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The first decade of the millennium brought both good and bad developments in the food and nutrition space. Mostly, this decade was a wake up call for many families and individuals that they cannot blindly trust government and market powers to provide the healthy food that they deserve.

2001 – Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, by investigative reporter Eric Schlosser, is published. People begin to understand that there is a very high price society is paying for cheap food.

2003 – The FDA announces plans to permit food manufacturers to make “qualified health claims”. Industry can now rely on “Some scientific evidence” or “Very limited and preliminary scientific research” to make a health claim. Opponents criticize it as opening the door to ill-founded claims. Advocates believe it will make more information available to the public. We shoppers get more confusing marketing messages than ever.

2003 – the low carb diet craze is launched with the publication of the South Beach Diet. The trend peaked in 2004 and pretty much died off by the end of 2005.

2004 – Morgan Spurlock’s Supersize Me, a documentary film following the health of its director eating only McDonald’s for an entire month, is released and meets with mixed reactions. Fast food chains duck for cover.

2004 – Passage of the Food Allergy Labeling and Consumer Protection Act. Requires labeling of any food that contains one or more of: peanuts, soybeans, cow’s milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, and wheat. People suffering from allergies still confused over statements such as “produced in a factory which also processes peanuts”.

2005 – Blogging goes mainstream, and people find new and useful sources of information on any subject, including food, nutrition, and health.

2006 – Wal-Mart joins the Organic Food bandwagon, signaling the mass acceptance of a once hippy movement.

2006 – Trans-fat is proclaimed the new evil. It’s labeling is required on all packaged foods. As a result, many manufacturers reformulate their products.

2007 – Author, professor, and food lover Michael Pollan publishes The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and continues the theme of Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation. The result is a mass yearning for organic, sustainable fare. A follow-up book in 2008, In Defense of Food, argues against the “nutritionism” and suggests a creation of a food culture where  we “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

2008 – COOL (country of origin) Labeling goes into effect. fresh beef, pork, and lamb. After repeated debilitation and stakeholder pressures, the law that was enacted in the 2002 Farm Bill finally went into effect on Oct 1, 2008, and even then with many loopholes.

2008-9 – Front of Pack Nutrition Labeling becomes a food industry pastime, with over 15 different systems competing who will become the dominant player. In late 2009, the FDA decides to start thinking of maybe possibly beginning a process of evaluation which could eventually lead to government regulation in this area. While Guiding Stars and NuVal still survive, Smart Choices is nixed.

2009 – In January, a salmonella outbreak caused by a dirty peanut butter processing plant in Georgia, leads to one of the largest recalls of products in the history of supermarkets. Hundreds of products are recalled after the unnecessary deaths of innocent peanut butter aficionados.

2009 – As the recession takes hold, many  turn to comfort foods. Although home cooked meals are generally healthier and cheaper than restaurant fare, McDonalds’s stock has never done better. Coupon usage increases for the first time since 1992.

Here’s a graph of McDonald’s (red)  vs. Whole Foods Market (blue) stock performance over the course of the decade. How’s your (nutrition) performance changed over the last 10 years?

Note #1 : Apologies for not mentioning any TV shows, of which surely some deserve mention, as we have not watched TV since the late 1990’s. Perhaps a fastidious reader would like to add these in the comments section.

Note #2:  many good ideas for this post appeared in Delish.

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photo credit: avlxyz

A venerable foodstuff that has been relegated to the checkout counter in gas stations and convenience stores, beef jerky actually has a proud heritage. Here are somethings you might want to know.

1. Jerky is a means to preserve meat without refrigeration.

2. Traditionally meat was dried and/or smoked and/or salted. Marinading is another technique used to add additional flavoring.

3. Although beef is the most common type of jerky, one can also find jerky from wild game such as venison, elk, caribou, and moose. Even kangaroo meat.

4. The origin of the word Jerky is from Native American “Charqui” which means “to burn meat”.

5. Jerky quality varies greatly and depends on the choice of meat, the preservatives, and the preservation technique.

6. There are many jerky-like products that consist of highly processed, chopped and formed meat, rather than traditional sliced, whole-muscle meat. Try to stay away from them.

7. A good jerky is very lean; fat usually causes spoilage. In cheap products with high fat and water content, many chemicals are added as preservatives to prevent spoilage.

8. Here’s the ingredient list of a leading brand of jerky (Jack’s Links)
Beef, Water, Sugar, Less than 2% Salt, Corn Syrup Solids, Dried Soy Sauce (Soybeans, Salt, Wheat), Hydrolyzed Corn and Soy Protein, Monosodium Glutamate, Maltodextrin, Flavorings, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite.
Unfortunately the consumer can’t tell what the beef quality is from the ingredient list. The package does state that it 97% fat free though.

9. Nutritionally, jerky is low in fat and high in protein. The major issue is the exorbitant amount of sodium. A 1 oz serving contains up to 15 grams of protein (25% of the daily value), but 600mg of sodium (25% of the daily maximum). The protein is nice to have, but as most Americans are getting enough protein in their diet, it’s the excess sodium that should be of concern.

10. Many jerky products are sold in 3 oz packages, so people who finish off an entire bag end up consuming 3 servings at once (usually gulping down a sugary soft drink to combat the major salt deposits from the jerky).

11. Beef Jerky is astronaut food! NASA has been providing Space shuttle crews this lightweight high protein treat since the mid nineties.

12. Many people are very passionate about Jerky. Here is one – with a blog dedicated to reviewing all jerky products out there.

13. A tragic explosion in a ConAgra manufacturing facility last month has created a shortage of the wildly popular Slim Jim brand jerky nationwide.

What to do at the supermarket:

Look for the higher quality brands made from low fat beef strips, not processed beef. Also, watch the sodium.

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Very healthy! Or at least that’s what new research, sponsored by ConAgra, has shown. Here’s the press release:

ConAgra Foods announced today new research that shows people who ate Healthy Choice(R) really did get healthier. Participants in the 24-week study, on average, lost 18 pounds – all as fat – trimmed their waistlines by about three inches, and lowered their cholesterol by 12 points. Leading cardiologist Dr. James Rippe, founder and director of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute, led the research team that conducted the study, which was presented during the 2009 Experimental Biology Conference April 18-22 in New Orleans, La.

get it all here…

Excuse us while we scratch our heads. How can The Rippe Institute conduct a truly objective study when it is being heftily paid by a company with a vested interest in a specific outcome?

Reading into the study, the people eating Helthy Choice got healthier because they were forced to excercise, eat only fruits, vegetables, lean meat and dairy, and whole grains. Oh, and one Healthy Choice meal once a day. How can the weight loss be attributed specifically to the frozen meal?

This press release is part of a huge rebranding of the Healthy Choice empire, including the introduction of new products, reformulation of some existing lines, and new packaging. ConAgra is estimated to be spending close to $100 million on this effort, including National TV Ads starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and web activities.

What you need to know:

While frozen dinners have made some headway over the past few years in terms of nutritional content, they still lag far behind home made food on several fronts:

1. high levels of salt – in the clip above, Julia Louis Dreyfus is stuffing herself silly with Sweet Asian Potstickers containing 600mg of sodium. That’s a quarter of the daily maximum value.

2. high levels of sugar – 19 grams or 4 teaspoonfuls. Hey, is this dessert?

3. too many ingredients* – here’s what’s inside the Sweet Asian Potstickers:

Vegetable Potstickers: (Filling [Cabbage, Vermicelli {Mung Bean, Water}, Baked Tofu (Tofu [Water, Whole Soybeans, Nigari], Tamari [Water, Soybeans, Salt, Alcohol, Wheat], Natural Flavors, Spices), Bulgur Wheat, Precooked Rice, Water Chestnuts, Green Beans, Onions, Carrots, Soy Sauce (Water, Wheat, Soybeans, Salt), Sesame Oil, Evaporated Cane Juice, Salt, Xanthan Gum, Spice], Wrapper [Wheat Flour, Water, Corn Starch, Soybean and/or Canola Oil]). Cooked Whole Grain Brown Rice, Water, Sugar, Carrots, Red Peppers, Sake, Rice Vinegar, Scallions, Corn Starch, Wheat, Soybeans, Spices, Sesame Oil, Garlic Puree, Salt, Locust Gum

To be fair, most of the list above is actually understandable, and there are no freaky additives or preservatives in this dish. So when the food scientists want to, they can dish out healthy fare…

* We could not find the ingredient information on the Healthy Choice website. The customer support group did reply promptly to our email, though.

What to do at the supermarket:

If you really really can’t prepare your own food, and must grab something from the Frozen Dinner Aisle, take a look at health brands such as Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine first. The brand does not automatically promise you’ll get a nutritious dish, but it improves the chances.

Proceed to check the ingredient list, scanning for unpronounceable chemicals, and then look at the sodium count. It should be in the neighborhood of  400-500mg or less. The sugar count should be lower than 12 grams. Usually the calorie count will be decent, because manufacturers know that’s the only number most people look at.

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