CLFP Insider

Hearkening back to unusual trends not seen since the Great Recession, unit sales of most food and beverage products, including grain-based foods, are decreasing amid high inflation, according to data issued recently by IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm.

Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have developed a simple, rapid method to simultaneously identify multiple food poisoning bacteria based on color differences in the scattered light by nanometer-scaled organic metal nanohybrid structures (NHs) that bind via antibodies to those bacteria.

After a tumultuous two years, the manufacturing industry is building back fast. However, constant market challenges, such as labor shortages and supply chain delays, continue to cloud the overall industry outlook, reducing operational efficiency and preventing business growth. Competing in this new market demands business agility and innovation which can only be achieved by leveraging technology to enable flexibility and instill resiliency.

The California League of Food Producers along with a coalition of can manufacturers and food banks, has been engaging the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the Lt. Governor and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development to ask for their assistance to both preserve the competitiveness of our agricultural producers and processors, and to ensure food security and availability. The Trump Administration’s Section 232 Tariffs and Quotas on tin plate and black plate steel is negatively affecting United States and California-grown canned agricultural products, and have the potential to significantly affect the food supply in the United States. U.S. canned foods are at cost disadvantage to imports due to President Trump’s tariffs from foreign canned food producers, including China, in U.S. schools, institutional settings, and grocery stores, costing U.S. consumers nearly $1Billion annually.

After eight months, California’s legislative session came to a close on September 1 with a final flurry of frantic activity. Lawmakers rushed to pass hundreds of remaining bills before the clock struck midnight on August 31.  

 

High-profile measures that aim to establish California as a progressive leader on climate change were sent to Governor Newsom. The Governor not only signaled his support, but lobbied lawmakers to approve them. These bills include:

 

       » SB 846, authored by Republican Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham of San Luis Obispo and Democratic state Sen. Bill Dodd of Napa, would keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open until 2030 and give its operator, Pacific Gas & Electric, a $1.4 billion loan to do so. The authors argued that facing extreme heat, prolonged drought and wildfires, California has increasingly faced challenges in providing reliable electricity. Diablo Canyon provides about 10% of the state’s power. So far the state’s investments in solar and wind have lagged behind its goals.