Big Soda buys seltzer company (Fortune): PepsiCo will buy SodaStream, the Israeli manufacturer of at-home seltzer machines, for $3.2 billion.
A pig for every Spaniard (Guardian): For the first time, Spain has more pigs than people – 50 million vs. 46.5 million – and there are growing concerns about the impact of large-scale livestock production on the environment.Hog farms need large amounts of water in a country that frequently suffers drought.
Monsanto verdict not ‘in vain’ (CBS News): The terminally ill groundskeeper who won $289 million in a cancer lawsuit against Monsanto said the verdict will be a warning to others about the potential dangers of chemicals. “You can’t just die for nothing,” he said.
Third case of swine fever in China (Bloomberg): The Chinese Agriculture Ministry is investigating if there is a link between three outbreaks of African swine fever, according to state radio. This is the first outbreak of the disease in China and may lead to stricter inspection of imported pork and culling of domestic hog herds.
‘Smiley face’ GMO logos disappear (National Law Review): The USDA caught some heat for its proposal of “smiley face” logos to identify food made with GMO ingredients. It took a different approach early this month in a filing with the U.S. Patent Office of six bioengineered symbols that dispense with cartoonish smiles and carry the words “Bioengineered,” “Made with bioengineering” or “May be bioengineered food.”
‘Weed’ heightens concern about weedkillers (Forbes): The legalization of medicinal and recreational marijuana has increased the focus on biopesticides and other alternatives to chemical herbicides.
Food at the fair (The New Food Economy): It’s fair season and a quiz asks Is “deep-fried turducken on a stick” for real? How about tamale doughnuts or a “double bacon corn dog with maple syrup?”