book, you start to understand Waters' over-the-topness both as a source of perpetual frustration for those around her and the thing that makes the world of Alice Waters so magnetic. Ultimately, Singer says, her mother's obsessive attention to the color, texture, fragrance, and an elusive ideal of "perfect ripeness" is little more than her own complicated way of expressing love: love for the person she is cooking for (in this case, Singer), and love for the world of farmers and organic vegetables and wild backyard gardens she has spent a career celebrating as both the beginning and end-point of good food. The perfectly in-season fruit bowl emerges as the logical conclusion of that philosophy, its simplicity reminding you that the natural world is the star of the show; the chef is just the person who selects the frame through which you behold it.

Since the coronavirus prompted restaurants throughout the Bay Area to put dine-in service on hold, Waters has been running a CSA subscription program straight out of Chez Panisse, furnishing customers with boxes of organic produce from local farmers suddenly unable to sell their harvest. (After protests against systemic racism erupted across the country following the killing of George Floyd, the restaurant also pledged to expand its network of suppliers to include more Black farmers and "foster relationships with more Black-owned businesses, chefs, and organizations.) She's also also been making occasional appearances in the press, encouraging people to start their own victory garden—a throwback to the World War II tradition she remembers her mother growing when she was a child, and a way to supplement one's pantry with fresh grown things at a time when quality produce can be hard to come by.

It's a sweet idea, if not the most realistic or time-efficient in a year when Americans are poised to experience record levels of food insecurity (though the Edible Schoolyard Project has demonstrated that there is some potential there, donating all its produce to families in the Berkeley area in need). And though I have had the privilege of being able to get a hold of fresh greens most weeks during quarantine—and even to indulge in preparing them according to Waters' instructions, using fresh-cut garlic and oil and a little bit of red pepper—picking at their droopy, past-prime leaves and trying to figure out of which of them are salvageable will always be a reminder of the impossibility of the Alice Waters ideal.

Still, I can't keep coming back to the thought that there is something immensely reassuring about the fruit bowl video, even as someone who is not particularly fond of fruit. On one hand, it feels completely out of step with the reality of most people's experiences; on the other, perhaps because I discovered the video when I did, it feels oddly emblematic of this protracted disruption of life-as-usual, a time when every day feels a little unreal.

Maybe doing something as ridiculously impractical as taking 15 minutes out of your day to build a bowl with the best pieces of fruit you are able to find—or pausing mid-walk to contemplate the way that the trees and the critters that populate them seem to be enjoying this moment without us—can be a way of embracing all that surrealness. And maybe if we're lucky, we'll be able find something enjoyable within it, too.

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Strawberry Shortcake Cobbler Recipe

Serves 8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour and 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 pounds|1 kg strawberries, hulled and quartered
¾ cup|200 grams plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
1 lemon, zested and juiced
¼ cup|40 grams cornstarch
1 ½ cups|240 grams all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
8 tablespoons|113 grams cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 cup|250 ml cold buttermilk
¼ cup|60 grams cold sour cream
1 tablespoon demerara sugar
vanilla ice cream, to serve

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, toss the strawberries with ¾ cup|200 grams granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, the vanilla paste, and the lemon zest and juice. Let sit for 10 minutes, then toss in the cornstarch. Transfer to a 9 inch pie tin and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, the flour, and baking powder. Add the butter and, using your fingers, break it up into pea-sized crumbles. Add the buttermilk and sour cream and mix to combine, taking care not to overwork the dough. It should be fairly sticky. Dollop it on top of the strawberry mixture into about 5 piles (take care to leave some of the strawberries exposed). Sprinkle the biscuits with the coarse sugar and place the pie tin on a baking sheet. Bake until the biscuits are golden and the strawberries are bubbling, about 1 hour. Cool slightly, then divide among plates. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

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UK's Browns Food Group considering Covid-related redundancies

Scotland-based Browns Food Group has made an announcement regarding jobs following a reduction in business from the foodservice and food-to-go channels.

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Unilever and Hershey pull US social media advertising over hate speech

Food heavyweights Unilever and Hershey have taken decisions on whether to support a campaign calling for a boycott of social media advertising over the promotion of hate speeches.

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Aryzta shareholders reportedly drop demands on CEO's board position

An investor group calling for a board shake-up at Swiss-Irish bakery business Aryzta has reportedly dropped a demand for chief executive Kevin Toland to step down from the board.

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McCain Foods confirms talks over factory in Russia

Potato major McCain Foods is in discussions about possibly setting up a manufacturing plant in a country where the company does not have a production presence.

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New products - Itsu products launch in France; Jelly Belly moves into gummies; Nestle-Lactalis JV expands Lindahls range in UK; Caulipower targets convenience

We report on a batch of new products including Krispy Kreme's retail snacks, a "mash-up" breakfast cereal from Kellogg and Finland's Fazer Group launching vegan chocolate.

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Danone investors back 'enterprise a mission' status

French dairy giant Danone has moved further along its chosen route of becoming a purpose-driven rather than profit-motivated business following a shareholder vote.

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New products - Candy company Jelly Belly moves into gummies; Nestle-Lactalis JV expands Lindahls range in UK; Caulipower targets convenience; Krispy Kreme in retail snacks push

We report on a batch of new products including Krispy Kreme's retail snacks, a "mash-up" breakfast cereal from Kellogg and Finland's Fazer Group launching vegan chocolate.

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Unilever looking to merge five UK offices into planned campus HQ

Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever is proposing to consolidate employees from five locations into an, as yet unbuilt, campus HQ.

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Australia's Freedom Foods Group looking into possible fraud

Freedom Foods Group is probing the possibility of fraudulent activity, the under-scrutiny Australian business has told investors.

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Profit warning from S Africa's AVI

South African consumer goods group AVI has warned its full-year earnings are expected to be down more than 10% after problems at seafood arm I&J.

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Skirt Steak, Arugula, and Potato Salad Recipe

Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

for the marinade:
1 cup|40 grams baby arugula
½ cup|20 grams flat-leaf parsley leaves
¼ cup|60 ml red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 small garlic clove
½ jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 small shallot, chopped
½ cup|125 ml extra-virgin olive oil

for the salad:
1 pound|500 grams skirt steak
1 pound|450 grams creamer potatoes, quartered
3 tablespoons|1 ¼ ounces|45 ml olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup|½ ounce|17 grams baby arugula
flaky salt, to serve

Directions

1. Make the marinade: Combine the arugula, parsley, vinegar, salt, garlic clove, chile, and shallot in a food processor. Pulse to combine, then slowly pour in the olive oil until emulsified. Season to taste. Marinade will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 5 days.

2. Place the steak in a large bowl and cover with ½ cup|125 ml of the marinade. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour, preferably overnight.

3. Heat the oven to 425°F. Place the potatoes on a sheet tray and toss with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast the potatoes until golden and crisp, about 35 minutes. Toss in a large bowl with ¼ cup of the remaining marinade.

4. Grill the steak: Light a grill over medium-high. Remove the steak from the marinade and grill, flipping once, until medium-rare, about 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board to rest for 10 minutes before slicing the steak against the grain into ¼-inch thick slices. Season with the flaky salt.

5. Toss the arugula with the potatoes. Place a serving of salad on a plate and top with some sliced steak. Serve with the remaining marinade.

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Unilever to expand China ice-cream plant with eye on more food products

Unilever has embarked on the expansion of an existing factory in a key market in Asia, with possible plans to widen the site's output to take in more food products.

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New products - Nestle-Lactalis JV expands Lindahls range in UK; Caulipower targets convenience; Krispy Kreme in retail snacks push

We report on a batch of new products including Krispy Kreme's retail snacks, a "mash-up" breakfast cereal from Kellogg and Finland's Fazer Group launching vegan chocolate.

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Indian government to set up dairy and meat development fund

The government of India has launched a INR150bn (US$1.98bn) agricultural infrastructure fund in an attempt to boost the country's dairy and meat sector.

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Food sector set for investment from Amazon's $2bn climate fund

Food and agriculture will be one of the sectors of focus of a technology giant's new Climate Pledge Fund, which has an initial investment pot of US$2bn.

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OmniPork owner Green Monday backs cell-milk start-up TurtleTree Labs

Hong Kong plant-based foods supplier Green Monday Group has backed a Singapore start-up developing milk made from cells.

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Pork and Kimchi Dumplings Recipe

Makes 34
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Ingredients

for the dumpling wrappers:
2 cups|284 grams all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
cornstarch, for dusting

for the filling:
6 ounces|180 grams ground pork
½ cup|115 grams finely chopped kimchi
½ cup|145 grams crumbled tofu or ricotta cheese
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 red chile, minced
½ small yellow onion, diced
4 ½ teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons mirin
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 ½ teaspoons fish sauce
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons canola oil

for the dipping sauce:
¼ cup|60 ml soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
½ teaspoon red chili flakes or gochugaru
1 scallion, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Make the dumpling wrappers: In a large bowl, combine the flour, sesame oil, salt, and, ½ cup boiling water and knead by hand until a smooth, elastic dough forms. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour.

2. Make the filling: In a large bowl, add the ground pork, kimchi, ricotta, scallions, garlic, chiles, and onion and mix to combine. Add the soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, and fish sauce and season with salt and pepper. Add the cornstarch and mix thoroughly, then refrigerate for 15 minutes.

3. Make the dipping sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, sesame seeds, chili flakes, and scallion. Makes ½ cup. Refrigerate until ready to use.

4. Roll out the dumpling dough: Once the dough has rested, lightly dust a clean work surface with cornstarch. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and shape into rectangles. To thin the dough, set a pasta machine to its widest setting. Roll one rectangle of dough lightly in cornstarch and flatten to fit the width of the pasta machine. Run the dough through the machine at this setting, then set the machine to the next thinnest setting and run the dough through. Continue running the dough through the machine's settings so that the dough gets progressively thinner each time, until it has been run through 5 to 6 times. Dust the dough with more cornstarch and reserve on a sheet tray. Repeat with the remaining 3 rectangles of dough, coating with cornstarch in between each layer. Using a 3 ½-inch biscuit cutter (or bottom of a cornstarch lid), cut the dough into 34 circles.

5. Form the dumplings: Dip your finger in a small bowl of water mixed with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and wet the perimeter of a wrapper. Place about 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle of each dumpling wrapper and fold up and in half. Crimp the edges of the dumpling to seal and form into half moons. Transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dumplings.

6. Cook the dumplings: Working in batches, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Dust any excess cornstarch off the dumplings and place in the skillet so that they are bottom-side down. Fry until the underside is golden, 2 minutes. Pour ⅓ cup|78 ml water over the dumplings and cover. Cook until steamed and cooked through and the water has evaporated, 5 to 6 minutes minutes. Serve with the dipping sauce.

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Freedom Foods announces redundancies, widens write down as troubled week continues

Australia's Freedom Foods Group has made an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) about job numbers as its difficult week continues.

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Plant-based to "completely replace" animal products in 15 years - Impossible Foods CEO

The founder and CEO of Impossible Foods has set out his projections for the growth of the plant-based food market.

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Princes forced to close UK facility after Covid-19 outbreak

Princes, the UK food group owned by Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corp., closed a facility for 24 hours this week after a Covid-19 outbreak among its workforce.

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Hochdorf names Danone executive Geza Somogyi new COO

Switzerland-based infant-formula supplier Hochdorf has appointed an executive from Danone as its new COO.

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Tyson to close South Carolina pork facility

US meat giant Tyson Foods has confirmed it is to permanently close a pork processing plant, putting 150 jobs at risk.

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Vegetable

Moms Kitchen Recipe NetworkSource: Vegetable was originally uploaded to CurryMoms Kitchen Recipe Network

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Prawn Curry Recipe Articles

Moms Kitchen Recipe NetworkVisit Our Site: https://gmb.pw/1xx Prawns are probably one of the healthiest ingredients you can add to a curry sauce. Prawns are high in Omega fatty acids, which are also very good for your heart aSource: Prawn Curry Recipe Articles was originally uploaded to Prawn Curry RecipeMoms Kitchen Recipe Network

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Prawn Curry 1.jpg

Moms Kitchen Recipe NetworkVisit Our Site: https://gmb.pw/1xx Prawns are probably one of the healthiest ingredients you can add to a curry sauce. Prawns are high in Omega fatty acids, which are also very good for your heart aSource: Prawn Curry 1.jpg was originally uploaded to Prawn Curry Recipe ImagesMoms Kitchen Recipe Network

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Ben & Jerry's joins Facebook ad boycott

The US ice-cream business, owned by Unilever, has signed up to a campaign calling on companies to not advertise on Facebook's services in July.

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Nestle to re-brand racially-insensitive Beso de Negra in Colombia

 Nestlé is to rename and redesign another product deemed racially insensitive, this one sold in South America.

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Freedom Foods halts trading as CEO Rory Macleod goes "on leave" a day after CFO quits

Australia's Freedom Foods Group has announced another senior executive development a day after it was revealed the company's chief financial officer had resigned.

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Spanish meat major Campofrio makes belated move into plant-based

Campofrío Food Group, a producer of meat products and prepared meals based in Spain, has announced its first move into a new category.

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French baker Cerelia in domestic capex project

French bakery business Cérélia is investing again in capex, with a project to set up a new production and R&D centre.

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NY Liquor Policies Are Kicking Bars and Restaurants While They're Down

As New York City slowly rolls through the stages of reopening, many businesses find themselves struggling to adapt to new safety guidelines on top of lost revenue from the three-plus months that they've sat empty during the coronavirus pandemic. But while we retreated inside and took a break from dining and drinking out, state authorities did not press pause on a rule that could keep many of these bars and restaurants shuttered—for reasons that have nothing to do with protecting people from COVID-19.

In the tersely worded Mission Statement posted on its website, the New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) says that it basically does two things: issues liquor licenses and permits for manufacturing, distributing, and selling booze; and ensures that all of its licensees and permit-holders comply with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law. But another thing that the SLA is responsible for, and straight-up requires, is for manufacturers and wholesalers to report any retailers who take more than 30 days to pay their bills for whatever beer, liquor, or wine they've bought. According to the SLA's Delinquency Reporting regulations, any retailer who buys booze on credit has anywhere between 12 and 30 days to pay their bills in full, depending on what kind of alcohol was in their order.

If those outstanding balances aren't paid by the due date, then the wholesaler is required to report that retailer as being delinquent. "Delinquency reporting is not optional," the SLA warns, using a bold font to further emphasize those five words. Any retailer that is reported as delinquent has its name added to the agency's "C.O.D. list," where they'll stay until they've paid their full bills. During that time, they're not allowed to buy any more alcohol on credit which, during normal times, doesn't sound unreasonable.

But this year, when bars and restaurants have been affected by what feels like an ever-increasing number of pandemic-related challenges, it seems like maybe the SLA should consider cutting them a break.

The New York Post reports that the SLA isn't doing that, despite a request from the New York State Restaurant Association, asking for bars and restaurants to please have another 30 days to settle up. The SLA said nope, that wasn't fair to the wine and beer wholesalers.

"I tried to explain to them the wholesalers aren’t going to get their money anyway,” the Association's Chief Executive Melissa Fleischut said. “[Restaurant owners] can’t pay.” (The SLA's regulations also don't allow bars or restaurants to negotiate prices with wholesalers the way they could with other vendors, nor can the wholesalers work out any kind of payment plans with their customers. "Delinquency reporting is not optional," and all that.)

One alcohol regulatory expert said that, under normal circumstances, less than 5 percent of the city's restaurants would be on the C.O.D. list but, due to the pandemic, it is believed that "an overwhelming majority" of restaurants and bars are unable to pay their outstanding balances—and they also don't have enough cash on hand to buy more wine or beer outright.

"Theoretically, you could have places opening and within a few days they have exhausted their alcohol supply that they had for March,” Robert Bookman told the Post. "It could really negatively impact their opening and their ability to get moving again and bring in revenue again.”

VICE has reached out to both the New York State Restaurant Association, and to the New York State Liquor Authority. In the meantime, the SLA has suggested that it's already given restaurants plenty of breaks, like giving them more time to pay to renew their licenses, and allowing them to sell cocktails to go.

That's all great for the joints that actually have enough booze to make those cocktails, but it doesn't help everyone else.

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Salsa de Molcajete Recipe

Makes 1 cup
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 jalapeño, stemmed and seeded
1 large tomatillo, husk removed, washed, and halved
1 medium roma tomato, halved
½ small yellow onion, peeled
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat the broiler. Place the garlic, tomato, onion, tomatillo, and jalapeño on a sheet tray. Broil, turning as needed, until charred all over, about 15 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

2. Meanwhile, mash the garlic into a paste, then transfer to a bowl with the cilantro.

3. Transfer the tomato, tomatillo, onion, and jalapeño to a molcajete and mash until chunky. Alternatively, transfer to the bowl of a food processor and process until chunky. Add to the bowl with the garlic and cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve .

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New products - Krispy Kreme in retail snacks push; Fazer test-launches oat-based chocolate; India's LT Foods unveils instant rice pots

We report on a batch of new products including Krispy Kreme's retail snacks, a "mash-up" breakfast cereal from Kellogg and Finland's Fazer Group launching vegan chocolate.

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Freedom Foods halts trading as CEO Rory Macleod follows CFO out the door

Australia's Freedom Foods Group has announced another senior executive departure a day after it was revealed the company's chief financial officer had resigned.

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France's Brousse Vergez buys olives supplier Delieuze

Brousse Vergez, a France-based food manufacturer and trader, has snapped up a company in its domestic market to boost its position in the olives market.

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Froneri to drop "derogatory" Eskimo Pie product name in racial equality move

Global ice cream business Froneri is to ditch a product name and associated branding that may be seen to reinforce racial stereotypes.

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Nestle to rebrand "out of step" Australian candies

Nestle has set out plans to change the names of two confectionery brands in Australia, the latest example of a food maker reviewing their product ranges for possible stereotypes.

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Freedom Foods CFO Campbell Nicholas quits month after profit warning

Australia's Freedom Foods Group has announced that one of its senior executives has resigned with immediate effect.

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Lactalis names ex-Metro exec Philippe Palazzi new CEO

Global dairy group Lactalis has hired a retail veteran as the French company's new group chief executive.

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Should Columbus, Ohio Be Renamed 'Flavortown'? Many Fieri Fans Think So

Last week, the mayor of Columbus, Ohio announced that the city would be removing a statue of Christopher Columbus from outside its City Hall, and it would be shoved into a storage unit "as soon as possible."

"For many people in our community, the statue represents patriarchy, oppression and divisiveness. That does not represent our great city, and we will no longer live in the shadow of our ugly past,” Andrew Ginther said in a statement. "Now is the right time to replace this statue with artwork that demonstrates our enduring fight to end racism and celebrate the themes of diversity and inclusion.”

The Columbus Art Commission has been tasked with finding a replacement statue or large-scale artwork to sit on that soon-to-be-vacant plinth, one that “that better reflects the people of Columbus and offers a shared vision for the future. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the city has two other statues of Columbus that could come down too, one near the entrance of Columbus State Community College, and one that is outside the Statehouse.

After that, what, if anything, will Columbus do about its actual name? The city has spent more than 100 years paying homage to the problematic explorer, despite the fact that he never actually set foot anywhere what became central Ohio.

But one resident recently made an inspired suggestion, proposing that Columbus should be renamed "Flavortown," in honor of the Patron Saint of Donkey Sauce, Guy Fieri.

"The new name is twofold. For one, it honors Central Ohio's proud heritage as a culinary crossroads and one of the nation's largest test markets for the food industry," Tyler Woodbridge wrote in his now-viral Change.org petition. "Secondly, cheflebrity Guy Fieri was born in Columbus, so naming the city in honor of him would be superior to its current nomenclature." (Woodbridge notes that actual Columbus is "in The Bad Place because of all his raping, slave trading, and genocide." He's not wrong.)

Yes, Fieri was born at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus (he was Guy Ferry then), but his family moved to northern California when he was a baby. He has been back to his birth city "at least twice" according to the Dispatch, although he forgot about those visits during an interview with the paper in 2017. "I’ve been to Cincinnati. I’ve been to Cleveland millions of times. My mom went to [Ohio State University], my dad went to OSU," he said. "Of course, we’re the West Coast representation and fans of Ohio State." (He also featured six Columbus restaurants during the 27th and 28th seasons of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.)

As of this writing, more than 32,000 people have signed the petition in favor of Flavor(town), because honestly, the only super-questionable thing about Fieri is his commitment to cargo shorts and frosted tips.

It's a longshot, but Fieri's heritage—he changed his name in honor of his Italian immigrant grandfather—might even satisfy the Columbus Piave Club, who have responded to Mayor Ginther's decision by basically asking " Che cazzo è?” The club, which promotes Italian heritage and culture in the city, actually acquired the Columbus statue in 1955 from the mayor of Genoa, Italy—Columbus' sister city. They also launched the city's once-annual Columbus Day celebration and host the Italian Festival Parade. A spokesperson for the club said that Columbus has been "misrepresented."

"The worst possible translations have always been used for political purposes,” Joseph Contino said. “Columbus was a mover and shaker who traveled with conquistadors [...] that found a continent that no one knew existed.” With respect to the Pieve Club, "a mover and a shaker" is a weird way of saying "genocidal rapist.

Regardless, ABC6 reports that the Columbus City Council cannot change the city's name on its own; it actually requires an archaic-sounding process that involves "12 freeholders of the municipal corporation" and an official published notice of the change. It also takes an explanation of "why such change is desirable," which could basically be a list of all of the t-shirts that are currently available on Fieri's website, starting with the one that just says "Knuckle Sandwich."

VICE has reached out to Fieri's representatives for comment. According to a Facebook post from the Moorhead (Minn.) Police Department, he spent Monday filming in the city.

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Grilled Corn, Avocado, and Tortilla Chip Salad Recipe

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

3 ears corn, shucked
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 avocado
3 ounces|85 grams corn tortilla chips, crumbled into 1-inch pieces
2 ounces|60 grams crumbled feta cheese
⅓ cup|5 grams cilantro leaves and tender stems
¼ cup|40 grams finely chopped red onion
1 lime, zested and juiced (about 3 tablespoons fresh juice)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Light a grill. Rub the corn all over with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Grill, turning as needed, until lightly charred all over, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board to cool slightly before using a knife to carefully remove all the kernels from the cob. Transfer the kernels to a large bowl.

2. Meanwhile, halve, pit, and scoop out the avocado, then cut into ¼-inch pieces. Add to the bowl with the corn along with the remaining olive oil, the tortilla chips, feta, cilantro, red onion, lime zest and juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

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Tulip confirms Covid-19 cases at UK plant marked down for closure

Meat processing business Tulip, owned by US meat giant Pilgrim's Pride, has confirmed an outbreak of Covid-19 among the workforce at one if its UK facilities.

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Covid-19 - Outbreak at Toennies meat plant fuels Germany's infection rate

A severe outbreak of Covid-19 at a meat-processing factory in Germany has helped drive up the disease's R, or reproduction, rate in the country.

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Nestle severs KitKat brand's ties with Fairtrade organisation

Switzerland-based confectionery giant Nestlé has told a fair farming organisation that it will no longer source sugar and cocoa for its KitKat products from its producers.

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Australia's Global Foods targets local firm Buderim's ginger division

Global Foods Group of Australia has made a takeover bid for a locally-based business's ginger and tourism assets.

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Italy's Parmalat launches D2C offering after Covid-19 boom

Italian dairy company Parmalat, owned by French peer Lactalis, has made an announcement on whether to launch a direct-to-consumer operation.

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Yowie investor wants board shake-up at confectioner

Yowie Group, the Australia-based confectionery business, has come under pressure from one of its major investors, which has criticised its performance.

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Kabab-Koobideh Recipe

Servings: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 large yellow onion, peeled
1 ½ pounds double-ground ground beef
2 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons sumac, plus more for serving
½ teaspoon baking soda
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
lavash bread, to serve
olive oil, to serve
Italian flat-leaf parsley
Persian basil
limes wedges for serving

Directions

1. Grate the onion into a large bowl. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible, discarding the liquid. Add the beef, salt, sumac, and baking soda and mix to incorporate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.

2. Light a charcoal grill. Divide the meat into 4 equal-sized balls and, working with one ball of meat at a time and using wet hands, form the meat up and around a skewer. Repeat with remaining meat and skewers.

3. Place the skewers on the grill. Wait about 30 seconds, then turn them. Keep turning them every 30 seconds for 2 to 3 minutes and continue cooking until charred and cooked through, 3 minutes more. Brush each side with butter and transfer to a platter on top of the lavash. Season with salt and squeeze the fresh lime juice over the top. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with sumac and the herbs. Serve with lime wedges.

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UK unveils plans to "turbo charge" food industry post-Covid-19

The UK government has revealed plans that it hopes will ensure the country's food and drink industry and agriculture sector bounce back successfully from the impact of Covid-19.

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China suspends poultry imports from Covid-hit Tyson plant

China has suspended poultry imports from a plant owned by Tyson Foods which has been hit by a Covid-19 outbreak.

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PepsiCo closes China food plant in Covid-19 move

US food and beverages giant PepsiCo has taken action following an outbreak of Covid-19 at one of its food processing plants in China.

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After Panic in Beijing, FDA Reiterates That COVID-19 Doesn't Spread Through Food

In the past week, more than 100 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Beijing, after the Chinese capital went almost two months without a single positive test. The majority of the just-confirmed cases have been connected to Xinfadi, the massive wholesale agricultural market in the southern part of the city.

Xinfadi—which trades an estimated 18,000 tons of vegetables and 20,000 tons of fruit every day—was promptly closed, while some residential compounds in that district have reportedly been locked down. According to the BBC, a spokesperson for Beijing's Municipal Health Commission said that 40 samples taken from the market had tested positive for coronavirus, and at least one of the positive tests was originally connected to a chopping board that was used to cut imported salmon.

As a result, salmon has been pulled from supermarket shelves and from grocery apps, and China temporarily stopped importing salmon from Europe, much to the frustration of Norwegian salmon suppliers. (According to Food Navigator, Norway exported 23,500 tons of salmon to China in 2019, a haul worth $1.6 billion NOK.)

On Tuesday, Chinese authorities walked back their statements about the salmon, after agreeing that the salmon had not been contaminated with coronavirus before its arrival at the market. "At present, all the evidence points to Xinfadi, rather than to salmon,” Zhong Kai, director of the China Food Information Center, said.

Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, Norway's Minister of Fisheries and Seafood, immediately released a statement that reads like a long sigh of relief. "The statement from Chinese experts on disease control is in line with the conclusions reached by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, who have stated that infection via food and water is considered unlikely," he said. "[W]e are working at full speed to ensure that Norwegian salmon export to China soon can resume." (He did admit that it could "take some time" before the salmon situation returns to normal.)

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority echoed Ingebritson's remarks, while noting that most of Norway's "salmon slaughterhouses" are in rural parts of the country with few residents and even fewer cases of coronavirus. "It is a basic requirement in the Norwegian regulation that people handling food including seafood, must be healthy," the agency wrote. "During the Covid-19 outbreak, Norway has implemented strict hygiene regulations regarding social distance, quarantine, and isolation. The producers in Norway have followed all these requirements and recommendations in their facilities."

The World Health Organization has said that "food has not been implicated in the transmission of COVID-19," and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has also written that "coronavirus cannot infect aquatic animals." (The FAO and the Asian Fisheries Society collaborated on a study published in April that determined that the cause of COVID-19 "was not known to infect aquatic food animals nor contaminate their products.")

"A virus must rely on the viral receptor on the host cell surfaces to infect cells. Without the certain receptor they cannot enter into cells successfully," Cheng Gong, a virologist at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times. "All known evidence so far suggests this kind of receptors exist only in mammals, not fish."

Regardless, the FDA has responded this week, by also saying that there was no evidence that coronavirus has been—or even could be—transmitted through food. "The FDA is aware of reports that China will begin testing foods (particular produce, seafood and meat) for COVID-19. There is currently NO evidence of the transmission of COVID-19 through food and there are no known or suspected cases linked to food," Frank Yiannas, the FDA's deputy Commissioner of Food Policy and Response, wrote on Twitter.

"We continue to review all available science as we assess the virus that causes COVID-19. Following standard hygiene practices, safe food handling, and using cooking practices that protect us from foodborne illness remain important."

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Everyone Wants to Return to 'Normal.' That Doesn't Mean You Should

A strange phenomenon has begun to occur in big cities, particularly Los Angeles and New York. Inklings of the behavior started to appear on my Instagram Stories weeks ago—people, three to 10 deep, hanging out in public, drinking in groups, eating in restaurants. I have to assume the individuals at these gatherings were aware there's a deadly pandemic still ravaging the country, as some were wearing masks, yet many are choosing to forget the other measures being asked of us to prevent the spread of coronavirus. And it really is a choice.

New York City entered phase 1 of the reopening process on June 8, allowing construction work and curbside or in-store pick-up at retailers. While Phase 2 is slated for June 22—opening up outdoor dining, barbershops, and salons, as well as additional retail and other services—and Los Angeles is in Phase 3—allowing zoos, aquariums, and music, film, and TV production to resume business—it hasn't stopped experts from questioning the speed of reopening as a public health concern. Simultaneously, many denizens of these cities are fully abandoning social distancing and self-isolation guidelines, seemingly believing that these reopenings signal the end of the virus itself. In LA, an underground dance party drew about 100 people last week. That same day, St. Mark's Place in New York City was crowded with mostly unmasked people raging as a New Orleans-style jazz band played live outside a local bar. It looked like a block party, not a city heeding and grieving the hundreds of thousands of residents sickened (and nearly 20,000 killed) by a deadly pandemic.

I'm not exactly sure when it started, but this disparity between awareness and personal behavior has progressively become common on my timeline. Weeks ago, I sent friends screenshots of an ex-boyfriend's Instagram Stories in which he goes from decrying the government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis to a video of him partying with friends on a boat, no masks in sight. I've seen acquaintances post about relatives struggling with coronavirus, admitting that at first they didn't take the virus seriously, only to see them follow up with social media posts at the beach, drinking and laughing with a PPE-free group of friends. I've heard of containing multitudes, but, uh, that ain't it.

It all came to a head on Saturday afternoon, when a friend and I met up for a social-distanced hang. Masks on, we walked to a nearby bar that was empty, got frozen watermelon margarita road sodas, and headed to a park, where we sat for a few hours soaking up the sun while keeping to opposite ends of my large picnic blanket. We used hand sanitizer liberally and frequently, and avoided all touch. It felt comforting to feel a sense of normalcy again, even if it had to be adjusted for the current conditions. Those are easy sacrifices, though, when you consider the consequences (i.e. dying, or someone else dying because you're an asshole). About a hundred feet away, we saw a picnic table full of people celebrating a birthday. For a moment I thought nothing of it, until it came back to me, like a memory triggered from hearing a song or seeing a Hyundai Sonata or whatever else gets the brain remembering things: This isn't normal anymore.

Then, I suddenly heard chants of "no justice, no peace." Hundreds of protestors marched through the park, following the paved pathway to meet at the monument in the center of the park. It was a strange collision of the world we're now living in, and the layers of cognitive dissonance that are spreading throughout our collective consciousness in various degrees. To see these gatherings—myself and my friend cautiously catching a fade at the park, a large cluster of people abandoning concern for an afternoon of celebration, and protestors fighting for a greater good despite fears of illness and brutalization from police—made me realize the mental gymnastics we're all performing out of fear or necessity.

Simply Psychology explains that cognitive dissonance "refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviors. This produces a feeling of mental discomfort leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance." Meaning, we do not-great shit, convince ourselves why we have to do the not-great shit, and then, when we can feel your own brain dragging us to filth, we quiet the demons by reminding ourselves that surely, we're actually a Good Person who just had to do some not-great shit. It's how society got both reality TV stars and certain breeds of Nazi sympathizers.

For protestors, there are dueling conflicting attitudes and behaviors: protecting oneself and others during a pandemic, and protecting and fighting for Black people in the face of racial injustice. To do one, the other has to be sacrificed, even if participants are taking precautions like wearing face masks, using hand sanitizer, and staying home if they have any symptoms. When I chose to protest these past weeks, it all came down to a simple fact: I have health insurance. I can afford to put my body on the line in the service of an important fight, because I have the privilege of a medical safety net. But for others, and for the drunken partiers convening and raging like it's pandemic Spring Break even when they know they shouldn't according to the pleas of health experts, it's bafflingly irresponsible. So many people are inexplicably getting comfortable, and dropping their guard too damn low.

The reminders of the time we're living in are everywhere—on signs in storefronts, in the masked faces on the street, in the daily push notifications—so seeing such a large number of people, both in real life and online, blatantly contradict themselves is surreal and upsetting. It boggles the mind, especially when coming from people who ostensibly know better. Do they believe they're immune in some way? How many of these people are getting regularly tested for COVID-19? Perhaps a positive antibody result has led some to believe that they're impervious to coronavirus, despite the fact that experts say that may not be the case. Are the people crowding restaurants and throwing backyard parties with dozens of friends and family considering their forays outside of the stifling bounds of quarantine a little treat? Something so small that it's probably harmless?

It's understanding to deeply grieve for normalcy—to yearn for the joy that comes with being drunk with your friends, laughing at a bar, gossiping at a restaurant. The act of communing over food and drink is ancient, and beautiful, and above all, really fun. But if it means you and all your friends end up with COVID after one night of getting shithoused at a Florida Irish Pub, would it be worth it? Imagine being willing to risk it all for a pint of semi-cold Guinness. Wild!

The anti-mask, pro-reopening brigade is loud and misled, but so are those who are crying online and in person about the horrible impacts of COVID only to turn around and put others at risk out of a sense of personal entitlement or willingness to allow themselves a pass. Offering our patronage to small businesses like bars and restaurants is absolutely important, especially when so many across the country are faced with the difficult choice of having to open prematurely and putting their staff at risk of contracting COVID or lose their livelihood and their ability to pay their staff. The government has done far too little to help these workers, but there are ways we can help support them besides by crowding their tables and pretending that Everything Is Fine, when the numbers show that we're still in a very bad place. So instead of choosing to forget, instead of choosing to pretend that we're safe just because their doors are reopening, consider getting takeout, or buying merch. Bars and restaurants can still be supported in full, in a safe way.

The normal we knew is gone. Humans have had to evolve for their survival since literally forever. Refusing to do so is a danger to all. It's time to adapt to a new reality.

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More UK plants "suspected" to have Covid-19 outbreaks, union claims

Three UK factories have emerged as sites where multiple staff have tested positive for Covid-19 – but trade union Unite claims there are more sites "suspected" to have outbreaks.

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Commodities giant Louis Dreyfus unveils VC arm

Louis Dreyfus Co. has formally launched a venture-capital programme through which the agribusiness behemoth says it would look to invest in "customer-facing" products.

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Covid-19 - 'Asda, Oscar Mayer food plants see outbreaks'

Two more food-processing factories in the UK have reportedly been affected by outbreaks of Covid-19 among staff.

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Vibrant Foods created as UK Asian-style foods suppliers TRS, East End merge

Two Asian-style food manufacturers in the UK have merged under a new banner following their acquisition by a private-equity firm.

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Cafe's Entire Staff Quits Over Owner's Coronavirus Denial and Alleged Harassment

In mid-May, a Yelp reviewer wrote that she ordered a coffee at Killer ESP in Alexandria, Virginia, and then immediately threw it away after noticing that none of the baristas were wearing face masks or gloves, and they were sharing a single computer screen. "[T]he business should provide masks for the workers," she wrote. "None of these small steps of courtesy and common sense are hard to implement. I hope the owners of Killer ESP will read this and change but it is already mid-May and if they haven't done it by now, it seems fairly unlikely."

According to some now-former employees, ignoring coronavirus-related safety protocols was very on-brand for Killer ESP, possibly because the owner still isn't convinced that the ongoing pandemic is really a thing. Kristyn Crow told Alexandria Living Magazine that she heard owner Rob Shelton tell customers that masks weren't necessary inside the coffee shop, and that employees had to supply their own face coverings when they became mandatory for foodservice workers in the state. "I think with him being in charge, I think it was disrespectful of him not to implement it into our lives because we’re his employees and he didn’t look out for us," she said.

Another former Killer ESP worker who spoke anonymously to the magazine alleged that Shelton "encouraged people to sit inside when it was not allowed," and that it was up to employees to remind everyone that they were limited to takeaway orders only. Shelton's casual insouciance about an as-yet-incurable illness was only part of the reason why the entire Killer ESP staff quit, and why some local suppliers have vowed not to work with the shop again.

The other reasons include allegations of sexual harassment, and very controversial social media posts, including calling coronavirus "the biggest scam in history."

According to Washingtonian, Killer ESP's now-deleted Twitter account had liked a number of tweets related to QAnon's conspiracy theories and several that suggested that George Floyd's murder and funeral had been staged. (The account also responded to a tweet that asked people to name their favorite thing about President Donald Trump by writing about his "BALLS OF STEEL.")

Shelton told the outlet that although the likes and the tweets were found on his @Killer_ESP account, he didn't do it—and he suggested that it was a deliberate attack of sabotage by an employee who knew his login information. "No one in their right mind with a family and a business that they busted their ass on is going to like and comment in any fashion like that on social media,” he said. “I’m not political. I’m not red or blue. I’ve always just lived my life right or wrong.”

What complicates his Shaggy-style "It wasn't me" defense is that most of those troubling posts seem to align with his actual beliefs. He told Washingtonian that he thinks the science behind coronavirus "doesn’t actually match up" with reality (or at least his version of it); he believes wearing a face mask is a sign of "conformity and submission"; he's an antivaxxer, and he also isn't "going to accept" the facts about George Floyd's murder.

Shelton has also not been impressed with the recent surge in support for Black Lives Matter. “I don’t understand Black Lives Matter, because I want all lives to matter," he said. "But if you say that, then I’m denounced for doing that. People online are brought down for saying that. Black people have their problems. I have problems too. Mine aren’t any less because theirs are so big.”

Shelton's now-former employees repeated their allegations that he wouldn't provide masks, nor did he adhere to social distancing requirements. Seven former workers also alleged that Shelton sexually harassed them, either by making inappropriate comments, by touching them in ways they weren't comfortable with, or both. (When Washingtonian mentioned one woman's concerns about the way he'd touched her, he said she was "a young girl looking for some kind of attention," and then described her as a "very large-breasted girl" who had hugged him in the restaurant's kitchen.)

On Tuesday, the @KillerESP Instagram account posted a message acknowledging the "offensive social media postings" that were "allegedly authored or authorized" by Shelton. "I am working hard to find out who posted them, as well as to change the allowed access to the shop's social media in order to make sure that this does not happen again," he wrote. "In the meantime, I understand your reaction to those outrageous postings, and I am sorry you were subjected to them."

A GoFundMe has been set up for the former staff of Killer ESP, to help them until they can find other jobs—maybe even jobs where nobody pays attention to QAnon.

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Hong Kong Style Baked Cheesy Rice Recipe

Servings: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

for the tomato sauce:
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 large beefsteak tomato, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 ½ teaspoons all-purpose flour
¼ cup|80 grams ketchup
¾ teaspoon granulated sugar
kosher salt, to taste

for the cheesy rice:
8 tablespoons|113 grams unsalted butter
2 tablespoons tamarind vinegar (or apple cider or rice vinegar)
1 ½ tablespoons honey or maple syrup
3 cups|400 grams leftover cooked rice
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup|85 grams shredded Mexican cheese
1 cup|125 grams shredded low-moisture mozzarella

Directions

1. Make the sauce: Heat the oil in a small saucepan over high. Add the onion and cook for until lightly golden, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato and cook until just soft, about 2 minutes more, then transfer to a medium bowl. Wipe the saucepan clean.

2. Lower the heat to medium and melt the butter in the saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thick, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomato-onion mixture back to the saucepan along with ¼ cup|60 ml cold water. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Stir in the ketchup and sugar and season with salt. Cook until thick, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.

2. Make the cheesy rice: Heat the oven to broil. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium. Add the vinegar and honey and stir to combine, then add the rice. Cook, stirring, until combined, then season with salt and pepper. Stir in the Mexican cheese and cook until melted, 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Place the rice in an 10-inch oven-proof skillet (alternatively, divide among four 10-ounce ramekins). Spoon the tomato sauce over the rice and sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the top. Cook until golden and bubbling, about 3 minutes, then serve.

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Plant-based start-up The Very Good Food Co. goes public after IPO

A Canadian plant-based start-up, has started trading on the local stock exchange after completing an IPO.

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New products - Mars launches M&M's bars in France; JBS offshoot Planterra Foods unveils Ozo meat-free in US; More products join line-up of Asia meat-free brand OmniPork

This week, we report on product news including major French milk brand Candia extending into plant-based drinks and Canada's Maple Leaf Foods launching a "fusion protein" range.

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UK, EU trade bodies call for rules-of-origin safeguards in Brexit deal

Food and drink bodies across the UK and European Union have outlined areas they would like to see addressed in a trade deal currently being thrashed out.

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Unilever Germany factory future resolved but redundancies to come

Unilever has confirmed jobs at one of its food factories in Germany are set to go even after it reached agreement with staff to keep the plant open.

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New products - French milk Candia expands into dairy-free; Kellogg rolls out RXBAR snacks for kids; Paulig's plant-based brand Gold&Green hits UK; Maple Leaf's 50/50 fusion range

This week, we report on product news including major French milk brand Candia extending into plant-based drinks and Canada's Maple Leaf Foods launching a "fusion protein" range.

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US criticises protectionist stance by UK, EU in trade talks

Robert Lighthizer, Donald Trump's top trade negotiator, has said a trade deal between the two countries is unlikely before presidential elections in November.

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US criticises UK's "thinly-veiled protectionism" over chlorinated chicken

Robert Lighthizer, Donald Trump's top trade negotiator, has said a trade deal between the two countries is unlikely before presidential elections in November.

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Conagra, B&G review brands amid stereotyping concerns

US-based food majors Conagra Brands and B&G Foods plan to follow in the steps of PepsiCo and Mars in changing the pack images for two brands.

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Mexico plant-based cheese firm Heartbest gets funding

Heartbest is one of the latest four fledgling "food tech" companies that Switzerland-based investment firm Blue Horizon Ventures has backed.

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New products - Paulig launches plant-based brand Gold&Green in UK; Chocolate maker Seed and Bean hits Sainsbury's; Maple Leaf debuts 50/50 fusion range

This week, we report on product news including the first major UK listing for plant-based brand This and the launch of Alpro products for children by Danone.

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Easy Chili Verde Recipe

Serves 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 3 hours

Ingredients

for the tomatillo salsa:
1 pound|450 grams tomatillos, husked, washed, and quartered
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 garlic cloves
½ bunch cilantro, roughly chopped.
½ medium yellow onion
¼ jalapeno, stemmed and seeded
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the chili verde:
1 pound|450 grams boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
kosher salt, to taste
3 tablespoons|45 ml canola oil
½ medium yellow onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups|250 ml chicken bone broth
1 russet potato, cut into 1-inch pieces

to serve:
cooked white rice (optional)
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and thinly sliced
1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced
1 white onion, diced
½ bunch cilantro leaves
lime wedges

Directions

1. Make the salsa: Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of a blender and purée until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

2. Make the chili verde: Season the pork all over with the pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and salt. Heat the oil over medium-high in a large saucepan. Working in batches, cook the pork, turning as needed, until browned all over, 4 to 5 minutes per batch. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

3. Add the onion and cook until golden, about 3 minutes. Add the pork back to the pan along with the salsa, broth, and potato. Bring to a boil over high, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook, covered and stirring occasionally, until the pork is tender and the stew has thickened, about 2 hours. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the rice. Garnish with the avocado and radish slices, white onion, and cilantro leaves and serve with lime wedges.

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