Dutch social and political science professors have presented a case study on marketing a functional food in the European Union (EU) to demonstrate that nontextual marketing, which the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is apparently ill-equipped to regulate, plays a larger role in consumer purchasing decisions than textual product messages. Herman Lelieveldt and Cris Boonen, “EU Health Claims Regulation and the Marketing of Functional Foods: A Regulatory Void?,” 3 European Journal of Risk Regulation 577 (2012). They considered a marketing campaign for Optimel Control®, a yogurt drink first launched in the Netherlands in 2007 with great success but later withdrawn after expansion to other countries due to insufficient sales volume. It contained an ingredient that EFSA ruled in 2011 was not effective to control or manage weight. According to the study, the textual health claims constituted “a relatively small element in conveying the ‘stay in control’ message of Optimel Control.” Those claims,…
Category Archives Scientific/Technical Items
A study evaluating “five popular fast-food chains’ menus in relation to dietary guidance” has allegedly concluded that despite varied offerings, full menus “scored lower than 50 out of 100 possible points on the HEI-2005 [Healthy Eating Index- 2005].” Sharon Kilpatrick, et al., “Fast-food menu offerings vary in dietary quality, but are consistently poor,” Public Health Nutrition, January 2013. Researchers with Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Arizona State University and the National Cancer Institute analyzed the total nutritional content of menus from Burger King, McDonald’s, Subway, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s using the HEI-2005 to calculate scores for all 12 index components for a total of 100 points. Nine of these components evidently “assess adequacy of amounts of food groups and oils in relation to MyPyramid recommendations, whereas the remaining three are referred to as moderation components because they measure constituents that should be limited in the diet…
A recent analysis of young children enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2004 has reportedly claimed that sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption “was independently associated with alterations in lipid profiles, increased markers of inflammation, and increased waist circumference in children.” Ethan Kosova, et al., “The Relationships between Sugar Sweetened Beverage Intake and Cardiometabolic Markers in Young Children,” Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, February 2013. Analyzing data from 4,880 NHANES participants ages 3 to 11, the study relied on 24-hour dietary recall interviews to gauge SSB consumption in addition to examining the following cardiometabolic markers: (i) total cholesterol concentrations, (ii) high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, (iii) low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, (iv) triglyceride, (v) C-reactive protein (CRP), (vi) waist circumference, and (vii) body mass index percentile for age-sex. According to the study, multivariate linear regression analyses evidently demonstrated that “SSB intake in children aged 3 to 11 years…
A recent meta-analysis has reportedly concluded that, contrary to previous assumptions, “higher consumption of eggs (up to one egg per day) is not associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease [CHD] or stroke.” Ying Rong, et al., “Egg consumption and risk of coronary heart disease and stroke: dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies,” British Medical Journal, January 2013. To investigate “the potential dose-response association between egg consumption and risk of [CHD] and stroke,” researchers analyzed eight articles with 17 reports totaling 3,081,269 person years and 5,847 incident cases for CHD and 4,148,095 person years and 7,579 incident cases for stroke. The results evidently failed to show any significant association between consuming up to one egg per day and the risk of developing CHD or stroke, although in diabetics “higher egg consumption was associated with a significantly elevated risk of [CHD].” To explain these findings, the study’s authors not…
Focusing on recent research into food addiction, a review article published in the Journal of Adolescent Health discusses “the need for multilevel interventions that go beyond simple behavioral approaches” in low- and middle-income counties (LMICs) with increasing adolescent obesity rates. Albert Lee and Susannah Gibbs, “Neurobiology of Food Addiction and Adolescent Obesity Prevention in Low- and Middle-Income Countries,” Journal of Adolescent Health, January 2013. The article argues that “advances in the understanding of neurobiology may provide important guidance in shaping how obesity is addressed in LMICs,” where changes in global food production have prompted many consumers to shift “from consuming meals prepared at home to consuming mass-produced processed foods that are high in sugar, salt, and artificial ingredients.” Citing numerous studies that have investigated the neurobiology of food addiction and its alleged similarities to substance abuse, the authors ultimately credit the current body of literature with suggesting that “lifestyle- or willpower-based models…
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) researchers recently published a study claiming that consumers found it easier to compare food items with singleserving or dual-column nutrition facts (NF) labels as opposed to the NF labels currently in use. Lando and Lo, “Single-LargerPortion-Size and Dual-Column Nutrition Labeling May Help Consumers Make More Healthful Food Choices,” Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, February 2013. Scientists with FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition apparently asked 9,482 adults to determine the healthfulness of a single product or compare the nutrition information on two products using one of the following NF configurations: (i) a single-column format listing two servings per container; (ii) a dual-column format listing two servings per container, with one column showing NFs per serving and one column showing NFs per container; and (iii) a single-column format listing a larger single serving per container. Within each of these formats, “there were…
A recent study investigating weight bias in the courtroom has apparently concluded that both the “weight and gender of a defendant may affect juror perceptions of guilt and responsibility.” N. A. Schvey, et al., “The influence of a defendant’s body weight on perceptions of guilt,” International Journal of Obesity, January 2013. The study relied on responses from 471 lean and overweight adults “who read a vignette describing a case of check fraud while viewing one of four images (a lean male, a lean female, an obese male or an obese female)” and then “rated the defendant’s culpability on a 5-point Likert scale and completed measures of anti-fat attitudes.” According to the study, “male participants judged the obese female defendant as significantly guiltier than the lean female defendant,” although female respondents “judged the two female defendants equally regardless of body weight.” Lean male participants also apparently believed that “the obese female defendant…
New research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reportedly indicates that the number of emergency room (ER) visits involving energy drinks has doubled nationwide—from about 10,000 to more than 20,000—from 2007 to 2011. The statistics were gathered through the Drug Abuse Warning Network. “Consumption of energy drinks is a rising public health problem because medical and behavioral problems can result from excessive caffeine intake,” according to the report. “A growing body of scientific evidence documents harmful health effects of energy drinks, particularly for children, adolescents and young adults.” Among other things, the report also indicated that people ages 18 to 25 accounted for the largest group of ER patients, and men accounted for about two-thirds of those treated. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reportedly considering the findings in its broad review of the safety of energy drinks this spring. See The DAWN Report: Update on Emergency…
Research based on the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Phase Three has reportedly linked fast food consumption to asthma and eczema severity in kids. Philippa Ellwood, et al., “Do fast foods cause asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema? Global findings from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Phase Three,” Thorax, January 2013. Analyzing data from more than 319,000 13- to 14-year-old adolescents in 51 countries and more than 181,000 6- to 7-year-old children in 31 countries, the study evidently relied on written questionnaires that asked participants about their asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema symptoms, as well as their dietary habits. In addition to “a potential protective effect on severe asthma… associated with consumption of fruit ≥3 times per week,” the results allegedly found that children and adolescents who consumed fast food three or more times per week had an increased risk of severe asthma, severe rhinoconjunctivitis…
A recent study has reportedly claimed that low exposures of a bisphenol A (BPA) alternative known as bisphenol S (BPS) also disrupt estrogen, raising questions about the chemical’s impact on human health. Rene Vinas and Cheryl Watson, “Bisphenol S Disrupts Estradiol Induced Nongenomic Signaling in Rat Pituitary Cell Line: Effects on Cell Functions,” Environmental Health Perspectives, January 2013. University of Texas researchers apparently sought to “characterize the non-genomic activities of BPS” at low doses by examining how it mimics “the effects of physiologic estrogens via membrane-bound estrogen receptors” in rat pituitary cells, “alone and together with the physiologic estrogen estradiol (E2).” The results evidently showed that, like BPA, BPS “disrupts membrane-initiated E2-induced cell signaling, leading to altered cell proliferation, cell death, and PRL [prolactin] release.” According to the study’s authors, BPS has replaced BPA in some thermal papers and plastics because it is “less likely to leach from plastic containers with…
