A new study has reportedly concluded that “the more a child is familiar with logos and other images from fast-food restaurants, sodas and not-so-healthy snack food brands, the more likely a child is to be overweight or obese.” T. Bettina Cornwell, “Children’s knowledge of packaged and fast food brands and their BMI: Why the relationship matters for policy makers,” Appetite, July 2014. According to a recent press release, researchers found that among two groups of children aged 3 to 5 years, the preschoolers best able to match pictures of food items, packaging and cartoon characters with the corresponding logos were more likely to have higher body mass indexes (BMIs) than those with little knowledge of food and beverage brands. In particular, the study noted that only in one group of children did exercise appear to mitigate this association. “The inconsistency across studies tells us that physical activity should not be…
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The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel) has published a draft scientific opinion on acrylamide (AA) in food that urges the further reduction of dietary exposure to the substance. According to the draft opinion, AA is formed when the sugars and amino acids in carbohydrate-rich foods—such as coffee, fried potato products, cookies, crackers, bread, and some baby foods—undergo a Maillard reaction during high-temperature cooking. Animal studies have allegedly linked AA consumption to an increased risk of certain cancers, although the panel noted that the substance’s effects on the nervous system, pre- and post-natal development, and male reproduction are not considered a concern based on current exposure levels. To estimate human dietary exposure to AA, the CONTAM Panel analyzed 43,419 results collected since 2010 by 24 EU member states and six food associations. The findings evidently showed that infants, toddlers and other children…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has submitted a letter to U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg requesting that FDA require that “all beverages consumed in a soda-like manner, including energy drinks, comply with the same regulations that limit caffeine in ‘cola-type beverages’” and that energy drinks carry warning labels that alert consumers of possible adverse reactions like convulsions or heart attacks. The letter details information obtained from FDA about adverse events related to energy drinks from 2004 to 2014, including heart failure, disability and miscarriage. CSPI also warns that energy drinks are heavily marketed to children and teens, and rates of usage among those groups are high—the letter cites a study finding that approximately 30 to 50 percent of children, adolescents and young adults reported consuming more than one energy drink per month. The consumer group further presses FDA to issue a public…
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released a June 2014 report claiming that the fortification of foods with large amounts of vitamins and minerals could pose a health risk to children. Citing a study by the National Institutes of Health and California Polytechnic State University, EWG alleges that children younger than age 8 “are at risk of consuming vitamin A, zinc and niacin at levels above the Institute of Medicine’s Upper Intake Level.” According to the report, excessive intake of these nutrients could lead to liver and skeletal issues and immune system dysfunction, as well as short-term effects such as rash, nausea and vomiting. Targeting “two food categories that are frequently fortified and heavily marketed to children,” EWG’s analysis of 1,556 cereals and 1,025 snack bars allegedly identifies (i) “114 cereals fortified with 30 percent or more of the adult Daily Value for vitamin A, zinc and/or niacin,” and (ii)…
A consortium of more than 400 food manufacturers and retailers, the Consumer Goods Forum, has built on a 2011 pledge to clarify nutrition labeling and to advertise only those products fulfilling specific nutritional criteria to children younger than 12. The new pledge further defined the goals by setting deadlines; both reforms are to be completed by 2018, and by 2016, each member company will make its internal policies on nutrition and product formulation available to the public. The forum’s board of directors also established an independent scientific advisory council that will conduct a comprehensive survey of members’ progress toward the forum’s goals. See Consumer Goods Forum, June 18, 2014.
Public Health attorney and author Michele Simon has issued a report titled “Whitewashed: How Industry and Government Promote Dairy Junk Foods.” According to Simon, dairy foods have gotten “a pass” as the public health community focuses on “obvious culprits such as soft drinks and fast food” to address the nation’s “public health epidemic due to poor diet.” The report explains how plain liquid milk consumption has fallen in the United States and been replaced by its consumption as flavored milk, with cereal or in a drink. Simon claims that today half of the milk supply makes 9 billion pounds of cheese and 1.5 billion gallons of frozen desserts, such as ice cream, and 11 percent of all sugar is used in dairy product production. She refers to these products as “dairy junk foods” loaded with saturated fat, sugar and salt. The report focuses on the government’s collection of industry fees…
During the second National Soda Summit held in Washington, D.C., in early June 2014, ChangeLab Solutions, which has been active in tobacco control, presented a “Sugar-Sweetened Beverages [SSB] Playbook” calling for a public information campaign that would include telling consumers “you’re drinking 16 packs of sugar in that cola.” Other “playbook strategies” include a progression of activities: limiting SSBs on government property and in workplaces and schools, prohibiting SSBs in childcare and afterschool programs, restricting SSB marketing in schools, eliminating SSBs from children’s meals, licensing SSB retailers, taxing SSBs, and limiting SSB portion sizes. Each recommended action is accompanied by examples and model policies and ordinances. Issue 527
The Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has released a new brief updating its annual report on trends in TV food advertising to young people. Documenting changes “in the total number of food-related TV ads viewed by children and adolescents from 2002 to 2013,” the brief concludes that despite the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), “the total number of food and beverage ads viewed by children has increased by 8% and advertising to adolescents increased 25% since 2007.” Although youth exposure to food-related TV ads apparently peaked in 2004, Rudd Center alleges that the number of food- and beverage-related TV ads viewed by children younger than age 12 has only increased since companies adopted CFBAI in 2007. According to the brief, TV ads for fast-food restaurants represented 23 percent of food-related ads viewed by children and 28 percent of ads viewed by adolescents in 2013. In…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have joined to issue draft guidance on mercury levels and fish consumption, directed at pregnant women and guardians of young children. Recommendations include eating 8 to 12 ounces (two to three servings) of low-mercury fish like tilapia, catfish, cod, salmon, and shrimp as well as avoiding four fish high in mercury (shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico) and limiting albacore tuna intake to less than 6 ounces per week. The conclusion of the comment period has not yet been announced. More information on FDA’s updated guidance appears in Issue 525 of this Update. Issue 526
Researchers in the Netherlands have reportedly identified a link between computer games with food advertisements and higher calorie consumption in children, especially among those identified as impulsive. Frans Folkvord et al., “Impulsivity, ‘Advergames,’ and Food Intake,” Pediatrics, May 5, 2014. The study of 261 children aged seven to 10 assessed them for impulsivity, and then they played a matching game with branded content—an “advergame”— of either a candy brand or a toy brand. While the children were allowed to eat candy during play, half of each group playing each game was told that they would be rewarded for refraining from eating. The researchers observed the children for five minutes and measured their food intake. Overall, the children playing the game with the candy brand ate more than the group playing the toy-branded game, but most of the children who were promised rewards for not eating the candy consumed fewer calories…
