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NEW YORK / SANTIAGO / BOGOTA (September 2, 2026) – Today the National Audubon Society announced the winners of the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards. Now in its seventeenth year, the awards celebrate...

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Adding folic acid to food can save newborn babies. A misleading food 'safety' bill could block that Anthony Lacey September 2, 2026

• The “FRESH” Act would block states from regulating chemicals in food or requiring folic acid fortification, proven to reduce birth defects
• The food industry group Americans for Ingredient Transparency is pushing the bill that could gut states’ food safety authority
• Congress should reject the FRESH Act. EWG is rallying against it in Washington, D.C., on September 15 with partners and supporters.

Food companies are pushing a bill in Congress, the FRESH Act, as a food safety measure. It isn’t.

The bill, if enacted, would block state laws regulating chemicals in food, known as preemption. And its preemption provisions are so broad it could harm public health far beyond the chemicals the measure would allow in food, according to a new Harvard Law School analysis. 

The FRESH Act would make the Food and Drug Administration the sole regulator of food additives, stripping states of the authority to pass or enforce their own food chemical laws. 

In practice, Harvard’s analysis finds the bill’s preemption language covers almost anything that could become a “component” of food. That means the FRESH Act’s threats to the food supply are twofold: It would erase state bans on harmful food chemicals – and might roll back a range of other public health protections with it.

One consequence of the bill would be blocking state laws that require folic acid to be added to certain foods – a practice the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called one of the greatest public health achievements in recent decades.

Benefits of folic acid fortification

The addition of folic acid to food – also known as folic acid fortification – is a public health measure designed to prevent neural tube defects in infants. Conditions like spina bifida can develop in the first weeks of pregnancy, often before someone even knows they’re pregnant.

The U.S. has required folic acid fortification in enriched grain products like bread and cereal since 1998. This policy may have helped to reduce the rate of neural tube defects by between 25% and 50%.

Many Latino communities benefit less from the federal fortification mandate, because they eat more tortillas and tamales – foods not captured in national fortification requirements. So some states, including Alabama and California, have extended that mandate to include corn masa flour. Florida introduced a similar bill to address health disparities, though it failed in committee.

The FRESH Act would wipe away those existing state laws and prevent any other state from pursuing future similar measures. 

Harvard’s analysis warns that the FRESH Act’s preemption language is broad enough to block new folic acid fortification laws from ever taking effect, and to erase the ones already on the books in Alabama and California.

Despite its industry backers calling the bill a way to ensure consistent food safety nationwide, it could also frustrate other public health measures. For example, it would likely block state allergen labeling requirements and lead and arsenic limits in baby food.

Stopping state food chemical laws

A group called Americans for Ingredient Transparency, which is backed by major multinational food corporations, is pushing the bill.

Their goal is simple: make the FDA the only regulator that matters when it comes to food additives, effectively shutting state efforts down.

But the FDA’s system for evaluating food chemical safety is effectively broken.

Under current law, food companies can add chemicals to food through a provision called GRAS, or “generally recognized as safe.” It is a regulatory loophole that has allowed thousands of chemicals into our food supply – some of which the chemical companies never even notified the FDA about. 

And a recent GRAS “reform” proposal from the FDA fails to fix the broken system. Although it would require companies to tell the FDA about new chemicals, it sets no deadlines for notification, allows companies to use new chemicals before the FDA has reviewed them, and fails to guarantee those chemicals are safe. 

It also permits existing GRAS chemicals to stay on the market without submitting any safety data to the FDA. 

The absence of federal leadership on food safety prompted many states to step up. In many cases, states are the sole line of defense against food chemicals that may harm our health. In 2025 alone, more than 30 states introduced nearly 120 bills addressing food chemical safety.

What needs to change – and what you can do now

Congress should reject the FRESH Act – and in the meantime, states should continue passing and defending their own food safety laws.

Join EWG in Washington, D.C., on September 15 for our Toxics Off the Table! rally to fight the FRESH Act and protect state food safety laws. Visit our website for more information.

Until there are enough policies in place to protect public health, EWG’s tools can help you navigate the food supply.

EWG’s Dirty Dozen™ Guide to Food Chemicals breaks down the most concerning additives currently allowed in our food. 

And our Food Scores database lets you search for more than 150,000 products rated on nutrition, ingredient and processing concerns. Use EWG’s Healthy Living™ App on the go.

Areas of Focus Food Ultra-Processed Foods Family Health Women's Health Children’s Health Food Chemicals Authors Sarah Reinhardt, MPH, RDN September 2, 2026

Two veteran Shell employees working aboard the Prelude floating LNG facility off Western Australia have lost their attempt to secure substantially reduced working arrangements as they move toward retirement.

But the Fair Work Commission decision, handed down on 1 September 2026, is more nuanced than a simple finding that Shell was entitled to reject their requests.

The Commission dismissed the applications because it concluded that the workers’ requests had not been validly made under the relevant flexible-working provisions of Australia’s Fair Work Act. In other words, the Commission found that its jurisdiction to arbitrate the dispute had not been properly enlivened. Come As You Are Songkran

That distinction matters.

The case was not simply a contest in which Shell persuaded the Commission that reduced working arrangements would be operationally impossible.

It turned principally on whether the statutory requirements enabling the Commission to intervene had been met.

Two long-serving Prelude workers seeking a transition toward retirement

The applicants were Sean Faherty and Stuart Dale, both employed by Shell Australia FLNG Pty Ltd.

Both began working for Shell at Prelude in 2014.

Faherty is a Panel Technician and Dale a Production Technician. Both are over 55, making age potentially relevant under the Fair Work Act provisions governing requests for flexible working arrangements. Come As You Are Songkran

Their workplace is no ordinary office.

Prelude is Shell’s enormous floating LNG facility in the Browse Basin off north-western Australia. Shell describes Prelude as the world’s largest floating facility and says it is intended to remain in operation for decades. Shell

The workers’ existing roster operates on a 15-week cycle:

three weeks on;

four weeks off;

three weeks on;

five weeks off.

The arrangement sought by Faherty and Dale would effectively have divided those offshore working periods between them.

Under the proposed arrangement, each man would work one three-week offshore swing during the 15-week cycle rather than both three-week swings.

The Commission recorded that this would mean each attending Prelude for a three-week working period roughly three or four times a year. Come As You Are Songkran

The decision also records that both presently earn approximately A$300,000 a year.

They proposed reducing their working time by approximately 50 per cent, with their salaries reduced correspondingly. Come As You Are Songkran

This was therefore not a request to maintain a full salary while halving attendance.

It was effectively a proposed job-share or semi-retirement arrangement.

Shell said there was a staffing problem

Shell’s central operational concern was coverage.

Faherty’s position required particular panel competencies, and Shell said that reducing his roster would leave the Utilities Area without sufficient suitably qualified personnel.

A Shell manager told Faherty that his proposal could potentially become workable if another employee were trained to the required panel competency.

According to the Commission decision, Shell contemplated that additional training being completed around September or October 2026. Come As You Are Songkran

Dale was likewise told that another employee would be required to cover the portion of his role left vacant.

The employees suggested an alternative involving another already trained worker, but Shell maintained that this would create a consequential shortage elsewhere on the shift. Come As You Are Songkran

Shell formally rejected Faherty’s proposal because, it said, there was no competent Panel Technician available to cover the gap created by the flexible roster.

Dale was told his request could not be approved because of resourcing constraints within the Utilities Area. Come As You Are Songkran

Those are recognisable operational arguments on a remote offshore installation where competency coverage can be safety-critical.

But they were not ultimately the decisive point.

Why the workers actually lost

The key legal issue concerned the wording of section 65 of the Fair Work Act.

An employee does not obtain an unrestricted statutory right to demand flexible working simply upon reaching 55.

The requested change must be made because of a circumstance identified by the legislation.

The Commission found that the connection between the workers reaching 55 and the particular arrangements they requested was insufficient.

Faherty said he wanted additional time away from work, including additional opportunities to visit siblings and family members.

He also indicated that if his flexible working request was not accepted he might eventually resign and rely partly upon investment income. Come As You Are Songkran

Dale described his objective as transitioning toward retirement and becoming accustomed both to longer periods at home and to living on a lower income.

His request also referred to continuing health issues following a back injury and the potential benefit of having greater access to physiotherapy while ashore. Come As You Are Songkran

Commissioner Hunt nevertheless concluded that the requests had not been validly made under the statutory provision.

The applications were therefore dismissed under section 587(1)(a) of the Fair Work Act. Come As You Are Songkran

That is significantly different from a finding that flexible or semi-retirement working aboard Prelude is inherently unreasonable.

An unusual passage in the decision

One aspect of the ruling is likely to attract particular attention.

Dale had explained that part of the transition he wanted involved becoming accustomed to earning approximately A$150,000 rather than A$300,000 annually before retirement.

The Commission suggested there was nothing preventing him from placing part of his salary into another account and effectively putting it aside until required later. Come As You Are Songkran

Whatever one thinks of that observation, it illustrates the extent to which the Commission examined whether the particular personal reasons advanced genuinely established the statutory connection required by the Act.

The decision should therefore not be read simply as:

“Shell said no, and the Commission agreed.”

The legal reasoning is considerably narrower.

Prelude and industrial relations: this is not an isolated case

The dispute also arrives against a broader history of industrial-relations issues surrounding Prelude.

In August 2025, a Fair Work Commission Full Bench dealt with a long-running bargaining dispute involving Qube Offshore workers carrying out stores and logistics work aboard the facility.

Shell had previously employed workers directly for this work before outsourcing it to Qube in 2021.

The Commission made a notably direct observation about what followed.

It found that there was significant overlap between the work subsequently carried out by Qube employees and that previously undertaken by direct Shell employees.

It also found that the Shell employees had been paid more.

The Commission said a reduction in labour costs was “undoubtedly a key driver” behind Shell’s outsourcing decision. Fair Work Commission

That is unusually forthright language for an industrial tribunal.

The resulting dispute eventually became sufficiently entrenched for the Commission to impose an intractable bargaining workplace determination.

The Full Bench awarded significant wage increases and retrospective pay after finding that Qube workers had gone for an extended period without pay rises and were positioned toward the lower end of comparable industry remuneration. Fair Work Commission

Earlier Prelude disputes have also reached the Commission, including bargaining litigation involving Shell itself and offshore unions. Fair Work Commission

So the Faherty and Dale case is not occurring in an industrial-relations vacuum.

An ageing specialist workforce presents a real management issue

There is also a broader question here that goes well beyond these two men.

Highly experienced offshore oil and gas employees inevitably age.

Companies such as Shell depend upon specialist operators who may possess decades of practical plant knowledge.

At some point, employers face a choice.

They can retain those people through more flexible employment structures.

They can train replacements early enough to allow phased retirement.

Or they can risk experienced employees simply leaving.

Faherty himself specifically referred to his ability to continue passing knowledge and experience to newer operators while working a reduced roster. Come As You Are Songkran

That deserves consideration.

A worker who is ready to leave full-time offshore employment but willing to remain available on a reduced basis may represent retained institutional knowledge rather than merely an inconvenient staffing problem.

At the same time, Shell has an obvious countervailing obligation.

Prelude is a complex offshore hydrocarbon-processing facility operating hundreds of kilometres from shore. Shell cannot allow flexible working arrangements to leave critical positions without sufficient competent coverage.

Both considerations can be true simultaneously.

Shell still has a long-term need for Prelude

There is another reason this matters.

Shell is not preparing Prelude for imminent retirement.

The company continues to describe the facility as central to its Australian offshore gas portfolio.

The Crux project is intended to provide additional gas to Prelude and extend the useful life of the infrastructure. Shell describes Prelude as a multi-decade development. Shell

Australia’s offshore regulator NOPSEMA also accepted a revised Prelude environment plan in July 2026, with the facility remaining classified as an operating and producing asset. info.nopsema.gov.au

That means workforce succession, competency retention and eventual retirement arrangements are unlikely to disappear as issues.

They may become more important.

What the decision establishes — and what it does not

The safest conclusion from the Faherty and Dale case is therefore a limited one.

The Fair Work Commission dismissed these particular applications because it found that the flexible-working requests were not validly made within the statutory framework.

It did not establish a general rule that Prelude employees over 55 cannot work reduced rosters.

It did not rule that phased retirement at Prelude is operationally impossible.

And it did not decide that every refusal Shell made on staffing grounds was necessarily justified.

Indeed, the evidence suggests Shell itself contemplated that a flexible arrangement might become possible once another employee obtained the necessary competency.

The immediate dispute was lost by the two workers.

The underlying workforce question remains.

For an industrial facility that Shell intends to operate for many years yet, that question can be expressed quite simply:

how does Shell retain the knowledge of experienced offshore workers when those workers no longer want — or eventually are no longer able — to maintain the demanding full-time roster?

That is a problem which a jurisdictional ruling by the Fair Work Commission does not resolve.

Sources

Prelude LNG Workers Lose Bid for Semi-Retirement Flexibility — But the Fair Work Ruling Is More Complicated Than the Headline was first posted on September 2, 2026 at 7:00 pm.
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In gross violation of national labor laws, Prime Healthcare over the past week has retaliated against registered nurses for speaking up and fighting for their patients at two of its Chicago-area hospitals, suspending six nurses at Olympia Fields Hospital in Olympia Fields, Ill. and one nurse at Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, Ill.