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Labels describing the climate impact of dishes on fast-food menus could encourage Americans to eat more sustainably, a new study finds. When it comes to food production, beef has one of the largest climate footprints. It’s among the most resource-intensive foods to produce, and cattle account for about two-thirds of livestock’s global greenhouse gas emissions. Replacing a burger with poultry or a vegetarian option can be a more Earth-friendly choice. In the study, published in JAMA Network Open last week, scientists asked more than 5,000 participants to select a hypothetical meal from a sample fast-food menu. To gauge whether people...

Some lawmakers believe consumers have the right to know they're eating meat produced in America, and are trying to re-instate a law --- included in the 2002 Farm Bill but never implemented --- to do just that. Supporters of country of origin labeling, otherwise known as COOL, say it will boost consumer confidence and fatten the wallets of livestock farmers by creating more demand for U.S. meat. Opponents believe COOL will cost too much money for little or no benefit. They don't believe most consumers are willing to pay the cost of program, which will be passed on by processors....

Telling consumers where their meat, fruit and vegetables came from seemed such a good idea to U.S. ranchers and farmers in competition with imports that Congress two years ago ordered the food industry to do it. But meatpackers and food processors fought the law from the start, and newly emboldened Republicans now plan to repeal it before Thanksgiving. As part of the 2002 farm bill, country-of-origin labeling was supposed to have gone into effect this fall. Congress last year postponed it until 2006. Now, House Republicans are trying to wipe it off the books as part of a spending bill...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health officials on Friday asked restaurants to list calories and food packagers to update food labels so that ever-fatter Americans can easily figure out how many calories they are getting in a serving.   Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Secretary Tommy Thompson said he was asking companies to improve their labels voluntarily, but said urgent action was needed because of the country's obesity epidemic. "Far too many Americans are literally eating themselves to death," Thompson told a news conference. The government said it would ask packagers to stop one trick that fools many...