In the past 30 years the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables has gone up 40%. At the same time, the cost of soft drinks has gone down by over 30%. The graph below is taken from a New York Times article discussing a proposed soda tax. (The tax of a few pennies on sugary drinks will supposedly lower consumption and help the government implement various health plans.)

At least part of the price reduction can be attributed to high fructose corn syrup, which entered the market in the 1980’s. HFCS costs beverage manufacturers half the price of sugar.

What to do at the supermarket:

Although the price of eating healthy has gone up, here are a few suggestions:

1. Drink tap water – Stop buying and drinking soft drinks. A family of 4 will save $500 a year! Not to mention a nice drop in weight…

2. Buy frozen fruits and vegetables – instead of paying a premium for fresh produce shipped from the other side of the world, you get a product that retains the same levels of vitamins as fresh, and sometimes even more than “fresh” produce that has been traveling around for 3 weeks. Canned is also an option, but watch for added sugar or sodium.

3. Buy in season – tomatoes and blueberries will always be cheap in the summer. For off season – see #2.

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Shocking but true -  the average American eats 6 frozen meals a month.

The first TV dinner appeared in 1953 under the Swanson brand as a solution for busy moms who had begun joining the workforce and could no longer spend hours in the kitchen preparing daily meals. The dinner included turkey, corn bread and gravy, buttered peas and sweet potatoes. It cost $0.98.

This was the beginning of a revolution. Combining an entree and two sides in a three part aluminum container that could be heated, eaten from, and then discarded proved to be a great convenience for consumers.

Read on for some fascinating facts…

Read more…

The New Ice Age

A novel campaign across the pond in the UK is promoting frozen fruit and vegetables. The British Frozen Food Federation has put up a giant ice wall in London with frozen produce suspended midair (actually mid-ice). Read more…

The NuVal Nutritional Scoring System has updated its website to include sample score of hundreds of everyday items. We posted about NuVal and its competitors a few months ago.  These nutrition scoring systems aim to simplify the task of choosing healthier foods at the supermarket.

The NuVal approach is especially easy to understand – each product gets a score from 1 (lowest) to 100 (highest) based on the presence of “good” and “bad” nutrients. The system, originally known as ONQI (Overall Nutritional Qulaity Index), was developed by a respectable team of scientists led by Dr David Katz.

Here are some interesting facts:

The top scoring category, unsurprisingly, is fruits and vegetables, with all products scoring 78 to 100, except for coconut, with a mere 24. Could this be a mistake?

The cereal section has products with scores as low as 4, and as high as 100. Hodgson Mill Unprocessed Wheat Bran scores a perfect hundred, but do you know any kids who’ll eat it? Sadly for this blog’s editor, a childhood favorite, Cap’n Crunch, gets a lowly score of 10.

The worst scoring categories are cookies (1-40) and salty snacks(1-52). Cheetos get a measly 5, Doritos a 10. The top scorer is Garden Of Eatin No Salt Blue Tortilla Chips Made With Organic Blue Corn with a score of 52.

Vegetables, either frozen or canned, score anywhere between 2-100, based on their original “fresh score” plus consideration of the nutrition reduction caused by freezing or canning. Canned vegetables usually get plenty of added salt as a preservative and flavor enhancer, but unfortunately this lowers their score.

What to do at the supermarket:

If you are pondering which cereal to choose from, perhaps NuVal can help you. Right now, the shelf display scoring system is being tested at Price-Chopper and Hy-Vee. Rollout in other groceries has been expected in fall 2008, and early 2009, but it perhaps the logistical challenges are causing some delays. If you have come across an NuVal score that helped you make a halthier shopping decision, please share with us.

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flickr photo: pfala

Although the height of blueberry season in the US is June July, you can still get fresh blueberries from Canada in September. But if you can’t get them fresh, fear not, because no fruit freezes as good as a blueberry.

What you need to know:

Blueberries contain heaps of vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, and folic acid. Studies in rats have shown that blueberries reduce aging effect of memory loss, may reduce bad cholesterol buildup (LDL), and may contribute to a slew of other health benefits. Blueberries are rich in antioxidants, and freezing them only slightly lowers their nutritional value.

What to look for at the supermarket:
If buying fresh, make sure the berries are firm. Check for mold or squashed berries. Frozen should contain just one ingredient.

People don’t realize it, but most of us consume way too much salt. Most comes not from the salt shaker, rather from processed foods (over 60%). Consumer groups such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) are petitioning the FDA to press food manufacturers and restaurants to cut back on salt. Read CSPI’s recent press release:

photo credit: L. Marie

Cutting Salt Could Save 150,000 Lives Each Year, Officials Say

WASHINGTON—With high-salt diets increasingly being recognized as a major cause of high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes, health officials from around the country have called on the Food and Drug Administration to press food manufacturers and restaurants to cut back on salt. The comments were made in response to the FDA’s request for public input on a petition filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest urging the agency to revoke the “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, status of salt and to limit sodium levels in various food categories.

What you need to know:

Salt and sodium are terms that may be used interchangeably. The FDA’s recommended maximum daily value is about 2400mg of sodium (for a 2000 calorie diet). This is the equivalent of a single teaspoon of salt. Flavor experts claim that you can adjust your salt “flavor point” down within a matter of weeks.

What to look for at the Supermarket:

Read the food labels and check for sodium content. Frozen foods will often sport less sodium than their canned counterparts. Buy low sodium products and sprinkle a bit more salt at mealtime.