Former President Bill Clinton was released from the hospital a few days ago after undergoing a procedure to bypass a clogged artery. In a statement to reporters at a childhood obesity event of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Clinton blamed his poor health on

“the habits I acquired in my childhood, mostly the way I ate and the way it interacted with my own biology and propensity to produce bad cholesterol…I ate too much fried food, too much ice cream, too much everything”. read more…

Fried food – too much fats, too much salt. Ice cream – too much fats, too much sugar. Too much everything – calorie overload. Not a recipe for a healthy life.

What you need to know:

Former president Clinton. First Lady Michelle Obama. Cabinet members. All are involved in some way with our nation’s obesity epidemic. Clinton, like Obama realize that adults who have developed bad habits are much harder to turn around compared to children who have their whole life ahead of them. We all remember president Clinton’s uncontrollable burger cravings. That’s why he and Mrs. Obama are focusing on ways to combat childhood obesity. They’re hoping to affect food consumption patterns at a young age.

Unfortunately the junk food companies know this too. “Get ‘em while they’re young, and they’ll stay loyal to your brand forever”. The consumption patterns their marketing efforts have yielded so far (and continue to shape) will eventually lead millions into hospitals for treatment.

Unless we parents take action.

What to do at the supermarket:

Instead of taking Clinton’s negative remarks of “too much this or that”, let’s focus on the positives, on things you want to get your kids to eat and enjoy. This means real food, with real flavors. Expose them to fruits and vegetables from the minute they can start to chew. Even if they don’t like something, try multiple times, showing them a good example by eating the same. Eventually they will come around and start to eat produce as well. Maybe not everything, but at least french fries and ketchup won’t be your only option.

Get the family into a water drinking habit, relegating sweet juices or sodas to “uncontrollable” events such as holidays or parties out of the home. Tap water is safe, clean, and delicious in almost all parts of the country. And it’s much easier to grow up drinking water than having to switch from soda to H2O as an adult.

By helping your children to develop sophisticated taste buds, you will encourage lifelong appreciation of real food tastes, with less reliance on sugar/fat/sodium. This triumvirate is the lowest common denominator used by the junk food industry to mask all the other band ingredients and make everything seem great.

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This is an ad promoting vegetarianism, entitled “All you need are fruits and vegetables.” Gets the point across rather nicely, don’t you think?

If you’re wondering what the intestines are made of, that’s ginger root.

Enjoy the weekend!

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The CDC released a report earlier this week with disheartening news -

No U.S. state is meeting national objectives for consumption of fruits and vegetables, according to the first report to provide state–by–state data about fruit and vegetable consumption and policies that may help Americans eat more fruits and vegetables.

only 33 percent of adults meet the recommendation for fruit consumption and 27 percent get the recommended servings of vegetables.

Children and teens are doing even worse. Here’s what a 2007 survey of 100,000 high schoolers found:

32 percent report eating at least two servings of fruit daily and 13 percent say they eat at least three servings of vegetables each day.

This works out to only 1 in 10 teens getting enough fruits and vegetables in their diet. And we’re surprised that there’s an obesity epidemic going on?

What you need to know:

There are several reasons we’re not getting enough of these vitamin powerhouses:

1. In many cases its cheaper to buy a processed snack than a fruit.

2. It is also more convenient to pack a processed snack in a lunch bag than a fruit (try to see what a pear in a kids backpack looks like by lunchtime…)

3. School vending machines offer processed snacks, not carrots and apples.

4. Seen any TV and billboard ads for fruits and vegetables lately?

5. Sweet and Savory snacks are much tastier for many kids (and adults).

6. It takes time to prepare a fruit (peel an orange) or vegetable (bake a zucchini) for consumption. Much easier to rip open a box/bag and start munching.

What to do at the supermarket:

It’s true that in some case fruits and vegetables can be expensive compared to highly processed junk. Here are some suggestions:

1. Buy seasonal. Fruits and vegetables in season are usually cheaper.

2. Buy frozen. Frozen veggies maintain almost all the nutritional value as fresh ones.

3. Buy canned. but watch out for the high sodium content some canned vegs carry and the high sugar content of syrupy fruit.

4. Expand your horizons. Buy some cheaper vegetables you haven’t tried yet. Beet carpaccio, anyone?

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Some shoppers may have noticed lately that packages of Frito-Lay brand potato chips, Doritos, Cheetos, and Tostitos are bigger than they used to be. It’s hard to miss, especially when the one on Tostitos says: ”Hey! There’s 20 percent more free fun to share in here!”

That’s 20% more calories, fat, and sodium too.

The price, though, hasn’t changed. Why would a manufacturer want to give us this gift?

The New York Times explains:

Think of your food packages like an economic barometer: Times are tough, so costs are low and packages are bigger. When times are good, costs are high and packages, to compensate, get smaller.

Tough times also mean consumers have less money to spend, so they want those bigger packages. Experts say this is a promotional tool that helps branded food companies steer shoppers back to their products and away from less expensive, store-brand alternatives.

What you need to know:

Last year, as commodity prices were going through the roof, manufacturers had a dilemma – should they raise prices to remain profitable? The answer was no. Instead, they sneakily reduced the amount of product and employed a grocery shrink ray to reduce the package size. Packaged items from Red Bull to chicken wings to peanut butter were secretly shrunk, and consumers were unknowingly paying more per ounce of food / beverage.

Now that commodity prices are way down and consumers are pinching pennies, it’s time to reverse the shrink ray and start to buff up those packages. Lowering prices would be great for us, but food companies are afraid that it would devalue their brand and cause problems in the future when they’ll want to raise prices again.

While last year’s shrink ray was hush hush, this year’s good deeds of package growth should not go unheard right? You betcha, and that’s why all the XYZ-os are labeled with the “20% more” marketing message.

Thanks food manufacturers, for being dishonest with us last year, and for stuffing us with even more of you unhealthy snacks this year.

At least one thing hasn’t changed – the serving size – a laughable 11 chips. Yes, that’s right, what people wolf down between opening the bag to pouring its contents into a serving bowl. But we’ll talk about serving sizes in another post.

What to do at the supermarket:

Some supermarkets let you easily compare product prices by reading shelf tags with price per oz / fl oz. This is a very helpful tool.

But even more helpful to you will be to cut down on the amount of processed snacks you purchase, and direct the savings to more natural options like fresh fruits, dried fruits, and nuts.

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Thank you Fooducate reader Mark G. and family for testing out 4 flavors of Crofter’s Superfruit Spreads over the past few weeks.

Crofter’s is a small Canadian company focusing on jams, jellies, preserves and spread. Everything is organic.

Earlier this spring they introduced a new line of supefruit spreads, riding on the antioxidant halo associated with these fruits. There are 4 flavors to choose from: Europe, North America, South American, and Asia. Each comes with a different fruit blend.

Here’s what Mark had to say:

My wife, my two grade-school sons, and I tested these jams out on toast, waffles, in plain yogurt, and (of course) PB&J’s.

While I can’t say I’ve been on the lookout for a “fun, new way to get my daily antioxidants,” I did appreciate that Crofter’s new Organic Superfruit Spreads contain no artificial anything. And I had to google a couple of those so-called “superfruits” (and here I thought yumberry was a Capt’n Crunch flavor), but apparently they do all really exist!

The PB&J sandwiches was the least successful use of the jams. Their flavor was just too subtle to stand up to the domineering peanut butter. You just could not taste them, and at $4.99 a jar, you want to be able to taste them!

The other applications – especially the toast – allowed the jams’ flavors (and textures) to come out much more. It was surprising just how much flavor they had when they had the spotlight to themselves.

All four jams were tasty enough – definitely worthy of the extra cost for a Sunday morning breakfast treat. But they all suffered from a sameness between them. Despite not having any evil additives, all four jams have cherries, the cherry tartness overwhelms most of what the other fruits might offer.  Out of all those “superfruits,” I would say that the blueberries and black currents held their ground the best. The black currents (paired up in the “European Blend” with the uber-trendy pomegranate) also benefited from it’s unique texture.

These are tasty sour-cherry flavored jams, but I would have liked some of the more exotic superfruits to shine a little more (unless yumberries taste exactly like cherries? maybe? who knows?). I’m always on the lookout for natural jams and jellies for me and my family, but these are a little to subtle (and too expensive) for my sons’ lunchbags. That just means more for me and the Missus to put on our toast and in our yogurt.

What you need to know:
Here’s the ingredient list for the South America blend:
Organic Fruit (Organic morello cherry, organic red grape concentrate, organic passionfruit puree, organic maqui concentrate), organic fair trade cane sugar, natural fruit pectin, ascorbic acid, citric acid.

Maqui berry is a “superfruit” from Patagonia (the chilly southern part of Argentina). Some claim it is much more potent than the revered acai berry from an antioxidant perspective.

While there are 4 fruits mentioned in the list, only the cherries come in their natural form. The other 3 are purees and concentrates, which means they’ve lost many of their health benefits by oxidation (exposure to air).

Ascorbic acid is just vitamin C.

Citric acid is a natural preservative that is used to add an acidic, sour taste to foods and beverages. Although it is naturally found in citrus fruit (oranges, lemons), industry has a found a cheaper way to manufacture it, using molds.

Nutrition label:
A serving is one tablespoon. it contains 30 calories, no fat, and 7 grams of sugar. The addition of ascorbic acid bumps up the vitamin C to 50% of the daily requirements. Unlike the fruits in their original form, these jams do not contain fiber.

What to do at the supermarket:

If you’re going to buy a jam, Crofter’s is about as nutritious as it gets. Not that jams are a major source of nutrition. But at least there are no artificial anythings. Enjoy on whole wheat toast of course.

Disclosure: Ah, the perks of food blogging…Crofter’s PR firm contacted us and offered to send  evaluation samples. We had them sent to a family of volunteer testers. We did not pay for the samples. We were not paid to post this blog nor were we instructed in any which way regarding its content. In fact, we forewarned the manufacturer that we are skeptical and scathing of most processed products available at the supermarket.

If you would like to have something new and possibly tasty sent to your house, why not become a Fooducate Product Tester? Just comment below or shoot us an email: blog [at] fooducate [dot] com.

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David Brancaccio of PBS’s Now show interviewed filmmaker Robert Kenner, the director of “Food, Inc.” a few days ago. The movie takes a very critical look at the modern food industry and helps viewers better understand why supermarket fare for the most part is crap, and why 67% of Americans are obese or overweight. The full interview is 24 minutes long. Here are some good tidbits:

1. 90% of supermarket food has corn or soy products in it. (That’s because soy and corn are subsidized by the government, making them cheap to produce).

2. Fast food chains were the original drivers of the industrialization of food. McDonald’s is and has been for years the largest buyer of ground beef, pork, chicken, potatoes, and tomatoes in the US. And it will only work with suppliers than can provide a steady, uniform, reliable product 24/7/365. Real food doesn’t work like that

3. Candy and Soda are cheaper than fresh fruit and vegetables. What do you think poor people will choose to eat?

4. Food industry claims that consumers should show personal responsibility when choosing what to eat are insidious.

5. Food has not gotten safer over the years. Not if a single burger can have meat from one thousand cows in it.

6. Really sad – the federal government does not have the right to recall contaminated meat off of supermarket shelves.

7. A ray of light – consumers, through personal preference, convinced Wal-Mart to switch to milk from cows who did not receive growth hormones.

8. Watch out for “food libel laws” – Industry will sue you if you don’t talk nice about food products. Example: Oprah Winfrey was engaged in a lengthy legal battle with the meat industry for saying she’d consider abstaining from burgers at the height of the mad cow scare a decade ago.

9. The legal fees for the movie were 3 times higher than all his previous films combined.

What to do at the supermarket:

Your choices are what ultimately fuel the food industry. By buying unprocessed foods, mostly from the supermarket perimeter, you will avoid many of the pitfalls of modern industrialized food-like substances.

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We recently reviewed several healthy snack options,  fruit leathers, and freeze dried fruit. Today, a look at another option – Bear Fruit Bars. We’d like to thank reader Sarah S, a Fooducate Product Tester, for her feedback.

Bear Fruit Bars are manufactured by a small company called Mountain Organic Foods and come in four flavors – Organic Apple, Organic Apple Cherry, Organic Apple Raspberry, Organic Apple Blueberry. As you can see, the main motive here is apples. The Bear guys operate an organic  orchard in the Hood River Valley in Oregon.

So how did these organic snacks stack up?
Read more…

A: The answer is sulfites.

Have you ever wondered why dried fruit such as apples and apricots that you buy at the supermarket maintain their luster but when you slice an apple at home it immediately starts to brown?

Do you glance at the wine label while sipping your pinot noir and wonder why “contains sulfites” should appear there?

A brief intro to sulfites follows. Read more…

1. Over 45 Million pounds of Avocado will be consumed today, Superbowl Sunday!

2. Avocado competes with buffalo wings and pizza as The Superbowl Food, thanks to a successful marketing campaign by avocado growers over the past 2 decades.

3. All Haas avocados are genetic replicas of a single tree planted in the Haas family grove in the 1920’s.

4. A shortage of avocados is looming this spring, due to the 2008 drought in southern California, where 90% of domestic Avocados are grown.

5. Have no fear, Mexican avocados will be here to supplant any shortage. In fact Mexico is the world’s largest Avocado producer.

6. Avocados are unique fruit. They have a high fat content, but this is a “good” fat – monounsaturated fat.

7. A whole avocado contains 200-300 calories and is a good source of vitamin A, C, E and the B vitamins, as well as fiber and potassium.

8. Guacamole is Aztec for “Avocado Sauce”, the original recipe calling for crushed avocado, tomatoes and salt.

9. Supermarket guacamole tastes plain bad. Avocados don’t store well, that’s why store bought guacamole needs a lot of help from food additives. Here is a sample list of ingredients you’ll find in a ready made container -
Food Starch,
Sodium Alginate (emulsifier – keeps oils and waters mixed together),
Xanthan Gum (increases viscosity),
Erythorbic Acid (retains food’s color) ,Potassium Sorbate (anti mold), Sodium Metabisulfite (anti spoilage)

Ouch.

Luckily, making your own guacamole is quick and easy. Spend ten minutes to make your own. The difference in flavor, let alone chemicals, is worth it:

Simple Guacamole Recipe (serves 4-8 people):

Ingredients:
4 ripe avocados
2 limes (lemons OK)
2 tomatoes (optional)
half a medium onion
1 TBSP Dijon mustard (or more, to taste)
cilantro or Italian parsley (not a must)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. halve the limes.
2. peel and pit the avocados, immediately squeezing 2 lime halves over the the avocado meat to prevent browning.
3. dice one avocado into quarter inch cubes, and crush the rest with the back of a fork. place in large bowl.
4. dice the tomatoes. add to bowl.
5. finely dice the onion and cilantro. add to bowl.
6. add the mustard.
7. mix everything with a wooden spoon (or your hands).
8. taste. add salt and pepper (you’ll need a bit less than normal due to the mustard)
9. douse with juice of the second lime and refrigerate till game time.

Enjoy!

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Courtesy of the Economist

A global trend for the past few decades is the increased use of chilis and hot peppers in western diets. Capsaicin is the active ingredient which causes us to sweat and tear, but then reach a “high” as the result of the release of endorphins. The Economist, of all publications, provides interesting insight:

Hot chilies, once the preserve of aficionados with exotic tastes for cuisine from places such as India, Thailand or Mexico, are now a staple ingredient in everything from ready meals to cocktails. One reason is that globalisation has raised the rich world’s tolerance to capsaicin. What may seem unbearably hot to those reared on the bland diets of Europe or the Anglosphere half a century ago is just a pleasantly spicy dish to their children and grandchildren, whose student years were spent scoffing cheap curries or nacho chips with salsa.

Read the full article…

What you need to know:

Lets start with spelling – Chili, chilli, or chile are all acceptable.

Red peppers in general are considered very healthy, containing twice the vitamin C as oranges. While chilis are not quite as loaded, they do purport to provide the following health benefits:
* Effective in reducing pain from arthritis by “numbing” a part of the nervous system
* Keeps arteries unblocked, thus reducing cholesterol and the risk of heart disease.
* Prevents growth of some cancerous cells, reducing the risk of prostate cancer.
* Speeds up metabolism, thus helping in weight loss.
* Lowers risk of Type 2 diabetes by controlling the blood sugar levels.

Can too much chili cause any harm?

Certainly capsaicin can be painful, causing stress: in itself a potential health risk. A big dose incapacitates. But as far as permanent physical damage is concerned, the evidence is negligible to non-existent.

If you wish, you can build up your chili stamina slowly, starting with a tiny sliver of hot pepper in your soup or stir fry, and increasing the amount over time. Bon apetit.

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