Texas probes M&M maker Mars' resistance to removing synthetic dyes
Ken Paxton, the attorney general, said in a statement that he issued a civil investigative demand for documents from Mars, as he examines whether the family-owned company violated consumers' rights through deceptive trade practices.
Paxton said Mars has not fulfilled its 2016 pledge, opens new tab to remove all artificial colors from food products, saying it had removed "toxic" dyes in Europe but not the United States.
"It's time for Mars to follow the lead of other companies like Nestle and Hershey by removing synthetic dyes from its products," Paxton said. "It's the right thing to do."
Mars, based in McLean, Virginia, had no immediate comment.
Removing synthetic food dyes and reducing Americans' consumption of ultraprocessed foods has been a priority for U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, as part of his "Make America Healthy Again" campaign.
Kennedy has blamed the dyes for health problems including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and cancer, though many scientists say more research is needed.
General Mills (GIS.N), opens new tab, J.M. Smucker (SJM.N), opens new tab, Kraft Heinz (KHC.O), opens new tab and PepsiCo (PEP.O), opens new tab, as well as Hershey (HSY.N), opens new tab and Nestle (NESN.S), opens new tab, are among companies that have committed to removing the dyes by 2028 or earlier.
Mars has said its consumers have different attitudes toward artificial colors in food depending on where they live, with European consumers preferring the dyes removed while other consumers prefer to keep them.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
6 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
How nine families in Silicon Valley have total wealth of $638B
Silicon Valley is the epicenter of America's tech hub, attracting many of the world's richest individuals and generating an estimated wealth of $638 billion. But now it has emerged that the eye-watering sum is shared between just nine families. And a new study conducted by San Jose State University concluded that the city's wealthiest households are only gaining wealth. Their collective net worth was up by a staggering $136 billion from 2024, according to the recent data. The annual report, titled the Silicon Valley Pain Index,is designed to measure 'personal and community distress' through data tracking structural inequalities in the region. Silicon Valley refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, including Santa Clara, San Mateo, the western edge of Alameda, and Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz. It represents a high concentration of wealth and can be an increasingly difficult place for working and middle-class families to make ends meet. Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg is among the ritzy residents, accounting for $253.5 billion of the area's wealth. Zuckerberg's net worth is more than 20 times the wealth of the bottom 446,505 households in the area. The Meta CEO purchased a five-house compound in the area, estimated to be worth a whopping $37million. He bought a $7 million mansion in 2011 before buying the neighboring residences to create the compound. The report also estimates that the region has $1.01 trillion of liquid wealth. Three companies based in Silicon Valley - Adobe, Alphabet (Google), and Meta comprise a combined net worth of $535 billion. Even outside of the nine wealthiest families, the annual income needed to afford just a median-priced house is $370,000, up 54 percent in the last six years, according to the report. The report also found that renters need to have an average annual income of $136,532 to afford an apartment at 30 percent of their take-home pay, representing the highest rents in the country. In San Mateo County, a household annual income of $156,650 for a family of four is considered 'low, ' compared to the state average of $94,500. Nearly 71 percent of homes sold in the area were priced around 1.92 million and were considered the 'median home price.' The median home price in Santa Clara alone was 2.171 million in May, which is a 3.4 percent increase from last year. The study doesn't explicitly state the nine families contributing to the mass concentration of wealth in addition to Zuckerberg, but listed Google's former CEO, Larry Page, as the second richest billionaire in the area. Sergey Brin , who co-founded Google with Page and served as the president of Alphabet, is the third-wealthiest billionaire in the region. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, an artificial intelligence company, comes in fourth. Page and Zuckerberg live in Palo Alto, while Brin and Huang have properties in Los Altos Hills. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is listed as the fifth-wealthiest billionaire in the region, with Dustin Moskovitz of Facebook as the sixth. Financier George Roberts was listed seventh, while Laurence Powell Jobs of Apple came in eighth. Venture capitalist John Doerr came in ninth, and Charles Schwab of Charles Schwab brokerage ranked tenth. Silicon Valley is home to major enterprises including Apple, Alphabet, Chevron, Meta, Visa, and Wells Fargo. The companies employ a significant portion of residents in the region, leading to the high concentration of wealth from executives and engineers reporting high incomes. The success of these companies has solidified Silicon Valley as a wealthy enclave and the tech capital of the world, but the region has a long history of advancement. The silicon chip, which is used in computerized machinery, was invented in the region, and electronics reporter Dan Hoefler coined the name 'Silicon Valley' in 1971. Since then, the area has grown wealthier and wealthier, and is now home to the world's richest billionaires.
The Independent
35 minutes ago
- The Independent
Continuous glucose monitors are in vogue. But do you really need to track your blood sugar?
A quarter-size device that tracks the rise and fall of sugar in your blood is the latest source of hope — and hype — in the growing buzz around wearable health technology. Continuous glucose monitors, small patches that provide 24-hour insight into concentrations of sugar in the blood, could be a tool for Americans to 'take control over their own health,' Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently told federal lawmakers. 'They can take responsibility,' Kennedy said. 'They can begin to make good judgments about their diet, about their physical activity, about the way they live their lives.' The devices have lifesaving benefits for people with diabetes, the disease caused when blood sugar remains high because their bodies don't make enough insulin or become resistant to it. The condition, which affects more than 38 million people in the U.S., raises the risk of serious health problems such as heart and kidney disease and vision loss. But the devices have surged in popularity among people without diabetes. Sales have been driven by high-profile marketers such as Casey Means, the nominee for U.S. surgeon general. There's scant evidence the monitors are useful for people with normal blood sugar levels, said Dr. Jody Dushay, an endocrine specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Healthy bodies can effectively regulate glucose after meals and provide the energy they need to function. Glucose monitors may lead people to misinterpret normal swings in blood sugar that happen after eating or activity. In addition, the devices can be 'notoriously inaccurate,' providing misleading readings, she said. 'The problem with wearing these is that you can just be zooming in on and creating pathology when it's not there,' Dushay said. Here's what you need to know about the devices: Here's what a continuous glucose monitor does The device is a small patch, about the size of two stacked quarters, usually placed on the upper arm or stomach. It uses a needle to painlessly pierce the skin for a tiny sensor. The sensor measures the glucose in fluid under the skin, delivering a signal every few minutes to a phone app or a handheld display. The apps typically record blood sugar levels and help people track the foods they eat and how they impact those levels. When healthy people eat a meal that contains carbohydrates, their blood sugar rises, peaks and falls in response to the food. A healthy fasting blood glucose level for a person without diabetes is roughly 70 milligrams per deciliter to 99 milligrams per deciliter. A range from 100 to 126 milligrams per deciliter indicates prediabetes and above 126 milligrams per deciliter indicates diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. In adults without diabetes, blood sugar levels can climb to 140 milligrams per deciliter or more within an hour of a meal, before falling back to baseline levels within two or three hours, according to the association. It's a sign the body is processing sugar normally. Continuous glucose monitors have been available since the late 1990s For decades, these devices were available only for people with diabetes. The monitors revolutionized care by allowing more precise adjustment of insulin used to treat diabetes and giving people the ability to modify meals and activity more accurately. Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter monitors. Since then, many companies have emerged to market them, claiming to provide intensive, individualized health monitoring. Cost is generally about $100 a month. They've really caught on with consumers curious about how food and activity affect their blood sugar levels. For instance, Noom, the weight-loss and fitness app, launched a blood glucose feature last year that has proven extremely popular, said Alexander Fabry, a company executive. 'Of the people who are using a CGM, the vast majority of them don't have a diabetes diagnosis,' he said. Who can use the monitors? The devices have been lifesaving for people with diabetes. And they can be helpful for people with risk factors for the disease, including obesity, prediabetes, a history of gestational diabetes or a family history of the condition. The devices can allow users to see how specific food and activity choices affect their blood sugar in near real-time, said Dr. Alaina Vidmar, a pediatric obesity specialist at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. 'After a large meal, you may watch your blood sugar go up and sort of learn something about yourself,' Vidmar said. 'For example, I drink a sugar-sweetened soda and my blood sugar goes up really high, really fast. And maybe I don't feel as good, right?' What are the cautions? People without risk factors for diabetes may turn to the monitors just because they're curious, said Dr. David Kessler. A former FDA commissioner, Kessler doesn't have diabetes, but he wore a monitor for a couple months during research for his recent book, 'Diet, Drugs and Dopamine.' 'I think it's a very interesting tool to experiment with if you're so inclined,' Kessler said. But, he noted, the devices can't be used to diagnose or treat disease. Even experts don't agree on how to interpret or provide health advice for people without diabetes based on blood sugar data. 'No one knows what's optimal in the nondiabetic state,' he said. Before using a monitor, Dushay asks patients to consider their motives. 'What do you think you're going to get from the data?' she said. 'What is to be gained from wearing that monitor?' ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
NFL hit with Super Bowl scandal: Around 100 players facing bans
At least 100 NFL players, as well as coaches and staff from around half of the 32 teams, have been accused of violating league rules by selling their Super Bowl tickets for above face value. That is according to a report Friday, which said an NFL investigation found that some employees and players flogged their tickets to a 'small number of "bundlers"' who were working with a reseller to sell them for inflated fees. All NFL players are allowed to buy two tickets at face value. This year, when the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas in New Orleans, prices reportedly ranged from $950 to $7,500. On resale sites, however, some tickets were going for close to $57,000. The average price of a Super Bowl ticket in the final weeks leading up to the game was $8,076, according to CBS. ESPN claims the players face a possible fine and could be suspended if they refuse to pay. They will also lose the right to their allotted tickets to the next two Super Bowls, unless they are playing in the game, in which case they will have the opportunity to buy seats. No specific players, coaches, or teams who violated the policy were named, but some people have already shelled out to avoid missing playing time, according to ESPN. Players violating the agreement between the league and the NFL Players Association around the resale of Super Bowl tickets are reportedly subject to penalties including fines of one-and-a-half times the face value of the tickets. Other team employees who violated the policy will reportedly be fined two times the face value of the tickets. According to reports, those players and employees who had a 'greater role' — by working directly with the 'bundlers,' for instance — 'will face increased penalties.' 'Our initial investigation has determined that a number of NFL players and coaches, employed by several NFL Clubs, sold Super Bowl tickets for more than the ticket's face value in violation of the policy,' read a memo, sent to teams by the NFL — and cited by ESPN. 'This long-standing League Policy, which is specifically incorporated into the Collective Bargaining Agreement, prohibits League or Club employees, including players, from selling NFL game tickets acquired from their employer for more than the ticket's face value or for an amount greater than the employee originally paid for the ticket, whichever is less.' 'We are in the process of completing our investigation into this matter, but the investigation has revealed that club employees and players sold their tickets to a small number of "bundlers" who were working with a ticket reseller to sell the Super Bowl tickets above face value.' The NFL also insists it will be enhancing 'mandatory compliance training regarding the Policy' for all personnel, which will emphasize that 'no one should profit personally from their NFL affiliation at the expense of our fans.' 'We will also increase the penalties for future violations of this Policy,' the league memo adds. 'All clubs must ensure their personnel understand and comply with this policy. Additional details regarding the enhanced compliance measures will be provided in early fall.'
