Latest from Food Politics: USDA tells dairy industry not to worry about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) overregulation

It’s Climate Week, so this seems ironically appropriate.   Never mind global warming, ruminant greenhouse gas emissions, or food safety. You have to love the double-speak rhetoric: This action aligns research and promotion activities with the ...

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By Marion Nestle September 22 2026 USDA tells dairy industry not to worry about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) overregulation It’s Climate Week, so this seems ironically appropriate.  Never mind global warming, ruminant greenhouse gas emissions, or food safety. You have to love the double-speak rhetoric: This action aligns research and promotion activities with the Department’s priorities and the original mission of the checkoffs. USDA remains committed to ensuring that every dollar collected from American producers serves American agriculture for the better. “Serving American agriculture for the better” is a red flag.  It usually translates as serving the interests of agribusiness or the peculiar politics of the current USDA. The USDA’s target here is its Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.  This, according to the announcement, was established through the checkoff, has pursued extensive ESG initiatives, including greenhouse-gas and net-zero targets. USDA’s action ends checkoff support for those ESG-related projects…This action also directs the Agricultural Marketing Service to ensure no research and promotion funds in other commodity checkoffs advance ESG mandates…USDA is taking swift action to bar the Dairy Checkoff from spending farmer paid dollars on the radical ESG ideology [my emphasis]. I took a look at the Innovation Center website.  Its focus areas may explain why the USDA wants its funding stopped.  Radical ideology?  You decide. Animal care: Align the industry on best practices for animal well-being and care. Environmental Stewardship: Advance solutions that protect natural resources and nourish the planet for future generations. Food Safety: Drive adoption of world-class food safety practices while exploring next generation technologies that progress safety and traceability. Health & Well-being: Deliver dairy nutrition that meets emerging and personalized health while improving nutrition security in the U.S. and around the world. People & Community: Support efforts to alleviate hunger, promote community vitality, and empower the dairy workforce. The Center is funded by the checkoff program.  With no checkoff funding, it will no longer exist. Chalk this up as another tragic casualty of the Trump administration’s radical ideology. The post USDA tells dairy industry not to worry about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) overregulation appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle      Related Posts Whole milk in schools: Will it make kids healthier? Who is lobbying about the forthcoming school food rules? Industry-funded study of the week: dairy trans fats   Now Available: What to Eat Now My new book, What to Eat Now, is officially out! It's both a field guide to food shopping in America and a reflection on how to eat well—and deliciously. For more information and to order, click here. You can explore the full archive of this (almost) daily blog at foodpolitics.com, where you'll also find information about my books, articles, media interviews, upcoming lectures, favorite resources, and FAQs. Visit the Site » ​​​​​​​ Marion Nestle Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita © Marion Nestle. You're receiving this email because you've signed up to receive updates from us. If you'd prefer not to receive updates, you can unsubscribe. Safely Unsubscribe • Archives • Preferences • Contact • Subscribe • Privacy

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Latest from Food Politics: The National Confectioners Association is concerned about sugar restrictions

I subscribe to Jerry Hagstrom’s “The Hagstrom Report” for his tracking of food events in Washington DC I would not know about otherwise.   He occasionally hosts sponsored posts and I was especially interested to read this one on September 15: ...

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By Marion Nestle September 21 2026 The National Confectioners Association is concerned about sugar restrictions I subscribe to Jerry Hagstrom’s “The Hagstrom Report” for his tracking of food events in Washington DC I would not know about otherwise.  He occasionally hosts sponsored posts and I was especially interested to read this one on September 15: “Candy: An American Manufacturing Success Story 250 Years in the Making” by John Downs, the president and CEO of the National Confectioners Association. I don’t write about candy much.  Yes it’s sugar, but most people don’t eat all that much of it. The CDC lists these main sources of sugar in US diets: 24% from sugary drinks, such as soft drinks, fruit drinks, sports drinks, and energy drinks. 19% from desserts and sweet snacks. 11% from coffee and tea that is sweetened before sale or added later. 9% from candy and sugars. 7% from breakfast cereals and bars. According to Google’s AI, for candy: Annual per capita intake: Estimates range from 8 pounds up to 22 or 25 pounds per person annually when including chocolate and seasonal treats. [1, 2, 3] Daily per capita intake: Studies like the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) show an average daily per capita intake of about 10 grams of candy per day across the total population. [1] But the National Confectioners Association wants you to eat more candy, and not worry about it.  Therefore, it wants dietary guidelines to say nothing about sugar or ultra-processed foods.  Alas for the NCA, the 2025-2030 guidelines advise limits on both. Mr, Downs notes that the NCA was in Washington DC that week to meet with congressional representatives.  The NCA wants them to know that the confectionery industry supports nearly 700,000 jobs across manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, retail, and other sectors. Every confectionery manufacturing job supports another 11 American jobs. That is the Power of Sweet — and it shows what’s at stake in policy debates that impact American manufacturing.  In celebration of our nation’s 250th birthday, we created our Sweet Land of Liberty campaign…Chocolate and candy have always been about fun, celebration, and connection, and behind every treat stands a great American manufacturing success story. And then he gets to the ask.  When he says “ingredients” he means sugars.  He’s particularly worried about ultra-processed food classifications. The rapidly evolving conversation around food ingredients is one example. In recent years, states have enacted different restrictions, labeling requirements, and other rules governing food ingredients, often reaching different conclusions about how ingredients should be treated. This patchwork of conflicting state requirements creates uncertainty, complicates supply chains, and makes it harder for manufacturers to make long-term investments in American facilities and jobs…Our industry is engaging in conversations around ingredients, nutrition, and the future of the American food supply. We believe that public policy should be grounded in science, administered consistently at the federal level, informed by how food is manufactured, distributed, and consumed. It should also account for the real-world effects on supply chains, manufacturing costs, American jobs, and the prices families pay at the grocery store. Sounds reasonable, no? If you want to know why we still do not have a definition of ultra-processed foods, why we still support sugar with tariffs, why Congress won’t touch policies to limit marketing of sugar foods and drinks, chalk it up to effective lobbying.  The NCA is small in comparison to the American Beverage Association, but all that talk about jobs on the Sweet Land of Liberty site carries weight. The MAHA dietary guidelines for sugar are pretty tough. + Avoid sugar-sweetened beverages, such as sodas, fruit drinks, and energy drinks. + While no amount of added sugars or non-nutritive sweeteners is recommended or considered part of a healthy or nutritious diet, one meal should contain no more than 10 grams of added sugars. + When selecting snack foods, added sugar limits should follow FDA “Healthy” claim limits. For example, grain snacks (e.g., crackers) should not exceed 5 grams of added sugar per ¾ ounce whole-grain equivalent, and dairy snacks (e.g., yogurt) should not exceed 2.5 grams of added sugar per ⅔ cup equivalent. But without policy to implement them, they are just talk. Policy requires opposing industries with vested interests. This administration has no plans to regulate industry.  It is likely to listen hard to Mr. Down’s concerns. That’s what is meant by “corporate capture.” The post The National Confectioners Association is concerned about sugar restrictions appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle      Related Posts Who is lobbying about the forthcoming school food rules? Weekend viewing: The National Food Museum Weekend reading: less sugar for kids!   Now Available: What to Eat Now My new book, What to Eat Now, is officially out! It's both a field guide to food shopping in America and a reflection on how to eat well—and deliciously. For more information and to order, click here. You can explore the full archive of this (almost) daily blog at foodpolitics.com, where you'll also find information about my books, articles, media interviews, upcoming lectures, favorite resources, and FAQs. Visit the Site » ​​​​​​​ Marion Nestle Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita © Marion Nestle. You're receiving this email because you've signed up to receive updates from us. If you'd prefer not to receive updates, you can unsubscribe. Safely Unsubscribe • Archives • Preferences • Contact • Subscribe • Privacy

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