Burp Taxes and Salmonella

Welcome back Food Junglers. Thanksgiving has come and gone, as Christmas shopping becomes the next priority. In the US, weight-loss and salmonella take centre stage, while Denmark does something revolutionary. Let’s dig in.

This week:

🇩🇰 Denmark officially introduces a belch tax.

🛵 Just Eat leaves the London stock exchange.

💉 Joe Biden seeks to nationalise weight loss treatment.

🥒 Cucumbers are dangerous in the US.

🥔 Global warming-resistant potatoes are being tested in China.

CLIMATE
DANISH BELCH TAX

The Danish government has officially confirmed that it will be placing a tax on all planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions from livestock.

Starting in 2030, it will charge farmers around $43 for every ton of carbon dioxide equivalent that their operations produce. By 2035, the tax will more than double to around $106.

The tax is part of a larger package designed to clean up the country’s agricultural pollution and eventually restore some farmland to its natural form, like peatlands, which are exceptionally good at locking away planet-heating gases underground but were drained decades ago to grow crops.

ZOOMING OUT: For environmentalists, the tax is coming at the right time as there are five times as many pigs and cows in Denmark as there are people. Nearly two-thirds of its land is taken up by farming.

Managing agriculture, then, will not only solve a climate problem but also a space problem.

BUSINESS
JUST EAT JUST LEAVES

Food delivery company – Just Eat – has said it plans to delist from the London Stock Exchange next month in an effort to cut costs, joining a growing list of companies leaving the UK bourse.

The Amsterdam-based food-delivery group said that the move seeks to reduce the administrative burden, complexity, and costs associated with its London listing.

The company already delisted from Nasdaq in 2022 and continued to review its listing venues since then, considering the liquidity and trading volumes as well as cost and administrative requirements.

ZOOMING OUT: Just Eat has caught the attention of the finance community, as it recently confirmed the sale of American food delivery service – Grubhub – for $6.5 billion. With all these changes, it seems as though the European food delivery giant is going through some cost-cutting measures.

POLICY
NATIONALISING WEIGHT LOSS?

Millions of obese Americans would get access to popular weight-loss drugs if a $35 billion proposal from the Biden administration is approved by President-elect Donald Trump.

The rule, unveiled by the Health and Human Services Department, would require Medicare and Medicaid to cover weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound for a large segment of Americans who are obese.

However, it remains unclear whether the Trump administration will approve this proposal, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – the incoming Health Secretary – has been a vocal opponent of the drugs. 

ZOOMING OUT: Ultimately, many experts worry that not enough is being done to understand what’s really driving obesity across the US and the role that healthy foods and exercise might play in solving the obesity epidemic.

Until the diet issue itself is resolved, investment into diet-drugs may just be another band-aid. 

SUPPLY CHAIN
CUCUMBER DISASTER

At least 68 people, including 18 that needed to be treated at hospitals, have fallen ill across 19 US states in a salmonella outbreak that may be linked to cucumbers.

Federal officials announced they’re investigating the outbreak believed to be tied to cucumbers grown in Mexico and sold in Arizona. No deaths have been reported.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention cautioned that “the true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely much higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses”.

ZOOMING OUT: While salmonella isn’t usually fatal, the rising number of cases in the US has potentially indicated a brittle supply chain. And, since the pathogens behind salmonella may occur everywhere, whether naturally in the soil or from animal faeces and unclean surfaces, it’s going to take a bunch of resources to resolve the issue. 

THE BRIGHT SIDE
POTATO WARRIORS

In a world where climate change forces us to rethink how we grow food I’m always intrigued to see how some people are adapting to the new agricultural environment.

In northwest Beijing, molecular scientist Li Jieping has come up with a way to grow potatoes under conditions that simulate predictions of higher temperatures.

China is the world’s biggest producer of potatoes, which are crucial to global food security because of their high yield relative to other staple crops. However, they are particularly vulnerable to heat, a pretty terrible thing considering global warming.

Through trial and error, though, Li’s team has managed to create a potato that can withstand far higher average temperatures and that can be grown at higher altitudes.

Although this might be considered an ominous sign of future food security, I do feel comforted that some are already prepared. Food Jungle approved ✅ 

BEFORE YOU GO…

• The pharmaceutical manufacturer - Amgen - announced that an experimental obesity drug helped patients lose up to 20 percent of their weight in a year.

• Donald Trump said he plans to use an executive order to levy a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico on day one in office.

• The bird flu virus was detected in another retail sample of raw milk from a dairy in Fresno, California, state health officials said.

• Unilever seems set to sell vegetarian, alt-protein brand – The Vegetarian Butcher.

• Beyond Meat and Wendy's Georgia have announced a new menu item, the Plant Burger, a marker of the vegan giant’s European focus this year.

• Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has announced plans to demerge its ice cream division into an independent listed entity.

• Starbucks has opened a coffee shop overlooking North Korea.

TAKE A BREAK

Hi there everyone! It’s our pleasure to introduce another newsletter in the food space - BETTER BIOECONOMY - from a food technology enthusiast, Eshan Samaranayake.  

Like the team at Food Jungle, Eshan is doing his absolute best to advertise those who are making food healthier, cleaner, more sustainable, more animal-friendly AND accessible to all.

So, if you are interested in reading more on food tech, go check it out! Food Jungle approved ✅