Chick-fil-A loosens its antibiotics-in-chicken stance

Chick-fil-A loosens its antibiotics-in-chicken stance

Like your no-fast-food New Year’s resolution, Chick-fil-A is relaxing on its promise. The chain said on Sunday that it’s backtracking on the “No Antibiotics Ever” stance it instituted in 2019, and will allow some antibiotics in its chicken starting this spring.

The sandwich purveyor is loosening its label and switching to sourcing chicken that uses “No Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine,“ which means animals were likely given some antibiotics, but not the same ones people use.

Why do chickens take drugs? Producers use antibiotics 1) to treat illnesses, since disease can be hard to control when tons of birds are raised in close quarters, and 2) to make chickens grow faster to beef up profitability.

But…The FDA and other health organizations have found that while there’s no immediate danger in consuming antibiotics in meat, it can help create antibiotic-resistant bacteria in humans. So over the last decade, the US ramped up a campaign to limit antibiotics in meat.

Now, it’s getting harder to go au naturel: Chick-fil-A claims it has to bend its own rule to find the quantity of antibiotic-free chicken it needs for its restaurants. Supplier Tyson Foods and sandwich chain Panera made similar changes recently.—MM

SCOTUS to decide fate of abortion pill

SCOTUS to decide fate of abortion pill

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in a case over abortion pill mifepristone that could not only have far-reaching implications for women’s access to abortions, but also affect the FDA’s power to regulate all drugs.

The case involves a challenge to changes the FDA made in 2016 and 2021 that expanded access to mifepristone by 1) extending when it can be used from seven to 10 weeks into a pregnancy and 2) making it legal to send by mail. After a group of anti-abortion doctors objected, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last August that the FDA did not follow procedures and did not ensure the medication could be administered safely at home when it made those changes, assertions that medical experts refute. SCOTUS is now reviewing the matter.

What the ruling could change

For abortion access and reproductive health care: The case could prevent patients from receiving a prescription for mifepristone via tele-health, making it significantly harder for women to get an abortion, even in states where it’s legal.

  • Nearly two-thirds of all abortions the US health system provides are medication abortions, according to a recent study by the Guttmacher Institute.
  • study released this week found that the number of women who obtained abortion pills from sources outside the US health system more than quadrupled in the six months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe.

For the FDA and drug companies: A ruling upholding the 5th Circuit’s decision could dramatically alter the landscape for drug approval by making it easier for courts, and individuals, to challenge the FDA.

  • Experts say this has the potential to undermine the FDA’s status as the gold standard of medicine regulation.
  • Drugmakers claim it could threaten their ability to raise money from investors to develop new treatments, by injecting uncertainty into the approval process.

Looking ahead…expect a decision from SCOTUS by late June or early July. Mifepristone remains available until then.—CC

Why, though? Lego has seen its fair share of failed products

Why, though? Lego has seen its fair share of failed products

Yesterday, we wrote about a massive Dungeons & DragonsLego set that sounds pretty cool, if you’re into that sort of thing.

But The Lego Group hasn’t scored a home run with every kit; back in 2014, Lego designer Mark Stafford posted to Reddit about the toy company’s many failures, per Business Insider.

What happened?

Stafford said that in the ‘90s, Lego replaced many of its more experienced designers with “innovators” who knew little about toy design or what it took to manufacture them.

They created several products that had way too many parts, causing all sorts of issues — storage, logistics, pricing, etc. These products included:

  • A “fiber optics” kit with plastic tubes connected to LED lights. Cool, but they cost more to produce than the kits sold for.
  • Primo, or Lego bricks for babies. Babies don’t play with Legos because, well, they are babies.

But Stafford hated Galidor the most

Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension” was a short-lived children’s sci-fi show co-created by TV creator Thomas W. Lynch and The Lego Group as a way to break into the action figure market.

According to Lego podcast Bits N’ Bricks, the toy designers felt lackluster about the show before it aired. After it aired, it received mixed reviews and failed to find an audience.

Also:

  • The line competed against another Lego Group product, Bionicle.
  • The toys contained several pieces that were costly to make and, counter to Lego’s typical strategy, no bricks.

The show lasted only two seasons and sales were a complete flop. Some went so far as to blame “Galidor” as a contributing factor in Lego Group’s near bankruptcy.

In 2004…

… Jorgen Vig Knudstorp became CEO of The Lego Group. He cut unprofitable lines and turned the company around.

But “Galidor” toys still have their fans and collections, and The Lego Group did learn from its experience. Bits N’ Bricks notes that the toys’ system for connecting limbs is used in various toy lines today.

Why finding shipwrecks has never been easier

Why finding shipwrecks has never been easier

If your childhood dream job was archaeologist, marine biologist, or pirate — we’re about to make your day.

Deep-sea exploration experts say it’s a great time to go looking for shipwrecks, per The New York Times.

And technology is playing a big role in treasure-hunting’s heyday:

  • Autonomous underwater vehicles can cover large sections of ocean floor and travel to locations that were previously inaccessible — like 25 miles below an ice sheet.
  • Satellites can spot shipwrecks from space by the plumes of sediment that surround a wreck.
  • The digitization of historical archives and increased accessibility of telepresence systems, which livestream images of the ocean floor on the internet, let more people discover wrecks from the comfort of their homes.

But there’s another unfortunate reason that shipwreck discoveries have become more common: climate change. Rising sea levels, eroding shorelines, and powerful storms are increasingly washing shipwrecks ashore.

X-ploring marks the spot

More shipwrecks are also being discovered because, well, more people are looking for them — or stumbling upon them.

Private companies and research groups are exploring the ocean floor to map the world’s seabed while others are surveying for oil and gas leases, pipelines, and cables.

Some big names in tech and business have set their sights on the ocean floor:

  • The Schmidt Ocean Institute is a nonprofit research organization founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy Schmidt.
  • Billionaire investor Ray Dalio founded ocean exploration company OceanX with his son.

And then, of course, there are those who are not experts but tempted by the pull of extreme tourism — which sometimes ends in tragedy, like the OceanGate sub.

Before you go diving for gold, know that finding shipwrecks has become more about studying history and less about stealing buried treasure. Those who do find riches often end up in legal disputes with nations, rarely winning.

England, for example, is taking no chances with its treasure: It’s testing out new forensic marking technology to protect 57 of its shipwrecks from thieves.