Nutrition : GroceryGuide.com

New statistics show impact of economy on hunger

2008-11-18T17:10:17Z

Over 36 million Americans are forced to skip meals and survive without adequate nutrition. These numbers from a recently released USDA report do not adequately frame the situation for most of us. For those helping in thousands of food assistance centers across the USA it does not cover the growing numbers that are visiting their various agencies for food assistance.

While everyone has felt the impact of the current economic turmoil, this is the time of year when we take pause to appreciate what we do have. Please pause also to reflect on those whom really do need some assistance and donate to your local efforts through the in-store food drops or at a local food agency.

Find your local food agency at FeedingAmerica.org

Salmonella Saintpaul found in serrano peppers also

2008-07-31T20:30:36Z

Laboratory testing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that both a sample of serrano pepper and a sample of irrigation water collected by agency investigators on a farm in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico (business address is in Nuevo Leon, Mexico) contain Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint as the strain of bacteria that is causing the current outbreak in the United States.

As a result, until further notice, the FDA is advising consumers to avoid raw serrano peppers from Mexico, in addition to raw jalapeño peppers from Mexico, and any foods that contain them.

The test results announced today are part of the FDA's continuing intensive investigation into the outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul. The investigation has involved tracing back, through complex distribution channels, the origins of products associated with clusters of illness in the United States, as well as inspections and evaluation of farms and facilities in this country and in Mexico, and the collection and testing of environmental and product samples. One of these tracebacks led to a packing facility in Mexico, and to a particular farm, where the agency obtained the samples.

Previously, FDA inspectors collected a positive sample of jalapeño pepper from a produce-distribution center owned by Agricola Zaragosa in McAllen, Texas. The FDA continues to work on pinpointing where and how in the supply chain this first positive jalapeño pepper sample became contaminated. It originated from a different farm in Mexico than the positive samples of serrano pepper and irrigation water.

The FDA is still analyzing many of the samples taken at various farms in Mexico. If laboratory results warrant, the FDA will provide consumers with additional cautions or warnings necessary to protect their health.

On July 17, the FDA announced it had determined that fresh tomatoes now available in the domestic market are not associated with the current outbreak. As a result, the agency removed its June 7 warning against eating certain types of red raw tomatoes.

U.S. grown Jalapeño and Serrano peppers are not connected to Salmonella outbreak

2008-07-28T22:28:23Z

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising consumers that jalapeño and Serrano peppers grown in the United States are not connected with the current Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak.

However, the FDA continues to advise consumers to avoid raw jalapeño peppers and the food that contains them if they have been grown, harvested or packed in Mexico.

In addition to domestically grown raw jalapeño peppers, commercially canned, pickled and cooked jalapeño peppers from any and all geographic locations also are not connected with the current Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak.

The FDA is working with state regulatory agencies and food industry groups that represent restaurants, grocery stores and wholesalers to ensure everyone clearly understands this new, more narrow, advisory. The FDA will continue to refine its consumer guidance as the agency’s investigation continues.

The more narrow advisory the FDA is issuing today is based on evidence gathered during a multi-week, intensive investigation conducted in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health authorities in several U.S. states to find the source of the contamination that led to the outbreak. The collective review of the current traceback investigation and harvesting dates, matched with the dates that people became ill, have combined to indicate that the contaminated jalapeño pepper originated in Mexico.

Read more: U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Resveratrol - a sip from the fountain of youth?

2008-06-07T21:27:03Z

The answer to the so-called "French paradox" may be found in red wine. More specifically, it may reside in small doses of resveratrol, a natural constituent of grapes, pomegranates, red wine and other foods, according to a new study by an international team of researchers.

The researchers report that low doses of resveratrol in the diet of middle-aged mice has a widespread influence on the genetic levers of aging and may confer special protection on the heart. Specifically, the researchers found that low doses of resveratrol mimic the effects of what is known as caloric restriction - diets with 20-30 percent fewer calories than a typical diet - that in numerous studies has been shown to extend lifespan and blunt the effects of aging.

In short, a glass of wine or food or supplements that contain even small doses of resveratrol are likely to represent "a robust intervention in the retardation of cardiac aging," the authors note.

That finding may also explain the remarkable heart health of people who live in some regions of France where diets are soaked in saturated fats but the incidence of heart disease, a major cause of mortality in the United States, is low. In France, meals are traditionally complemented with a glass of red wine.

The new resveratrol study is also important because it suggests that caloric restriction, which has been widely studied in animals from spiders to humans, and resveratrol may govern the same master genetic pathways related to aging.

Read more:
Resveratrol - Science Daily - Wikipedia

Coffee may slash breast cancer risk

2008-04-29T15:32:46Z

Drinking at least two to three cups of coffee a day may reduce a woman's risk of developing breast cancer or delay the onset of cancer, depending on her genes, suggests a new study from Lund University and Malmo University in Sweden.

Read more:
Beverage Daily

Do you have problems digesting dairy products?

2008-04-28T16:43:20Z

Does your stomach churn after you drink milk? Do you have diarrhea soon afterward? If so, you may be lactose intolerant.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 30 to 50 million Americans are lactose intolerant.

Being lactose intolerant means you can't digest lactose the natural sugar found in milk and other dairy products. People who cannot digest lactose have a shortage, or deficiency, of an enzyme called lactase, which is produced in the small intestine. Lactase breaks down milk sugar into two simpler forms of sugar, which are then absorbed into the bloodstream.

Intolerance is Not Allergy

Lactose intolerance is not the same as a milk allergy, says Kavita Dada, Pharm.D., a senior health promotion officer in the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Division of Drug Information. "For most people with lactase deficiency, it's a discomfort."

But a food allergy is an abnormal response to a food triggered by the immune system and can be life threatening. People with food allergies must avoid certain foods altogether. People with food intolerances can often eat small amounts of the offending foods without having symptoms.

Symptoms:

When there is not enough lactase to digest the lactose in the foods a person eats or drinks, the person may have

gas
stomach cramps
bloating
nausea
diarrhea

These symptoms occur within 30 minutes to two hours after consuming food containing lactose. Some illnesses can cause these same problems, but a health care professional can do tests to see if the problems are caused by lactose intolerance or by another condition.

Who Becomes Lactose Intolerant?

Lactose intolerance is more common in some ethnic groups than others. NIDDK estimates that up to 75% of all adult African Americans and Native Americans and 90% of Asian Americans are lactose intolerant.

As people age, their bodies produce fewer lactase enzymes, so most people don't have symptoms until they are adults.

Most people inherit the condition from their parents. Lactose intolerance is not very common in children under two years of age, unless the child has a lactase deficiency because of an injury to the small intestine. If you think your infant or child may be lactose intolerant, talk to your child's pediatrician.

Managing Lactose Intolerance

There is no treatment to make the body produce more lactase enzyme, but the symptoms of lactose intolerance can be controlled through diet.

Most older children and adults do not have to avoid lactose completely. People have different levels of tolerance to lactose. Some people might be able to have a tablespoon of milk in a cup of coffee with little or no discomfort. Others have reactions that are so bad they stop drinking milk entirely. Some people who cannot drink milk may be able to eat ice cream and yogurt both which have less lactose than milk without symptoms. They may also be able to consume a lactose-containing product in smaller amounts at any one time.

Common foods with lactose are:

milks, including evaporated and condensed
creams, including light, whipping, and sour
ice creams
sherbets
yogurts
some cheeses (including cottage cheese)
butters

Lactose may also be added to some canned, frozen, boxed, and other prepared foods such as

breads and other baked goods
cereals
mixes for cakes, cookies, pancakes, and biscuits
instant potatoes, soups, and breakfast drinks
lunch meats (other than Kosher)
frozen dinners
salad dressings
margarines
candies and other snacks

Dietary supplements with lactase enzyme are available to help people digest foods that contain lactose. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not formally evaluated the effectiveness of these products, and you may want to ask your doctor if these supplements are right for you.

Look at Labels

"Lactose-free" or "lactose-reduced" milk and other products are widely available in grocery stores. These products may be fortified to provide the same nutrients as their lactose-containing counterparts.

There is no FDA definition for the terms "lactose free" or "lactose-reduced," but manufacturers must provide on their food labels information that is truthful and not misleading. This means a lactose-free product should not contain any lactose, and a lactose-reduced product should be one with a meaningful reduction. Therefore, the terms lactose-free and lactose-reduced have different meanings, and a lactose-reduced product may still contain lactose that could cause symptoms.

Lactose-free or lactose-reduced products do not protect a person who is allergic to dairy products from experiencing an allergic reaction. People with milk allergies are allergic to the milk protein, which remains when the lactose is removed.

Look at the ingredient label. If any of these words are listed, the product probably contains lactose:

milk
cream
butter
evaporated milk
condensed milk
dried milk
powdered milk
milk solids
margarine
cheese
whey
curds

Beware of foods labeled "non-dairy," such as powdered coffee creamers and whipped toppings. Some of these foods may contain an ingredient called caseinate, which comes from milk and contains lactose. Look for "caseinate" or "milk derivative" on the label if you are trying to avoid milk products.

Testing for Lactose Intolerance

A doctor can usually determine if you are lactose intolerant by taking a medical history. In some cases, the doctor may perform tests to help confirm the diagnosis. A simple way to test at home is to exclude all lactose-containing products from your diet for two weeks to see if the symptoms go away, and then reintroduce them slowly. If the symptoms return, then you most likely are lactose intolerant. But you may still want to see your doctor to make sure that you are lactose intolerant and do not have a milk allergy or another digestive problem.

Tips for Consumers

If you are lactose intolerant, try lactose-free milk or dairy products lower in lactose, such as yogurt and cheese. You may be able to consume dairy products in small amounts without symptoms.

Consume milk or other dairy products with other foods. This helps slow down digestion, making it easier for your body to absorb lactose.

If you're eating few or no dairy products, ask your doctor or dietitian if you are getting enough calcium in your diet. You may need to take dietary supplements with calcium to keep your bones healthy.

Raw Milk and Lactose Intolerance

FDA warns consumers not to drink raw, or unpasteurized, milk. "Raw milk advocates claim that pasteurized milk causes lactose intolerance," says John Sheehan, Director of FDA's Division of Plant and Dairy Food Safety. "This is simply not true. All milk, whether raw or pasteurized, contains lactose, and pasteurization does not change the concentration of lactose nor does it convert lactose from one form into another."

Raw milk advocates also claim that raw milk prevents or cures the symptoms of lactose intolerance. Arguing that raw milk contains Bifidobacteria, they claim these microorganisms are beneficial (probiotic) and create their own lactase, which helps people digest the milk.

"This is not true, either," says Sheehan. "Raw milk can contain Bifidobacteria, but when it does, the bacteria come from fecal matter (animal manure) and are not considered probiotic, but instead are regarded as contaminants."

Drinking raw milk will still cause uncomfortable symptoms in people who are correctly diagnosed as being lactose intolerant. But worse than this discomfort are the dangers of raw milk, which can harbor a host of disease-causing germs, says Sheehan. "These microorganisms can cause very serious, and sometimes even fatal, disease conditions in humans."

Source: FDA/Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition

Read more: National Institutes of Health (NIH) - Lactose Intolerance

Dinner with the family can make a big difference

2008-02-07T23:02:35Z

I have read several reports over the last couple of years regarding research on family interaction during meals. Basically the findings are very similar, families that spend time together around the dinner table enjoy several benefits.

Children who ate with their families were less likely to do drugs, smoke, have eating disorders or become depressed. They were better at reading, less likely to end up in the hospital for asthma and had better grades.

A recent story on National Public Radio (NPR) caught my attention again on this subject. I felt that it was something that should be shared with everyone here at GroceryGuide.com.

You can either read the transcript of the program or listen online here; The Family Dinner Deconstructed.Sometimes in our busy lives we forget about the basics in life.

Well there go the lunch plans! High mercury found in sushi

2008-01-23T15:13:34Z

While it should come as no surprise to anyone, it still is upsetting to read articles such as this one in the New York Times regarding one of my favorite treats. Consumers need to read the EPA's fish consumption advisories when making food choices for their families.

Recent laboratory tests found so much mercury in tuna sushi from 20 Manhattan stores and restaurants that at most of them, a regular diet of six pieces a week would exceed the levels considered acceptable by the Environmental Protection Agency.

"No one should eat a meal of tuna with mercury levels like those found in the restaurant samples more than about once every three weeks," said Dr. Michael Gochfeld, professor of environmental and occupational medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, N.J.

Often the limited information available at point of purchase or consumption makes it difficult to make informed choices regarding fish and seafood products.

The New York Times

Environmental Protection Agency - Fish Consumption Advisories

U.S. Food and Drug Administration - Seafood Information and Resources

Well there go the lunch plans! High mercury found in Tuna Sushi

2008-01-23T15:13:34Z

Another reason to eat those vegetables!

2008-01-16T20:14:49Z

Women who have higher dietary intake of lutein and zeaxanthin, compounds that are found in yellow or dark, leafy vegetables appear to have a lower risk for developing cataracts according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

"The oxidative hypothesis of cataract formation posits that reactive oxygen species can damage lens proteins and fiber cell membranes and that nutrients with antioxidant capabilities can protect against these changes," the authors write as background information in the article. Vitamin E, vitamin C, beta carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin are all believed to have antioxidant properties. Lutein and zeaxanthin are the only carotenoids - yellow plant pigments - present in the lens of the human eye and may also protect against cataracts by filtering harmful blue light.

William G. Christen, Sc.D., of Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues analyzed dietary information from 35,551 female health professionals who enrolled in the Women's Health Study in 1993. The women were then followed for an average of 10 years, and the diets of those who developed cataracts were compared with the diets of those who did not.

A total of 2,031 women developed cataracts during the study. When the participants were split into five groups based on the amount of lutein and zeaxanthin they consumed, those in the group who consumed the most (about 6,716 micrograms per day) had an 18 percent lower chance of developing cataracts than those who consumed the least (1,177 micrograms per day). The one-fifth who consumed the most vitamin E from food and supplements - about 262.4 milligrams per day - were 14 percent less likely than the one-fifth who got the least (4.4 milligrams per day).

"In conclusion, these prospective data from a large cohort of female health professionals indicate that higher intakes of lutein/zeaxanthin and vitamin E are associated with decreased risk of cataract," the authors write. "Although reliable data from randomized trials are accumulating for vitamin E and other antioxidant vitamins, randomized trial data for lutein/zeaxanthin are lacking. Such information will help to clarify the benefits of supplemental use of lutein/zeaxanthin and provide the most reliable evidence on which to base public health recommendations for cataract prevention by vitamin supplementation."

Science Daily