Personal responsibility doesn't relieve companies from doing the RightThing

New York City's Board of Health tries to keep the rats out of restaurants in several different ways.

On Tuesday the board voted to require any chain that operates 15 outlets or more, nationwide, would have to display calorie on their menus. It is very similar to the rules that a federal judge struck down back in the fall of 2007.

Many people believe these issues of obesity and how much you eat, are matters of personal responsibility. No one forces you to eat a Burger King double Whopper with cheese (990 calories). No one forces you to drink a grande-size white hot chocolate at Starbucks (490).

But you have to wonder about an entire industry which revolts against providing some basic information to the consumer. What are they trying to hide?

When you hear someone invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to give out information, isn't your first inclination to wonder, what do they have to hide? Not, that it's a personal freedom and you should invoke it whether you have nothing or something to hide. No, when large corporations want to do something dirty or something that would be perceived as dirty, then they hide the information.

All that the Board of Health asked the fast food restaurants to do was make the information more accessible at the point of sale. The restaurants have said it's too costly, too complex, too confusing. And they hid behind a posse of lawyers to get the rules overturned.


The New York Times reports: City Tries Again to Require Restaurants to Post Calories:

"New Yorkers “Most people underestimate calorie content by a lot,” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the city’s health commissioner, adding that he considered the rules a potent weapon in the crusade against rising obesity rates. “Even dietitians get a lot of it wrong.”

Dr. Frieden said his department’s research showed that consumers often make faulty assumptions about the calorie counts of items on a menu. But when they have the information, he said, they tend to choose food with fewer calories.

As a result of the regulations, set to go into effect on March 31, Dr. Frieden predicted that some restaurants will eliminate some of their offerings, like appetizers that top 2,000 calories.

“The real question for us is, is the industry going to become part of the solution or are they going to keep going to court to hide from the customers what they’re serving them?” Dr. Frieden said. “If your business model depends on keeping information from your consumers, that’s a problem.”

I ask you: should restaurants keep the information away from you? Or is it your responsibility to remember that a McDonald's cheeseburger has less calories that a chicken sandwich?

Best book (if you are going to eat fast food)

USAToday.com reports:

Many diners face a mystery of sorts at restaurants: They don't know how many calories are in the dishes they're eating. And when they guess, they greatly underestimate the numbers.

So says David Zinczenko, author of the new book Eat This, Not That! written with Matt Goulding (Rodale, $19.95). It was No. 19 on the USA TODAY Best-Selling Books list last week.

But if consumers arm themselves with nutrition knowledge when eating out, they can figure out "a ton of ways to lose a ton of weight," says Zinczenko, who is editor in chief of Men's Health magazine and also wrote The Abs Diet and The Abs Diet for Women.

Some examples:

•Burger King's Whopper Jr. without mayonnaise and garden salad with fat-free ranch dressing has 365 calories and 12 fat grams, compared with a BK Big Fish Sandwich with tartar sauce and medium fries with 1,000 calories and 52 fat grams.

•A ham, egg and cheese English muffin sandwich from Dunkin' Donuts has 310 calories and 10 fat grams vs. a multigrain bagel with light cream cheese, 500 calories and 15 fat grams.

•Popeyes' spicy chicken breast, thigh, leg and wing without the skin and breading has 280 calories, 8.5 fat grams vs. a spicy chicken breast with the breading and skin, 360 calories, 22 fat grams.

Give McDonald's a "F"; Parents get an "A"

If you get all A's and B's on your report card, then McDonald's wants you to get high marks on your BMI as well.

In Florida McDonald's restaurants were giving away free Happy Meals with good grades. (Now there's a misnomer...are you much happier being fat than fit?)

Is anyone thinking at McDonald's, or just watching their waists and wallets expand? And what about the Florida school officials? Maybe they should give away a pack of cigarettes to the honor students. These people are teaching our children?? (Luckily, they're not my children.)

[How fat is Florida's youth? Well, in the last survey they were 21st in the nation. Only 20 more states to pass to be the fattest.]

Finally, some enlightened parents blew the whistle on this atrocious advertisement.


AdAge.com reports:

McDonald's Corp. has voluntarily pulled its sponsorship from report-card covers in Seminole County, Fla., public schools after parental complaints. The fast-food giant had agreed to sponsor the report-card jackets for the county's elementary schools to cover a printing fee of $1,600. On the jackets, McDonald's offered a free happy meal to any student with all A's and B's, two or fewer absences, or good behavior in a given academic quarter.

"In the absence of needed government regulation to protect schoolchildren from predatory companies like McDonald's, the burden is on parents to be vigilant about exploitative marketing aimed at children," said Dr. Susan Linn, director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. "One parent can make a difference. There is no doubt that the Seminole County ads would have continued -- and violated McDonald's pledge to stop advertising in elementary schools -- had one parent not called attention to the problem."

Bigger Loser's Biggest Tips

Lots of people ask me everyday, how did you lose 100 pounds?

Today at work, a friend said he and his wife were trying Nutrisystem. Their resolution is to lose weight this year. But every year he says he goes down 25 pounds and then up 25 pounds. A diet not going to work, they need a strategy.

And when I got home, my son emailed me to tell me he has decided to stage a local The Biggest Loser contest with 27 of his friends, acquaintances, and their significant others to put some peer pressure behind their collective New Year’s resolution of losing weight and living a healthier life. So every Tuesday they will be weighing in. To have a healthy life, they all need a strategy.

So to help all of you out there looking to lose 10 pounds...or 100 pounds, here are the most significant top 10 strategies I used to change my life:

1. The most important tip is: portion control. If you want to be smaller, then make everything in your life smaller. I changed to a smaller plate. No more trashcan lids masquerading as dinner plates. I use only the salad fork, not the dinner fork. I take one helping of food. I measured out 1/2 cups of tuna, rices, and pasta for the first time in my life. I switched to 100-calorie portions of cookies and popcorn. Everything is smaller...including my belt.
   
2. It's not a diet. It's a lifestyle change. So everything you change should carry over for life. However, that said, there are some no-nos that worked like a charm for me to get to a better weight. No wine. No beer. (OK, one beer anytime the Patriots win.) No cheese. No bread. Absolutely, no pop (as they say in the Midwest). And for me, no red meat. I do have pasta, potatoes, and diet pop.
   
3. Absolutely, no fast-food restaurants. (The rest of your life.) There's nothing in there that's good for you. And if you have the willpower to eat a healthy salad while everyone around you is eating Whoppers and french fries...well, then you should be teaching gurus how to walk across hot coals in bare feet.
4. Get a food routine for the morning and afternoon. Men's Health magazine this month gives out this tip as well. Don't give yourself any choices for breakfast or lunch. Dr. Wansink's experiments have shown that with more choices comes overeating. Everyday I have egg whites and mushrooms cooked in an omelet with a little salsa for breakfast. Everyday for lunch I have a large spinach salad with lots of spinach, raw mushrooms and some cold turkey or chicken breast. I use Walden's Farms no-calorie Caesar dressing...everyday. For morning snack, it's a banana, and for afternoon snack, it's a 100-calorie pack of cookies or almonds.
5. Mix it up at dinner time. Now that you don't have to think for breakfast or lunch, and you know exactly how many calories you are eating, then go wild for dinner. Use lots of spices. Use lots of vegetables. Use a little olive oil. Have chicken, turkey (without the skin of course), fish, soy, or vegetable entrees. Every Friday I cook fresh shrimp cocktail (with just lemon, no sugar-laden ketchup based cocktail sauce). Every Saturday it's fresh steelhead trout. On Monday it's chicken, on Tuesday, it's chicken, on Wednesday it's chicken thighs, on Thursday it's chicken, well, you get the idea.
6. Go to bed hungry. I like to have a 100-calorie bag of popcorn with a big glass of flavored club soda for a night time snack. It's not ice cream, but it tastes better good after all that chicken. And go to bed a little early. If you stay up, you are going to just get hungrier.
7. Eat fiber, or drink fiber. Every morning -- the very first thing, since I'm a little hungry -- I have a large glass of orange-flavored Metamucil. It's not what you think. It's a natural fiber that taste like Tang. And every doctor in the world says eat fiber. If you prefer, eat an apple. But for me, one glass fills my belly and I know it's making me healthy. Next, take your vitamins. Your body will crave something if it's missing vitamins and minerals.
8. Don't beat yourself up if you cheat. I had a pizza last Saturday (veggie of course) but it still busted my 2,000 calories-a-day routine. Next day it was back to egg whites, spinach salad and grilled chicken.
9. Tell everybody about your success. I used this blog to education myself and now hopefully educating others. Find your passion. Take photos that tell the obesity story in America. Help one inner city kid kick the fast food habit. Ask your mom and dad to lose a few pounds so they live to see the grandchildren.
10. This is the hardest thing you'll ever do. Losing weight is a $35 billion industry. Getting a Ph.D. is easier. Going to the moon didn't cost $35 billion. But every year Americans spend $35 billion trying to lose more than one billion pounds. Give yourself a hand: you have taken the first step for yourself, one giant leap for healthy mankind.
11. One last tip. Once you have obtained your ideal weight, go back to tip #1. Eat the right portion, and you can enjoy all the foods you love. I just got back from Italy after having a little pasta, a little wine, a little cheese, a little red meat, a little....you get the idea. Eating the right size will make you the right size and we'll all be RightSizingAmerica.
    

Please comment so others can share in your success!

Worst story of the year

In a nation where obesity kills more people than cancer, this story should be nominated for worst of the year. What's next? Best place to watch a dogfight?

abc7.com:

By Jane Monreal

Finding a restaurant the serves great food and plenty of it isn't so easy. But some local hot spots are serving up more bite for your buck.

C & O Cucina in Marina Del Rey has it all, including big portions of pasta.

'Some restaurants have low prices. Some restaurants have good food. Some restaurants have big portions,' says C & O Cucina's Robert Singer. 'I think we have it all, and then we mix it up with lots of fun with our honor wine bars, where you can actually help yourself to the wine and at the end of your meal, you tell your server how much you took, it's all on the honor system.'

'It is on the menu as literally, 'gargantuan,'' says Citysearch Editor Tara de Lis. 'The prices are very reasonable. There's no pasta above $20, and that includes the gargantuan portion size.

Robin's Wood Fire BBQ & Grill in Pasadena offers a big meal for a small price.

"Let me tell you, the best value for the money is the garbage can combo platter," says de Lis. "29.95 easily feeds a family of four. You get beef ribs, pork ribs, tri-tip, sausage, chicken, the works."

Regulars go to Asahi Ramen for big servings of chosu ramen, yakisoba, and tanmen.

"It's stir-fried vegetables, and then we cook it with the broth," says Asahi Ramen's James Song. "It's a lot of vegetables, a lot of chicken and a lot of soup. It tastes really good."

"The best thing is they're big enough to share," says Tara de Lis. "This place is really popular with college students, but let me tell you this is not the ramen of your dorm years. This is the real deal. And the beauty of the place is that there's nothing on the menu over $10."

For big portions of meat in Burbank, go no farther than Picanha Churrascaria.

"It is an endless parade of meat brought out to your table on skewers, sliced on sight until you take the little cube in front of you and turn it over to red, and that tells them to stop," says de Lis. "One Citysearch user said it made him feel like a king eating there."

Everyone in America turn that little cube over to red and tell them to stop!

Watch for these food trends in 2008

What trends do you see in 2008 and 2009?

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution sees these 10 food ideas gaining traction in 2008. Most will be welcomed, but hopefully, like New Year resolutions, not forgotten by February.

Watch for these food trends

Local and sustainable.
Celebrity chefs
Food safety
Restaurant grades
Faster food
Probiotics
Small plates
More nutritious food
Water guilt


Read more...

Secrets the Restaurant Industry Doesn't Want You to Know

Men's Health -- a terrific magazine I subscribe to -- has a great article in January's issue.

It's something I have been telling you for a while, that fast food restaurants don't want you to know how many calories or how much fat are in its food. Why? Because you wouldn't eat it!

In the magazine's article, 16 Secrets the Restaurant Industry Doesn't Want You to Know, the authors, David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding asked a variety of restaurants to explain the large, fatty portions they were serving. Confronted by a magazine called Men's Health, the restaurants refused to divulge any information. The authors took the next logical step to accuse the fast food industry.

One of the true issues behind obesity is the fact that many chains —which provide one-third of all restaurant meals, according to the New York Department of Health —obfuscate the fat and calorie counts of their menu items, and fight any attempt to shed light on what, exactly, is going on between their buns and inside their taco shells.

You can read the full article on menshealth.com, but below is one of the most surprising secrets. But you are not surprise, are you?

What Maggiano's Little Italy doesn't want you to know: In Italy, a standard pasta serving means 4 ounces of noodles with a few tablespoons of sauce. At Maggiano's, a large order of pasta translates into 2 pounds of noodles piled high on a hubcap-size dinner plate (15 1/2 inches in diameter). A Maggiano's PR rep responded to our request for nutritional information a week later: "Sorry for the delay. I had to wait for corporate's approval. Unfortunately, they have declined to participate."

Unfortunately... for anyone wanting to eat healthy.

Obesity begins with your thumbs

Fast food restaurants have maintained that it would be cost prohibitive to put calorie information on the menus, yet they are spending millions of dollars on technology to allow you to text your order to them. (Fast food is not fast enough it appears.)

It can't be too much money to text us back with the calorie information, and allow us to change or even cancel that fatty order.

In the future, the only parts of your body getting exercise when you eat at a fast food restaurant is your mouth and your thumbs!

From USATODAY.com:

Big restaurant chains are rushing into what could be the future of takeout and delivery food: text ordering.

Leading the way are the pizza giants. Papa John's is airing national TV spots to promote the text ordering that it launched in November. Domino's has offered mobile ordering — which requires cellphone Web access — since July. Pizza Hut is about to start promoting both text and mobile ordering.

Quiznos, Dunkin' Donuts and Subway have looked into text ordering. McDonald's is testing it in Seoul. Starbucks tested it in London and at one U.S. store.

Papa John's CEO Nigel Travis compares the potential to online ordering, which accounts for 20% of Papa John's sales. "Text is the way forward," he says. He predicts it will account for 3% of sales within two years.

The Zen of Obesity

It's never been this blog's intent to paint all restaurants with the same broad brush of health malfeasance.

Contrary: I want restaurants to change, like I want Americans to change. I want restaurants to evolve from purveyors of bad food to providers of good healthy food.

As I find restaurants doing the "right" thing, I'll point it out to my readers. Unfortunately, 95 percent of my blog entries will be on restaurants doing the "wrong" thing.

Today, I read in Austin360.com about one restaurant trying to "RightSize" America.

Zen Japanese Fast Food Restaurants in Austin, Texas are doing the "right" thing. (Figures that a restaurant called Zen would be about balance in your life.)

This restaurant has a fitness team which helps customers eat right and exercise. The owner of Zen Japanese Food Fast restaurants. Adam Weisberg says, "Ever since I opened this restaurant, I wanted to be health-oriented."

How did he do it? He hired a nutritionist, who developed 21-day meal plans for people on 1,300-calorie, 1,800-calorie or 2,500-calorie a day diets. He then posted the menus online and at his four Zen restaurants.

Then he took the next logical step for someone who wants to be healthy, but not the logical step for an owner of a restaurant.

Every Saturday morning he sponsors morning exercise sessions. Weisberg says he loses money on the program but doesn't mind. He is committed to helping people live healthier lives and most of all wants to help beginning exercisers and walkers.

This program like the Zen philosophy is about discovering for yourself good food and good exercise.

Hopefully today's blog/meditation will lead you to a new perspectives on your existence, which would ultimately lead to enlightenment.

Peace, grasshopper.

Just got back from Italy

I just got back from 10 days in Italy, and for the first time I ate in the homes of Italians...real Italians. And, of course, we ate in many great Italian restaurants.

I'll spend some time later telling you about all the meals and my observations, but the first thing I must mention is AutoGrill.

It's fast and it's food on the highway. But it's nothing like American fast food.

Imagine going into a great gourmet Italian sausage and cheese shoppe. And there you also find wine, bread, salads and soups, steaming hot foods and of course, fresh pasta. Sandwiches and espresso. Lots of espresso. But it's not on Fifth Avenue, or even Arthur Avenue. It's not on Rodeo Drive or on the Miracle Mile. It's on the truck-laden freeway (or autostrata, in Italian).

Since we drove nearly 1,000 miles, we had a lot of opportunities to gas up and eat up at AutoGrills, the truck and car stop along Italy's main highways. AutoGrill -- the world's biggest provider of food and beverages for travellers in the world -- is celebrating 30 years of great fast food.

Their business model proves you can have fresh pasta, paninis, grilled vegetables, antipasto and specialty foods, cheese, meats, beer and wine all in a fast food restaurant/shop. It's good and it's fresh and it's healthy.

Frank Bruni a year ago expressed my sentiments so well about the Autogrill:

It’s one of the many questions that keep flitting through my mind as I flit through Italy, eating and then eating some more.

Here are others: why do my American friends and I love the Autogrill so much? Why am I bummed when I’m on an Italian highway that isn’t a veritable autostrada and doesn’t have an official Autogrill, and why do I find myself stopping at the Autogrill more often than I need to stop for food and fuel?

The Autogrill is what Italy has in place of the oddball combination of fast food restaurants under one roof that we have at Jersey Turnpike rest stops. In that way the Autogrill isn’t a bad metaphor for differences between the Italian approach to food and the American approach. The Autogrill doesn’t throw a cacophony of options at you. It sticks with the tried and true: usually a bit of pizza and a bunch of panini, or sandwiches, that tend to showcase a few familiar and high-quality ingredients: prosciutto crudo, arugula, mozzarella, etc.

There's nothing like Autogrill pizza on the autostrada driving at 140 down to relatives in Basilicata. A little crisp dough. A touch of sun-kissed tomatoes. And a sliver of melted milky-white mozzarella. A bit of heaven in the cool dry mountains of the Potenza province.

Read what others have to say about the Autogrill.

I was a vegetarian when I was in Italy, and became completely obsessed with the Autogrill’s spinach pesto sandwiches. I still think about them. Unbelievably delicious.

• — Posted by Kate

Related to the Italian approach to fast food, my wife and I had pizza and a simple salad at the Venice Airport food counter that in quality and freshness surpasses 90% of similar fare in so-called “real” restaurants here in the U.S.

— Posted by Fred

Autogrills rock!!!! I was in shock the first time I walked, bleary-eyed from the NY/Rome flight, into an Autogrill. And now I wish I could go to one right now!!!!

— Posted by Freddi

more...

Ten Reasons to Buy Local Food

In the spirit of the New Year and those ubiquitous top ten lists, here's Pinch My Salt blogger, Nicole, Top Ten Reasons to Buy Local Food:

1. Local food tastes better — Food imported from far away is older, has traveled on trucks or planes, and sat in warehouses before it finally gets to you."

more...

Congress tells the Bush administration to stop the false food claims

It's bad enough that this Bush administration is fighting every step of the way putting calorie information on menus. But it's reprehensible that three years ago it quietly allowed unscientific health claims on food products.

Congress finally has put a stop to this.

From CSPI:

WASHINGTON—The just-passed omnibus spending bill urges the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) not to permit so-called “qualified health claims” for foods until a Government Accountability Office report on the controversial program is completed. The step, first approved by the House of Representatives last August, has prompted the FDA to announce today that it is commencing a scientific review of several health claims previously permitted by the agency. The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest welcomed the move.

Qualified health claims are often based on tenuous scientific evidence and are informally reviewed, but not officially approved by the FDA. They have triggered numerous misleading labels and advertisements ranging from claims about green tea and cancer to statements that adding almonds to desserts can reduce the risk of heart disease.

The FDA, since 1993, mandated that health claims be based on “significant scientific agreement” and required companies to obtain formal approval. However, under pressure from the Bush Administration and the food industry, the FDA reversed course in 2003 and began allowing food companies to make claims based on much weaker evidence.

A coalition of medical, health, and consumer groups including the American, Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, AARP, the American Dietetic Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Public Health Association, the Society for Nutrition Education, the American College of Preventive Medicine, Consumers Union, and the Alliance for Retired Americans urged Congress to take action.

Americans want smaller portions for the New Year

Every year Americans make New Year resolutions, especially about food, and eating less of it.

T.G.I. Friday's survey of food-related resolutions shows Americans want more vegetables, more fruits and less food on their plates.

How do we make it the norm, then, for restaurants to serve appropriate portions for appropriate prices (AP4AP!)?

One way is to skip national fast food chains and visit your local town's restaurant. Then tell them you want a smaller portions at the appetizer price, and keep visiting those restaurants as long as they listen.

We are going to change America, one meal at a time.

T.G.I. Friday's Restaurants Releases 2008 'Food-Related Resolutions' Survey Results: "CARROLLTON, Texas, Dec. 19 -- According to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of T.G.I. Friday's restaurants, fifty-six percent of U.S. adults plan to make food-related New Year's resolutions for 2008 and seventy-one percent feel having a variety of smaller portion entrees when dining out would make it easier to keep those resolutions.

The top three food-related 2008 New Year's resolutions among those who plan to make them are eat more vegetables (51%), eat more fruits (49%) and eat smaller portions (47%).

'The survey results make it clear smaller portions can help Americans keep their resolutions,' said Mike Archer, president and chief operating officer of T.G.I. Friday's 'T.G.I. Friday's Right Portion, Right Price menu addresses this holistically and provides big, bold flavors in a variety of portion sizes all day, every day.'

In a separate survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of T.G.I. Friday's, eighty-two percent of U.S. adults find it challenging to watch how much they eat when dining out. In addition, eighty-two percent would prefer to dine at a restaurant that offered entrees in various portion sizes."

Beef is not cool

The Cattle Network - Connecting The Beef Industry Worldwide reports that American restaurant chefs are moving away from fat-laden beef. More than 2/3 of all chefs surveyed said beef is not a "hot" food.

Small portions, however, are hot. And that's good news for American waistlines. Alternatives fatty foods are also hot.

Let's hope the trend continues.

The hottest trends on restaurant menus include small plate entrees, grass-fed and free-range items and alternative red meats and game, according to a survey of more than 1,000 professional chefs. The National Restaurant Association's 'What's Hot What's Not' survey, conducted in October, asked 1,282 chefs to rate 194 foods, beverages, cuisines and preparation methods as 'hot,' 'cool/passé' or 'perennial favorites.' Topping the list for entrees and main dishes were small plate/tapas/mezze style servings, which 73 percent of participants rated as 'hot'.

Over half the chefs polled also put grass-fed items, free-range items and alternative red meats and game animals such as buffalo, ostrich, venison and emu on the hot list. The chefs also gave the nod to preparations that incorporate ethnic cuisines, flavors and ingredients.

Only 33 percent of chefs surveyed rated beef as hot, but 55 percent rated it as a perennial favorite. Similarly, 30 percent rated pork as hot, with 46 percent calling it a perennial favorite. "

Obesity is just a liberal media myth

Sometimes I wish political conservatives got their wishes, and we all could go back to bowing to the King of England, sipping tea and sending our tax pounds back to London.

I didn't think it took a rocket scientist to know that obesity is increasing in America.

But NewsBusters.org, the conservative do-nothings, say "whoa, it's a liberal media myth. Fast foods shouldn't be regulated. We don't need 'obese' government."

On Sunday’s CBS '60 Minutes,' anchor Lesley Stahl began a segment on calorie labeling for fast food by making this alarmist proclamation: 'Obesity rates continue to spiral out of control in this country and nutritionists say one main reason is how dependent we've become on eating out.' Enter the big government hero: Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden is in charge of regulating New York City's $11 billion restaurant market...the chains are up against a formidable foe, because Frieden has a record of making big industry bend to his will. He's the one who forced smoking out of city bars and artery-clogging trans fats out of city restaurants. Both those bans spread nationwide, which is also happening with his new crusade. Frieden’s latest 'crusade' is to force big fast food chains nationwide to label the calories of all of their products, which were exempt from doing so. As Stahl explained, 'Now, one of the most powerful health officials in the country wants to change that by forcing chain restaurants like McDonald's and Wendy's to spell out exactly how fattening their food is right"

In addition to Stahl's depiction of obesity as being "out of control," both her and Frieden depicted the average consumers as morons.

Frieden condescendingly remarked that, "You might think that tuna salad, because it says it's salad, is healthier." Stahl later introduced Cornell Professor Brian Wansink, a marketing and nutritional expert, who studied mall food courts to monitor people’s calorie consumption from fast food. Stahl summed it up in this way: "He uses the mall as a laboratory, observing the food-court crowd like other scientists study rare tribes." She followed by mentioning that Wansink was also the author of "Mindless Eating."

If people really are this dumb, it would make sense to have the government take control.

Apparently, conservatives are extremely dumb. Most people -- conservatives and liberals -- cannot figure out how many calories are in the meal. Frieden just wants restaurants to post those figures on the menu.

But conservatives don't want you to know the truth. Conservatives never expose safety issues. Conservatives never bring to light financial irregularities. Conservatives never proactively protect our children.

Let me ask you: who would you trust with your food, water and medicine? An industrial conservative insider, or a big-spend government liberal.

To save our children, I'm rooting for the liberal.

NY Times says BIG dishes are dead

In Wednesday's New York Times, Kim Severson, chronicles for the non-readers of this blog, the demise of large, caloric-laden entrees: Is the Entree Heading for Extinction?

THE entree, long the undisputed centerpiece of an American restaurant meal, is dead.

O.K., so maybe it’s not quite time to write the entree’s obituary. But in many major dining cities like New York, San Francisco and Chicago, the main course is under attack.

Although the entree’s ills were first diagnosed in the late 1990s, when the rise of small plates kicked off the tapafication of American menus, the attacks have become more serious lately.

Upstarts like the snack menu, with its little offerings of polpettine and deviled eggs, are encroaching from the flank. Crudi, salumi plates and cheese boards have piled on. The appetizer, once a loyal lieutenant, is demanding more attention on menus. Side dishes and salads, fortified by seasonal ingredients and innovative preparations, are announcing their presence with new authority.

But the gravest threat may be the dining public, which seems to have lost interest in big, protein-laden main dishes.

Most restaurants still offer gut-busting large portions, but a small ripple can become a tsunami.

Next time you are dining out, order an appetizer and a side dish or salad. Even go hog-wild and split a dessert. I willing to bet your hunger will be satisfied, you'll feel better and even your wallet will appreciate it.

Obesity now kills more than all cancers

More and more data keeps coming in telling us all that obesity is a killer. A big killer.

NBC Nightly News reports that for the first time since the Civil War, Americans lifespan will decline because of obesity. And it's obesity in our youths -- every one in three youngsters are overweight -- that will drive up health care, insurance rates and lead to even more disease in America.

Today, about a third of U.S. youngsters are either overweight or obese. Increasing numbers of obese children are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, bad cholesterol and other obesity complications that were seldom seen in children before. Some of those complications are risk factors for heart disease, which could explain the link between childhood weight and a higher risk of heart disease, the Danish researchers suggest. Or it could be because many heavy children — although not all — become heavy adults, they said.

We must do something about this killer.

I'm starting Fast Food Independence Day this July 4, 2008. For one day, to dramatize this issue, I urge every American to skip fast food. Tell me if you can support this moment.

Oversized Portions? Blame the Chef

The NY Times blog, Well by Tara Parker-Pope, reports:

Researchers at Clemson University recently surveyed 300 chefs about what goes into their decisions about portion sizes and the food they serve diners. The study, published in the August issue of Obesity, found big differences between what chefs consider a regular portion compared to the standard serving sizes dictated by the United States Department of Agriculture. When chefs were asked to estimate a typical portion size of penne pasta served in their restaurant, for instance, half of the chefs suggested portions that are six to eight times larger than the U.S.D.A.’s standard 1-ounce serving. Nearly half the chefs said they normally serve 12-ounce steaks in their restaurants, although the U.S.D.A. says daily meat intake shouldn’t exceed 5.5 ounces.

You don't need the NY Times or the magazine, Obesity, to tell you that restaurants serve too big of portions. What we need is some way to stop them. How would you get restaurants to serve smaller portions at appropriate prices?

Enjoy your food (the RightWay)

It's not about dieting, it's about enjoying - CNN.com:

"(Oprah.com) -- As a trained chef, restaurant owner, healthy-cookbook author, and confirmed food lover, I absolutely refuse to let the word diet hijack my life -- and I don't think you should, either. Smart eating is not about settling for less; it's about heaping more good stuff on your plate." more...

This has been my life for the past 14 months. Less food and a lot more joy. I know it's hard to believe but each meal is a celebration of life. This week's meals have included french green beans with pignoli, spinach brownies, tiger shrimp, turkey burgers, roasted carrots and zucchini, homemade whole wheat banana muffins (with sugar substitute), beautiful tomatoes with mozzarella and my garden-grown basil, and mushroom and egg white omelets. Buon Appetito!

Seeing stars in a cafeteria?

Rudd Sound Bites: Nutrition Sells:

"An article in The New York Times last month reported on a grocery store chain in Maine, The Hannaford Company, that over a year-long period let consumers know which products were more (or less) healthy by placing “stars” next to them. The healthiest products (those lowest in saturated and trans fats, those that contained whole grains, were low in added sugars, high in fiber, etc.) received up to 3 stars while less healthy products received anywhere between 0 and 2 stars.

Would implementing a similar type of “star” rating in company cafeterias also have this kind of beneficial effect? I imagine that there’s a company somewhere that has already done this, but I’d be really interested to see whether it was effective." more...

10 ways to lose weight without hunger | Dr Briffa's Blog

Dr Briffa's Blog:

"Eat fewer calories than you burn’ has been the weight loss mantra for decades now. The problem is, cutting back on food and taking more exercise almost inevitably makes people hungry, which can make changes quite unsustainable in the long term. In this article, I offer some practical solutions to this, by outlining several approaches that can help put the body in ‘caloric deficit’ and promote weight loss without the need to go hungry." more tips...

I'm don't agree with tip #1, because I know reducing calories is the only sure way to lose weight. But the rest of his blog makes sense.

A blogger asks: Should Fat People Be Allowed To Eat at Buffets?

The blogger Cheobu asks?

"Should Fat People Be Allowed To Eat at Buffets? Last Friday, I went for a buffet dinner at Hilton Hotel (Read my food review) and I saw this really fat guy making his rounds taking food. Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against fat or obese people, and I understand some of them are like that due to hormonal or medical problems. However, I somehow think it is not 'right' for somebody of that size eating at buffets. Why? Because firstly, it fuels greed and secondly, it's really unhealthy to be eating so much when you are already that fat whatever the cause of your obesity might be. This guy that I saw, is REALLY huge." more...

Your stomach says: Don't overload me!

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen.com:

"For four days next week, University of Iowa students who dine at Burge or Hillcrest Hall Market Places will be encouraged to do something they probably haven't been asked to do since leaving home: clean their plates. From Tuesday to Friday, students can join the Clean Your Plate Club at tables near the dining facilities' entrances. In exchange for a club button, students pledge to select only as much food as they're likely to finish so that little of it -- and ideally none -- winds up in the trash. The button features a smiling plate in the middle of a tray and the words, "Don't overload me! more..."

Another lousy invention by a fast food company

Hardee's rolled out its new Country Breakfast Burrito -- two egg omelets filled with bacon, sausage, diced ham, cheddar cheese, hash browns and sausage gravy, all wrapped inside a flour tortilla. It's guaranteed to quench your appetite and maybe your life.

The burrito contains 920 calories and 60 grams of fat.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocate for nutrition and health, has called the Hardee's line of Thickburgers "food porn."

The group's senior nutritionist, Jayne Hurley, said the burrito was "another lousy invention by a fast-food company."

The "country breakfast bomb," as she called it, represents half a day's calories and a full day's worth of saturated fat and salt, to say nothing of cholesterol.

"That's all before 10 o'clock in the morning," she said.

Even Hardees' chicken salad -- topped with onion rings and crispy chicken -- has 1,100 calories and 83 grams of fat.

Hardee's makes no apologies.

"We don't try to hide what these are," a spokesperson said. "When consumers go to other fast-food places they feel like they've got to buy two of their breakfast sandwiches or burritos to fill up. This is really designed to fill you up."

Best Fast Food or Worst?

In the annual Citysearch Poll of 2007, Hardee's was voted best fast food in 13 cities.

People really love Hardee's and its Thickburgers(TM). According to Citysearch.com's annual 'Best of' poll, Hardee's was voted the no. 1 fast food restaurant by voters in 13 cities, including: Charleston, S.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Indianapolis; Jacksonville, Fla.; Louisville, Tenn.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Nashville, Tenn.; Norfolk, Va.; Orlando, Fla.; Raleigh, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; St. Louis; and Tampa. In addition, Hardee's Thickburgers were voted 'Best Burger' in Atlanta, Jacksonville, Louisville, Minneapolis and Kansas City, Mo. Read more at Hardee's Franchise News.

Now take a look at those states and look at that state's obesity rates. You don't need to be a research scientist to see a relationship. You don't see Colorado, Massachusetts or Connecticut on the "best burger" -- or is it worst burger for you -- list.

Just for the record, the average Thickburger will make you thicker by 850 calories. If you are a man trying to lose any weight, then that's half your calories for the day. If you are a women one Thickburger means you need to walk for 10 miles or else you'll be adding thickness to your thighs.

Everyone talks about moderation. Just eat in moderation, says the CEO of Hardees. The problem with this "best food" is: there is no moderation. The burger by definition is extreme. If you have this sandwich, it's nearly impossible not to overeat and nearly impossible to exercise it off. Stay away from this "best food", it can't be good for you.

"We think it's great that people recognized both Hardee's as best fast food and our Thickburgers as their favorite hamburger,' said Brad Haley, Hardee's executive vice president of marketing. 'Our thick, juicy, Angus beef Thickburgers have won a number of 'best hamburger' competitions across the country, and it's no surprise since we set out to make the best burgers we could."

Did they set out to make Americans unhealthy as well?

US restaurant should offer European portions

Justine Lescroart writes in The Harvard Crimson about the differences between American restaurants and European eateries. I'll give you a hint, it's a giant indictment of America's huge appetite.

Granada, Spain -- In the U.S., an average can of Coca-Cola (or at least the one in my fridge at home) contains 355 ml of soda. Cans in Spain (or at least the ones in my fridge here) hold only 200 ml. At home, Cold Stone Creamery’s “small” portions of ice cream are five ounces. In Spanish gelato shops, a 2.5 ounce scoop is the norm. By American standards, European food portions are tiny, but living abroad, I’ve come to see things in a different light. In reality, American portion sizes are huge, not to mention that they contribute to a national obesity epidemic and they flat-out waste food. The rest of the world’s food suppliers manage to provide reasonably-sized portions. Why can’t we?

Thanks to smaller portion sizes, European citizens eat healthy, “diet-sized” servings without feeling like they’re depriving themselves. Americans should be able to do the same. When food suppliers offer small, high-quality amounts of food with the right marketing scheme, it’s a win-win situation: customers drop weight, and restaurateurs pick up a profit.

Read more...

Senate debating what you will eat

The Senate is debating the 2007 Food and Farm Bill this month. And what you eat and pay for food hangs in the balance. You think -- because you aren't a farmer -- that the "farm bill" doesn't affect you. But you are wrong.

Even though the USDA and nutritionists want Americans to eat less fat, less sugar and more fruits and vegetables, your governments pours billions of dollars into livestock and sugar and very little into vegetables. Why is it that it costs just an extra buck for another hamburger or a another quarter for a supersized drink, but there's no break when you buy three apples or broccoli and carrots?

Could it be the billions of dollars our government gives to the corporate farmer for growing cattle over cauliflower?

For the past 20 years our government has had a a policy that values corporate interests over the health of the American people.

Call your Senator today and tell him or her you want a bill that promotes health, not obesity.

McSubway project: Virtuous diners eat more

When you go to Subway and order the lite turkey sub with no mayonnaise and no cheese, do you, then, reward yourself and munch down on chips and cookies as well?

If you do, you are not alone. And that's trouble.

In today's USAToday.com, Brain Wansink says, "There's a health halo that surrounds a lot of the foods at restaurants like Subway that leads people to overeat on side dishes and grossly underestimate the number of calories they consume."

The director of Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab in Ithaca, N.Y created the 'McSubway Project,' a series of studies that examine the habits of fast-food customers. Much of the research compares foods at McDonald's and Subway, which advertises that it has more healthful options.

What he found was diners significantly underestimate the calories at Subway and McDonald's, but underestimate much more at Subway.

Though Subway has a health halo, "there's also a health shadow that's cast on McDonald's. People know what they are eating may be indulgent, so they come much closer to estimating the right number of calories," says Wansink, the author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think.

People who consumed about 1,327 calories at a meal underestimated the calories by an average of 484 at McDonald's and 681 at Subway.

"There's a double curse to the health halo because you grossly underestimate the calories, and you overeat afterward because you think you deserve it," Wansink says.

Without help, diners cannot figure out how many calories they are eating and what's good for them. One alternative is not to eat at Subway or McDonald's. But a better way would be to figure out how to help Americans eat appropriately at restaurants. Starting with better choices, clear, posted information, and a government-led program to make the dining experience healthier. What to we have to lose?

Football and food: In the RightSize

Jesse Chatman tells Sports Illustrated this week how a weakness for Mexican food and anything fried nearly derailed his NFL career. After an injury Chatman ballooned from 220 to 283 pounds. Then he started exercising -- but even a NFL regiment -- couldn't get him to his playing weight.

To shed those 60 pounds, Chatman changed his diet.

He now eats egg whites with mushrooms in the morning, spinach salad with chicken at lunch and salmon with oregano and lemon at night.

By skipping the fast food restaurants, Chatman made the Miami Dolphins roster.

Goes to show you that eating the RightSize is one way to be healthy and to be an NFL player!

Wait staff: what's your best and worst restaurant stories?

I thought I would use the power of the blog, to ask all wait staff their favorite restaurant story. We always hear about what goes on in the kitchen with the chefs, but now it's your turn to tell us about the food you bring to the customers.

And what about those customers? Are overweight people a pleasure or a pain to serve? From your vantage point to people overeat? Do restaurants overserve? Is the special of the day really special? And can you survive on those tips?

Let us know with your comments. Thanks.

What to look for when dining out

Lately I have been talking a lot about the bad things at a restaurant. But we all eat out, several times a week or even several times a day.

Last night I had cioppino at my favorite Italian restaurant Lucia in New Milford. The seafood was simply prepared in a little wine and lemon sauce. My wife enjoyed veal and asked for broccoli rabe on the side. A little wine, a little espresso and, later, at home, a little limoncello, made eating out, a dining-out pleasure.

So how do you find these restaurant gems hidden in a sea of unhealthy meat markets? What are the clues that waffed into your senses as you walk into a restaurant?

Karla Cook of the International Herald Tribune talked to restaurateurs and drew upon her experience as a restaurant critic to offer sage advice.

First. as you are waiting for a table or just opening the menu, spy on your neighbor. Did the chef take his time with the side dishes?

"Look over your neighbor's shoulder," says Betty Fussell, an author living in New York. "It's good to know the size of the portions. And check out the joint, to see what other people are eating.' Are vegetables, whole grains and fruits and vegetables commanding half the plate, or are green beans a garnish? Is there too much rice? Is sauce lapping over the sides of the platter? Is there, as Rodgers disdainly describes it, 'excess for the sake of excess?'"

"The value of my dollar isn't based on how much food is on my plate," he said. "It's based on the dish itself and the quality of ingredients, the flavors and the overall dining experience."

Next, look for menu clues: light, fresh and sustainable. A small and simple menu is probably a great indication of a kitchen that changes with the season and keeps less perishable food lying around.

A promising sign on a printed menu is provenance plus preparation, like "grilled Barnegat Light scallops," with a description of "New Jersey dandelion, guanciale, celery," at Blue.

The item and its ingredients seem to indicate an interest in buying local, in perhaps paying more for it, and, possibly care to make the most of the ingredients. I ordered it, and was right.

Watch out for foods that are out of season. Where did those peaches and tomatoes come from in December?

On the other hand, peaches and tomatoes on the menu in winter should raise an eyebrow, says Nils Norén, vice president of culinary arts at the French Culinary Institute in New York.

Specials can indicate either too much inventory or a chef's treasure, with price as a rough guideline. "If it's really inexpensive, or looks like a great deal, it might be too good of a deal," says Noren.

And always custom order for yourself. Substitute broccoli rabe for French fries.

Finally, no menu should say "freshly made" or "grilled to perfection". Isn't that what you're paying for?
Buon appetito!

Money Funds America’s Killer Diet

CNN this weekend tackles America's Killer Diet: Fed Up: America’s Killer Diet.

It's probably an eye-opening special, but by the stories on the web and the thrust of the headlines, CNN only tackles the symptoms of America's obesity problem.

The best part is the title: food in America is a killer.

But it's a killer with a lot of money behind it.

Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, said, the federal food policy is making, and keeping, people fat.

He was interviewed by the Hartford Courant and his views coincide with my experience.

If you don't change food policy, people will keep getting fatter and sicker, and no diet or exercise program in the world will change that, Brownell said.

His advocacy of sweeping policy change, such as his promotion of the so-called Twinkie tax on junk food - and his own substantial girth - has made him an object of derision to conservative critics who say weight is purely a matter of personal responsibility.

His conclusions have been at the center of a growing national debate over food - from whether trans fats should be served in restaurants to snack food in schools. Brownell believes the chief culprit is the trillion-dollar food industry, which Brownell said has stayed profitable through massive advertising campaigns to get people to eat more calories than they need.

The evidence is everywhere, Brownell said, from super-size fast food meals to jumbo Coca-Colas. As portion sizes ballooned, so did waistlines of people who exercised less and less over the years.

Meanwhile, the government has fueled the obesity epidemic by granting subsidies to farmers that helped create cheap feed for cows, greasy oils and sweeteners to create countless empty calories in our diets, he said.

Food economics make it cheaper to buy a Happy Meal than a salad. Why is it, he said, that you get a price break the bigger the fries or soft drink you order, but there is no break when you buy six apples instead of three?

Why not create food subsidies for apples, oranges or broccoli instead of corn?

As they said in "All the President's Men": follow the money! Obesity isn't a problem with individual willpower. It's a problem with too much money for all the wrong foods. Let's demand cheaper healthy food and expensive junk food. In the end, it will all be cheaper and better for us and our children.

You may be too fat to go through the drive-thru

USAToday.com is reporting that some car owners may be too fat for their cars (and tires).

The Mazda MX-5 Miata and Chevrolet (GM) Corvette, aren't certified to carry two 200-pound adults, according to a government formula aimed at tire safety.

Many five-passenger vehicles are rated about 850 pounds, maxxing out if their five occupants weigh more than 170 pounds each. Six 200-pounders would overload the seven-passenger Dodge Grand Caravan minivan."

Car weight limits are a big, fat problem
Automakers say the limits reflect a mandated federal formula that requires them to rate passengers at 150 pounds each. The limit may not be realistic "given American propensity for food, but that is the regulation," says Mazda safety director Dan Ryan.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says automakers can set the weight limit at whatever they deem appropriate.

In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control pegged average weights at 190 pounds for men, 163 for women.

David Champion, Consumer Reports head of auto testing, says automakers aren't building cars that can stand up to loads of bigger passengers. A family car "should be capable of carrying five reasonably sized people, not five midgets.

Sounds like one part of the government is not talking to the other part. The Federal government reports 66% of Americans are overweight or obese. I don't think those tires are going to last long; not as long as Americans keep going through the fast-food drive thru.

The revolution has started

If McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, Jack-in-the-Box, et. al. won't control themselves; and we know Americans can't control themselves, at least in California, the law will control fast food.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting officials are considering "health zoning": prohibiting new fast-food restaurants in certain areas...like all of South L.A.

"The people don't want them, but when they don't have any other options, they may gravitate to what's there," said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who proposed the ordinance in June, and whose district includes portions of South L.A. that would be affected by the plan.

In just one-quarter of a mile near USC on Figueroa Street, from Adams Boulevard south, there are about 20 fast-food outlets.

"To be honest, it's all we eat," Rey Merlan said one recent lunch hour at a Kentucky Fried Chicken. "Everywhere, it's fast food everywhere."

more...

The L.A. Times study found South Los Angeles with the highest concentration of fast food restaurants, and fewer grocery stores than the rest of the city.

And of course the next statistic is no accident. Thirty percent of adults in South L.A. are obese, compared with 20.9% in the county overall, according to a county Department of Public Health study released in April.

For children, the obesity rate was 29% in South L.A., compared with 23.3% in the county.

"While limiting fast-food restaurants isn't a solution in itself, it's an important piece of the puzzle," said Mark Vallianatos, director of the Center for Food and Justice at Occidental College.

But it's a start.

Other cities including Concord, Mass. are starting a new revolution by banning fast-food restaurants in certain districts.

The first shot heard round the world was just fired.

What a concept! Schools teach and serve healthier foods

It's been almost 400 years since Harvard University was founded.

And today the Boston Globe reports that for the first time healthy eating is being taught in the "Hub of the Universe".

Boston City Schools have hired a chef to train cafeteria managers across the public school system how to make their food healthier and more attractive. He started serving food last week.

"I think this chef's program will get kids to change their eating habits," said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. "What we're trying to do is make sure they're educated about what to eat."

Almost half the children in Boston's public schools are overweight and many are obese. At the Frederick school, 41 percent are obese; at the chef's other pilot school, the Mario Umana Middle School Academy in East Boston, 52 percent are obese and 17 percent are at risk of diabetes, according to school officials.

more at: The Boston Globe: Schools hope chef's touch whets cafeteria appetite.

It's about time (and health).

FDA might get it half-way right

On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration took the first step toward new food labeling, inviting food companies, trade groups, watchdog organizations, medical experts and its overseas counterparts to share how front-label symbols, like the 'traffic light' system used in Britain, can improve public health.

Last January, I told you England has easy to understand symbols, pointing out the RightSize of fat, salt and sugar.

I suggested then that this only covers about 60 percent of the food we eat. The other 40 percent is eaten away from the home and we still don't have any way of figuring out the calories, the fats, the salt or the sugar in our restaurant meals.

How much fatter do our children have to get before we take action? How much fatter do we have to get before we take action?

Let pressure our presidential candidates now to consider food labels on menus.

FDA Asks Groups to Consider Food Labels

WASHINGTON (AP) — Next month, General Mills Inc. and Kellogg Co. will begin emblazoning their breakfast cereals with symbols that summarize complex nutritional information — part of the growing use of logos to steer harried grocery shoppers toward healthier choices.

The proliferation of such symbols is a worldwide phenomenon, with government regulators in Britain, Sweden and elsewhere establishing logo systems that concisely indicate how nutritious food products are. In the United States, however, corporations have been left to devise their own schemes. That's led to a patchwork of systems that some fear further confuses consumers already unsure about how to eat wisely.

more...

Here's the way my labeling would look at restaurants:

Chefs Share Their Secrets

I've told you about chefs that can turn healthy foods into fattening foods with too much butter or cream, but now Reader's Digest RD.com searched America to find chefs who are putting down the fats and still cooking good tasting food.

When Michael Wild prepared his savory chicken dish for eager diners 15 years ago, he'd start by reaching for butter and cream to prepare the sauce. Today, the owner/chef of Bay Wolf Restaurant in Oakland, Calif., poaches the chicken in stock, tops it with a mushroom-rich mustardy vinaigrette, and artfully arranges his creation on a bed of greens. The butter and cream rarely leave the refrigerator.

Susan Weaver, executive chef at Fifty Seven Fifty Seven, the restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York, builds flavor with vinegar, citrus fruits, mustard, spices, and herbs. That approach applies even to whipped mashed potatoes, a traditionally butter-rich member of the comfort-food family. "We puree the cooked potatoes with chicken stock and mustard, which gives a dense, rich flavor," she explains. "The creaminess comes from the potato itself. The taste is that of a luscious, fat-laden dish, but in fact there's no fat whatsoever."

more...

It's chefs like these showing the rest of America it's possible to have good tasting, satisfying healthy restaurant meals.

They are the ones deserving our applause, and business. And fast food restaurants could be doing the same thing. There's not one reason for a salad to be 700 calories. A side order of potatoes doesn't have to be fried; it could be mashed with chicken stock.

As Chef Pierre LeBlanc of the Culinary Institute of America said : I look at low-fat cuisine as a challenge to creativity and a catalyst to healthier food that taste better.

All restaurant chefs take that challenge. I dare you.

Company charges extra for obesity

"If you're too heavy, then we are going to charge you more."

That's the message at least one company is telling its employees.

From MSNBC.com: "Like a growing number of companies, Clarian Health Partners has for a number of years had a program that rewards employees for getting healthy. But now, Clarian is telling its workers, it's time to shape up or pay up."

“For several years, we’ve had a reward program, where if you cease smoking and do a self-assessment, you receive a reduction in your [health care] premiums,” Clarian president and CEO Daniel Evans told TODAY co-host Matt Lauer on Friday. "[But] our health care costs were going up and our employees were not taking full advantage of the programs we had in place.”

To combat the problem, beginning in 2009 Clarian employees will be charged up to $30 every two weeks for failing to meet standards set by the company in a number of areas. That breaks down to $10 for a body mass index that’s too high, and $5 each for smoking, high cholesterol, high blood sugar and high blood pressure.

It's only a matter of time before all companies look to offset the increased costs of health care for obese employees. Now is the time for the restaurant industry to get in line with helping people to get fit, not the other way around.

Why are Missouri citizens so fat?

New men's belt size

Missouri has the 12th highest rate of adult obesity at 26.3 percent.

Why?

One reason might be restaurants and restaurant reviewers who revel in the ridiculously rich, roly-poly, wrong-sized portions of fat and calories.

Take Betha Whitlow from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a Pulitzer-prize winning newspaper. This is not some backwater village crier, but "what once was" a respected newspaper.

In her review of Billie's Fine Foods, she writes:

Dining: "My eating style typically leans toward small-portion grazing, but I got a thrill when my chicken fried steak with eggs, potatoes and a biscuit ($6.40) arrived on two large dinner plates, inspiring a 'She's a hungry one!' from our server. I forked into the steak, which was covered with velvety white gravy flecked with black pepper. The fried crust of the steak remained inexplicably light and crisp under its heavy gravy blanket, and the steak itself was piping hot and juicily tender. I also devoured my two perfectly cooked over-medium eggs, and fried potatoes that fell somewhere between hashed and cubed. While the larger potato pieces were a little soft, their mild flavor mingled beautifully with the smaller bits, which had a caramelized brown patina. The biscuit — a heavy slab sliced from a pan — was dense and buttery enough to make me forget about cholesterol for the moment."

First, it doesn't sound like Billie knows what fine food is. But why does the reviewer play up the most heart-attack-producing meal? Couldn't we have heard about something that approached fine foods?

I guess not. The reviewer concludes with:

... but we picked the plate clean as we reveled in our newfound gluttony.

Missouri is only the 12th fattest state. With restaurants and reviewers like that, look out Mississippi, they will be #1 in the nation soon.

Time for Congress to get off the couch

This is not a man-bites-dog story. This is expected, predicted and, tragically, the logically conclusion.

Obesity continues to rise in 31 states with no state showing a decline. Obesity rates rise in 31 states - MSNBC.com.

But the reaction is not what we expect from our leaders.

No one is standing up to the fast-food lobby, nor to the corporate farms and its subsidies, nor
to the cola companies. Everyone is taking this laying down.

What was President Bush's reaction to this updated survey by the Trust for America’s Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention?

Nothing. Not one word. Reminds me of global warming. Keep denying it because it's not on the conservative Republican agenda.

As for the survey, the news is terrible for adults, especially for the South, where Mississippi has the most overweight citizens.

The report also finds that rates of overweight children (ages 10 to 17) ranged from a high of 22.8 percent in Washington, D.C. to a low of 8.5 percent in Utah. Eight of the ten states with the highest rates of overweight children were in the South.

In Connecticut the obesity rate is horrible for its youth: 37th highest rate of overweight youths.

In New York the youths are getting bigger by a New York Minute: 18th highest rate of overweight youths.

In Ohio the adults are not as small as buckeyes: Ohio has the 15th highest rate of adult obesity at 26.0 percent.

When will our representatives get off the couch and start exercising food leadership?

Steamed vegetables can be bad for you

At restaurants there's no nutritional label to read. There's no complete list of ingredients. There's no list of calories and carbs and especially FAT!

DietGuideInfo.com exposes how -- even non-fast food -- restaurants can invisibly wreck your diet.

The sneaky ways restaurants wreck your diet:

"You may think you know what you’re doing when it comes to eating healthy while eating out at restaurants, but do you really? Do steamed veggies and egg white omelets sounds like healthy fare? considering they aren’t normally, at least not as much as you might think. Truth is restaurant food generally tastes as good as it does considering chefs and cooks have any number of tricks up their sleeves to add fat. Fat makes food taste great, sadly, and so they put it in and on everything. Besides steamed veggies (which are often coated in oil before and after steaming) and egg-white omelets (which are cooked in loads of oil in the skillet), other high-fat restaurant shockers"

Will fast foods stop 275 pounders?

Christian Hales of Salt Lake City wrote to the the editor of The Salt Lake Tribune with an unique suggestion.

Stop obese customers from entering Burger King if they weigh more than 275 pounds. He'd have the doors locked, bolted and shuttered.

Here's his letter. Food for thought?

Scaling back obesity

I am writing to voice my concern about obesity in this country and to suggest one possible solution. My proposal is that a scale system be set up at the major fast-food restaurants like Wendy's, Burger King, Dairy Queen and McDonald's. When customers approach the front doors, they walk over a scale that weighs them. The scale has been programmed not to let anyone over a certain weight pass through the doors. If anyone over, let's say 275 pounds, steps on the scale, the doors will lock, preventing their entry into the restaurant. If we as a country can find a way to limit the amount of fatty foods that the average American consumes, I believe our world will be a happier place.

Does The Cheesecake Factory cause cancer?

We all know too many calories and not enough exercise causes obesity in Americans. In previous blogs I pointed out that The Cheesecake Factory has some of the highest caloric portions of all the restaurants. Now the American Cancer Society points out that obesity is tied to an increased risk of several different types of cancers, such as breast cancer in post-menopausal women, as well as cancers of the colon, endometrium (uterus), esophagus and kidney.

It doesn't take a logic professor to tell you that it's possible The Cheesecake Factory causes cancer, the same way Philip Morris causes cancer. Of course The Cheesecake Factory will vehemently deny it, and talk about no cause-effect relationship and freedom of choice, but didn't the American tobacco companies do the same thing for the last 50 years.

ABC news has a great article written by Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. He's a doctor who's had his own battle with weight. Like I have said many times before, it's not easy to live in America and lose weight or even keep your weight appropriate.

The key is making the RightChoice every day of your life.

He writes:

I can sympathize with every one of you out there, especially the older folks, who find it so difficult to get on track and lose some weight. I, too, have had a lifelong battle with being overweight and obese.

After a significant health scare, I tried to go back to a healthier diet.

After about 18 months, more or less, I have been able to lose a bit over 30 pounds. It hasn't been easy, and the reality is that it takes constant attention.

I was once called "Mr. No Fun" by a server at a local waffle shop in north Georgia when I asked for an egg-white omelet, no cheese, no grits, no toast, and yes, please, some sliced tomatoes on the side.

Read more...

Let's take the ham out of burger

That's absolutely no reason why burgers couldn't be healthy and the RightSize of calories, fats and carbs.

But restaurants -- especially, fast food restaurants -- need to turn those Golden frowning arches upside down into smiling healthy arches.

EatBetterAmerica has six smart, better burgers than the typical corn-laden beef burger.

You have to ask yourself, why can't each of these be a option at McDonald's, Wendy's or Burger King? (Could it be that Congress only subsidizes corn farmers?)

Next time you are out at your favorite restaurant try to order a turkey burger...or a soy, portobello, veggie or venison burger. The restaurant won't have it, but if we all keep asking for them, eventually we'll convince restaurants we want to be healthy.

EatBetter America in Branch Out with Burgers writes:

The aroma fills the neighborhood. And that distinctive sizzling sound can mean only one thing: It's grilling season. But while you're enjoying those burgers, be mindful to keep your meals healthy for your heart. 'A burger doesn't have to mean beef,' says Rachel Brandeis, MS, RD, LD, a registered dietitian with a private practice in Atlanta. 'By changing out ground beef, you can save on calories and cholesterol.' Meet These Grilling Greats Here are six heart-smart choices along with tips for better-tasting burgers.

Chicken and Turkey: More supermarket space is now devoted to ground turkey and chicken. The trick is finding the lowest-fat versions to make burgers.
* Heart-healthy benefits: Some ground turkey breast can be 99% fat free. In addition, ground poultry breast can have fewer calories than a typical ground-beef burger.

Read more...

Restaurant Critics: Part of the Problem?

Every day I read another restaurant review where the critic associates huge portions with a favorable review. This isn't like global warming or the big bang theory: There's no disagreement that large food portions are wrong for Americans. Avoiding the wrong size of calories and fat is the #1 way to avoid becoming obese.

Yet in every newspaper in America -- save a couple -- the restaurant reviewer falls into the lazy American slogan that bigger must be better. It must be good 'cause it's so damn big.

Just in one article in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (I realize it will never win a Pulitzer; still it perpetuates the portion myth), the restaurant critic mentions -- not once, but twice -- in glowing terms "huge portions."

This longtime South Broward favorite continues to delight diners with dependable Indian food. Portions are huge and while fried dishes tend to be a bit soggy, the curries are very good and rice dishes, like biryani, are text book.

If you can live with the enormous portions and sometimes over-the-top conceptions (and Michael Blum's place is packed with fans who can), it's wonderful fun without any pretense to subtlety. Plum-glazed salmon, Asian ribs, turkey meatloaf and Yankee pot roast are all highly recommended.

Don't believe there's any connection. The University of Oregon reported: "Recent studies have shown that there is a higher rate of obesity among...who live in one of four Florida Counties: Broward, Duval, Palm Beach..." Of course the Sun-Sentinel covers Broward county.

But it's not just fat Florida where you find portion flattery.

Head just north of Florida for Atlanta and the Daily Report's restaurant critic -- who, obviously has never been to Italy -- loves the portions.

"Little Italy, lotta food" -- restaurant slogan
We chose the lasagna, which our capable waitress, Autumn, brought to our table within five minutes. It came piping hot with accompanying garlic bread. With just the right combination of pasta, meat and tomato sauce, the dish was larger than we could handle. “For the food and the volume that you get,” says D’Angelo, “you never leave here complaining. That’s where our slogan comes in. You literally get a lot of food. After 13 years, how could we start changing the portions?”

I have been to Italy...many times. Not once in the more than 100 meals did any restaurant approach "lotta food".

I could spend the rest of the day copying and pasting WrongSize restaurant reviews. But it's "hugely" clear that critics must change. It's irresponsible. It's like doctors promoting cigarette smoking. Oh, that's right. Doctors did promote smoking in the 40s and 50s. And it was irresponsible.

Stop the obesity obscenities in newspapers now. You can change the World (and Times and Herald), write your editor!

China recalls McDonald's

Which is worse: putting lead paint on toys and exposing a million children to potentially lead poisoning? Or, putting fat-laden french fries and hamburgers in the bellies of hundreds of million of children exposing them to potentially obesity, diabetes, heart disease and premature death?

Neither is a statistical certainty. No one has claimed -- yet -- their child has a learning disability from lead paint on a Mattel toy. No one has claimed -- yet -- that fast food has led to premature death for their child. In both cases people voluntarily bought the product. No one forced anyone to buy the toys or burgers. There's plenty of other options. Buyer beware, most Americans would say.

Americans demand certainty. It took nearly 100 years of proof before most Americans would accept that smoking causes cancer and premature death. We used lead paint for a 100 years before accepting that children sometimes chew on items with paint, and some children developed learning disabilities from that kind of paint. Even now the government doesn't require you to remove that lead paint around your window.

Americans have had fast food for just 50 years. And now we have an obesity problem. This blog is starting the 50-year countdown. I'm looking forward to the year 2067 when America recalls all fast food because everyone now agrees it causes obesity.

If Mattel recalled toys with lead, should China recall American fast food?

Iowa votes for unhealthy food

When you head to the Iowa State Fair, you've better bring your walking shoes, light comfortable clothes, but leave your healthy salad and water at home. Because the Iowa State Fair doesn't want any stinky, East Coast liberals with their tofu and sprout sandwiches. In fact, the DesMoinesRegister.com reports no beverages, food or coolers may be brought into the fair. The exception is baby food. OK, your baby can eat healthy, lady. You can't.

The Iowa State University Cooperative Extension has estimated the calories of fair favorites.

- Cotton candy: 100 calories.

- Caramel apple: 200 calories.

- Chocolate-covered cheesecake on a stick: 300 calories.

- Plain hamburger: 450 calories.

- Fried candy bar on a stick: 550 calories.

- 64-ounce soda: 800 calories.

- Fried turkey leg: 1,100 calories.

There are more than 220 foodstands at the fair with dozens of items. What healthy foods does the website suggest?

- Baked potato (278 calories with nothing on it)

- Corn on the cob (155 calories with butter)

- Salads (watch out for the dressings at sometimes 500 calories)

- Mixed fruit cups

- Shish kebabs (who knows what's in those)

- Veggie corn dog (Cotton candy might have less calories and taste better)

- Turkey tenderloins

- Pork chop on a stick (154 calories for 3 oz.)

That's it. A thousand food items in the breadbasket of the nation, at the show place for agriculture and food in America, and the website can find less than 10 healthy food items.

I'd suggest you'd bring your own food and water to the fair. But that's illegal in Iowa.

Eating at McDonald's means low paying job

If you eat at McDonald's in high school, that might be the only place you'll be qualified to work.

That's one conclusion I drew after reading Time Magazine's article, Overweight Kids: College Less Likely.

Using college enrollment as a measure of academic success, University of Texas at Austin sociologist Robert Crosnoe found that obese students had a worse experience at school than their thinner peers and were less likely to attend college, and that the effects of being overweight hurt girls far more than boys.

Recent research has shown that overweight youngsters are often teased, ostracized and isolated by their peers, and are sometimes treated differently by teachers and even parents. According to Crosnoe, children often internalize this negative social feedback — whether real or perceived — which can lead to alcohol and drug use, failure in school, truancy and suicidal thoughts. "They are just unhappy at school," he says, "and it does things to them in the present that have long-term consequences."

Seems to me this should be reason number 340,329 not to eat at McDonald's or other fast foods.