(WASHINGTON) — From soy to macadamia, a variety of plant-based milk alternatives have begun filling shelves in recent years.
Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has caught up with the trend, issuing new guidance for plant-based labels.
On Wednesday, the FDA shared its proposed draft for naming conventions and guidelines on how these products are marketed and sold.
Although the guidance is not final, the FDA suggests that any non-milk product that uses the word “milk” — i.e. nut milk, soy milk — should add a voluntary nutrient statement to convey how the product’s nutritional value compares to that of regular milk, based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service criteria.
For example, according to the draft guidance, the label could read: “Contains lower amounts of vitamin D and calcium than milk.”
FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D., said the guidance was developed “to help address the significant increase in plant-based milk alternative products” that have become available over the last 10 years.
He added that the recommendations “should lead to providing consumers with clear labeling to give them the information they need to make informed nutrition and purchasing decisions on the products they buy for themselves and their families.”
Regular dairy milk serves as an important source of vitamins and nutrients for many people. The FDA’s proposal aims to raise consumer awareness that non-dairy milks may not contain the same nutritional value as regular milk.
Back in 2018, the agency requested public feedback on plant-based milk alternatives that used terms like “milk,” “cultured milk,” “yogurt” and “cheese” in their labeling, to better understand “how consumers use these plant-based products and how they understand terms such as, for example, ‘milk’ or ‘yogurt’ when included in the names of plant-based products.”
The agency ultimately received more than 13,000 comments on the request and determined that while consumers “generally understand that [plant-based milk alternatives] do not contain milk,” many are not aware of the nutritional differences between milk and plant-based alternatives, such as whether plant-based products contain calcium.
Plant-based alternatives are not included as part of the dairy group in the USDA and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines.
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
Pentatonix received their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, making them the first a capella group to be honored on the iconic landmark. “A cappella music has made it to Hollywood!” they celebrated on Instagram. “There are no words to describe what it meant to see ‘PENTATONIX’ cemented on the iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame Boulevard.”
The Jonas Brothers revealed only one person is featured on The Album, their forthcoming studio effort, and that’s “All Time Low” singer Jon Bellion, who worked as a producer on the project.
The Weeknd announced he’ll release his “Die For You” remix featuring Ariana Grande “tomorrow night,” meaning Thursday.
In more Jonas Brothers news, Joe Jonas made fans swoon with his birthday tribute to wife Sophie Turner. He flooded his Instagram Story with posts about her, writing in one, “Here’s to more nights being real with you @sophiet. Happy Birthday.”
Shawn Mendes is rumored to be dating a 51-year-old chiropractor named Jocelyne Miranda. According to Page Six, the rumored couple was spotted hiking at Runyon Canyon Park in California, where Shawn opted to exercise without a shirt.
Britney Spears shared a goofy Instagram video of her talking about dresses with a heavy accent, but there was one line that caught fans’ attention. “I just want you to know if I ever shut down my Instagram, do not call the cops,” Britney said. Last month, fans called police to perform a wellness check on her when she disabled her account.
Behati Prinsloo shared how she and husband Adam Levine celebrated their daughter Gio Grace‘s fifth birthday. Prinsloo shared glimpses of the party to her Instagram Story, including one photo that shows a spider painted on her face. “We raged,” she captioned the image. Another picture showed off Gio’s rainbow colored birthday cake.
Since February 22 is National Margarita Day, how about celebrating by watching one of the popular cocktails get mixed by a guy you always associate with tequila: Paul McCartney?
Believe or not, the ex-Beatle is apparently famous for his “Maccarita,” his version of a Margarita that’s made with the juice of one orange or two Clementines, various orange liqueurs, lime juice, salt and of course, tequila.
A clip of Paul making his signature cocktail has been posted on his Twitter to mark National Margarita Day: It’s from his daughter’s cooking show Mary McCartney Serves It Up, which streams on Discovery+. And yes, Paul does sing as he’s shaking up the ingredients in a cocktail shaker.
“This is hands down my favorite cocktail in the whole world, and even better when it’s lovingly made by my dad,” says Mary. “Cheers, everyone,” adds Paul.
(WASHINGTON) — Springtime has come early to Washington D.C., if the city’s cherry blossom trees have anything to say about it.
Across the Potomac, dozens of trees have already started to bloom creating an odd scene of pink flowery streets and parks just mere weeks after Groundhog Day.
While park officials and longtime city observers have said that while it’s too early to know when the city’s most famous cherry blossoms will be blooming around the National Mall, they said it’s likely to be a much earlier than usual bloom.
“I don’t think anybody has been surprised, it’s been an extremely mild winter,” Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the National Parks Service told ABC News. “Heat drives them to bloom. In the absence of cold…we can’t be surprised that we’re having an earlier bloom.”
Although the likely later bloom will affect vacations, parties and other events surrounding the peak bloom on the Tidal Basin, event organizers told ABC News they will plan accordingly and still have fun things to do even if the petals are gone in April. At the same time, those who care for the trees warn that this phenomenon is a warning about the dangers of climate change to flora.
The 3,700 Tidal Basin cherry blossom trees, most of which have been around since they were brought to the city in 1912, are mostly made up of Yoshino Cherry, which bloom later than other cherry blossom trees in the city, according to Litterst.
The timing of the budding process for the Yoshino trees around the basin has varied over the years, but it has typically started the green bud stage, which is the first stage, around the end of February or the beginning of March, the NPS said. Peak bloom typically occurs from the end of March to early April, according to NPS data.
This year’s Yoshino green bud stage took place around Feb. 13, the earliest recorded green bud stage in nearly 20 years, NPS data showed. The earliest full bloom took place on March 15, 1990, according to the agency.
Litterst said the NPS will announce the forecasted date for full bloom on March 1, but warned that drastic weather patterns, like an arctic cold front similar to the one that brought late frost and damaged the trees in 2017, could affect the timeline.
“It’s likely to be earlier than the average dates,” he noted.
Julie Moore, a spokeswoman for the Trust for the National Mall, the non-profit group that helps maintain and restore the greenspace, told ABC News that climate change is the major factor behind this year’s early bloom.
This winter has seen abnormally warmer temperatures in Washington D.C., according to the National Weather Service, as January’s average temperatures were 45.2 degrees Fahrenheit, nearly eight degrees higher than the normal temperatures for that month.
That mild winter has so far continued into February for several days with temperatures for Thursday forecasted to be in the 80s, according to the forecast.
Moore said the trust’s arborists have seen the full bloom dates vary over the years due to shifts in extreme cold and milder winters.
“There are always a lot of twists and turns so we simply don’t know which way it will land,” Moore told ABC News.
Moore reassured that even if peak bloom takes place before spring officially begins, people who are looking to view the flowers won’t have to rush their plans as the petals will still be visible a few weeks after full bloom.
For the events tied to the cherry blossoms, such as the National Cherry Blossom Festival, a possible early bloom will shift some planning and timing, but it won’t necessarily mean that people who come to the city in April to celebrate spring will be left out, according to organizers.
Diana Mayhew, the president and CEO of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, told ABC News her team is eagerly awaiting the March 1 announcement and will be making changes to its schedule of events, which are tentatively set for March 20 through April 14, based on the full bloom.
“We have a contingencies place of moving 100 performances over the period,” Mayhew told ABC News.
She added that many events that have been tentatively scheduled for the nearly month-long festival will likely stay in place as the celebration’s themes have expanded to include celebrating the arrival of spring.
“The good thing is that a lot of people are within driving distance, so our visitors will come when the blossoms bloom and they come back,” Mayhew said.
Litterst said it is too early to tell what kind of short-term effects an early bloom will have on the trees this season, but said that higher temperatures will have an impact.
“Over time, we’re talking about the next 100 years, warming trends and climate change could have an effect on pollinators,” he said.
Moore said that other effects of climate change, including flooding on the Tidal Basin have also been damaging the trees over the years. Last year, the Trust had to replenish some saplings, according to Moore.
“The cherry blossom trees are in jeopardy,” she said.
Moore noted that several parties are working to come up with solutions.
In 2019, NPS, the Trust for the National Mall and the National Trust for Historic Preservation partnered with landscape architectural firms to create the Tidal Basin Ideas lab, a non-profit that is working on improving and bolstering the landscape to withstand environmental changes.
Some of the ideas that have been floated by the group include redesigned pedestrian paths, levees and new ground construction that would absorb the water.
“We need to make sure they continue to bloom for the next generation,” Moore said.
Of Monsters and Men vocalist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir has announced her debut solo album.
The record is titled How to Start a Garden and will be released on May 5.
“A lot of things had to end for this album to become what it is,” Nanna says. “A long term relationship, my prior sense of home and belonging. But it’s also an ode to the joy of new beginnings: new relationships, a new home, new friendships, a new sense of self. The album takes place in this in-between state.”
How to Start a Garden includes the previously released song “Godzilla.” A second track titled “Crybaby” is available now via digital outlets and is accompanied by a video streaming now on YouTube.
Nanna will launch a U.S. tour in support of How to Start a Garden in July. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit NannaNannaNanna.com.
Now that Kim Petras has topped the charts with “Unholy” and won a Grammy to boot, she’s now getting invited to the coolest events and being asked to work with lots of different artists. Kim says she’s come a long way from her school days in Germany, where she claims her “only friends” were the famous female singers she heard on the radio.
“Cher. Nicki Minaj. Madonna. Lana Del Rey…Kylie [Minogue]. The list goes on,” Kim tells Billboard for its Women in Music issue. “Women in pop music were my only friends in high school — they were everything I wanted to be and [gave me] the strength I [needed] to transition and live my life authentically. They gave me the strength to be myself.”
As for how things have changed for her in the past few months, Kim tells Billboard that before “Unholy,” “it was like, ‘Oh, the gays love her,’ but people didn’t want me on their songs. I didn’t get budgets approved. It was rough.”
“I’ve been an independent artist for so long just hustling and playing clubs,” she adds. “And now different people are hitting me up to collaborate and get in the studio. It’s cool that people are catching on.”
When discussing her history-making milestone of being the first out trans artist to win a Grammy in a major pop category, Kim points out, “I’m happy there are more trans artists now that are being taken seriously. I just don’t want to be the last.”
Kim will receive the Chartbreaker award at the Billboard Women In Music award ceremony March 1 in LA., and it’ll be a full circle moment: One of her old high school “friends,” Lana Del Rey, is also being honored at the ceremony.
In a promo for his return as host of Saturday Night Live, Woody Harrelson can be seen strolling the halls of 30 Rock and musing thoughtfully as he looks at the black-and-white photos of former hosts.
“There’s so much history in this place. So many great hosts. Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Amy Poehler — oh, my weed guy!” Harrelson says in voice-over, except he mistook Ben Affleck for Matt Damon, Owen Wilson for Amy Poehler and his bongo buddy Matthew McConaughey for his weed dealer.
It’s then revealed he’s carrying a boom box that’s playing his voice-over. When cast member Devon Walker calls him on it, Woody explains, “I like to keep a clear mind when I’m working, so I pre-record all my thoughts.”
However, when Devon asks him to prove it by asking what he thinks of his shirt, the former Cheers star wishes he could keep his thoughts to himself.
This weekend’s installment of SNL will have Woody and musical guest Jack White, who are both joining the 5-Timers’ Club: Woody hosted in 1989, 1992, 2014 and 2019, while White appeared with The White Stripes in 2002 and solo in 2012, 2018 and 2020.
Jason Aldean continues to update his fans as he works on his eleventh studio album.
“Day 2 in the studio!” he posted Tuesday evening. “We cut 9 songs in 2 days and we recorded some [fire] today… Can’t wait for u guys to hear what we’ve been working on.”
As he’d done the day prior, Jason also included a series of black-and-white pictures from the studio, including one where he’s matter-of-factly flipping off the photographer.
Jason’s current Macon, Georgia double album includes his hit “That’s What Tequila Does,” which is in country’s top five right now.
Camila Cabello has found her next acting gig: the drama movie Rob Peace.
Deadline reports Camila will co-star alongside Mary J. Blige, Tulsa King‘s Jay Will and 12 Years a Slave star Chiwetel Ejiofor. The movie, which Ejiofor is directing, is based off the biography The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League.
The movie stars Will as Robert, who grows up in a hard section of Newark, New Jersey, and gets a scholarship to Yale University. He ultimately graduates with degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry. Despite leading a promising career in infectious disease and cancer research, he deals marijuana on the side.
Peace died in 2011 from a drug-related shooting.
Camila will reportedly play Naya, a fellow classmate at Yale. Blige was previously announced to play Peace’s mother, while Ejiofor plays his dad.
The film is currently in production, and a release date has not been reported.
The movie follows Camila’s acting debut in Cinderella, which is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Earlier this year, KISS‘ Paul Stanley told ABC Audio that he’s sometimes confused by the things that his bandmate Gene Simmons tells the press. But in a new interview, Stanley says he’s able to look past what he calls Simmons’ “schtick” to see the real person, who he loves and respects.
Speaking to the U.K. publication Louder, Stanley says what he loves about Simmons is his selflessness.
“Gene is a team player, and he loves the band, and wants what’s best for it, even if it’s not always what’s best for him,” says Paul.
“I love Gene’s ability to put his own advantages and possibilities within the band by the side to do whatever is best for the collective,” he adds. “I admire that quality, because it’s you don’t find it that often in people.”
What’s more, Stanley points out, “Underneath all the bravado and all the ‘Gene Simmons’ schtick is a very caring, and very kind and giving person, who takes care of a lot of people, far outside and beyond his family. I respect that very much.”
KISS have a festival date coming up in April in Brazil, and in June, they’ll kick off a European tour which is set to run through July. Meanwhile, the fifth installment in their Off The Soundboard live bootleg series arrives April 7. As previously reported, it documents a November 28, 1984, concert recorded live in Poughkeepsie, NY during the band’s Animalize World Tour.
