@sashachavkin
Senior reporter covering the food industry @theexamination.org. Past: RIN Fellow for Pulitzer Center/@apnews.com, Ted Scripps Fellow, reporter @ICIJorg. Believer in democracy, the Constitution and the New York Mets.
Coming, perhaps, to your dinner plate:
Pork raised in "pig skyscrapers" pioneered in China that hold hundreds of thousands of hogs. The high-rise farms use less land and claim to reduce risk of disease (which animal rights groups dispute)
Monster Energy's income rose 27% last year, driven by people consuming energy drinks at all times of day
“You’re seeing energy consumed across the day, whereas historically, it was not that factor,” said Monster's CEO
You may have read @theexamination.org's stories, but have you watched our videos?
Our short documentary on lead poisoning from battery recycling was just short-listed for the National Magazine Awards
asme.memberclicks.net/national-mag...
Ghana orders the removal of alcoholic energy drinks, citing health risks and harmful behavior among young people in particular
The move makes Ghana one of the first African countries to restrict energy drinks, joining nations in Europe, Asia and Latin America
China may approve a tax on sugary beverages at its annual political meetings next week, @financialtimes.com reports
116 countries around the world have similar taxes, and recent studies estimate a 20% tax in China would prevent 130k premature deaths and bring in $43 billion by 2050
Journalist killings reached an all-time high last year, driven by what @pressfreedom.bsky.social describes as "Israel’s continued and unprecedented targeting of journalists and media workers"
In a rare unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a case against Whole Foods alleging it sold contaminated organic baby food can go forward
The justices held that the case should be heard in state court, which is believed to be friendlier to plaintiffs
“I find it very, very hard to believe that this is not being manipulated”
Timely deep dive into the case that surging beef prices are being driven by collusion among the "Big 4" meatpackers: Tyson, Cargill, JBS and National Beef
Via @genoways.bsky.social @thefern.org
Brazil's Labor Ministry annuls its finding that meat processing giant JBS violated slave labor laws, holding that JBS's poultry company wasn't responsible for abuses by its supplier
The latest twist in a struggle that has sparked concerns that JBS has become "too big to jail"
“It feels like MAHA is going through a breakup"
Trump's decision this week to promote production of the weedkiller glyphosate has broken the dam for growing disenchantment with his policies in the MAHA movement
“I can’t envision a bigger middle finger to every MAHA mom than this”
In case you wondered where Trump would come down between MAHA and pesticide producers, his latest executive order allows the government to compel production of cancer-linked weedkiller glyphosate in the name of national security
🚨 WaPo scoop: You've heard of Trump's "board of peace."
Now HHS wants to build its own World Health Organization that will cost exponentially more than the U.S.'s contribution to the WHO.
-- with the incredible @lenasun.bsky.social
Have you or someone you know had a health problem after consuming energy drinks?
Help us report for a @theexamination.org investigation on one of the world's fastest growing beverage markets
1. Food and beverage industry funds advertising regulator
2.Health group airs public service ad on risks from sugar
3. Regulator strikes ad from the airwaves
Sharp story from my food beat partner @ashleyokwuosa.bsky.social on what the regulator's own CEO called “a very strange funding system”
Today I learned: drinking produces acetaldehyde in your mouth, a chemical that I previously knew of only as a cancer-causing air pollutant
Informative, alarming interactive from NYT
Heraskevych’s choice to forfeit the medal chance instead of give up the memorial helmet is the biggest story in Ukraine today. Everyone is heartbroken but there is a unanimous consensus that this was what had to happen rather than to give up.
The decline in drinking, driven in part by health concerns, is having a growing effect on the alcohol industry
Heineken cited “challenging market conditions” as it laid off 7 percent of its workforce and lowered profit forecasts
“Democracy may die in darkness, but it seems that journalism dies at the box office.”
www.avclub.com/melania-budg...
People with obesity were 70% more likely to be hospitalized or die from infectious disease than people of a healthy weight, finds a new study in Lancet
The authors estimate that about a tenth of infectious disease deaths worldwide may also be linked to obesity
The Examination wins major award for lead battery recycling investigation
The first of many well-deserved accolades for @willfitzgibbon.bsky.social @taylortnturner.bsky.social and the team
An European Union proposal to raise tobacco taxes was scaled back after opposition from several member states, reveals a draft of the proposal obtained by @theexamination.org
The Freedom of the Press Foundation files a disciplinary complaint against the federal prosecutor who signed the search warrant of WaPo reporter Hannah Natanson, arguing he failed to cite a federal law barring the application.
Letter buff.ly/xDHJIy4
Thoughtful piece that swims against the anti-UPF tide
Its not just the US:
About 50 children in Hong Kong have reported illnesses linked to infant formula, including a one-year old girl who got sick after drinking Nestle formula
Citing addiction science concepts like "dose optimization" and "hedonic manipulation," a new study argues that ultraprocessed foods need to be confronted with the same policy playbook used for tobacco control
The American Beverage Association - which includes Coke, Pepsi and other leading processed food companies - is sponsoring & buying ads on Katie Miller's podcast
“It represents the evolution of lobbying and influence in the second Trump administration,” an expert says
lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · 49m I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated. Quote lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · Jan 25 Waking up without power, heat, or running water. (Again.) But the work here in Kyiv continues. Warming up in the car, writing in pencil — pen ink freezes — by headlamp.
INBOX: Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat, or running water.
The city of Amsterdam will ban meat advertising in public spaces, effective May 1
A striking contrast with the US, where RFK Jr will be touting his meat-friendly new dietary guidelines at the beef industry convention CattleCon tomorrow
Incredible reporting. Here’s the email that launched an intrusive and frightening investigation:
