Food Roundup: Portion Sizes Up, Milk Prices Down, Whole Foods Surprises, and More

Joy of Cooking portion sizes have grown — Professor and food author Brian Wansink has found that portion sizes in the cookbook Joy of Cooking have gone up by 35 percent over the years. Other research shows portion sizes began to increase dramatically in the early 1980s, corresponding with the start of the obesity epidemic. [Source: Food Politics]

Low milk prices killing dairy cows — The price of milk has dropped so low it no longer covers farmers’ costs, so many are slaughtering their cows for beef instead. One fifth of dairy cows in the U.S. could be killed this year, which the head of a dairy trade association says could “destroy our dairy infrastructure.” [Source: Daily Bread]

Whole Foods doing better than expected — Despite a decline in same-store sales, first quarter profits for the natural foods grocery giant beat analyst estimates. The chain has cut costs in response to the lagging economy and its store brand is doing well. But an ongoing lawsuit with the FTC over Whole Foods’ purchase of competitor Wild Oats has also significantly eaten into earnings. [Source: Reuters]

Climate change speeding up — The pace of global warming is exceeding previous predictions, a group of scientists said Saturday. Global industrial pollution has been higher than anticipated, and the effect is compounded as higher temperatures melt the arctic permafrost, which in turn releases more greenhouse gases. [Source: Washington Post]

Changes for COOL regulations — Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said he’s tossing aside the Bush Administration rules on country-of-origin labeling (COOL) and asking the meat industry to follow stricter guidelines on letting consumers know where their meat comes from. If companies won’t do so voluntarily, Vilsack says he’ll write new rules. Large meat producers and sellers have previously said stronger regulations would be too expensive, and Mexico and Canada have filed a complaint with the WTO. [Source: AP]

Coke machine offers 120 flavors — Coca-Cola is testing a fountain machine that can hold syrups for up to 120 different beverages while taking up the same amount of space as current 8-flavor models. The company will be testing the new machine in Atlanta and Orange County before potentially taking it nationwide next year. [Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]