Hot Off the Presses: 5 Key Takeaways for Evaluating Nutrition in the Media

Every day, we are bombarded with the results of new nutrition studies proclaiming the latest on everything from red wine to coconut oil. We read about the “battle” between low-fat versus low-carb diets and question whether juice cleanses really are “fat-busting”. Sure, the headlines grab our attention, but how do we know if there’s strength beyond the media hype? Last week, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics sponsored “Hot Off the Presses: Evaluating the Evidence Behind Today’s Nutrition Media Headlines”, a webinar mediated by IFIC’s Director of Nutrients Communications, Kris Sollid. The webinar featured speaker Andrew Brown, PhD, of the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s Office of Energetics & Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC). Dr. Brown offered a wealth of information on how to evaluate and communicate nutrition research. Here are 5 key takeaways:   1. Start with the basics. Dr. Brown began with a description of four fundamentals of science: Keeping these questions in mind while reading the newest nutrition study in the media can help us cast an objective, logical eye on the results.   2. Media headlines often don’t match the facts. Many of us read the recent splashy article titled, “Lose Weight without Giving Up a Single Calorie?” and thought it was a) the best news ever; or b) too good to be true. This recent example is an excellent representation of many of the headline portrayals of nutrition research that often don’t align with the study itself. Dr. Brown highlighted a few additional examples of popular topics in nutrition, including the “obesity-fighting” effects of red wine (which was demonstrated in rats – not humans) and an opposing viewpoint – “Drinking Alcohol Sparks Eating, Leads to Weight Gain” – in which the method of administration of alcohol was very different than the typical act of drinking a beverage. These examples […]

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Eating More Fruits in All Forms

Coming in all colors, flavors, shapes, and textures, fruits are the most eye-catching and satisfyingly sweet food group. While fruits are available in many forms (e.g., canned, dried, fresh, frozen, and 100% juice), most people have a preferred form, which is likely influenced by many factors—including how healthy they perceive that form to be. Our annual IFIC Food and Health Survey has over the years explored Americans’ views on the healthiest food forms, and fresh consistently comes out on top (followed by frozen and canned). But is fresh fruit really always best—or your only option? Read on to find out. What counts as a fruit? While there may be barriers—like lack of convenience, cost, and busy schedules—to eating enough fruit each day, for many people, eating a fruit-filled diet might be easier than we think. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), the fruit food group consists of whole fruits and 100% fruit juice. But whole fruits don’t have to be found fresh in the produce section—they can also be canned, dried, or frozen varieties that we can eat cut, cubed, diced, sliced, or whole. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate also counts cooked, mashed, and pureed fruits as whole fruits. More specifically, the DGAs recommend that whole fruit should make up at least half of the amount of fruit that we eat each day, and that it’s best to eat fruits that feature a wide variety of colors. Some widely available fruits, like apples and bananas, can be found fresh year-round, while others, like peaches, are considered more seasonal. For seasonal fruits, buying frozen or canned varieties are great options when the fruit in question is out of season. What are the benefits of eating fruit? No matter its form, fruit is a critical part of any healthy […]

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Food Colors: Resources You Can Use

Why do we choose the foods we eat? What makes this food more appealing than that food? What are the things you like about your favorite food? Take a look and you’ll see that the color makes a difference in what you choose to eat. Food colors provide a familiar look to foods and often function in food in other ways too. They enhance colors that occur naturally in food. They offset any discolor when food is exposed to light, temperature and storage conditions. Food colors are unique; they are classified as ‘color additives’ and are certified by FDA which confirms their safe use. They are listed on the food label and these resources are a guide for you to learn more about food colors, color additives and what they do to food. Food Ingredients and Colors Brochure For centuries, ingredients have served useful functions in a variety of foods. Our ancestors used salt to preserve meats and fish, added herbs and spices to improve the flavor of foods, preserved fruit with sugar, and pickled cucumbers in a vinegar solution. Today, consumers demand and enjoy a food supply that is flavorful, nutritious, safe, convenient, colorful and affordable. Food additives and advances in technology help make that possible. This brochure in partnership with the U.S. FDA is your guide to understand the role of ingredients, colors and flavors in food. Color Me Red: New Studies on Food Coloring Safety Did you know food coloring can be made using natural and artificial ingredients? Both of which are safe and regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These colorings are used in a variety of foods, not just baked goods, but they are also safely used in ice cream, yogurt, soft drinks, cereals, sausage casings, cheeses and the list goes on. […]

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The Science of Taste

Confucius said, “Everyone eats and drinks, but few appreciate taste.” When you understand a bit about the science of taste, you may join the few who appreciate it. In fact, the science of taste is amazing. The human sensory systems allow us to distinguish about 100,000 different flavors.  Flavors emanate from our bodies’ ability to discern one taste from another.  And, according to the 2017 Food & Health Survey, taste reigns with 84 percent of Americans confirming it as “a top driver of [food] purchases.”  What’s the difference between taste and flavor? If you hold your nose, close your eyes and eat chocolate, you may not know what you are eating. Without your sense of smell, chocolate just tastes sweet or bitter. If you have ever tried to enjoy a meal with a head cold, you know how much your sense of smell adds to flavor. Flavor is more than just odor and taste. It also includes texture and temperature. It even includes the sense of pain, which is what you get from capsaicin in chili peppers. Put it all together and you have the ability to discern 100,000 different flavors. How did our sense of taste evolve? Over millions of years, our sense of taste evolved to help us choose which foods to eat. Choosing the wrong food could mean wasted energy, poor nutrition or poisoning from eating something that can do harm to our bodies. According to Current Biology Perspective on Food and Human Taste, humans relied on fruit and other plant-based foods and eventually developed a strong sense for the natural bitter taste in plants and leaves. As time progressed, we retained these early taste preferences and acquired newer ones. We like the taste of sweet because it signifies a source of sugar, which means energy. We […]

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Glyphosate 101: Gaining Food Safety Insights

You may have recently read news about glyphosate, a widely utilized pesticide, and concerns about the safety of it being used and potential consumer exposure. With this increased focus on glyphosate, we thought it would be good to address some food safety considerations that may be on your mind. What is glyphosate? Glyphosate is a pesticide that has been used for crop protection since 1974. It is widely used in farming practices because it is considered non-toxic to consumers and animals, and is effective for broad-range weed control. However, those attributes come with an important caveat: Glyphosate, like all pesticides, must be used as prescribed on the pesticide product label. As one of the most widely used agricultural compounds, glyphosate has been the subject of numerous toxicological research experiments to establish the safety for both consumers that could encounter glyphosate and for field workers applying this pesticide to crops. For the past 40 years, the safety of glyphosate has been reviewed and confirmed by the scientific community and multiple government agencies. The findings from these reviews reveal that, when used properly, glyphosate does not cause adverse human health effects. Studies also indicate that at low levels (pesticide residues that can be found in foods, discussed below), glyphosate does not act as a carcinogen, endocrine disrupter or a developmental toxicant. Although there have been reports of farm worker safety being compromised due to specific exposure scenarios, the use of glyphosate by farm workers to tend to crops is regarded as safe when done with regulated protocols. In the case of farm or field workers who may be exposed to high levels of glyphosate during the mixing or application of the products, there are guidelines to help support safe handling and application. Who Monitors and Regulates Pesticides? The use of pesticides, including […]

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A Little Q&A on CRISPR Cows

While the majority of all our food has come from farms for hundreds of years, agricultural practices have changed over time, largely due to advances in farming technology. In more recent years, these developments have included the use of biotechnology techniques such as CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats). We’ve explained previously that CRISPR is one of the bioengineering methods that can be used to alter the genetic information in the cells of living things—plants, fruits, vegetables, and more. That genetic information is contained in what we know as the fundamental building block of life—DNA. DNA can produce proteins that define what a living organism’s cells do or don’t do. To use an analogy from another type of technology, DNA acts in a way similar to how software controls the operation of a computer. Food science and related-field researchers all over the world have been using CRISPR to perform genetic alterations in cells in order to alter food characteristics in ways that support the reliability of our food system. As mentioned above, CRISPR has been primarily used so far to alter the cells of plants, fruits and veggies. However, we’ve recently learned of the work being done by researcher Alison Van Eenennaam, Ph.D., a professor at the University of California, Davis, who is using CRISPR on a new target: food-producing cows. To learn more about Dr. Eenennaam’s groundbreaking work, we asked her to field a few questions. Q: How is your research team using CRISPR technology? A: Gene editing is a technique that can be used to introduce useful genetic variations into [animal] breeding programs. It involves the use of enzymes that cut DNA at a specific sequence (site-specific nucleases, e.g. CRISPR-Cas9), thereby introducing a break into the DNA at a targeted location. Depending upon how that break is […]

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Transglutaminase: Safety, Function and Benefit to Our Food Supply

With the rise and fall of nutritional trends, scary news about new food ingredients, and rediscoveries of traditionally used ingredients, some common parts of our food supply often fall in and out of public scrutiny. One such ingredient is Transglutaminase (TG), a naturally occurring enzyme used to develop flavors and enhance texture in food. Unfortunately, its nickname (“meat glue”) does nothing to accurately describe its safety, function and benefit to the consumer.  Today, we will correct a few inaccuracies and share some science to debunk several myths and misperceptions associated with the use of Transglutaminase in our food supply.  First off, what is Transglutaminase (TG)?  TG is an enzyme that occurs naturally in plants, animals, and our bodies. The TG enzyme helps our bodies perform certain tasks such as building muscle, destroying toxins and breaking down food particles during digestion.  What are enzymes and how are they used in food?  In food, enzymes are used to develop flavors, colors and textures and to enhance the palatability of our favorite foods. Enzymes are critical in making cheese, brewing beer, baking bread and extracting fruit juice.  Other functions of the transglutaminase enzyme include:  What do chefs and culinary experts think of Transglutaminase?  While other safely and often used binders include egg whites or gelatin, the use of TG as a binder reflects the evolution of this practice by famous chefs and culinary experts and contributes to the creation of well-known and popular dishes. TG is mostly associated and used with meat, poultry, and seafood products. For example, it can be used to bind smaller cuts of meat together to make a larger cut, or it can be added to imitation crab or sausages to improve texture. It can even be found in bacon-wrapped beef filets that may be served at your favorite restaurant.   Is TG safe?  Yes. TG is safe to consume and has been classified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as GRAS (generally recognized as safe) for over 10 years.   The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved the use of TG in meat and poultry products. In addition, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has verified the safety of the enzyme for meat and poultry products that have been developed to reduce sodium or fat content.  To date, TG has proven to be a safe […]

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The Safety Seven: How to Dodge the Dirty Dozen

Many of us are in the midst of welcoming spring by participating in activities outside, enjoying seeing flowers bloom and looking forward to enjoying a host of fruits and vegetables that are increasingly available with warmer weather. However, you may have also heard about the release of the Environmental Working Group’s report encouraging people to avoid many fruits and vegetables. Before you begin rewriting your shopping list, we hope you adhere to the top seven things to remember about eating healthy and safe foods when this year’s (or any year’s) Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists (lists that promote organic produce as being safer and healthier than conventional produce) invade your social media streams. 1. There is no reason to avoid any type of produce, whether organic or not. Both conventional and organic produce present a healthy and safe way to obtain daily nutrients. Neither is more safe or healthy than the other. This goes for any food product, from raisins to milk and beyond. Whether you choose organic or traditionally produced fruits and vegetables, the important thing is to get plenty of servings of fruits and vegetables each day and to handle all food safely to prevent foodborne illness. Remember these four steps: clean, cook, separate and chill. 2. There are several regulatory steps in place to ensure that all food products in our supply chain are safe. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) suggests that the government approval process for pesticides is somehow lax and undiscerning. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actually takes a minimum of six years to finalize the approval and safety (to humans and the environment) of newly formulated pesticides. Only after this review process can a pesticide be approved and sold in the U.S. and abroad. 3. U.S. regulatory authorities inspect and monitor both conventional and organic commodities to ensure equal […]

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