"At first glance, food policy seems to be an afterthought in the Trump administration. The campaign saw few debates about food or farming. And the president-elect hasn't yet nominated someone to head the Department of Agriculture or the Food and Drug Administration. But Donald Trump's lack of attention won't make future food battles any less cutthroat."

"Blood screening technology may be able to diagnose infections before symptoms emerge".

"Eating beef from an animal infected with mad cow disease can lead to an untreatable condition that attacks the brain and is universally fatal, but symptoms can take decades to emerge. Thankfully, a new blood-screening technology can spot the condition, known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, with 100 percent accuracy, perhaps years before it attacks.  

The next farm bill will be the first in a long time put together entirely by a Republican government. How will big agribusiness and ordinary food consumers fare?

"For more than a decade, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other beverage companies have fought mightily against efforts to tax sugary sodas, defeating more than three dozen such proposals around the country. But this month, voters in San Francisco, Oakland and Albany, Calif., as well as Boulder, Colo., stunned the industry by approving ballot measures in favor of soda taxes."

"On the campaign trail, Donald Trump railed against what he called the 'FDA food police' and 'inspection overkill.' He has said he’d dramatically overhaul and limit federal government regulations. Now, big questions have arisen about how far he’ll go to scale back the incremental work done in recent years to keep pesticides, GMOs, and additives out of the food supply."

"Independent testing on an array of popular American food products found many samples contained residue levels of the weed killer called glyphosate, leading the nonprofit organization behind the testing to call for corporate and regulatory action to address consumer safety concerns."

"The Windy City joins Philadelphia, Berkeley, San Francisco, Oakland, and Boulder to slap a levy on sodas."

"Donald Trump's surprising electoral win is likely to dominate the headlines for weeks.  But, across the nation there were a variety of less-well-publicized votes on issues related to food and agriculture.  Here are a few of those results."

"FONDTOUTANU, Haiti — There is no food, so along the road through the mountains there are children begging for something to eat. Most of the trucks rumble past with donations for somewhere else. But one stopped here the other day with sacks of rice, beans and dried herring, setting off a stampede."