Sweet Nothings or Nothing Sweet? Consumers Seek Clarity On Low- And No- Calorie Sweeteners

(Washington, D.C.) — The International Food Information Council (IFIC) recently provided a forum for health professionals and food safety experts to discuss the latest science and consumer insights around low- and no-calorie sweeteners (LNCS).   “In today’s media landscape, headlines often sensationalize conflicting opinions on the role sweeteners should play in a healthy diet,” Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN, IFIC President & CEO, said. “This leaves consumers with contradictory messages about the benefits and risks of consuming these ingredients. Because of this, we see a pressing need for clear, evidence-based communication to dispel misconceptions and empower individuals to navigate the nuances of sweetener consumption, especially timely during February, a month in which sweetness is often celebrated and enjoyed by many.”   3 In 4 Americans Look To Reduce Sugar In Their Diet  Food trends come and go, but one has stood the test of time: the search to satisfy our sweet tooths. While sweet treats will likely always be popular, reducing sugar intake is also a top health priority. According to the 2023 IFIC Food & Health Survey, 72% of Americans say they are looking to limit or avoid sugar in their diet. While sugar replacements, such as LNCS and sugar alcohols, are becoming more prevalent in products with reduced added sugar, their expanding usage often leads to questions about safety.   Safety In Question  During IFIC’s recent educational webinar, Breaking Down the Basics and Biological Fate of Low- and No-Calorie Sweeteners, the safety of LNCS took center stage. IFIC Senior Director of Nutrition Communications, Kris Sollid, RD, presented IFIC data in tandem with Bernadene Magnuson, PhD, a food toxicologist with expertise in safety and government regulations of food ingredients, including LNCS.   “Believe it or not, LNCS are some of the most studied ingredients in our food supply,” Kris Sollid, RD, […]

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BPA: What’s Getting Missed?

Bisphenol-A, or BPA, has long been an incredible example of just how far chatter can run away from science. We even profiled the BPA “debate” as part of our War on (Food) Science series last year. This week is no different, with specious claims about BPA increasing the risk for cancer to obesity, diabetes, and ADD, plus a half-dozen other scary sounding things. It won’t surprise you to hear that those unsubstantiated claims aren’t science-based or helpful for our food safety. Bizarrely, this week also brought critiques of substitutes for BPA, which the same critics had long been pushing for, due to the unscientific rumors about BPA itself. Let’s dive into both.   Should I be worried about BPA, or about BPA substitutes? (Hint: Neither, really) Dr. Henry Chin, PhD, an independent expert in food safety and food chemistry, demystifies it: “Since BPA doesn’t pose a risk, there is no scientifically valid reason for families to avoid BPA.  All food packaging materials are safe and some food products are available in alternative packaging. There are no packaging materials that are ‘safer’ than BPA.” BPA? Safe and approved. Substitutes for BPA? Also safe and approved. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves all food packaging materials as “food contact substances,” so all of these substitutes are in the same boat as BPA: The FDA confirms there is “sufficient scientific information to demonstrate that the use of these materials is safe.”   BPA (and Substitutes): What’s the point? Let’s back up for a minute and talk about why BPA exists. BPA (or substitutes) are used in can liners. Without a liner, metal cans get corroded or punctured.  That means that the food would get contaminated by the metal can and/or outside bacteria that can cause dangerous foodborne illness. It made a big difference […]

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Food for Thought This Healthy Aging Month

Healthy Aging Month is a great time to consider how beliefs and behaviors around food change as we age. Aside from what is often a distinct set of beliefs about nutrition, and an evolving set of eating behaviors, older adults also have different nutritional needs than their younger counterparts. As the body ages, it processes food more slowly and requires different levels of nutrients in order to fuel the body, maintain muscle mass and promote optimal cognitive health. The 2017 Food and Health Survey findings include a detailed report focused exclusively on older adults ages 50 to 80. This report was conducted in collaboration with the AARP Foundation. The findings shed new light on older adults’ eating attitudes and perceptions. Let’s see how they stack up against their younger counterparts. Health Risks Fluid and Fiber As you can see, older adults are a pretty nutrition-savvy group. The 2017 Food and Health Survey shows how older adults may be changing their eating habits to match their unique nutrition needs and to lower their risk for chronic disease. This could be, at least partially, a result of who they trust for their information. The survey shows how older adults are more likely to trust conversations with healthcare professionals and registered dietitians as sources of information on what to eat and avoid. They are also less likely than younger consumers to get nutrition information from family and friends. This trust in – and reliance on – credentialed sources, like health professionals and registered dietitians, could be putting older adults on the path to good nutrition. For more information on how nutrition needs change over time, and how to get the nutrients you need for healthy aging, check out this resource. Adam Sachs, University of Maryland dietetic intern, contributed to this post.

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The Benefits of Mindful Eating: Video

Mindfulness is an ancient practice of being present. It can be defined as a “quality of consciousness that is characterized by continually attending to one’s moment-to-moment experiences, thoughts, and emotions with an open, non-judgmental approach.” Mindfulness has been used in a variety of therapeutic settings as it can improve the way we process emotions and help us reduces stress. In recent years, the concept of mindfulness has been applied to how we think about nourishing our body with food. Mindful eating is about listening to our physical sensations, like hunger, fullness and satisfaction cues and taking time to notice our thoughts and emotions while eating so we can have a more enjoyable and healthful eating experience. Mindful eating involves: There are many benefits to eating mindfully. Let’s review a few of them. Sometimes, our thoughts related to food aren’t very helpful. Negative thoughts about weight gain or eating unhealthy foods can create a fearful or anxious attitude when it comes to food. When we eat mindfully, we are practicing responding to our eating choices without guilt. Instead of condemning thoughts, we practice nonjudgmental language related to food. This nonjudgmental tone can increase self-compassion, which can improve our psychological well-being. Research shows that undereating or restricting certain foods can cause us to overeat them later. When we eat mindfully, we are taking time to notice what kinds of and how much food we need to feel full and satisfied. By frequently checking in with hunger, we don’t go too long without eating enough food. In this way, eating mindfully can help reduce overeating or binge eating as we become more aware of physical hunger and satisfaction cues and what foods will help us achieve optimal fullness. There are distractions all around us, and sometimes they can get in the way of […]

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Fridge and Freezer Safety Tips

July is National Ice Cream Month, and sure enough, July’s hot days often see many of us searching our freezers for frozen treats. As we all know, freezers also house many other foods and beverages that require very cold temperatures to prolong their freshness. But how often do we think about how to properly store our cold and frozen food safely? It’s easy to take our refrigerators and freezers (and the work they do) for granted, but familiarizing ourselves with some important fridge and freezer safety tips can help us better preserve the taste and integrity of our cold and frozen foods in addition to avoiding foodborne illness caused by microbes and preventing food waste due to spoilage. What’s the best temperature to maintain in a freezer? We should all periodically check the temperature of our refrigerators and freezers with a special appliance thermometer. Many modern appliance versions have a built-in thermometer that display internal temperatures and sound an alarm if a temperature begins to change. For a quick reference, you should keep your refrigerator at 40 °F or below and your freezer at 0 °F or below. Ensuring proper temperatures in your refrigerator and freezer helps support food safety as well as maintain taste, freshness, and the cooking reliability of your perishable foods and beverages. In addition, proper storage supported by correct temperatures in your refrigerator and freezer helps avoid food waste. Improperly stored food can spoil quickly and thus need to be discarded earlier than if it had been stored correctly. The refrigerator and freezer storage chart found in this tip sheet provided by the Food and Drug Administration includes safe storage times for many widely used foods. In addition, the FDA advises that all food should be examined for spoilage regardless of the dates on the packaging. […]

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The Players & Pathways To Packaging Sustainability Wins

After years of working in the food production space, it’s clear that food producers and consumers alike want to know more about how their actions can contribute to—or compromise—our roles as environmental stewards. For years, U.S. consumers have heard the mantra “Reduce, reuse, recycle,” and many of us, no matter where we live, do our best to decrease litter and reduce waste. While we are considering our individual environmental sustainability actions, many of us also recognize the importance of efforts being enhanced within the domestic food production industry to improve rates of recycling food packaging and reduce the amount of materials needed to produce new packaging. When thinking about enhancing packaging sustainability efforts, both consumers and industry have a role to play. The Path To Packaging Recycling Wins To better understand the packaging recycling pathways and how we can increase our “wins” in packaging sustainability, we must recognize the roles of three key players. First, there are the companies that manufacture materials needed to make packaging. Next there are companies that produce foods and beverages and utilize those materials to hold their products. Then there’s the consumers who buy packaged goods, and who may or may not recycle that packaging. While the companies that manufacture packaging materials and produce our foods and beverages hold a great deal of power in helping us achieve sustainability wins, consumers play a key role in closing the sustainability loop by recycling or choosing their purchases. Consumer Insights Are Key To Making The Right Plays Over the past decade, the annual IFIC Food and Health Survey has shown that taste, price, and healthfulness are the top characteristics consumers care about when making a food or beverage purchase. While environmental sustainability has historically been a lower-ranked purchase driver, the past several years have shown a shift […]

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Portion Size

Let’s get wise on portion size! The IFIC Portion Size Toolkit helps make the concepts of serving size versus portion size clear and approachable to support more informed decision making about food and nutrition.

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Your Guide To Portion Size

Download: Serving Size Vs. Portion Size: What’s the Difference? Every five years since 1980 the U.S. Government publishes the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). A main emphasis of the DGA over the years has been advice on how much of certain food groups and nutrients to consume, encouraging Americans to eat more of those that we don’t eat enough of (e.g., calcium, dietary fiber and vitamin D) and less of those that we eat in excess (e.g., added sugars, saturated fat and sodium). Previous versions of the DGA have noted the importance of choosing more nutrient-dense foods, so that we are more likely to get all the nutrition we need within the calories it takes to maintain a healthy weight. The 2020—2025 DGA remind us that the benefits of healthy eating don’t appear overnight. Instead, they add up over time with every bite, having the potential to contribute to good health. Aside from key recommendations for specific nutrients and food groups, one of the main action-oriented principles that the 2020—2025 DGA offers to help build healthy eating patterns, is to pay attention to portion sizes. What is Portion Size? Portion size is a term that is often confused with serving size. Understanding the difference between the two is important. Serving sizes appear on the Nutrition Facts label, and that amount is used to calculate the nutrient information that is displayed. But serving sizes listed on food packaging are not a recommendation for how much to eat or drink. Serving sizes are required by law to be based, in part, on food consumption data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to derive the amount of a food or beverage that people typically consume in one sitting. In contrast, portion sizes are not established and regulated by the government […]

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