Congress Loves Money, Not Kids

If you had a doubt as to the true alignment of your representatives when it comes to childhood obesity, last week Congress showed that all you need to do is follow the money trail. Lobbies representing the biggest food advertisers have gotten to our elected officials and convinced them that marketing Apple Jacks to children is just fine.

Because a cereal that is 40% sugar by weight is a healthy way for little Sally to start the day. And a cereal with hyperactivity triggering artificial dyes is a wonderful way for little Johnny to get in the groove on a school day.

Here’s the story:

Two years ago, Congress asked 4 agencies to review the marketing practices of the food industry when it comes to children, and to provide recommendations. The interagency working group (IWG), comprised of members from the FTC, FDA, USDA, and CDC sat diligently and came up with a set of proposed principles that would not be written into law, rather VOLUNTARILY accepted by the food industry.

Food marketers were very upset, and demanded changes to the proposals. So a  few months ago, unwillingly, the IWG weakened these voluntary guidelines.

But that was still not good enough. Last week, Congress shot down the proposals through the use of some lame “cost benefit analysis” rule:

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 includes a provision that requires the Federal Trade Commission and the three agencies that are part of the Interagency Working Group to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed guidelines. The move, considered a major victory for food and beverage advertisers, effectively delays release of the final guidelines, originally expected by the end of this year. More here…

What’s the cost benefit analysis? Well, if the voluntary guidelines were to be adopted, billions of dollars in advertising would not be spent, and even more billions in revenue would not be made. But kids would consume less crap. That sounds like a great idea for America’s children. But it’s “bad for business”.

Expect a 2012 filled with junk food commercials planted in our kids’ brains, and then later in their stomachs. Sigh.
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Source

Kids’ Cereals Pack More Sugar Than Twinkies and Cookies

More than three-quarters of the cereals assessed fail proposed federal nutrition standards

Washington, D.C. – Parents have good reason to worry about the sugar content of children’s breakfast cereals, according to an Environmental Working Group review of 84 popular brands.

Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, at nearly 56 percent sugar by weight, leads the list of the 10 worst children’s cereals, according to EWG’s analysis. In fact, a one-cup serving of the brand packs more sugar than a Hostess Twinkie, and one cup of any of the 44 other children’s cereals has more sugar than three Chips Ahoy! cookies.

In response to the exploding childhood obesity epidemic and aggressive food company advertising pitches to kids, Congress formed the federal Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children to propose standards to Congress to curb marketing of kids’ foods with too much sugar, salt and fat.
But EWG has found that only one in four children’s cereals meets the government panel’s voluntary proposed guidelines, which recommend no more than 26 percent added sugar by weight. EWG has been calling for an even lower cap on the maximum amount of sugar in children’s cereals.

“When I went to medical school in the 1960s, the consensus view was sugar provided ‘empty calories’ devoid of vitamins, minerals or fiber,” said health expert Dr. Andrew Weil. “Aside from that, it was not deemed harmful. But 50 years of nutrition research has confirmed that sugar is actually the single most health-destructive component of the standard American diet. The fact that a children’s breakfast cereal is 56 percent sugar by weight – and many others are not far behind – should cause national outrage.”
“Cereal companies have spent fortunes on convincing parents that a kid’s breakfast means cereal, and that sugary cereals are fun, benign, and all kids will eat,” said noted NYU nutrition professor Marion Nestle. “The cereals on the EWG highest-sugar list are among the most profitable for their makers, who back up their investment with advertising budgets of $20 million a year or more. No public health agency has anywhere near the education budget equivalent to that spent on a single cereal. Kids should not be eating sugar for breakfast. They should be eating real food.”

“As a mom of two, I was stunned to discover just how much sugar comes in a box of children’s cereal,” said Jane Houlihan, EWG’s Senior Vice President of Research. “The bottom line: most parents would never serve dessert for breakfast, but many children’s cereals have just as much sugar, or more.”
Studies suggest that children who eat breakfasts that are high in sugar have more problems at school. They become more frustrated and have a harder time working independently than kids who eat lower-sugar breakfasts. By lunchtime they have less energy, are hungrier, show attention deficits and make more mistakes on their work.

About one in five American children is obese, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has reported that childhood obesity has tripled over the past 30 years.

“It has been said that exploding rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes in today’s children will lead them to be the first in American history to have shorter lifespans than their parents,” Weil said. “That tragedy strikes me as a real possibility unless parents make some dramatic changes in their children’s lives.”

“Nearly 20 percent of our children and one-third of adults in this country are obese. Our children face a future of declining health, and may be the first generation to have a shorter lifespan than their parents. We must provide consumers with the information they need to make healthier choices and prevent misleading claims about the nutritional contents of food,” said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). “Cereal is a prime example of this—we know that children do better in school if they have breakfast. But we also know that the type of breakfast matters. And yet, as the Environment Working Group’s report shows, many children’s cereals have sugar content levels that are above 40 percent by weight. Our children deserve better, and it is critical that we take action to combat America’s obesity epidemic.” Congresswoman DeLauro serves on the appropriations subcommittee responsible for the Food and Drug Administration and agriculture, where she oversees drug and food safety.

10 Worst Children’s Cereals Based on percent sugar by weight
1.) Kellogg’s Honey Smacks	55.6%
2.) Post Golden Crisp	51.9%
3.) Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow	48.3%
4.) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s OOPS! All Berries	46.9%
5.) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch Original	44.4%
6.) Quaker Oats Oh!s	44.4%
7.) Kellogg’s Smorz	43.3%
8.) Kellogg’s Apple Jacks	42.9%
9.) Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries	42.3%
10.) Kellogg’s Froot Loops Original	41.4%

Some cereals are better than others. Nutrition expert Marion Nestle recommends:

1. Cereals with a short ingredient list (added vitamins and minerals are okay).
2. Cereals high in fiber.
3. Cereals with little or no added sugars (added sugars are ingredients such as honey, molasses, fruit juice concentrate, brown sugar, corn sweetener, sucrose, lactose, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup and malt syrup).

Among the best simple-to-prepare breakfasts for children are fresh fruit and high-fiber, lower-sugar cereals. Better yet, pair fruit with homemade oatmeal.

Source
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Food of The Week- Apples

You’ve heard, an apple a day will keep the doctor away. While it will certainly take more than a daily apple to keep you healthy, it is a step in the right direction. Apples are delicious, easy to carry for snacking, low in calories, a natural mouth freshener, and they are still very inexpensive.

Apples are source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber such as pectin actually helps to prevent cholesterol buildup in the lining of blood vessel walls, thus reducing the incident of arteriosclerosis and heart disease. The insoluble fiber provides bulk in the intestinal tract, holding water to cleanse and move food quickly through the digestive system.

It is a good idea to eat apples with their skin. Almost half of the vitamin C content is just underneath the skin. Eating the skin also increases insoluble fiber content. Most of an apple’s fragrance cells are also concentrated in the skin and as they ripen, the skin cells develop more aroma and flavor.
There are hundreds of varieties of apples on the market today, although most people have only tasted one or two of the most popular such as Red Delicious or Granny Smith. Apples can be sweet, tart; soft and smooth, or crisp and crunchy, depending on the one you choose. There are apples to suit everyone’s taste, so why not choose one. Have an apple today!

Apple Nutrition Facts
(One medium 2-1/2 inch apple, fresh, raw, with skin)

Calcium 10 mg
Calories 81
Carbohydrate 21 grams
Dietary fiber 4 grams
Folate 4 µg
Insoluble fiber
Iron .25mg
Phosphorus 10 mg
Potassium 159 mg
Sodium 0.00 mg
Soluble Fiber
Vitamin A 73 IU
Vitamin C 8 mg

Should you eat Trans Fats?

Trans fats are a completely an artificial invention that studies have linked to an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes. Trans fats turn the dietary fat in foods into especially hard to move body fat on your belly, in your heart and everywhere else that matters. They are created by combining of vegetable oil (a liquid) with hydrogen to create “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” oil are known as trans fatty acids. Once infused with hydrogen, the liquid vegetable oil turns into a solid at room temperature. Historically, the food industry has loved trans fats because they are cheap and help food stick around until cockroaches inherit the earth. Once they’re inside your body, however, the enzymes that break down fat in your body can’t effectively handle artificial trans fats. Trans fats are the equivalent of the hairballs women leave behind in the shower drains: They clog your pipes. So check ingredients lists for trans fats or in other words “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated.” Processed baked goods such as shortenings an margarine are the two of the most common ways in which trans fats find their ways into our bodies.

First Lady: Let’s Move Fruits And Veggies To ‘Food Deserts’

Today, first lady Michelle Obama announced that several major retailers, foundations and small businesses have committed to bringing healthier food to neighborhoods where supermarkets are scarce.

But she knows it’s not going to be easy. If you have kids, you know that given the choice of Kit-Kats or kiwis, kids will pick usually pick the candy. But today’s target is the parents living in so-called “food deserts.”

“If a parent wants to pack a piece of fruit in a child’s lunch… they shouldn’t have to take three city buses,” Mrs. Obama said during a press conference today.

As part of her Let’s Move campaign, the First Lady wants to help families make better choices — especially the 23.5 million Americans living in largely urban, low-income areas where access to healthy food can be spotty.

The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity has identified this challenge of bringing more nutritious, affordable foods to so-called food deserts as one of the key pillars to solving the epidemic.

“We can give people all of the information in the world about healthy eating… but if parents can’t buy the food they need to prepare those meals… if their only options for groceries are in the corner gas station or the local mini mart, then all of that is just talk… and that’s not what Let’s Move is about,” she said.

The new initiative builds on a pledge announced in January with Walmart. The nation’s largest food retailer says it knows firsthand how important access to good food is. “We will use our position to reduce the cost of an increase access to healthy foods,” wrote Chad Mitchell on the Walmart community blog.

Walmart pledged today to open up to 300 stores in food deserts by 2016, but other giant retailers are involved, too. Walgreens says it will start offering whole fruits and vegetables, SUPERVALU is building 250 new stores, and various smaller groups are joining forces and money in the effort.

The White House admits that no single initiative is a magic bullet. And the goal of melting some inches off our collective waistline is complicated.

Consider the study published last week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, which blames the easy access to fast food options for obesity problems, rather than a lack of stores selling healthy food.

Yet another recent study from the University of Maine finds easy access to junk food doesn’t appear to affect students’ body mass index.

But making the healthy stuff easier to get may be a good start.

An Apple a Day…But the Pesticide Won’t Go Away

By Fooducate

The old adage about keeping the doctor away does not take into account the potentially harmful effects of pesticide residue on apples and many other fruits and vegetables.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non profit that uses the power of public information to protect public health and the environment, has been publishing reports on pesticide use in the US for the past 15 years. The latest report contains a list of its “dirty dozen” and “clean fifteen” fruits and vegetables.

As their names allude, the dirty dozen are the most heavily sprayed fruits and vegetables. And at the top of the list are apples. After analyzing USDA data, EWG concluded that 98% of apples in the US have a pesticide residue, even after being washed in water.

Grapes, strawberries, potatoes, and oranges are not far behind.
On the bright side, avocados, corn, sweet peas, mushrooms and watermelon are rather clean.

What you need to know:
Pesticides are toxic. They kill pests that would otherwise eat and blemish parts of your fruit or lettuce. But unfortunately, pesticides are also toxic to humans. The USDA has set maximum levels of pesticide presence in products to ensure that exposure levels are very low.

However, even these low pesticide residue levels may be harming our health:

“I really worry that pesticides on food are unhealthy for the tender, developing brains and bodies of young children,” said Dr. Harvey Karp, MD, FAAP, creator of the book/DVD The Happiest Baby on the Block. “Parents don’t realize they’re often feeding their little ones fruits and veggies with the highest pesticide residues. Studies show even small amounts of these chemicals add up and can impair a child’s health when they’re exposed during the early, critical stages of their development. When pesticide sprayers have to bundle up in astronaut-like suits for protection, it’s clear parents want to feed their families food containing as little of these toxic chemicals as possible.”

Consumers who choose five servings of fruits and vegetables a day from EWG’s Clean 15 list rather than from the Dirty Dozen can lower the volume of pesticides they consume by 92 percent, according to EWG’s calculations.

While all of the above is true, we don’t think parents need to reach the conclusion not to feed their children fruits and vegetables.

What to do at the supermarket:
Obviously, buying organic is the surefire way to avoid pesticides. But 99.9% of us won’t pay the high price for an all organic diet.

“Though buying organic is always the best choice, we know that sometimes people do not have access to that produce or cannot afford it,” said EWG President Ken Cook. “Our guide helps consumers concerned about pesticides to make better choices among conventional produce, and lets them know which fruits and vegetables they may want to buy organic.”

Don’t stop buying fresh produce just because of the fear of pesticides. Make sure you wash fruits and vegetables as best you can, buy in season to lower costs, and where you can splurge on organic.

7 Things to Know about Aspartame, Phenylalanine, and Those Scary Warnings on Soft Drinks

 By Fooducate

“Phenylketonurics – contains phenylalanine”

What is this? And what does it have to do with chewing gum? Or diet soda?

What you need to know:
1. Phenylalanine is an amino acid. Amino acids sounds scary, but they are actually the building blocks of protein.

2. Phenylalanine is actually an essential amino acid. This means the body cannot create any on its own, and thus must receive it as part of a diet, usually when consuming proteins.

3. So where can one find phenylalanine? In breast milk (for babies), and in most animal products (meat, dairy, eggs).

4. Oh, and in aspartame too. Yes, that cursed artificial sweetener breaks down into several components in our body, one of them being phenylalanine.
So what’s with the warning?

5. Turns out that one in 15,000 people in the world has a genetic disorder called Phenylketonuria. Their body can’t metabolize phenylalanine. As it builds up in the body, it causes all sorts of bad things to happen, such as mental retardation, seizures, and other brain damage.

6. People suffering from Phenylketonuria (or PKU) are called phenylketonurics. They need to constantly monitor their protein intake. They are also warned about consumption of products containing aspartame – hence the warning on labels – “Phenylketonurics – contains phenylalanine”.

7. If you don’t have PKU, you probably don’t need to worry about harmful health effects of phenylalanine. But that doesn’t mean that aspartame is healthy for you, or that diet drinks are a healthy choice. As for gum – choose those sweetened with Xylitol.

What Goes in to Aunt Jemima’s “Original Syrup”?

From Fooducate

Aunt Jemima is a brand that’s been around for over 100 years. It conjures thoughts of Southern hospitality. It’s comforting to know a brand has been around that long. You can probably trust it..

And thus, many people buy their pancake kit (mix + syrup) from Aunt Jemima.

Here’s why Aunt Jemima thinks you should buy her syrup:

Give your pancakes what they deserve and top them with the classic taste of Aunt Jemima® Original Syrup. Our rich and thick syrup is the perfect way to top your family’s favorite pancakes and waffles.

Classic taste. Rich and thick. Original – sounds like maple syrup, doesn’t it?

What you need to know:

Here is the ingredient list of the “original syrup” (you’ll have to look hard to find maple):

CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, WATER, CELLULOSE GUM, CARAMEL COLOR, SALT, SODIUM BENZOATE AND SORBIC ACID (PRESERVATIVES), ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVORS, SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE.

Nope, No maple syrup here. Instead, 10 different chemicals combined to reach the same flavor and texture of the truly original pancake syrup. You can bet that they are much cheaper to procure and mix than maple syrup is. Here are a few highlights:

HFCS – jury is out on whether this is what’s causing obesity rates to skyrocket or not. But whether high fructose corn syrup is the culprit or not, one thing is for sure. Its presence is usually the sign of a highly processed product that does not offer any nutritional benefits, and may actually cause harm.

(By the way, Aunt Jemima is owned by Quaker Oats, which is owned by PepsiCo. They probably get a great price on the high fructose corn syrup.)

Sodium benzoate – a preservative to stop molding, but it has its share of problems. Even Coca Cola stopped using it a few years ago.

Sodium hexametaphosphate – a water softener.

Artificial and Natural flavors – do their best to make the syrup taste original.

What to do at the supermarket:

Although maple syrup is more expensive than these fake concoctions, you really shouldn’t consume much. Which means it can last for a long time. So go ahead and splurge…

So let’s talk about M&M’s

from Fooducate.com

If you’ve visited New York’s Times Square lately, you may have encountered M&M’s World. It’s a three floor temple celebrating all things small, round, chocolaty, and brightly colored.

The brand, owned by Mars, has been around since the early 1940’s and has become part of our childhood and popular culture.

But what exactly are M&M’s made of?

What you need to know:

M&M’s are basically chocolate pellets covered with a candy outer shell. The process for coating the chocolate was once quite challenging and even patented, but now it is very simple and commonplace.

Don’t expect much nutritionally from candy. Lots of sugar. Lots of saturated fat (30% of the daily max). But hey, it’s candy. A single serving bag weighs almost 2 ounces and has 240 calories. Definitely not a daily treat.

According to the packaging, “M&M’s Chocolate Candies are made of the finest ingredients. This product should reach you in excellent condition.” Here is the “finest” ingredient list:

Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Chocolate, Skim Milk, Cocoa Butter, Lactose, Milkfat, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Artificial Flavors), Sugar, Cornstarch, Less than 1% Corn Syrup, Dextrin, Coloring (Includes Blue 1 Lake, Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 2), Gum Acacia.

We can’t vouch for “finest”, but let’s just say that the ingredient list is, for the most part, what you’ll find in many other chocolates.

What really concerns us is the use of artificial coloring. A lot of artificial colorings, as you can see in the list above. Each chocolate button is coated with one of 6 colors – red, green, yellow, orange, blue, and brown. All, without exception, are artificial dyes.

By the way, the “lake” notation of some colors means that they are used in liquid form, not powder.

So what is the problem with artificial colors?

• Blue 1, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 have long been known to cause allergic reactions in some people.
• Numerous studies have demonstrated that dyes cause hyperactivity in children.
• Tests on lab animals of Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 showed signs of causing cancer.
• Yellow 5 also caused mutations, an indication of possible carcinogenicity, in six of 11 tests.
• Studies show that the three most-widely used dyes, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are tainted with low levels of cancer-causing compounds, including benzidine and 4-aminobiphenyl in Yellow 5. 

What to do at the supermarket:

Opt for chocolate candies that are not colored with artificial dyes.

8 of 10 Healthy Kids’ Food – Aren’t

from Fooducate.com

Are you surprised? You shouldn’t be. Oakland, CA based Prevention Institute recently published a study entitled Claiming Health: Front-of-Package Labeling of Children’s Food with some interesting findings.

The consumer protection group reviewed dozens of products that are marketed as healthy to children, and discovered that it just ain’t so. They compared the products’ nutritional value to criteria derived from the US Dietary Guidelines and the National Academies of Science. Here are some sad numbers:

More than half (57%) of the study products qualified as high sugar
95% of products contained added sugar
More than half (53%) were low in fiber.
More than half (53%) of products did not contain any fruits or vegetables; of the fruits and vegetables found, half came from just 2 ingredients – tomatoes and corn.
24% of prepared foods were high in saturated fats.
More than 1/3 (36%) of prepared foods & meals were high in sodium
21% contained artificial coloring – additives with potentially harmful health impacts, while offering no benefits whatsoever

How do marketers get away with this? Blame an understaffed FDA and FTC. Blame the judicial system’s generous definition of the first amendment.

Although many BS claims just go under the radar, every once in a while companies get slapped with lawsuits that bring to light their tricks. Earlier this month, Kellogg’s was charged $5 million by a California court, for misleading consumers about the immunizing potential of its Rice Krispies cereal.

But Snapple was recently able to shake off a lawsuit regarding it’s claim to be using “all natural” ingredients, including high fructose corn syrup.

It’ an uphill battle for parents. We know, we’re in the trenches too…

What to do at the supermarket:

Never, ever, trust the health claims on food products. Read the nutrition facts AND the ingredient list.