Archive for category Nutrition and obesity

The European food industry spend €1-billion to avoid traffic labelling

Download the report hereThe anti-lobbyism organization Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)  just published a report documenting some of the methods CIAA and their members used to influence members of European Parliament leading up to the voting yesterday. CEO estimates that 1 billion euros was spend on lobbying for GDA. I can assure you that our stopGDA.eu campaign was much much cheaper ;-)

Enjoy reading the report. Their insights are amazing and spot on.

A red light for consumer information
The food industry’s €1-billion campaign to block health warnings on food

The 2010 US dietary guidelines tech report released

On June 15, 2010 the US Agriculture Secretary and Human Services Secretary announced that public comments are now being accepted on the 2010 Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Find the report here.

The actual 2010 Dietary Guidelines will be released at the end of 2010.

Upcomming nutrition discussions are likely to be centret around the following issues and new busswords:

Combining Nutrients, Consuming Foods
Translating and Integrating the Evidence
Energy Balance and Weight Management
Nutrient Adequacy
Fatty Acids and Cholesterol
Protein
Carbohydrates
Sodium, Potassium, and Water
Alcohol
Food Safety and Technology

Indfør et Reklamer–Ja tak skilt i stedet for Reklamer–Nej tak skiltet

Forbrugerombudsmanden er i gang med en evaluering af retningslinjerne for adresseløse forsendelser og modtager i den forbindelse kommentarer frem til 7. maj 2010. Jeg har derfor sendt nedenstående argumenter til Henrik Øe. Hvis du også har en holdning, så send dine kommentarer pr. mail til forbrugerombudsmanden@fs.dk. Du kan læse mere om ideen med et Ja-tak skilt på www.reklamer-jatak.dk og facebook

I denne opgang er der kun 2 som ønsker alle reklamer. Var det ikke mere rationelt med 2 Ja-tak mærker frem for 29 Nej tak-mærker?

 

Kære forbrugerombudsmand Henrik Øe, 

Jeg vil gerne opfordre dig til at vende ordningen med ’Reklamer Nej tak’-skilte om, så det forudsætter et aktivt tilvalg, hvis man ønsker at modtage reklameaviser. 

Med en ’Reklamer Ja tak’-ordning vil Danmark komme på den internationale dagsorden som et visionært land, der reelt gavner miljøet og hjælper detailhandlen ud af en skrue uden ende. 

Jeg har ved flere lejligheder hørt ledere fra detailhandlen sige, at de gerne var foruden tilbudsaviserne. Men som det ser ud nu, tør ingen kæde gå forrest af frygt for at tabe markedsandele. Måske er det bare noget de siger, selvom tilbudsaviserne er en god forretning for kæderne. Kæderne kræver nemlig betaling for eksponering i tilbudsaviserne fra fødevareproducenterne. Men hvorfor ikke tage kæderne på ordet? For hvem betaler i sidste ende? Det gør vi forbrugere. 

  • Jeg vil hellere have billigere varer end at modtage tilbudsaviser
  • Jeg vil gerne spare miljøet for enorme mængder papir og tryksværte.

Og hvorfor skal vi, der ikke ønsker tilbudsaviserne, have bøvlet med at bestille, hente og montere et klistermærke, når du blot ved at ændre ordningens standardindstilling kan gavne miljøet, sænke forbrugerpriserne og bidrage til en mindre ekstrem prisfokusering i Danmark? 

  • Jeg vil hellere have bedre varer end at modtage tilbudsaviser

I Danmark er prisfokuseringen på mad ekstremt stor sammenlignet med situationen i de fleste lande i fx Sydeuropa, hvor man bruger en meget større andel af lønnen på mad. Den særligt bastante danske tilbudsaviskultur bidrager i høj grad til at fastholde fokus på pris frem for kvalitet. 

Prisfokuseringen blokerer ifølge mange fødevareproducenter for kraftigere satsninger på udvikling og salg af mad af højere kvalitet, herunder også sundere mad og drikkevarer. Derfor har din revision af retningslinjerne for adresseløse forsendelser i realiteten også stor betydning for folkesundheden. 

Jeg håber derfor meget, at du vil sikre, at det fremover kun bliver lovligt at omdele reklamer hvis modtageren selv på forhånd har anmodet om det, præcis som det gælder for emails. En JA tak-ordning er baseret på forbrugernes frie valg, den hindrer ikke at forbrugere, som ønsker reklamer stadig kan få dem, den er nok mere spiselig for detailhandlen end fx afgifter eller andre begrænsninger, og ordning vil ikke øge udgifterne for staten. 

Med venlig hilsen 

Morten Strunge Meyer
mm@morten.me

Wholegrain and cabbage probably protect against colorectal cancer

A study by the Cancer Society show that women with high concentrations of enterolacton in their blood have about 40 percent lower risk of getting colon cancer.

Enterolacton is a plant estrogen, which is formed in the intestine. Oat, rye bread, cabbage, nuts, seeds (eg. Linseed), and leafy vegetables are good sources of enterolacton.

It seems that enterolacton have an effect on colon cancer. For each doubling of the concentration of enterolacton women decreased risk of getting colon cancer by 24 percent and by 42 percent if you have not taken antibiotics within the past year, says Nina Føns Johnsen, who is a researcher at the Cancer Society and has recently defended her phd-dissertation on enterolacton and bowel cancer.

PubMed
Newsstory on cancer.dk in Danish (English google translation)

Red and processed meats linked to prostate cancer

Men who eat a lot of red meat and processed meats may have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer than those who limit such foods, a large study of U.S. men suggests.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that among more than 175,000 men they followed for nine years, those who ate the most red and processed meats had heightened risks of developing any stage of prostate cancer, or advanced cancer in particular.

Read more.

Validity and reliability testing of questionnaire assessing consumers’ use, understanding and perception of food labels

A new questionnaire for assessing consumers’ use, understanding and perception of food labels is proposed in European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It clearly illustrates the complexity of food labelling.

Read more.

Badvertising

This blog post illustrates the challenges of having a Whole Grain labelling scheme without any rules as to how much sugar, salt and fat are added to the products.

Read more.

Most Food Ads on Nickelodeon Still for Junk Food

Nearly 80 percent of food ads on the popular children’s network Nickelodeon are for foods of poor nutritional quality, according to an analysis conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. That represents a modest and not quite statistically significant drop from 2005, when CSPI researchers found that about 90 percent of food ads on Nick were for junk food.

Self-Regulation is unable to protect children in the US.

Read more.

CO2 labelling on Danish bread

As the first food manufacturer in Denmark Lantmännen Unibake is about to disclose specific CO2 emissions for their products through labelling.

Google translation

Read more in Danish

New objective and scientific food nutrient profiling system proposed by US researchers

Adam Drewnowski, PhD, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington and collegues have proposed a new, positive and science-based approach to inform people about what to eat rather than what not to eat.

Outlined in this month’s issue of the Journal of Nutrition, the Nutrient-Rich Foods (NRF) Index proposes a new model for ranking foods based on their nutrient composition, which could be used to help consumers improve their diets.

Pubmed and Nutraingredients-usa.