Nibbles: Vilsack tapped for Agriculture, plus debating the soda tax and menu labels
Former Iowa governor to be announced today
Though the announcement was unofficial at the time of this writing, it was expected that Barak Obama would announce former Iowa governor (and very brief contestant for the Democratic nomination) Tom Vilsack as his nominee for Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack is clearly from a farming state and has long been a proponent of alternative energy (naturally, since they grow corn in Iowa) and has said that energy security and food security will go hand in hand. Big issues he will face include a requested bailout of the ethanol industry and the new farm bill. Obama will have plenty of other food and health-related positions to fill as well, since the head of the Food and Drug Administration announced he will resign, and leadership posts at the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also be open.
UK kids seeing a third fewer junk food ads
British regulatory agency Ofcom says kids are seeing one-third fewer ads for foods high in fat, salt and sugar now than they were in 2007. New regulations will eliminate all junk food ads from channels that are dedicated to children’s programming starting in January. Kids ages 4 to 15 see 34 percent fewer ads now than they did in 2005, with a slightly higher percentage reduction for younger kids and slightly lower for older kids. There’s also been a 69 percent drop in use of licensed characters to promote unhealthy foods. The panel warns, however, that there’s been a rise in advertising of junk food in print and other media that aren’t as tightly regulated as television.
Beverage group prepared to fight soda tax
In the days since New York governor David Patterson proposed a tax on sugary soda and fruit drinks that aren’t 100 percent juice, various groups have come out on all sides of the plan. The American Beverage Association says focusing on one kind of food or drink won’t solve the obesity problem, and a tax will just put more burden on hard-working families. Nutritionists are mixed on the plan, too, with some saying it’s worth a try and others saying taxing food doesn’t change people’s behaviors long-term. It’s estimated that the 18 percent tax would cut soda consumption by about 5 percent in the state.
Is more food regulation a good priority?
Between taxes, menu labels and trans fat bans, the government at all levels is regulating what and how people eat and the information available to them like never before. Most people consider that a good thing, but the head of the California Restaurant Association says the rules are a case of misplaced priorities when governments should be more focused on the economy. One community activist even called Los Angeles’ moratorium on fast food restaurants borderline racist because it assumes poor people can’t make smart choices on their own. Legislators, on the other hand, say these moves will improve public health, ultimately saving money.
Cancer deadlier for people with diabetes
If you have diabetes and are diagnosed with cancer, you are 40 percent more likely to die in the years following diagnosis than people without diabetes. That conclusion was reached by Johns Hopkins researchers looking at 23 different studies from around the world. Diabetics with uterine cancer were 76 percent more likely to die, while those with breast cancer had a 61 percent higher risk of death. Those with colorectal cancer had a 32 percent higher risk of death.
Diabetes controlled better with low-GI diet
Finally, in other diabetes news, people who follow a diet full of low-glycemic index foods are better able to control their blood glucose levels than those who follow a high-fiber diet without paying attention to GI. A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that a low-GI diet caused glucose levels to fall more over the course of six months than a high-fiber diet did in diabetics who were on medication. The low-GI dieters also saw a rise in their HDL cholesterol (that’s the good stuff), while it fell in those on a high-fiber diet.
(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)
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