Calling for the food industry to put voluntary nutrition labeling initiatives on hold, Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Childhood Obesity, has co-authored an opinion piece about front-of-package nutrition labeling in The New England Journal of Medicine. Among other matters, the article recommends that industry leaders await an Institute of Medicine report with nutrition labeling recommendations due for release this fall. Brownell suggests that the nutrition keys system under development by the industry may confuse consumers by “including so many symbols” and allowing companies the discretion to change the nutrients listed. According to the article, “The most notable deficiency of the industry system is its lack of a science-based, easily understood way to show consumers whether foods have a high, medium, or low amount of a particular nutrient.” Brownell contends that the traffic-light system used in Great Britain is much clearer. See NEJM, June 23,…
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The California Senate’s Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee has reportedly passed a bill (S. 380) that would permit the Medical Board of California to “set content standards for any educational activity concerning a chronic disease that includes appropriate information on the impact, prevention, and cure of the chronic disease by the application of changes in nutrition and lifestyle behavior.” The legislation would amend Section 2190 of the Business and Professions Code that deals with mandatory continuing medical education and authorize the board “to also set content standards for an educational activity concerning chronic disease, as specified.” See John McDougall Press Release, May 16, 2011. Backed by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the bill was evidently authored by John McDougall, a physician known for emphasizing the role of diet in preventing chronic disease. McDougall currently appears in the film “Forks over Knives,”…
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), an organization devoted to preventive medicine, a vegan diet and animal rights, has sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), claiming the agencies used deliberately obscure language in their 2010 Dietary Guidelines regarding the foods consumers should avoid. While the guidelines specifically call for increased consumption of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, PCRM contends that the agencies “hide the food Americans should eat less of. The Guidelines use biochemical terms, such as ‘saturated fat’ and ‘cholesterol’ instead of specific food terms ‘meat’ and ‘cheese.’” According to PCRM, the guidelines are written this way due to “the USDA’s close ties to the meat and dairy industries, including fast-food companies such as McDonald’s.” The organization also apparently blames USDA’s dual mission of giving nutritional advice to Americans and promoting American agricultural products for the use of language…
New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman tackles the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) latest dietary guidelines in this opinion piece claiming that “the agency’s nutrition experts are at odds with its other mission: to promote our bounty in whatever form its processors make it.” According to Bittman, the guidelines are clearest when promoting “good” foods like fresh produce, but become “vague” when describing what not to eat, often resorting to scientific language and acronyms like SOFAS—Solid Fats and Added Sugars—“to avoid offending meat and sugar lobbies.” “The [USDA] can succeed at its conflicting goals only by convincing us that eating manufactured food lower in SOFAS is ‘healthy,’ thus implicitly endorsing hyper-engineered junk food with added fiber, reduced and solid fats and so on, ‘food’ that is often unimaginably far from its origins,” opines Bittman. “The advice people need is to cook and eat more real food, at the expense…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have released the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, “the federal government’s evidence-based nutritional guidance to promote health, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity through improved nutrition and physical activity.” Published every five years, the guidelines are based on the findings of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and consideration of federal agency and public comments. The 2010 version encompasses “two overarching concepts” that tackle both obesity and poor nutritional content by urging Americans to (i) “maintain a healthy calorie balance over time to achieve and sustain a healthy weight” and (ii) “focus on consuming nutrient-dense foods and beverages.” To this end, the current guidelines feature 23 key recommendations for the general population and six key recommendations for specific populations, as well as tips “to help consumers translate the Dietary…
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) have introduced a new front-of-pack (FOP) labeling system in response to first lady Michelle Obama’s campaign for clearer consumer information. According to a January 24, 2011, press release, the Nutrition Keys initiative summarizes important information “from the Nutrition Facts panel in a clear, simple and easy-to-use format” that adheres “to current U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA] guidelines and regulations.” The FOP label features four basic icons for calories, saturated fat, sodium, and sugars, as well as optional “nutrients to encourage” icons indicating that the product meets FDA “good source” requirements and contains more than 10 percent of the daily value per serving for protein and the following under-consumed nutrients: potassium, fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium, and iron. See GMA Press Release, January 24, 2011. Food companies can begin using the new icons this year, but…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a 78-page proposed rule revising school breakfast and lunch nutrition requirements as a way to combat childhood obesity. Noting that implementation would improve dietary habits and protect children’s health, the rule is part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 recently signed into law. Based on recommendations released in 2009 by the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine, the revisions reportedly represent the first major overhaul to school meals in 15 years. Among other things, the proposal calls for meals served to approximately 32 million school children to (i) include more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat milk; (ii) limit sodium and saturated and trans fats; and (iii) help meet nutritional needs of children within their established calorie minimums and maximums. “We understand that these improved meal standards may present challenges for some school districts, but the new law provides…
“Essentially, we have a system where wealthy farmers feed the poor crap and poor farmers feed the wealthy high-quality food,” food activist Michael Pollan told Newsweek society editor Lisa Miller in this article examining the gap in the availability of nutritious, fresh and organic foods between rich and lower-income Americans. Noting that “in hard times, food has always marked a bright border between the haves and the have-nots,” Miller opines that healthier foods “have become luxury goods that only some can afford” while “highly caloric, mass-produced foods like pizza and packaged cakes” are staples for the poorest Americans, many of whom are obese and live in “food deserts” that lack supermarkets stocked with nutritious fare. “Corpulence used to signify the prosperity of a few but has now become a marker of poverty,” Miller writes. She quotes recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that show 17 percent of Americans…
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (S. 3307), which first lady Michelle Obama called “a groundbreaking piece of bipartisan legislation that will significantly improve the quality of meals that children receive at school and will play an integral role in our efforts to combat childhood obesity.” President Barack Obama (D) is expected to sign the $4.5 billion bill, approved in a 264-157 vote on December 2, 2010. The measure was approved by the U.S. Senate in August. The legislation allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to set new nutritional standards for all foods sold in schools, including lunch lines and vending machines, and will require schools to offer more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products. Its provisions also make it easier for qualified children to receive free school meals and provide funding for 21 million after-school meals annually in…
In response to an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) request, the Business Roundtable and The Business Council have prepared a report with a list of laws and regulations that the nation’s business leaders reportedly believe “have a dampening effect on economic growth and job creation.” Among the business groups’ concerns are proposals that would affect how the food and beverage sectors conduct business. Titled “Policy Burdens Inhibiting Economic Growth,” the report cited Food and Drug Administration food labeling policies, proposals to increase beverage taxes, pending changes to food safety laws, proposed nutrition standards, and youth marketing initiatives as areas of particular concern. OMB Watch, an organization dedicated to “equitable regulatory and budgetary processes,” questioned the timing of the White House invitation, claiming that recent economic and environmental catastrophes were due to lax regulation and not “because government has been too zealous.” Acknowledging that OMB may have initiated the dialogue as…
