The NY Times recently reported about a new food labeling system “Smart Choices” that will help consumers figure out what foods are better choices in the supermarket. Froot Loops, a smart choice? This one really takes the cake!
The president of the Smart Choices board is Dr.Eileen Kennedy. She is the dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. She says the program’s criteria were based on government dietary guidelines and widely accepted nutritional standards. This industry-backed marketing ploy–puts a green check mark on products that are determined to be “smarter food and beverage choices.” But the choices selected are anything but healthy.
The good news is that grass roots food activists are all over this new example of hypocrisy. Change.org‘s Sustanable Food page has a nice email letter that you can send to Dr. Kennedy and the rest of the high mucky mucks who have endorsed this latest health hype. Click here to get involved.
My system for evaluating food has no giant corporate sponsors. It’s based on my years of education, my experience as an eater and a parent of 3. It has a healthy dose of common sense thrown in for good measure.
I rate foods on a continuum from “Beneficial” to “Useful” to “Useless” to “Hazardous.” Beneficial foods include any food that is unprocessed or “whole,” with most of their nutrients intact (e.g. whole oat groats or steel cut oats). Useful foods are a little processed, but in a way that does not excessively diminish their nutritional value (e.g. old fashioned rolled oats). Useless foods are too processed to be considered “health augmenting” but not dangerous enough to be considered hazardous (instant oatmeal with sugar). Hazardous foods, however, are heavily processed and artificial – often having a negative impact on one’s health (e.g. instant oatmeal with “dinosaur eggs” in it).
Hazardous ingredients are simple: Things like high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), artificial colors (food dyes), and partially hydrogenated oils are clearly hazardous to our health. High-fructose corn syrup can raise LDL (“bad” cholesterol) levels and damage children’s livers. Certain food dyes have been found to cause behavioral issues in children, such as hyperactivity and ADD. Partially hydrogenated oils, on the other hand, contain unhealthy trans fats that increase insulin problems and predispose children to lifetimes of diabetes and obesity.
Contact me for more information about my House of Health, it makes more sense that the silliness that the food industry is feeding us!
