Sasha Chavkin
@sashachavkin.bsky.social
Senior reporter covering the food industry @theexamination.org. Past: RIN Fellow for Pulitzer Center/@apnews.com, Ted Scripps Fellow, reporter @ICIJorg. Believer in democracy, the Constitution and the New York Mets.
I don’t cover elections much these days, but re the MI senate race, El-Sayed actually interviewed *me* (and @sashachavkin.bsky.social) on his America Dissected pod a couple years ago for our reporting on Big Food/influencers/anti-diet trends—it was a great convo! open.spotify.com/episode/75m5...
How Big Food Tries to Co-Opt the Anti-Diet Movement
America Dissected · Episode
open.spotify.com
"We wish to conduct a critical review of the academic culture and research quality policy within the research group in question," Utrecht University tells @timeshighered.bsky.social Fallout from our reporting with @investico.bsky.social in the #BehindtheBuzz investigation
Utrecht opens probe after scrutiny of Red Bull-linked research
University to carry out review of ‘academic culture’ following media reports accusing one of its professors of producing research that downplayed the risks of mixing energy drinks with alcohol
timeshighereducation.com
Funding for a research doctorate. Payments to the student union. Numerous studies disputing the risks of mixing alcohol and energy drinks. Our partners @thebristolcable.bsky.social dig deep on Red Bull's activities at @uwebristolofficial.bsky.social in a new #BehindtheBuzz project investigation
Flawed science, industry influence, untold harm of energy drinks - The Bristol Cable
How Bristol academics played a role in Red Bull-backed research that shaped debate and delayed restrictions on energy drinks
thebristolcable.org
Poisonings from diquat, a pesticide banned in Europe, have increased tenfold in Brazil since 2018 Diquat comes the same family as paraquat, and its use has surged in Brazil after paraquat was banned in 2017, finds @reporterbrasil.org.br
Intoxicações por agrotóxico banido na Europa crescem 1.100% em 8 anos
Vetado na Europa, diquate pertence à mesma família de antecessor já proibido no país; entre 2018 e 2025, casos de intoxicação cresceram onze vezes e somaram 250 registros, com ao menos 40 mortes — inc...
reporterbrasil.org.br
I was working for a provincial liquor licensing agency (which issues the sort of license bars and pubs need to serve alcohol) around the time when bar owners realized that Red Bull mixed with vodka keep bums in seats longer and revenues higher. They loved it! But everybody else? It was chaos. /..2
Sasha Chavkin@sashachavkin.bsky.social · 3d agoHow research funded by Red Bull helped convince Health Canada to remove warning labels against mixing energy drinks with alcohol @alexboyd.bsky.social leads the Sunday front page of @thestar.com, in the latest big story in the #BehindtheBuzz investigation w the @theexamination.org
How research funded by Red Bull helped convince Health Canada to remove warning labels against mixing energy drinks with alcohol @alexboyd.bsky.social leads the Sunday front page of @thestar.com, in the latest big story in the #BehindtheBuzz investigation w the @theexamination.org
Mixing energy drinks and alcohol can lead to ‘wide-awake drunk’ danger. So why did Health Canada drop warning labels?
Regulator removed warning labels on mixing energy drinks and alcohol. An investigation reveals Red Bull-funded studies played a role.
thestar.com
"Red Bull is doing the same as the tobacco industry" This story by our partners @investico.bsky.social uncovering the trail of questionable industry-funded research by Utrecht University professor Joris Verster, and the university's lack of oversight, is making waves in The Netherlands
Hoe een universitair onderzoeker de agenda van de energiedranklobby kon blijven dienen
Is het wel zo slecht om energiedrank te mixen met alcohol? Bestaat er een medicijn tegen de kater? Een onderzoeker aan de Universiteit Utrecht komt tot bevindingen die telkens gunstig uitpakken voor z...
groene.nl
One of the coolest parts of @theexamination.org's new Red Bull investigation was the creative technology and research tools we used. How computational journalists from @towcenter.bsky.social helped me identify a key source for the story 👇
How AI helped us uncover Red Bull’s influence on energy drink research
In our analysis of conflicts of interest in PubMed, we used an LLM to trace relationships between academics and companies – helping us discover more ties.
theexamination.org
NEW: For more than a decade, Red Bull waged a global campaign that used flawed science to downplay the risks of mixing energy drinks and alcohol. Our new @theexamination.org investigation, with an all-star team of media partners across the world, is out
Is it safe to drink Red Bull and vodka? Dubious research tied to the company has shaped energy drink policy.
The company paid scientists whose studies largely found that mixing energy drinks and alcohol isn’t harmful, contrary to most research.
theexamination.org
India stands by order to Red Bull, Monster and other leading brands to stop calling their products "energy drinks", saying their health claims are misleading Some regions in Pakistan instead require that they be called "stimulant drinks"
India firm on 'energy drink' crackdown despite Pepsi, Red Bull, Monster protest
India has ordered makers of high-caffeine beverages sold as "energy drinks" to stop using that description, rejecting efforts to stall the regulatory intervention in a fast-growing market expected to...
reuters.com
Exposed: Big Food’s 239 lawsuits against life-saving policies Our investigation, #BigFood vs The People reveals how food giants use tobacco-style legal tactics to challenge public health regulations around the world. www.lighthousereports.com/investigatio...
New investigation from @grilledmedia.bsky.social & @theguardian.com Documents from inside Europe's most powerful farming org show how it lobbied "in the same way as the tobacco industry" (their own words!) to block policies for public health & the environment www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Revealed: how Europe’s most powerful farming lobby killed EU’s pesticide law
Exclusive: High-level documents show how Copa Cogeca worked to weaken legislation to protect climate and wildlife
theguardian.com
“Fundamentally, we did not do a proper assessment” Former FDA scientist says the agency approved Zyn nicotine pouches without knowing what was in them - which could include microplastics New from @mattchapman.bsky.social Kathryn Kranhold @theexamination.org
FDA approved Zyn nicotine pouches for sale without knowing what they were made of, says former agency scientist
A toxicologist says the agency’s failure to consider whether the pouch material could shed microplastics shows it’s not doing enough to protect public health.
theexamination.org
And it quietly scaled back the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, also known as FoodNet, shrinking the required surveillance to just two pathogens: salmonella and a common type of E. coli. One of the pathogens they made optional for states to report: Cyclospora.
Bulgaria was considering a ban on vapes after the death of 14-year old who vaped a synthetic drug - until the American Chamber of Commerce swooped in. New from @jasonmclure.bsky.social @theexamination.org
How the global network of America’s largest business lobby opens doors for tobacco companies
American Chambers of Commerce opposed a vaping ban in Bulgaria, praised a cigarette factory in Serbia and hosted tobacco executives and government officials in Ukraine.
theexamination.org
US government websites were redesigned by former DOGE employees who installed visitor-tracking software configured to evade privacy tools, @us.theguardian.com reports Among those websites is realfood.gov, which touts MAHA food policies
‘It’s dangerous and it’s going to erode trust’: redesign of US government websites stokes surveillance fears
The National Design Studio, staffed by Doge veterans, installed visitor-tracking software on vital federal websites
theguardian.com
DOJ prosecutors wanted to criminally charge Abbott for its handling of a contaminated baby formula facility suspected of causing infants' deaths. Then the Trump administration stepped in
Exclusive | The Baby Formula Probe Produced a Pile of Evidence. Then the DOJ Dropped the Case.
Some prosecutors believed they had enough to charge Abbott Laboratories, but senior officials opted for civil settlement.
wsj.com
A study in Brazil found in 2020 that leading herbicide glyphosate wasn't harming workers. But it was funded by a soy industry group that had direct role in the research, @reporterbrasil.org.br revealed The authors' university and the journal are now investigating possible conflicts of interest
Unicamp investiga estudo sobre agrotóxico financiado por sojeiros
Universidade vai analisar possíveis conflitos de interesses em pesquisa que minimizou riscos do herbicida a trabalhadores rurais
reporterbrasil.org.br
A judge strikes down bans on using food stamps for junk food, soda and energy drinks, which had been approved in 20+ states and were among MAHA's biggest policy wins The judge said the Agriculture Dept had exceeded its authority in approving the bans, which required an act of Congress
Judge Blocks Bans on Using Food Stamps for Sugary Drinks and Candy
nytimes.com
A year after Congress passed Trump's rollbacks to food stamps, nearly half of the people kicked off the program are children More than 776k kids have lost food stamp access since the bill was signed into law, a @propublica.org analysis found last week
More Than 770,000 Children Are No Longer Receiving SNAP Benefits After Trump Changes Federal Food Program
Republican backers of Trump’s signature domestic policy bill repeatedly claimed that revisions to the food benefits program wouldn’t affect the most vulnerable. But reports from a dozen states show ch...
propublica.org
In 2020, a tax court ruled that Coca-Cola owed the US billions for shifting profits overseas to avoid paying taxes. “This is a key case because it was the one 100% victory that the IRS won,” a tax expert said Coke is now going back to court to try to get the ruling overturned
Coke Takes on IRS With $20 Billion at Stake
In a tax fight over foreign profits, the multinational giant and the U.S. head to court this week.
wsj.com
Expert: “If you take the deal, you’re going to be exploited. If you don’t take it, you’re going to die”. @fastlerner.bsky.social @annamaria.bsky.social for @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/trum...
“Digital Colonialism”: U.S. Demands to Access Africans’ Data Raise Privacy, Sovereignty Concerns
The United States is requiring access to health data as part of lifesaving aid deals with African countries. The U.S. says the data will be aggregated and anonymized, but privacy experts fear the info...
propublica.org
Quebec becomes the first region in North America to adopt an age restriction for energy drinks. The "Zachary Miron Act" is named after a 15-year-old who died after consuming Red Bull while using ADHD medication
Quebec becomes 1st Canadian province to ban energy drinks for youth | CBC News
Quebec is now the first jurisdiction in North America to restrict access to caffeinated energy drinks — to people under 16, in this case. The new law will come into effect in six months.
cbc.ca
Every year, bad diets kill millions of people and cost trillions of $. The world’s largest food companies say they want to be part of the solution. But behind closed doors, companies lobby governments to derail public health laws.
Big Food vs The People - Colombia
Lifting the veil on the unhealthy food lobby in Colombia
lighthousereports.com
Chiquita farm workers in Guatemala are paid below minimum wage, exposed to aerial fumigation and many use a dangerous cocktail called La Bomba - a mix of Raptor energy drink and the opioid tramadol - to endure grueling labor
Toxic bananas – Chiquita’s broken bodies
In Guatemala, Chiquita’s banana empire relies on an outsourced and exploited workforce labouring at the heart of plantations that are nonetheless Rainforest Alliance certified. Wages below the legal m...
stories.publiceye.ch
Just 9% of independent studies draw positive conclusions about the health effects of eating meat. But among studies backed the meat industry, the rate is 69%, according to a new review in the journal Obesity Reviews One more reason to take the protein craze with a grain of salt...
Industry-Linked Studies Disproportionately Advocate Meat Consumption
Academic studies funded or supported by industry are 16 times more likely to draw positive conclusions about the health impacts of meat than independent research, a new review has found. Public health...
desmog.com
Trump's surgeon general nominee Nicole Saphier sells a supplement called "Calm" that contains kava, an ingredient linked to liver damage and banned by the Pentagon @us.theguardian.com scoop shines light on MAHA's promotion of dubious wellness products
Trump’s pick for surgeon general sells supplement with ingredient banned by Pentagon
Amazon opens an inquiry into Nicole Saphier’s product compliance following Guardian inquiry. White House says she will be a ‘powerful asset’ for Maha agenda
theguardian.com
Common preservatives such as added vitamin C are linked to higher risks of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, a new study finds "The results observed here for these food additives are not true for natural substances," the study's author told CNN
High blood pressure, heart attacks linked to common preservatives in food | CNN
Common “natural” preservatives such as vitamin C may be linked to a greater risk of high blood pressure and heart disease, a new study found.
cnn.com
Obesity appears to have peaked in a number of high-income countries, but is accelerating in low and middle income countries, a new study in @nature.com finds Experts say the pattern shows that rising obesity rates are not inevitable
The ‘velocity of obesity’ aims to show which nations are slowing an epidemic
A study finds the rise in U.S. obesity rates have hit a plateau in children but are still climbing for adults, and are still high compared to those in other countries.
statnews.com
