Each week, Food Tank is rounding up a few news stories that inspire excitement, infuriation, or curiosity.
Trump-Vance Administration Halts Funding for Bird Flu Vaccine Development
The Trump-Vance Administration has terminated a near US$600 million contract with Moderna to develop a human vaccine for a type of avian flu known as H5N1. The decision halts a planned trial to test the safety and efficacy of a vaccine matched to the subtypes of influenza currently spreading among cows and birds, in preparation for a potential bird flu pandemic.
H5N1 has circulated the globe in recent years, killing flocks of wild birds and spreading to other species including skunks, domestic cats, and harbor seals. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that, since arriving in the U.S. in 2022, H5N1 has infected 1,000 dairy cattle herds in 17 states and over 175 million poultry birds.
Though people can be infected with H5N1 bird flu viruses when they eat infected birds, poultry, or other animals or if they are exposed to environments contaminated with virus, there is no known person-to-person spread at this time. 70 human cases, including one death, have been reported.
After a review, the Health and Human Services (HHS) concluded that continued investment in Moderna’s H5N1 mRNA vaccine was not scientifically or ethically justifiable, Communications Director Andrew Nixon said in a statement.
Though the U.S. has stockpiled vaccines for avian flu, they are poorly matched to current strains. Experts warn that canceling the program could jeopardize pandemic preparedness which is all about being proactive, fast, and adaptable, according to Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
As the HHS noted when announcing the contract, avian flu variants have proven to be “particularly unpredictable and dangerous to humans.” As the virus spreads, it could mutate into a form that spreads more easily, increasing the risk of a pandemic. Developing new vaccines, former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra says, helps protect Americans from pandemic-potential strains.
“If the virus develops the ability to spread from person to person, we could see a large number of people get sick and die,” says Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown School of Public Health, calling the decision “a risk to American lives.”
RFK Jr. May Ban NIH Scientists from Publishing in Top Medical Journals
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently said he intends to prohibit National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded scientists from publishing in leading medical journals, including The Lancet, JAMA, and The New England Journal of Medicine. Speaking on the Ultimate Human podcast, Kennedy described the journals as corrupt “vessels for pharmaceutical propaganda,” and proposed launching alternative government-run in-house publications.
The three journals Kennedy targeted have existed since the 1800s and are all consistently ranked as the most influential peer-reviewed medical publications in the world. They play a significant role in vetting and disseminating scientific information to tens of millions of people across the globe.
In response to recent Department of Justice scrutiny of journals, probing them for partisanship, the Lancet editorialized that science “is not compatible with capitulation to government demands aimed at weaponising and eroding science.”
Adam Gaffney, a researcher at Harvard Medical School, warned that restricting NIH researchers to government-created journals “would delegitimize taxpayer-funded research.”
The policy discussion unfolds amid broader cuts to NIH funding and rising concern over federal influence on scientific institutions.
Countries Commit to Regulating Marketing of Formula Milk and Baby Foods
At the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, member states approved a resolution expanding international restrictions on the marketing of infant formula and baby foods to include digital platforms, marking a major update to the 1981 International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.
While the 1981 Code aims to protect caregivers from aggressive or misleading claims by the baby food industry, it does not address digital marketing. The resolution aims to address new advertising tactics that have proliferated in recent years that use influencers and algorithmic content to reach pregnant women and new parents—often without disclosing industry sponsorship.
WHO describes mothers being “insidiously and persistently targeted online” by milk-breast substitute brand accounts, which post nearly 90 times per day across hundreds of brand accounts, reaching 229 million social media users.
The messages that parents and health workers receive, according to the WHO, are often misleading, scientifically unsubstantiated, and violate the Code. Some campaigns frame typical common and developmentally appropriate infant behavior as pathological issues that justify introducing formula. Afshan Khan, a U.N. assistant secretary-general, describes these tactics as an attack on breastfeeding.
The resolution provides technical guidance and support for member state governments that wish to regulate these marketing practice, which WHO describes as contributing to the global expansion of a formula industry now worth over US$55 billion annually.
Another State Bans Cultivated Meat
Nebraska has joined a growing list of states banning cultivated meat, passing a law that prohibits its manufacture, sale, and promotion. The move follows similar restrictions recently enacted in Montana, Indiana, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Governor Jim Pillen says the ban is aimed at protecting conventional agriculture and limiting support for what he described as “fringe ideas.”
Cultivated meat, which is grown from animal cells without slaughter, remains largely unavailable to consumers. But regulatory approvals have begun, and some companies, including JBS, the world’s largest meat processor, and UPSIDE Foods, are investing in the technology. Proponents say cultivated meat can reduce environmental impacts and address animal welfare concerns.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association opposes the outright bans, saying they welcome fair market competition. And Republican lawmakers in Wyoming and South Dakota have described the bans as contrary to conservative values like limited government and free trade.
Meanwhile, similar proposals are progressing in other states including Wyoming and Texas.
The United Kingdom Cuts Fund for Nature-Friendly Farming
The U.K. government is preparing to scale back long-term funding for nature-friendly farming, the Guardian reports. The decision, revealed by sources at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), affects the post-Brexit Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMS), which were designed to incentivize farmers to secure long-term food security by promoting regenerative farming and nature’s recovery.
While the government has committed to honoring a £5 billion budget from 2024 to 2026, but support for all but a few farms will be cut thereafter.
The longer-term reduction has prompted backlash. NFU President Tom Bradshaw warns that the policy shift could weaken both rural economics and environmental protections. According to The Wildlife Trust, “If implemented as reported, these broken promises will put nature recovery targets out of reach,” said Vicki Hird of The Wildlife Trusts. A petition opposing the cuts has gathered over 100,000 signatures.
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Photo courtesy of Michael Lock, Unsplash
