USDA Releases New Vegetables and Pulses Outlook Report
The USDA has released the latest installment of its annual report that provides data on production, acreage, value, prices, imports, exports, per capita use, and more.
For mushrooms, it states that the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) reported the 2019/20 season (July-June) farm value of all mushrooms (Agaricus and specialty) increased 3 percent to $1.15 billion.
The report notes that the rise in mushroom farm value is mostly attributed to increases in both white-button and brown mushroom varieties. White and brown mushrooms accounted for 98 percent of all mushroom sales in 2019/20 season with white-button sales being 74 percent of total mushroom sales.
Sales value for white mushrooms climbed 4 percent from the previous year to $789.7 million due to a 9-cent increase in the season-average price (point of first sale) from $1.21 per pound in 2018/19 to $1.30 per pound in 2019/20. Similarly, the report notes that the sales value of brown mushrooms has also increased by 4 percent from the previous year.
The report shows that 2019/20 season price of all mushrooms (Agaricus and specialty) has trended upward of 5 percent from $1.34 to $1.41 per pound in 2019/20 from the previous year. The increase in Agaricus mushroom prices have increased 6 percent while specialty mushroom prices have declined by 2 percent from last year.
The 2019/20 season sales volume of all mushrooms (Agaricus and specialty), declined 2 percent to 816 million pounds. Most of the volume decline was realized in the white-button mushroom variety from 628.7 million pounds in 2018/19 to 607.7 million pounds in 2019/20. Despite the decline in white-button volume, brown mushrooms (including Portabella and Cremini) increased 3 percent to 188.7 million pounds.
Per capita availability for fresh Agaricus mushrooms has been steadily climbing since the 2010/11 season with a slight increase of 2.79 pounds per person during the 2019/20 season from 2.77 pounds per person last year.
Read the full report.
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Food Navigator Reports on Impact of Food Labeling
 As mushroom industry members and private label accounts consider the benefits of adding nutrition information to product labels, an article from FoodNavigator.com is a helpful resource.
Food Navigator covers news and analysis on food and beverage development, and this particular article, “What Kind of Impact Does Food Labeling Have on Consumption?” shares a general overview on the insights gathered from researchers from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University as they assess the effectiveness of different types of food labels on consumer eating habits.
The researchers’ analysis pooled the results of 60 interventional studies comprised of two million unique observations published between 1990 and 2014.
One of the key findings was that product food labeling that included nutrition or health information and other health-related symbols, claims, and logos increased consumer vegetable consumption by 13.5 percent.
Read the article.
Read the full study as published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.
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Vitamin D Cited in Open Letter to World Governments from Health, Sclence, and Medical Experts
In an open letter, scientists are calling for immediately increasing Vitamin D intake worldwide as research shows that Vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency negatively affects case outcomes during the health crisis. An article in NutraIngredients.com details the content of the open letter.
Read the article.
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