The USDA’s Food Surveys Research Group recently released its most recent Dietary Data Briefs based on What We Eat in America (WWEIA) data from NHANES 2020.
I went right to pizza.
Women over the age of 60 report getting nearly a third of their daily calories from pizza?
Even little kids get a fifth?
And that was before the pandemic….
I love pizza, but dietary variety anyone?
Halloween is about candy, no? Here are four thoughts on the topic.
I. From CagleWorld.com
II. From The CandyStore.com.
III. From Consumer Reports: What 100 calories of Halloween candy looks like.
IV. From my son Charles, who forwarded this, I know not from where:
Enjoy the occasion!
Everything in moderation!
Not being a particular fan of Dunkin’ Donuts, I somehow missed this astonishing drink.
But the esteemed journalist Eric Schlosser, sent me a link to this video tweet (oops, X).
This is INSANE. pic.twitter.com/2TwuSaOofF
— David Belle (@davidbelle_) September 13, 2023
I did not believe it, but excellent journalist that he is, Eric sent me the DUNKIN’ NUTRITION evidence. Go to page 6 and check out the highlighted item: 930 calories and 167 grams of added sugars (but see NOTE below)
No, you could not make this up.
930 calories, by the way, is about half of what many people need in a day.
Advice: share this with friends—plural.
NOTE: a sharp eyed reader points out that it’s not a pumpkin latte; it’s a large pumpkin swirl frozen coffee with whole milk. Whatever.
I can hardly believe this, and had to laugh when I read all the articles last week about how worried the food industry is about the new obesity drugs.
Imagine: if the drugs really do reduce appetite and interest in food—horror of horrors—people might eat less.
Eating less, as I have pointed out repeatedly, is very bad for the food business.
In Food Politics, I explained how the fundamental purpose of food companies is to get you to eat more food, not less.
Beginning in the early 1980s, food companies did a better job of creating an “eat more” food environment.
People responded to this environment by eating more calories—lots more—and way more than enough to account for the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity. Evidence? See my book with Mal Nesheim, Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics.
When I am at my most cynical, I ask this question: What industry might benefit if people ate more healthfully?
I am hard pressed to think of any—certainly not the food, diet, or diet-drug industries (Novo Nordisk, maker of the semaglutide drug, Wegovy, now makes more than the gross domestic product of Denmark).
The only exception I can think of is not-for-profit HMO’s like Kaiser Permanente, which do better if their patients are healthier (and have no excuse for not paying their workers better).
Anything that helps people eat less and more healthfully is bad news for the food industry, and especially for companies making ultra-processed junk food.
No wonder companies are worried.
Here’s my collection from last week (with thanks to Lisa Young and Michele Simon for making sure I saw these articles):
Ben & Jerry’s is now owned by Unilever.
Here are its top-ten best-selling flavors:
Whether or not proceeds go to charity, these are commercial ice creams, and highly caloric, ultra-processed ones at that.
Here, for example, is the ingredient list for a Cherry Garcia.
CREAM, SKIM MILK, LIQUID SUGAR (SUGAR, WATER), WATER, CHERRIES, SUGAR, EGG YOLKS, COCONUT OIL, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CONCENTRATES (COLOR), COCOA POWDER, GUAR GUM, NATURAL FLAVORS, LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, CARRAGEENAN, MILK FAT, SOY LECITHIN.
I like potatoes and they have plenty of nutritional value along with their calories, but their calories mainly come from starch—a rapidly digested carbohydrate.
The Harvard Food Pyramid puts potatoes in the “Eat Sparingly” category, right at the top with red meat, butter, and sugary beverages.
Potato industry marketers to the rescue! Take a look at the website of Potatoes USA, which has as its mission developing marketing campaigns for the industry.
Industry participation is key to making any campaign a success. Here you’ll find marketing tools that will help you promote the positive potato nutrition message. Find the tools that match your organization, whether you’re looking for resources for retailers, manufacturers, consumers, foodservice operators, or information on potato nutrition.
Here you can find a toolkit on how to market potatoes:
For years we’ve talked about why you can eat potatoes. Now we’re talking about why you should eat potatoes. Getting the whole industry involved is key to getting this message heard. Find the tools you need to support the process with events in your area.
I was interested in what they have to say about nutrition, of course: “Potatoes are more energy-packed than any other popular vegetable and provide the carbohydrates, potassium and energy you need to perform your best.”
The nutrition campaign focuses on energy for performance. It provides a Nutrition Facts label that reassures you that one 5.3-ounce potato has only 110 calories.
It doesn’t say much—anything, really—about how Americans mostly eat potatoes, which happens to be as fries or chips.
It does provide tons of information about marketing methods, the research sponsored by the potato industry, and even issues regarding international trade—a goldmine if you are interested in this sort of thing.
If you just want to eat them, watch out for the added fats. The bigger the potato—and the more butter and sour cream—the higher the calories.
Tobacco, alcohol, and opioids are not enough; now we have cookie addiction to contend with?
For this I am indebted to Rija, whom I do not know, but who emailed me this message:
To celebrate National Cookie Day, TOP Data conducted a study and found that American cookie consumption has increased by over 25% during COIVD. So much so that now 1 in 5 Americans are considered cookie addicts, consuming over 3 cookies per day.
Cookie Day Insights:
- Cookie Consumption across the country has risen 20% during COVID
- 1 in 5 Americans consume 3+ cookies on an average day
- Utah leads the nation in cookie consumption
- The 7 states that love cookies the least are all in the south
To see where your state ranks check out the full report and infographic.
Who knew that someone was keeping these kinds of statistics.
More than 16 percent of Americans consume 96 or more cookies a month?
One third of Americans has a cookie a day?
How big are those cookies?
Recall: big ones have more sugar and more calories.
I’m all for cookies, but small ones please.
No wonder some people are at high risk for bad outcomes from Covid-19.
Join Health Affairs for a virtual conversation between me and Angela Odoms-Young of Cornell University discussing the evolution of US food and nutrition policy, the current policy landscape, and thoughts on what lies ahead. It’s at 1:00 p.m. EDT. To join the Webinar, register here.
