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CNN
a day ago
- General
- CNN
We asked 6 chefs for their secrets to reduce food waste — and we're stealing their tips ASAP
Whether it's stems and skins or past-their-prime protein and produce, you're probably throwing a lot of perfectly good food in the trash. Such waste doesn't come cheap. The average American throws away $728 worth of food per year, which adds up to nearly $3,000 for a family of four, according to a US Environmental Protection Agency report. Food prices jumped more than 23% between 2020 and 2024, per the US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, which is 2% higher than the overall inflation rate during that time. So, it's no wonder we're hoping to maximize every dollar we spend at the supermarket. As it turns out, chefs are masters at the craft. 'Food waste can make or break a kitchen's financial month or year; our margins are always extremely thin and fragile. Many restaurants strive to waste 4% or less of their food cost. Here, we aim for 1% to 2%,' said Tim Mangun, executive chef of Majordomo in Los Angeles. Compare that amount with those of typical home cooks, who waste about 21% of the food they buy. Reducing waste isn't just about saving money — although that's why many individuals and restaurants initially focus on it, said George Formaro, chef partner of Orchestrate Hospitality restaurants in Des Moines, Iowa. Every single thing that ends up in the trash takes time and labor to produce. Plus, the waste will directly affect Mother Nature. Food waste accounts for more than 20% of municipal solid waste, USDA data suggests. 'Uneaten food has enormous environmental, social, and financial impacts,' said Lindsay-Jean Hard, author of 'Cooking With Scraps' and writer for Zingerman's deli, bakery and mail-order food company in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 'All of the resources used to grow, raise, transport, and refrigerate that food are wasted right along with it,' Hard added. 'Then, when all of that wasted food ends up in landfills, it lacks the conditions to break down properly and, as a result, releases methane, one of the worst greenhouse gases.' With the economy in flux and grocery prices continuing to climb, CNN asked chefs from coast to coast to share their most creative ways to decrease food waste and save money and the environment all at once. Many of us shop with aspirations — I will eat five fruits and veggies daily! — rather than realistic intentions, said George Duran, a celebrity chef in New York City. When it comes time to put all those carrots and kale to good use, 'life often gets too busy before you discover that everything has wilted,' Duran said. Chefs almost always write their menus before shopping for ingredients, and it's wise to follow suit. Jot down a rough meal plan, then make a list for ingredients, Hard recommended. Not only does a list reduce the risk for impulse purchases, but it also gives you more direction when shopping. Doing so will likely save you time. 'You can still roam around the farmers market and buy whatever catches your eye,' Hard said. 'Just take the extra step of figuring out how you're going to use what you got, and then fill in any gaps.' Ideally, this meal plan will include recipes that flex fresh ingredients in more than one way, so you don't have stragglers hanging around at the end of the week. Many home cooks and professional chefs neglect to plan to cross-utilize ingredients, said Ken Bell, head chef and co-owner of Over Yonder restaurant in Boone, North Carolina. 'Buying versatile ingredients that can be used in multiple different ways for several meals is a must to minimize food waste at home,' Bell noted. 'Had mashed potatoes for dinner, but made too much? Add extra milk, cream, or stock (and any other veggies you like) and blend it into a tasty potato soup, for example.' Or plan to use fresh kale in a soup one night, and in a blender pasta sauce later in the week. Most professional kitchens have a process for inventory to keep tabs on what's in stock and what needs to be refreshed. Mangun has implemented a similar strategy at home: 'My wife and I write what we are low on, or run out of, on a white board, and generate our grocery list using this as a guide.' Before you step foot into a grocery store or head to the farmers market, 'inventory what you have in your pantry, fridge, and freezer,' Mangun said. When you add new items to your refrigerator roster, remember the restaurant trick FIFO, which means 'first in, first out.' In other words, use the rest of last week's strawberries before diving into this week's pint. Duran, a father of two, freezes much more than the average cook. 'My freezer is my food waste superhero,' he said. 'I freeze leftover herbs in olive oil. I even freeze onions and peppers and carrots, all chopped up in a resealable plastic bag for an instant mirepoix,' to start soups, sauces and more. You can also freeze most leftovers for three to four months if you happen to make too much. 'Just remember to take the time to label what you put in so you aren't second-guessing yourself a month from now,' Hard said. One thing many savvy chefs keep in the freezer: odds and ends that are destined for stock. Save onion skins, carrot peels, celery ends, excess herbs as well as bones from chicken, beef, pork or fish to make homemade stock. Even shrimp shells make stellar stocks. 'Homemade stock is always so much better than what you buy at the store, and the finished product also freezes well, so you can keep it for a long time and use it as needed,' Bell said. You can coax out serious flavor and stretch your ingredients much further by simmering them in water for 30 minutes (vegetable stock) to eight hours (beef or pork stock) before straining, Formaro chimed in. Another way to save surplus produce is to get in a pickle: 'Quick pickling is super easy,' Bell said. 'All you need is your favorite vinegar, sugar, salt, and water. You can pickle just about any kind of vegetable,' and the briny produce can hang out in the fridge for at least four weeks. Choose your own flavor adventure with America's Test Kitchen's method: Boil 1 ½ cups vinegar, 1 ½ cups water, 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 ½ tablespoons kosher salt and your favorite seasonings in a saucepan, then take this off the heat and allow it to steep for 10 minutes. Pack 1 pound of evenly sliced, sturdy fruits or vegetables into jars, boil the brine once more, then ladle the vinegar mixture into the jars. Allow the jars to cool, add lids, then refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Duran and his wife like to play what they call 'leftover roulette,' which is essentially a remix of the Food Network show 'Chopped.' 'We pull random ingredients from the refrigerator and figure out ways to put them all together for a meal,' Duran said. You can also use artificial intelligence or recipe websites such as SuperCook or SideChef to plug in the ingredients you have and gather recipe recommendations to put those items to good use. Both Hard and the EPA agree that composting is better than tossing food in the trash, 'but it's not a magical fix or the best solution for excess food,' Hard said. 'Before relegating something to the compost bin, think about how you might be able to use it instead. Question some of your habits. Could you save something for stock? Do those carrots really need to be peeled, or could you just rinse and scrub them?' If you do end up composting or even throwing away food, take note, said Aidan O'Neal, chef partner at Le Crocodile and Bar Blondeau inside the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn, New York. 'Take an audit. What are you throwing away — and throwing away regularly? Brainstorm ways to adjust your shopping accordingly,' O'Neal said. Duran doesn't aim for perfection, just progress. If you implement even one of these nine tips, you'll probably trim down on how much you toss out. 'Reducing food waste doesn't mean you have to overhaul your entire life. Start with one habit at a time. Try to get your kids involved. They will understand pretty quickly why you're doing it: for their future,' Duran said. 'Best of all, you'll save money, eat better, and feel like a kitchen superhero. Who doesn't want that?' Karla Walsh is a Des Moines, Iowa-based freelance lifestyle writer with more than 16 years of editorial experience.
CNN
a day ago
- General
- CNN
We asked 6 chefs for their secrets to reduce food waste — and we're stealing their tips ASAP
Whether it's stems and skins or past-their-prime protein and produce, you're probably throwing a lot of perfectly good food in the trash. Such waste doesn't come cheap. The average American throws away $728 worth of food per year, which adds up to nearly $3,000 for a family of four, according to a US Environmental Protection Agency report. Food prices jumped more than 23% between 2020 and 2024, per the US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, which is 2% higher than the overall inflation rate during that time. So, it's no wonder we're hoping to maximize every dollar we spend at the supermarket. As it turns out, chefs are masters at the craft. 'Food waste can make or break a kitchen's financial month or year; our margins are always extremely thin and fragile. Many restaurants strive to waste 4% or less of their food cost. Here, we aim for 1% to 2%,' said Tim Mangun, executive chef of Majordomo in Los Angeles. Compare that amount with those of typical home cooks, who waste about 21% of the food they buy. Reducing waste isn't just about saving money — although that's why many individuals and restaurants initially focus on it, said George Formaro, chef partner of Orchestrate Hospitality restaurants in Des Moines, Iowa. Every single thing that ends up in the trash takes time and labor to produce. Plus, the waste will directly affect Mother Nature. Food waste accounts for more than 20% of municipal solid waste, USDA data suggests. 'Uneaten food has enormous environmental, social, and financial impacts,' said Lindsay-Jean Hard, author of 'Cooking With Scraps' and writer for Zingerman's deli, bakery and mail-order food company in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 'All of the resources used to grow, raise, transport, and refrigerate that food are wasted right along with it,' Hard added. 'Then, when all of that wasted food ends up in landfills, it lacks the conditions to break down properly and, as a result, releases methane, one of the worst greenhouse gases.' With the economy in flux and grocery prices continuing to climb, CNN asked chefs from coast to coast to share their most creative ways to decrease food waste and save money and the environment all at once. Many of us shop with aspirations — I will eat five fruits and veggies daily! — rather than realistic intentions, said George Duran, a celebrity chef in New York City. When it comes time to put all those carrots and kale to good use, 'life often gets too busy before you discover that everything has wilted,' Duran said. Chefs almost always write their menus before shopping for ingredients, and it's wise to follow suit. Jot down a rough meal plan, then make a list for ingredients, Hard recommended. Not only does a list reduce the risk for impulse purchases, but it also gives you more direction when shopping. Doing so will likely save you time. 'You can still roam around the farmers market and buy whatever catches your eye,' Hard said. 'Just take the extra step of figuring out how you're going to use what you got, and then fill in any gaps.' Ideally, this meal plan will include recipes that flex fresh ingredients in more than one way, so you don't have stragglers hanging around at the end of the week. Many home cooks and professional chefs neglect to plan to cross-utilize ingredients, said Ken Bell, head chef and co-owner of Over Yonder restaurant in Boone, North Carolina. 'Buying versatile ingredients that can be used in multiple different ways for several meals is a must to minimize food waste at home,' Bell noted. 'Had mashed potatoes for dinner, but made too much? Add extra milk, cream, or stock (and any other veggies you like) and blend it into a tasty potato soup, for example.' Or plan to use fresh kale in a soup one night, and in a blender pasta sauce later in the week. Most professional kitchens have a process for inventory to keep tabs on what's in stock and what needs to be refreshed. Mangun has implemented a similar strategy at home: 'My wife and I write what we are low on, or run out of, on a white board, and generate our grocery list using this as a guide.' Before you step foot into a grocery store or head to the farmers market, 'inventory what you have in your pantry, fridge, and freezer,' Mangun said. When you add new items to your refrigerator roster, remember the restaurant trick FIFO, which means 'first in, first out.' In other words, use the rest of last week's strawberries before diving into this week's pint. Duran, a father of two, freezes much more than the average cook. 'My freezer is my food waste superhero,' he said. 'I freeze leftover herbs in olive oil. I even freeze onions and peppers and carrots, all chopped up in a resealable plastic bag for an instant mirepoix,' to start soups, sauces and more. You can also freeze most leftovers for three to four months if you happen to make too much. 'Just remember to take the time to label what you put in so you aren't second-guessing yourself a month from now,' Hard said. One thing many savvy chefs keep in the freezer: odds and ends that are destined for stock. Save onion skins, carrot peels, celery ends, excess herbs as well as bones from chicken, beef, pork or fish to make homemade stock. Even shrimp shells make stellar stocks. 'Homemade stock is always so much better than what you buy at the store, and the finished product also freezes well, so you can keep it for a long time and use it as needed,' Bell said. You can coax out serious flavor and stretch your ingredients much further by simmering them in water for 30 minutes (vegetable stock) to eight hours (beef or pork stock) before straining, Formaro chimed in. Another way to save surplus produce is to get in a pickle: 'Quick pickling is super easy,' Bell said. 'All you need is your favorite vinegar, sugar, salt, and water. You can pickle just about any kind of vegetable,' and the briny produce can hang out in the fridge for at least four weeks. Choose your own flavor adventure with America's Test Kitchen's method: Boil 1 ½ cups vinegar, 1 ½ cups water, 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 ½ tablespoons kosher salt and your favorite seasonings in a saucepan, then take this off the heat and allow it to steep for 10 minutes. Pack 1 pound of evenly sliced, sturdy fruits or vegetables into jars, boil the brine once more, then ladle the vinegar mixture into the jars. Allow the jars to cool, add lids, then refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Duran and his wife like to play what they call 'leftover roulette,' which is essentially a remix of the Food Network show 'Chopped.' 'We pull random ingredients from the refrigerator and figure out ways to put them all together for a meal,' Duran said. You can also use artificial intelligence or recipe websites such as SuperCook or SideChef to plug in the ingredients you have and gather recipe recommendations to put those items to good use. Both Hard and the EPA agree that composting is better than tossing food in the trash, 'but it's not a magical fix or the best solution for excess food,' Hard said. 'Before relegating something to the compost bin, think about how you might be able to use it instead. Question some of your habits. Could you save something for stock? Do those carrots really need to be peeled, or could you just rinse and scrub them?' If you do end up composting or even throwing away food, take note, said Aidan O'Neal, chef partner at Le Crocodile and Bar Blondeau inside the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn, New York. 'Take an audit. What are you throwing away — and throwing away regularly? Brainstorm ways to adjust your shopping accordingly,' O'Neal said. Duran doesn't aim for perfection, just progress. If you implement even one of these nine tips, you'll probably trim down on how much you toss out. 'Reducing food waste doesn't mean you have to overhaul your entire life. Start with one habit at a time. Try to get your kids involved. They will understand pretty quickly why you're doing it: for their future,' Duran said. 'Best of all, you'll save money, eat better, and feel like a kitchen superhero. Who doesn't want that?' Karla Walsh is a Des Moines, Iowa-based freelance lifestyle writer with more than 16 years of editorial experience.
CNN
a day ago
- General
- CNN
We asked 6 chefs for their secrets to reduce food waste — and we're stealing their tips ASAP
Whether it's stems and skins or past-their-prime protein and produce, you're probably throwing a lot of perfectly good food in the trash. Such waste doesn't come cheap. The average American throws away $728 worth of food per year, which adds up to nearly $3,000 for a family of four, according to a US Environmental Protection Agency report. Food prices jumped more than 23% between 2020 and 2024, per the US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, which is 2% higher than the overall inflation rate during that time. So, it's no wonder we're hoping to maximize every dollar we spend at the supermarket. As it turns out, chefs are masters at the craft. 'Food waste can make or break a kitchen's financial month or year; our margins are always extremely thin and fragile. Many restaurants strive to waste 4% or less of their food cost. Here, we aim for 1% to 2%,' said Tim Mangun, executive chef of Majordomo in Los Angeles. Compare that amount with those of typical home cooks, who waste about 21% of the food they buy. Reducing waste isn't just about saving money — although that's why many individuals and restaurants initially focus on it, said George Formaro, chef partner of Orchestrate Hospitality restaurants in Des Moines, Iowa. Every single thing that ends up in the trash takes time and labor to produce. Plus, the waste will directly affect Mother Nature. Food waste accounts for more than 20% of municipal solid waste, USDA data suggests. 'Uneaten food has enormous environmental, social, and financial impacts,' said Lindsay-Jean Hard, author of 'Cooking With Scraps' and writer for Zingerman's deli, bakery and mail-order food company in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 'All of the resources used to grow, raise, transport, and refrigerate that food are wasted right along with it,' Hard added. 'Then, when all of that wasted food ends up in landfills, it lacks the conditions to break down properly and, as a result, releases methane, one of the worst greenhouse gases.' With the economy in flux and grocery prices continuing to climb, CNN asked chefs from coast to coast to share their most creative ways to decrease food waste and save money and the environment all at once. Many of us shop with aspirations — I will eat five fruits and veggies daily! — rather than realistic intentions, said George Duran, a celebrity chef in New York City. When it comes time to put all those carrots and kale to good use, 'life often gets too busy before you discover that everything has wilted,' Duran said. Chefs almost always write their menus before shopping for ingredients, and it's wise to follow suit. Jot down a rough meal plan, then make a list for ingredients, Hard recommended. Not only does a list reduce the risk for impulse purchases, but it also gives you more direction when shopping. Doing so will likely save you time. 'You can still roam around the farmers market and buy whatever catches your eye,' Hard said. 'Just take the extra step of figuring out how you're going to use what you got, and then fill in any gaps.' Ideally, this meal plan will include recipes that flex fresh ingredients in more than one way, so you don't have stragglers hanging around at the end of the week. Many home cooks and professional chefs neglect to plan to cross-utilize ingredients, said Ken Bell, head chef and co-owner of Over Yonder restaurant in Boone, North Carolina. 'Buying versatile ingredients that can be used in multiple different ways for several meals is a must to minimize food waste at home,' Bell noted. 'Had mashed potatoes for dinner, but made too much? Add extra milk, cream, or stock (and any other veggies you like) and blend it into a tasty potato soup, for example.' Or plan to use fresh kale in a soup one night, and in a blender pasta sauce later in the week. Most professional kitchens have a process for inventory to keep tabs on what's in stock and what needs to be refreshed. Mangun has implemented a similar strategy at home: 'My wife and I write what we are low on, or run out of, on a white board, and generate our grocery list using this as a guide.' Before you step foot into a grocery store or head to the farmers market, 'inventory what you have in your pantry, fridge, and freezer,' Mangun said. When you add new items to your refrigerator roster, remember the restaurant trick FIFO, which means 'first in, first out.' In other words, use the rest of last week's strawberries before diving into this week's pint. Duran, a father of two, freezes much more than the average cook. 'My freezer is my food waste superhero,' he said. 'I freeze leftover herbs in olive oil. I even freeze onions and peppers and carrots, all chopped up in a resealable plastic bag for an instant mirepoix,' to start soups, sauces and more. You can also freeze most leftovers for three to four months if you happen to make too much. 'Just remember to take the time to label what you put in so you aren't second-guessing yourself a month from now,' Hard said. One thing many savvy chefs keep in the freezer: odds and ends that are destined for stock. Save onion skins, carrot peels, celery ends, excess herbs as well as bones from chicken, beef, pork or fish to make homemade stock. Even shrimp shells make stellar stocks. 'Homemade stock is always so much better than what you buy at the store, and the finished product also freezes well, so you can keep it for a long time and use it as needed,' Bell said. You can coax out serious flavor and stretch your ingredients much further by simmering them in water for 30 minutes (vegetable stock) to eight hours (beef or pork stock) before straining, Formaro chimed in. Another way to save surplus produce is to get in a pickle: 'Quick pickling is super easy,' Bell said. 'All you need is your favorite vinegar, sugar, salt, and water. You can pickle just about any kind of vegetable,' and the briny produce can hang out in the fridge for at least four weeks. Choose your own flavor adventure with America's Test Kitchen's method: Boil 1 ½ cups vinegar, 1 ½ cups water, 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 ½ tablespoons kosher salt and your favorite seasonings in a saucepan, then take this off the heat and allow it to steep for 10 minutes. Pack 1 pound of evenly sliced, sturdy fruits or vegetables into jars, boil the brine once more, then ladle the vinegar mixture into the jars. Allow the jars to cool, add lids, then refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Duran and his wife like to play what they call 'leftover roulette,' which is essentially a remix of the Food Network show 'Chopped.' 'We pull random ingredients from the refrigerator and figure out ways to put them all together for a meal,' Duran said. You can also use artificial intelligence or recipe websites such as SuperCook or SideChef to plug in the ingredients you have and gather recipe recommendations to put those items to good use. Both Hard and the EPA agree that composting is better than tossing food in the trash, 'but it's not a magical fix or the best solution for excess food,' Hard said. 'Before relegating something to the compost bin, think about how you might be able to use it instead. Question some of your habits. Could you save something for stock? Do those carrots really need to be peeled, or could you just rinse and scrub them?' If you do end up composting or even throwing away food, take note, said Aidan O'Neal, chef partner at Le Crocodile and Bar Blondeau inside the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn, New York. 'Take an audit. What are you throwing away — and throwing away regularly? Brainstorm ways to adjust your shopping accordingly,' O'Neal said. Duran doesn't aim for perfection, just progress. If you implement even one of these nine tips, you'll probably trim down on how much you toss out. 'Reducing food waste doesn't mean you have to overhaul your entire life. Start with one habit at a time. Try to get your kids involved. They will understand pretty quickly why you're doing it: for their future,' Duran said. 'Best of all, you'll save money, eat better, and feel like a kitchen superhero. Who doesn't want that?' Karla Walsh is a Des Moines, Iowa-based freelance lifestyle writer with more than 16 years of editorial experience.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Experts pinpoint shocking cancer trigger in TAP WATER as map shows worst-affected areas of the US
A silent killer is lurking in tens of millions of faucets nationwide, with families in agricultural areas of the country at greatest risk. A mixture of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and livestock manure are leaching into the groundwater, creating nitrates - compounds naturally found in the environment that can be harmful in large amounts - which can cause methemoglobinemia, a potentially fatal condition in infants commonly known as blue-baby syndrome. Long-term exposure to this chemical in water — even below the EPA's maximum safety limit of 10 mg/L — is linked to thyroid, kidney, ovarian, bladder, and colon cancers, DNA damage, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and rising colon cancer rates in young people. New research from the Des Moines University College of Health Sciences zeroed in on the effects that a pregnant woman's exposure to the chemical has on her unborn baby. Nitrate levels as low as just one percent of the EPA's safety limit increased the risks of preterm birth and low birth weight, conditions that have been linked to a higher risk of chronic disease, learning disabilities, and mental health struggles in the baby's future. Dr Jason Semprini, the study's author, said that exposure to nitrate in pregnancy causes about 15 percent as much harm as smoking during pregnancy. 'I do not want to diminish the importance of efforts to prevent smoking during pregnancy,' he said. 'But, I must ask, do we give nitrates 15 percent of the attention we give to smoking?' An estimated 60 million Americans rely on tap water that is, unbeknownst to them, laced with nitrates. They tend to live in states and rural areas where agriculture is central to the economy, such as Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, central California, Texas, and Oklahoma. Dr Semprini added: 'Our work adds to the evidence base that the current regulatory threshold (more than 10mg/L) may be insufficient for protecting the in utero transmission of water-based nitrate during the first trimester of pregnancy.' His research was published in the journal PLOS Water. Nitrate pollution affects larger cities, as well. An analysis by the Environmental Working Group highlighted the problem in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Miami, and the suburbs of New York City. Drinking water in 43 states had nitrate levels of 3 mg/L or higher in major water systems, while 39 states had at least one large system with levels at or above 5 mg/L, according to the group's latest report. While still below the EPA's maximum safety limit, public health experts argue the standards should be stricter. When the safety limit was first established in the 1950s, scientists discovered that levels as low as 11 mg/L could cause blue baby syndrome. Blue Baby Syndrome, clinically known as methemoglobinemia, is a rare but serious condition where an infant's blood cannot carry enough oxygen, leading to a bluish skin discoloration, particularly around the lips, fingers, and toes. The most well-known cause is nitrate contamination in drinking water, which is sometimes mixed with formula. It's very rare, with fewer than 100 cases reported in the US, but it is more common in parts of the world where well water is not tested. According to former Wisconsin state toxicologist Dave Belluck, the standard was set at 10, right up to the edge of safety. 'It's akin to a cliff,' he said. 'When you're standing on the edge of the cliff, you're safe. You take one step, and it's just like the Road Runner.' But Belluck dove deeper into the research that informed safety designation, finding that some infants in the study became sick at nitrate levels nearly 30 times lower, just 0.4 mg/L. He now believes the EPA's standards should be stricter, arguing that the science clearly shows nitrates are more harmful than previously thought. Other studies on the subject have come to similar conclusions. Researchers from Nova Scotia, Canada, tracked major birth defects recorded in the area between 1998 and 2006 and found they were twice as likely in areas where drinking water nitrate levels were between 1 and 5.56 mg/L. Exposure over time to nitrates could also increase a person's risk of a variety of cancers and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified the compounds as 'probably carcinogenic to humans'. A 2008 study of women in rural Wisconsin found that women drinking water containing 10 mg/l or more were nearly three times as likely to get a deadly cancer that affects the first part of the colon. Even nitrate levels between one and 5.9 mg/l increased the risk of cancer by 1.4 times. Meanwhile, in Spain and Italy, scientists identified a connection between nitrates in drinking water and colorectal cancer. Analyzing nearly 5,400 participants, the study revealed that people who consumed more than 10 mg of nitrate per day from water – roughly equivalent to drinking two liters of water containing 5 mg/L of nitrate – had a 49 percent higher risk of colorectal cancer compared to those who drank half that amount. In Iowa, researchers uncovered links between nitrate exposure and thyroid cancer in older women. Tracking nearly 22,000 women for decades, researchers found that those who drank water with nitrate levels above 5 mg/L for at least five years faced a 2.6 times higher risk of thyroid cancer. And a long-term study of over 28,000 postmenopausal women in 2015 found that those with the highest nitrate levels in their public water supply (2.98 mg/L or above) had twice the risk of developing ovarian cancer compared to those with the lowest levels. Private well users also saw a moderately elevated risk – 1.5 times – due to agricultural runoff contaminating groundwater. In total, researchers found 315 cases of ovarian cancer over 24 years of follow-up. Nitrate is highly soluble in water, making it difficult and expensive to eliminate. Individual homes or municipal water supply systems could be fitted with reverse osmosis and ion exchange filters to remove toxins from their drinking water. Still, those are expensive and out of reach for many. In addition to stemming from agricultural run-off, leaky septic systems can release untreated wastewater containing nitrates. Landfills, factories, and food processing plants can also leach nitrates over time.
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Iowa business groups challenge state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers
CHICAGO, June 24 (Reuters) - An Iowa business group has joined up with some health insurance plans and employers in the state to challenge a new local law that regulates pharmacy benefit managers, saying it will drive up healthcare costs for businesses by millions yearly. The Iowa Association of Business and Industry, which represents Iowa employers, filed the lawsuit, opens new tab in federal court in Des Moines on Monday, saying the law was meant to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, but will harm the community of health insurance plan providers in the state. The suit claims that the law is preempted by a federal law governing health insurance plans and places unconstitutional restrictions on speech for health benefit plans, private employers and PBMs. The law, known as Senate File 383, goes into effect on July 1. In part, it bars PBMs from directing patients to specific favored pharmacies, reimbursing pharmacies for less than a drug's cost or unreasonably designating a drug as a 'specialty drug' to limit patient access, according to the legislation. It also directs certain terms for contracts between pharmacies and PBMs, health insurance plans and employers. Pharmacy benefit managers serve as intermediaries in the health insurance world, negotiating prescription drug prices with drugmakers on behalf of employers and health plans. They also often manage pharmacy networks and operate mail-order pharmacies. Nicole Crain, president of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, said in a statement that the law will dramatically increase healthcare costs for Iowans, disrupt how prescription drug insurance plans operate in the state and prevent health plans from telling people where they can find the best deals on prescriptions. The lawsuit seeks an injunction barring enforcement of the law and a declaration that it is illegal. A representative for Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen, who will enforce the law, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. A spokesperson for Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reynolds, a Republican, signed the law on June 11, saying in a statement that the control PBMs have over prescription drug costs has led to the closure of dozens of rural pharmacies in the state. PBMs' business practices have drawn increasing scrutiny in recent years from U.S. lawmakers looking to lower drug prices, state attorneys general and from the Federal Trade Commission, which released a report in 2024 accusing PBMs of inflating drug costs and hurting pharmacy businesses. In response to the report, PBM Express Scripts filed a lawsuit against the FTC, calling the report defamatory and biased. States across the country have passed laws seeking to limit PBMs' influence on drug pricing, including in Arkansas, where a new law bars PBMs from owning retail pharmacies. Express Scripts and CVS had sued to block Arkansas' law last month, calling it an unconstitutional restriction on interstate commerce.
