Hello from Chicago, where I’m attending the annual meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists. It’s an interesting gathering of food scientists from academia, industry and government who think about what we eat, how we eat and why we aren’t eating better. Over the next several days, I’ll be brining you some news from the …
Nutrition
Nine Out of 10 Americans Eat Too Much Salt
Nine out of 10 Americans are eating way too much salt, according to a report this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The government’s current dietary guidelines advise Americans to consume less …
Are Cartoon Characters Coaxing Kids to Eat Junk Food?
Is your kid on the Dora the Explorer diet? Children say food tastes better when a familiar cartoon character — like Dora or Scooby Doo — appears on its packaging, a new study finds. And most kids prefer snacks that have the …
Report: FDA needs more proactive food safety approach
A new report released today by the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council suggests that lack of resources, less than optimal organization and a reactive instead of preventive approach are undermining the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) ability to effectively regulate food safety.
Preventing childhood obesity from pregnancy on
While applauding the First Lady’s efforts to combat childhood obesity through the Let’s Move initiative, researchers from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco say that the campaign’s efforts focused primarily on behavioral and nutritional intervention—in school or at home—will yield “limited
…
Eating fruits and veggies only slightly cuts cancer risk
Despite the widely held belief—promoted by the World Health Organization and U.S. public health organizations for two decades—that eating more fruit and veggies can diminish cancer risk, a large scale study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute finds that getting a daily five servings of apples, tomatoes and leafy
…
Study: Sin taxes promote healthier food choices
A recent study examining the potential impact of sin taxes—increasing the cost of junk food, in particular—as a means to promote healthier choices found that, in a lab setting at least, when unhealthy foods cost more, people tended to eat them less. Now, new research attempts to size up the value of sin taxes in the real world. A
…
McNuggets—on the Weight Watcher’s plan?
As part of a broader effort to shed their unhealthy food reputation, in Australia and New Zealand McDonald’s is teaming up with Weight Watchers to market some menu items as healthy options that fit into the diet program’s points system, the Telegraph reported last week. The collaboration means that McDonald menus will bear the Weight …
Would junk food taxes really make people eat better?
Public health officials grappling with the obesity epidemic have debated a wide range of approaches to helping slim the American waistline. To some degree, everything from building more sidewalks to banning chocolate milk has been explored. Yet few tactics have been as polarizing as the possibility of introducing tariffs on treats. …
Menu calorie counts mean fewer calories for kids
City mandates requiring fast-food and chain restaurants to post calorie counts on menus have had mixed success at actually curbing people’s caloric intake. A study published this past October in the journal Health Affairs for example, found that, while nearly 30% of people said reading calorie counts on menus impacted their choices, when
…
Cut back TV time, burn more calories
It may seem obvious that spending less time lounging on the couch may help burn more calories, but a team of researchers from the University of Vermont recently confirmed that cutting back daily TV time increases the amount of calories you burn. The study, published last month in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, included 36
…
Recall of all Slim Fast canned drinks
All Slim Fast canned beverages were recalled at the end of last week, following the discovery of contamination with the microorganism Bacillus cereus. The bacteria, which was discovered during quality testing, can cause diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Unilever, the manufacturer of Slim Fast, alerted the Food and Drug Administration and
…
Green tea’s promise of cancer prevention grows
Green tea may be considered a little woo-woo by some mainstream cancer experts but the popular beverage continues to creep toward credibility as a weapon against many forms of the disease. The best studies to date hint that green tea may help ward off cancers of the breast and prostate. And this week oral cancer came one step closer to …