Plus: The Broker Behind Pepsi’s $1.9 Billion Poppi Deal |
| There are at least two different versions of the highly anticipated second installment from the MAHA Commission making the rounds, and, amid a few glaring contradictions that Marion Nestle aptly points out in her newsletter Food Politics, the themes of deregulation and more research needed are clear. I’ll be eyeing whatever ends up getting officially published, and particularly where it lands on pesticide policy. According to Reuters, at least one version of the report stopped short of suggesting any changes to how pesticides and other agrochemicals are regulated or how they get approved. We will have to wait and see, and in the meantime, I hope you enjoy these last glorious weeks of summertime! |
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| For years, Rohan Oza made millions for celebrities—including Jennifer Aniston and 50 Cent—on beverage deals. Then in May the Shark Tank veteran brokered the blockbuster sale of the prebiotic soda Poppi to Pepsi. And he’s not done yet. |
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| Ending The GRAS Loophole: A House bill proposed last week by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) would stop one of the biggest loopholes in food policy regulation. If the Grocery Reform and Safety Act is enacted, it would reform the rule that allows companies to declare new additives “generally recognized as safe,” also known as GRAS—and bypass a safety review by the Food and Drug Administration. The current policy allows companies to add new, potentially harmful additives and other chemicals to food without going through an approval process, even when the FDA has never tested the substances before. According to the Environmental Working Group, nearly 99% of all food chemicals introduced since 2000 were greenlit for use through the GRAS loophole. |
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| Endangerment Finding Watch: Billionaire Tom Steyer weighed in on LinkedIn on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed reversal of the Endangerment Finding, which is the core legal basis for regulating greenhouse gas emitters because the emissions threaten human health. “It’s willfully shifting the costs of pollution from polluters to ordinary Americans by raising our medical bills, weakening our resilience, and burdening future generations,” Steyer writes. “Decarbonizing our economy is not a sacrifice. It’s essential for building a livable, competitive, and affordable America. It’s common sense, backed by evidence, experience, and economics. We can’t allow political delusion to override market reality. Our future is cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous, but only if we have the courage to stay the course.” |
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Another Blow For Plant-Based: Meat is coming back to the menu of New York City’s storied Eleven Madison Park—after four years of the fine dining establishment only serving a vegetarian menu. In a message to customers, chef Daniel Humm said: “It became clear that while we had built something meaningful, we had also unintentionally kept people out. This is the opposite of what we believe hospitality to be. The all-or-nothing approach was necessary to develop our expertise, but that too, comes with its own limitations. As a chef I want to continue to open paths, not close them.” Humm says, in honor of the restaurant’s 20th anniversary, starting October 14, the award-winning plant-based menu will also embrace “select animal products for certain dishes—fish, meat, and yes, our honey-lavender-glazed duck.”
According to an interview Humm gave to The New York Times, the reversal is financially motivated, as Humm said bookings for private events, what the Times describes as “an essential stream of income” have dried up. “It’s hard to get 30 people for a corporate dinner to come to a plant-based restaurant,” he told the Times. |
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| Calling all Fresh Take-ers in the Buffalo and Toronto area! I’d love to meet you on Wednesday, September 17—I’ll be doing a talk with the food-focused bookstore Read It & Eat about my book Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat. The event will be hosted by Caitlin and Tom Moriarty at Moriarty Meats, who will be providing regional specialty sandwiches—boeuf on weck—to fuel us through an evening of live butchery demonstration, an author Q&A, and book signing. See you there! Wednesday, September 17, 2025, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. 1652 Elmwood Ave. Buffalo, NY Get your ticket here. |
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 | | CHLOE SORVINO |
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| A weeknight eggplant parm I made with the haul from my CSA. |
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| Thanks for reading the 155th edition of Forbes Fresh Take! Hit reply to let me know what you think. |
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