We’ve been blogging recently about chocolate milk.  One of our readers commented with a question about Ovaltine as an option to sweeten milk .

Ovaltine is a milk flavoring invented in Switzerland more than a hundred years ago. The original formula contained eggs, malt, and a bit of cocoa. It then reached the UK and eventually the US, with each country using a different formula adapted to national preferences.

In the US today, Ovaltine is sold in 2 flavors – Malt and Rich Chocolate. Ovaltine is owned by Nestle (makers of Nesquik) and we checked their website for product info.

Here is our analysis. Read more…

Just when we thought we had covered all the nutrition rating systems out there, here’s a new system being implemented at Whole Foods Market stores nationwide. ANDI, short for Aggregate Nutrient Density Index, is the brainchild of author, MD, and founder of Eat Right America, Dr. Joel Fuhrman.

The ANDI system is a part of a bigger initiative by Whole Foods, entitled Health Starts Here, which encompasses not just making healthy food available, but also providing education on what to do what with that food (culinary lessons, 28 day programs to jump start healthy eating habits…).

The healthy eating principles WFM is promoting are:

• plant based diet
• whole foods (less processed flours, for example)
• low fat – or the right fats (unsaturated, more from plants and less from animals)
• nutrient dense (that’s where ANDI comes in)

The ANDI score, based on a Dr. Fuhrman’s Nutrient Density Scoring System analyzes many nutrients in a food product

Calcium, Carotenoids: Beta Carotene, Alpha Carotene, Lutein & Zeaxanthin, Lycopene, Fiber, Folate, Glucosinolates, Iron, Magnesium, Niacin, Selenium, Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Zinc, plus ORAC score X 2 (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity is a method of measuring the antioxidant or radical scavenging capacity of foods).

The data for whole foods such as produce, grains, and legumes is relatively easy to analyze based on USDA databases. It is much more complicated to get accurate info for packaged or processed foods, especially because the ingredients in a processed food interact with each other and change the nutrition profile of a product.

Here is a table with some sample scores. The highest score is 1000, the lowest is close to zero.

This is a very interesting table, especially if one compares it to NuVal ranking which goes from 1-100. Take a look at these 4 healthy products and their scores:

• Kale – 1000
• Orange – 109
• Whole wheat bread – 25
• Olive oil – 9

A naive shopper may be led to believe that kale is the only product worth consuming. But all 4 of the aforementioned are healthy and needed by our bodies. Dr. Fuhrman addresses this:

Keep in mind that nutrient density scoring is not the only factor that determines good health. For example, if we only ate foods with a high nutrient density score our diet would be too low in fat. So we have to pick some foods with lower nutrient density scores (but preferably the ones with the healthier fats) to include in our high nutrient diet.

So wouldn’t it be more practical to create a scoring system that doesn’t require people to analyze a score , the product type, the required nutrients and then decide? The entire point is to simplify life for consumers, not complicate it!

Whole Foods is perceived as a healthier, albeit expensive, grocery retailer. But recently John Mackey, WFM CEO and founder, openly admitted that his chain sells lots of junk food. The Health Starts Here program may be a signal that Mackey is retuning to the roots of what WFM stood for in the seventies when just starting out.

The ANDI scores are an interesting first step in trying to help consumers better choose healthier foods, and it will be very interesting to see consumer response. We expect Whole Foods will continue to introduce and test additional tools to help their customers.

What to do at the supermarket:

Don’t let the Whole Foods health halo confuse you, as organic junk food is still junk food. Stick to the less processed products, of which Whole Foods has copious amounts, including in bulk (cheaper).

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Good Morning. Our pop quiz for today is before you. What is this Vegetable?

Hint: This is not an alien. It actually grows on earth, and even in the US. Read more…

The FDA has approved the use of baobab fruit in foods and drinks, a year after a similar approval was granted in the European Union. The fruit, pictured above, is jockeying to become 2010’s superfood.

Will it reach the rockstar status of the acai berry?

What you need to know:

The baobab tree species is found in Africa, the island of Madagascar, and Western Australia. Its fruit has provided sustenance to native people for ages. The baobab fruit, known also as monkey bread or sour gourd, can be the size of a skinny watermelon, and has a distinctive tart flavor.

Although it can be consumed raw, the goal is to process baobab into a fine powder and import it to the US for use in shakes, energy bars, and other processed food products. The FDA GRAS (generally regarded as safe) status has actually been granted to the powder, not the whole fruit. It is called baobab dried fruit pulp.

The raw fruit is a nutrient powerhouse, setting the US consumer for a marketing campaign not seen since we first heard of acai berries a few years ago. It is rich in vitamin C and in calcium, iron, and magnesium, as well as many antioxidants.

What to do at the supermarket:

It will be a while before the first products hit the shelves, but keep in mind that sprinkling a bit of baobab powder into a candy bar will not magically change its properties. It’s still going to be a candy bar.

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Health claims on processed food packages are usually nothing more than marketing messages. So when Kellogg’s plasters the word “IMMUNITY” in quadruple font on the front of its Rice Krispies breakfast cereal, we just have to take a peek (thanks to Fooducate reader TD for the heads up).

We took a look at the product nutrition information and at the Rice Krispies website. We’re not sure if this is a new formulation or just a new marketing campaign, but this is what Kellogg’s boasts:

“Now each and every box is fortified with vitamins and nutrients that work together to help support your child’s immunity.”

“The cereal you love, invisibly better”.

Great pitch folks. Now let’s analyze the facts…

Read more…

Sara Lee is the number one fresh bread manufacturer in the US, so there’s a good chance you’ll find some of their loaves in your local supermarket. We wanted to take a look at a product that caught our eye due to it’s somewhat oxymoronous name – how could a white bread be whole grain? Isn’t whole grain bread supposed to be, well, not white?

Ah the wonders of food science and marketing.

The company boasts, on the package, albeit in small print: Made with whole grain. 30% whole grain (This product provides 10 g of whole grain in a 2 slice serving. USDA recommends consuming 48 g of whole grain every day.).

What’s really inside?… Read more…

We recently covered freeze dried fruit snacks, and today we’ll take a look at leather snacks. Chef Roberts, operating in the New York metropolitan area, has recently launched a line of fruit leather. From the Chef’s marketing department:

Matt’s Munchies are all-natural fruit leathers free of gluten, nuts, eggs and dairy products. There are 6 palate-pleasing flavors with no artificial coloring or preservatives. Great for vegans and those concerned with food allergies. All flavors are less then 100 calories per one ounce serving with no added sugar, oils or salts. They make for a super convenient, tasty nutrition-perfect snack on the go, a tasty companion to a glass of wine, or a healthy dessert after dinner.

The six flavors are divided into 2 categories:

Banana based – Choco-Nana, Apple Pie, and plain old Banana
Mango based – Island Mango, Ginger Zest, and plain Mango

Read on to find out which flavor is the tastiest, and learn what’s inside the label.

Read more…

Yesterday we wrote about false advertising claims by Kellogg’s with respect to its Frosted Mini Wheats cereal. Today we’ll take a look inside the box to see just how nutritious this product really is…

Read more…

NY Times Healthy Recipes

A reminder from the NY Times to eat your beans, preferably black beans:

Beans are nature’s health food. They have an exceptionally high fiber content, and they’re a fine source of protein, as well as calcium, iron, folic acid and potassium. Black beans stand out because in that shiny black coating, there are at least eight different flavonoids, which are antioxidants. Called anthocyanins, they’re found in red grapes and red wine, red cabbage and other dark red fruits and vegetables. Black beans also contain small amounts of omega-3 fats, three times as much as other legumes provide.

Read the article…

What you need to know:

In these hard times, opting for beans as the protein source at dinner time saves money and provides a nutritious, filling meal.

A 15 oz. heat n’ eat  can of beans cost about $1.25 and serves 3 people. It has just 3 ingredients: Beans, water and salt. At $0.42 per diner, you get 27% of your daily fiber requirements and 7 grams of protein. The only downside of canned beans is 460mg of sodium, 19% of your daily allotment.

But even cheaper and healthier is to prepare your own. A 16 oz. bag of dry black beans goes for $1.25 and makes for 12 servings. That’s just over 10 cents per serving with the added benefit of you controlling the amount of sodium, as well as much less nutrient loss.

The recipe provided in the article is quite simple and requires only a few minutes of work. A few added suggestions:

1. If you tend to suffer from flatulence – soak the beans for much more than 6 hours, even a whole day, and then rinse the soaked beans thoroughly, using fresh water for simmering.

2. You can cook a large amount of beans in water, separately, till soft. Add the amount needed for today’s dinner to the rest of the ingredients, and freeze the rest for up to a month.

3. You can opt for organic beans for a funny price difference (just add a quarter to that $1.25 …)

4. Probably needless to say, but homemade fare is far tastier than canned food from the supermarket.

What to do at the supermarket:

Find out if your supermarket sells beans in bulk. If not, the ethnic aisles will most likely have 1 lb. packages of various types of beans available. If you’re in a rush, canned beans will also do.

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Unless you’ve been hiding in a cave since New Year’s, you’ve surely heard of the recent salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter. In this post:

1. A quick recap of the facts.
2. Seven healthy alternatives, including tahini, almond butter and more. Read more…