• 🆕 This Week’s New Products
• ⭐ Reviews? We Got ‘Em
• 🥩 Alt-Meat: Unilever & UPSIDE
• 🎥 A Chat With TRUFF’s New CEO
• 🏭 Chobani Digs Deep in Idaho
• 📰 Quick Bites From the Industry
• 💰 What Fueled Poppi’s $1.65B Payday? Plus, Musings From Miami.

The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement has helped propel the term “ultraprocessed food” (UPF) into the lexicon of everyday Americans.

As the industry navigates emerging scientific, regulatory and industry-centric approaches to the Ultraprocessed Food debate, food policy nerd Adrianne DeLuca (and Nosh Assistant Managing Editor, Newsletters) is diving into how each sector is addressing the challenge.

Where it started: About seven months ago as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (now Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary) threw his weight behind the Republican campaign and elevated increased food supply oversight as a key issue of the otherwise deregulationist administration.   

Where we are now: Without a clear, federally recognized definition for UPF, MAHA-aligned politicians have tossed around their own ideas on what is, or isn’t, ultraprocessed and asserted that these foods are "poisoning" Americans. Many of those claims do not currently have scientific evidence to support them. 

• This discourse has put consumers on high alert – without clear answers about what could be done to combat their newfound concerns. 

Where this could go: The crystal ball is as crowded as it is clouded. On one hand, these issues have garnered bipartisan support and the attention of everyday Americans. The fight against UPFs is also gaining momentum at the state level. But the science needed to inform new legislation lags well behind current regulatory priorities. 

• Even if a UPF definition is agreed upon and implemented, reducing UPFs across the food supply is going to come at a high cost, both to food manufacturing companies and consumers. 
• Money is a key issue when it comes to oversight as well. The chronically underresourced and understaffed U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will undoubtedly face challenges to effectively monitor or implement any new restrictions. 

What’s being said in Washington: “We're in an era where science isn't always coming first, and I recognize that that's just the way things are, but I think great care needs to be taken to not enhance consumer confusion and lead them to choices that aren't ultimately helpful,” said Miriam Guggenheim, partner at Covington & Burling LLP, during a panel at the Consumer Federation of America’s National Food Policy Conference last week.

“My bottom line is to just be sure that in making that definition, that we are letting the science lead, and then we're devoting the resources that are needed in order to do that.”

How could the MAHA era change the food industry as we know it? Send your thoughts to adeluca@bevnet.com.

Check out the full story on regulators’ approach to UPFs on Nosh.

Hot off the (virtual) presses, it's the latest edition of Nosh’s weekly New Products Gallery. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s inside:

🥯 New York City bagel shop Zucker’s introduced its first ever retail play: Par Baked Frozen Bagels in Plain, Sesame and Everything varieties. The bagels will be available online via Fresh Direct and Goldbelly and in-store at Butterfield Market, Westside Market and select New Jersey ShopRite locations. 

🧄 Little Sesame has expanded its portfolio of hummus with the release of two new flavors: Green Goddess and Golden Garlic. The former features a blend of tarragon, mint and parsley, while the latter combines slowly roasted garlic with a hint of date molasses.

🍽️ Summit Hill Foods, the producer of Better Than Bouillon, is entering a new category with the launch of Better Than Marinade. The lineup includes Prime Steakhouse, Honey Sesame Teriyaki, Honey Bourbon Barbeque, Lemon and Garlic Butter and Everything Seasoning.

🆓 Check out the full gallery on Nosh.

In Nosh’s first-ever reviews roundup, we take a bite of the new Ithaca x Graza hummus hookup, Lexington Bakes chilled oat squares, Floura fiber-filled fruit bars and Rotten Gummy Cruncheez candy.

We are sharing our takes on taste and texture, packaging and positioning and opportunities for improvement.

🆓 Check out this week’s review roundup on Nosh.

The alternative meat category is experiencing a minor shake-up this week as Unilever announced it will divest the Vegetarian Butcher to Netherlands-based Vivera. 

• Unilever originally acquired the brand in 2018 and scaled it to about 55 international markets. 
• Yet, the company is in the midst of a portfolio rationalization for “long-term growth and scalability” with a focus on “fewer, bigger brands,” the company said in a press release.

🐔 In other non-meat, meat news: Cell-cultured chicken-maker UPSIDE Foods is reportedly engaged in a new round of layoffs. The company downsized its staff twice last year (in February and July) while also pausing its plans to move into an Illinois commercial-scale production facility. 

Go Deeper: The De-Evolution of the Alt-Meat Revolution

The new CEO of truffle-infused condiment brand TRUFF, Esi Seng, sat down with Nosh reporter Shauna Golden at Natural Products Expo West to hear why she shifted from cookies to the hot sauce company and what she hopes to achieve in her first year at the helm. 

📈 TRUFF has extended into an array of categories since it was founded in 2017, including mayonnaise, oils, pasta sauce and salts. The brand also highlighted its new partnership with Starbucks during the show. 

🏆 Seng is focused on increasing brand visibility and accessibility to achieve TRUFF’s goal of becoming “America’s favorite premium condiment brand.”

Watch the full interview on Nosh to learn more about Seng and her goals for the brand.

Chobani’s links to Twin Falls, Idaho, are getting tighter as the company hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for its $500 million expansion project at “the largest yogurt production facility in the world,” according to the Greek yogurt maker.

⬆️ The addition will bring an extra 500,000 sq. ft. to the current production plant and is the second expansion to the site since it opened in 2012.

🤝 Currently, the Idaho Chobani plant employs about 1,200 people with the expansion adding over 160 local jobs; the company operates two other facilities in New York and Australia.

🥛 With the brand’s moves in recent years into oat milk, coffee creamers and a newly-launched High Protein drinkable yogurt line, Chobani is positioning itself to meet increased demand across all categories. 

Insiders can read the full story for all the insight.

It’s been a busy week. Here’s some of the top news items from across the industry you may have missed.

🧈 A new kind of butter alternative hit the market: Savor launched an “agriculture free” butter that’s neither animal- nor plant-based, but rather made from carbon. Michelin star restaurants SingleThread and ONE65 are among the first customers.

☺️ Edible Arrangements is extending beyond gift baskets and embracing a different kind of edible with the launch of Edibles.com, an online marketplace for hemp-derived THC products.

🧪 The FDA introduced a new online database – the Chemical Contaminants Transparency Tool – to allow users to search for chemicals that could be present in their food.

🇨🇦 Trump’s trade war has stoked Canadian pride. Protein Industries Canada is responding to the U.S. President’s policies with a $3 million program to help Canadian companies remain competitive by supporting the development of new and existing products for the domestic market.

Poppi just popped – big time. But was PepsiCo’s $1.65 billion acquisition driven by TikTok virality, perfect timing, or industry heavyweights like Rohan Oza? (Sorry, prebiotics, this one's not about you.) And now that the first major deal has landed, is the BFY soda space about to see a gold rush – or a bubble burst? The hosts break it all down. Plus, we revisit standout interviews from our Miami meetup.

Listen to the episode now. Also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.