Latest news with #foodsupply
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Southwest Egg Supply Shaken as Major Producer Shuts Down
Hickman's Family Farms, the largest egg producer in the Southwest, is grappling with a devastating crisis that has forced a partial shutdown of its operations. The farm, based in Arizona, has lost around 6 million chickens, 95 percent of its flock, forcing layoffs and halting its longstanding inmate rehabilitation program. 'Our hens began showing symptoms on May 15 and were confirmed the next day,' CEO Glenn Hickman said at a recent news conference. Despite containment efforts, the issue spread across all of the farm's west-side facilities. Hickman noted that the company has ordered baby chicks and expects to house its first new hens in about five months, but full recovery will likely take two years, Newsweek reported. Founded in 1944, Hickman's Family Farms operates several facilities in Arizona and Colorado and is ranked among the top 20 egg producers in the country. The partial shutdown will impact not only the regional egg supply but also thousands of workers, including those participating in the farm's inmate rehabilitation crisis has rippled across an already fragile food supply chain. Food economics experts warn that the shutdown of a key egg supplier in the Southwest could drive up egg prices and increase regional shortages, adding pressure to an industry already under strain. 'This is a very unfortunate situation and a stark reminder of how vulnerable our food system remains,' said David Ortega, a professor of food economics and policy at Michigan State University. Hickman has called for faster access to solutions that could help stabilize operations, including the rollout of a poultry vaccine. However, competing industry interests and regulatory hurdles are slowing progress. For now, Hickman's Family Farms faces a long road to recovery. Whether the company and the broader egg industry can bounce back will depend on how quickly biosecurity measures and supply chain reinforcements can be implemented in the months ahead. Southwest Egg Supply Shaken as Major Producer Shuts Down first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 1, 2025
The Independent
3 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Make America ChatGPT again: Experts say AI was used to create RFK Jr health report that cited false studies
Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. 's 'Make America Healthy Again' report appears to have used garbled artificial intelligence to generate scientific citations, in addition to referencing studies that do not exist. Kennedy's MAHA report, released last week, decried America's food supply, pesticides and prescription drugs. It cited hundreds of studies, but the outlet NOTUS found that some of those studies did not actually exist. Now experts have found evidence that scientific citations in the report were generated by AI, which experts slammed as 'sloppy' and 'shoddy,' The Washington Post reports. Experts told the newspaper that there are definitive signs that the references in the report were generated by the U.S. artificial intelligence company OpenAI. Some citations included 'oaicite' attached to URLs, a marker that the company's chatbot was used to generate the references. The use of AI in citations undermines the credibility of the report, George C. Benjamin of the American Public Health Association told the outlet. 'This is not an evidence-based report, and for all practical purposes, it should be junked at this point,' the executive director said. 'It cannot be used for any policymaking. It cannot even be used for any serious discussion, because you can't believe what's in it.' Analysis conducted by The Post found that at least 21 links in the original version of the report to scientific studies or articles were dead. On Thursday afternoon, the report was updated to remove mentions of 'oaicite' markers and it continued to be worked on overnight, according to the newspaper. The Department of Health and Human Services characterized it as 'minor citation and formatting errors' in a statement to outlet and said that they have since been corrected. 'The substance of the MAHA report remains the same — a historic and transformative assessment by the federal government to understand the chronic disease epidemic afflicting our nation's children,' department spokesperson Andrew Nixon said. 'Under President Trump and Secretary Kennedy, our federal government is no longer ignoring this crisis, and it's time for the media to also focus on what matters.' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was also questioned about the bungled report at Thursday's briefing and maintained it was 'backed on good science.' 'I understand there was some formatting issues with the MAHA report that are being addressed and the report will be updated.' Leavitt told reporters. 'But it does not negate the substance of the report, which, as you know, is one of the most transformative health reports that has ever been released by the federal government.' But experts told The Post that the report should be discarded. 'The idea that they would envelop themselves in the shroud of scientific excellence while producing a report that relies heavily on AI is just shockingly hypocritical,' said Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest and a former Food and Drug Administration official in the Obama administration.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
White House acknowledges problems in RFK Jr.'s ‘Make America Healthy Again' report
WASHINGTON: The White House will fix errors in a much-anticipated federal government report spearheaded by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which decried America's food supply, pesticides and prescription drugs. Kennedy's wide-ranging 'Make America Healthy Again' report, released last week, cited hundreds of studies, but a closer look by the news organization NOTUS found that some of those studies did not actually exist. Asked about the report's problems, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the report will be updated. 'I understand there was some formatting issues with the MAHA report that are being addressed and the report will be updated.' Leavitt told reporters during her briefing. 'But it does not negate the substance of the report, which, as you know, is one of the most transformative health reports that has ever been released by the federal government. Kennedy has repeatedly said he would bring 'radical transparency' and 'gold-standard' science to the public health agencies. But the secretary refused to release details about who authored the 72-page report, which calls for increased scrutiny of the childhood vaccine schedule and describes the nation's children as overmedicated and undernourished. Leavitt said that the White House has 'complete confidence' in Kennedy. 'Minor citation and formatting errors have been corrected,' HHS Spokesman Andrew Nixon said in an emailed statement. He described the report as a 'historic and transformative assessment by the federal government to understand the chronic disease epidemic afflicting our nation's children.' NOTUS reported Thursday that seven of the more than 500 studies cited in the report did not appear to have ever been published. An author of one study confirmed that while she conducted research on the topics of anxiety in children, she never authored the report listed. Some studies were also misinterpreted in the MAHA report. The problematic citations were on topics around children's screen time, medication use and anxiety. Kennedy's MAHA report had already been stoking concerns among Trump loyalists, including farmers who criticized how the report characterized the chemicals sprayed on US crops. The report is supposed to be used to develop policy recommendations that will be released later this year. The White House has requested a $500 million boost in funding from Congress for Kennedy's MAHA initiative.
Washington Post
4 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
White House acknowledges problems in RFK Jr.'s MAHA report
WASHINGTON — The White House will fix errors in a much-anticipated federal government report spearheaded by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , which decried America's food supply, pesticides and prescription drugs. Kennedy's wide-ranging 'Make America Healthy Again' report , released last week, cited hundreds of studies, but a closer look by the news organization NOTUS found that some of those studies did not actually exist.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
White House acknowledges problems in RFK Jr.'s MAHA report
The White House will fix errors in a much-anticipated federal government report spearheaded by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which decried America's food supply, pesticides and prescription drugs. Kennedy's wide-ranging 'Make America Healthy Again' report, released last week, cited hundreds of studies, but a closer look by the news organization NOTUS found that some of those studies did not actually exist. Asked about the report's problems, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the report will be updated. 'I understand there was some formatting issues with the MAHA report that are being addressed and the report will be updated.' Leavitt told reporters during her briefing. 'But it does not negate the substance of the report, which, as you know, is one of the most transformative health reports that has ever been released by the federal government. Kennedy has repeatedly said he would bring 'radical transparency' and 'gold-standard' science to the public health agencies. But the secretary refused to release details about who authored the 72-page report, which calls for increased scrutiny of the childhood vaccine schedule and describes the nation's children as overmedicated and undernourished. Leavitt said that the White House has 'complete confidence' in Kennedy. HHS did not immediately have comment. NOTUS reported on Thursday morning that seven of the more than 500 studies cited in the report did not appear to have ever been published. An author of one study confirmed that while she conducted research on the topics of anxiety in children, she never authored the report listed. Some studies were also misinterpreted in the MAHA report. The problematic citations were on topics around children's screen time, medication use and anxiety. Kennedy's MAHA report had already been stoking concerns among Trump loyalists, including farmers who criticized how the report characterized the chemicals sprayed on U.S. crops. The report is supposed to be used to develop policy recommendations that will be released later this year. The White House has requested a $500 million boost in funding from Congress for Kennedy's MAHA initiative. — Associated Press writer Will Weissert contributed.
