Last week I brought about the topic of how food television plays a role in weight gain to light. I find it interesting that people are suggesting that television is part of the reason they are becoming obese or unhealthy in general. After reading many articles, I felt it was necessary to search and find out about what choices should be made in the supermarket. This week I chose to comb the blogosphere in hopes of finding discussions on making healthy choices for both adults and children. Luckily this subject matter could not have come at a better time. Over the past week tons of articles are being written about a new program that is being adopted by many companies that hold a lot of shelf space in our supermarkets. Another subject that is taking over many blogs is regarding the consumption of sodium in the diets of children.The first blog I came across, The Fooducate Blog, is published in order to enlighten people on practical advice for buying healthy food. The post that I find, entitled, “Smart Choices Food Labeling-A Step In The Right Direction” was written in response to the “Smart Choices Program (see photo above left).” The program being adopted by companies such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Kraft Foods, Unilever, and Wal-Mart (possibly Nestle as well), is intended to help consumers make the right choices when grocery shopping by creating a recognizable label that represents the product meets the Smart Choices standards. In this post he offers background on the nutrition acts that have been adopted as well as the FDA and USDA’s part in regulating food items. The second blog I found is entitled, “Shaping Youth,” published by Amy Jussel, is a forum discussing media and marketing’s influence on children. In the post “Kidney Stones In Kindergarten? Put Down The Sports Drink Kiddo!” she discusses how the marketing machines have created campaigns to promote drinking sports drinks yet there is less exercise happening on the playgrounds. I chose to comment on these posts in hopes I might get a response on how food marketing plays a part in the new regulations and if they will help people making the right decisions for themselves as well as their children. I offered up my comments on each blog. They can be found by clicking on the links as well as below.
“Smart Choices Food Labeling-A Step In The Right Direction”- My Response
I would like to thank you for taking time to write on this subject matter as well as your blog. I find this subject matter very educational and highly interesting. It makes me feel great to know that there are people that take the advancement of nutrition seriously. One great element to your posts is the brief history behind past regulations. Many other posts did not have this information which can make it difficult to see how new regulations are a step in the right direction. I agree with your comment, “Consumers embraced the nutrition information that became available, and began making more educated purchase decisions. However, many became confused with the information overflow. Cryptic ingredient names and Daily Value calculations presented new challenges to shoppers. If the FDA hoped through nutrition labels to encourage a healthier consumer, quite the opposite transpired in the past two decades, as obesity rates and diet related illnesses have shot up.” It is true that at that time the regulation was a good idea but I believe there were factors missing. The consumers were not educated in just that, the daily intake. I believe this same situation is about to present itself again regarding the Smart Choices Program. The comment, “So recently, manufacturers stepped up individually to the challenge, and began offering their consumers healthy choices within their product families. Several manufacturers launched marketing campaigns promoting their “better for you” brands,” makes an interesting observation.
Do you feel that due to the fact it is not a project regulated by the FDA that it is in fact a well thought out marketing campaign? I agree with your comment on how people might be ignoring other elements to what is considered healthy. It is possible people are being educated on portion control, which insinuates fat and calorie content but are forgetting the other elements to what is being considered healthy? Will these questions become an argument against the intentions of the Smart Choices program?
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post as it brought these specific questions to mind, specifically aimed towards the real intentions behind this program. It would be great to see a following post, possibly regarding this matter.
“Kidney Stones In Kindergarten? Put Down The Sports Drink Kiddo!”- My Response
Thank you for taking the time to create and maintain this blog. It makes me glad to know that people like you take the time to educate others. This subject matter is one of the most controversial to hit the blogosphere, as it should be. It is interesting that your main focus is dealing with kidney stones. After reading many articles about kidney stones in children it is obvious to see that the issue of sodium content in foods needs to be addressed. Your comment, “To be fa
ir, moderate amounts of sodium are NEEDED to balance water and minerals and help muscles and nerves work properly, but when fast foods, snack foods, and highly processed foods (canned, frozen, boxed, or bagged) become kids’ major intake instead of fresh, whole foods, sodium is bound to bump up to high levels WITHOUT adding a hydration fluid packed with same into the marketing mix,” does seem like it would be rocket science. If that is the case, why do you feel that parents are continuing to serve many of these foods as a major source? Recently, the Smart Choices Program was introduced to the public. For those not familiar, it is a program that is being adopted by many leading food companies, however, not regulated by the FDA (see photo on right for standard FDA label). The statistics on the smartchoices.com website state the sodium intake requirement is less than 480mg per serving.For example if a child’s lunch were to include a smart choices portion controlled bag of chips that contains 380mg, plus a turkey and cheese sandwich, an apple and a juice box, do you feel this would be a decent lunch in terms of sodium content? Given there are at least three meals a day? Given the facts you presented about incorporating balance into a diet as well as what the daily sodium a child requires is, do you feel this non-FDA approved program is a real well developed food regulation or a well positioned marketing campaign?
I enjoyed reading this post and believe that due to your vast knowledge, you might have some great insight into these major food regulating and/or marketing questions.
3 comments:
Hi Jamie, thanks for the thoughtful comment on Shaping Youth, and for recognizing our little nonprofit keeps chugging along trying to get the information out there for critical thinking skills and analysis of same.
I’ll address the marketing side of this from my own perspective in-depth on our blog soon, and also forward it to our RD/nutrition expert, Rebecca Scritchfield for analysis on the sodium front…
I’ve addressed the salt issue many a time, and the parental one is a bit more complex as to ‘why these things perpetuate’ with purchasing power…(I’ll point you to our ‘Snack Attack’ counter-marketing post on peer pressure and the persuasion dynamics in play (lack of label literacy, etc. too)
http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=333
I’ve also done quite a few detailed analysis pieces on the issues I have about ’self-awarded’ programs like “Smart Choices Made Easy” and “Sensible Snacking” and such, since often it’s simply a ‘better choice’ within the line of products the company already offers! (e.g. light chips instead of regular chips, etc.)
This actually leads to FURTHER marketplace confusion imho, especially when they all start looking alike on product snipes and why-to-buys…I’ll get into those aspects in detail too…
To whet your whistle, here's one I wrote about 'Pink Fairytale Flakes' which meet the new 'Disney food guidelines' (yet another system of confusing product claims)
http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=311
In that one I specifically say, "You can slap a “Smart Choices Made Easy” green seal of approval (self-awarded criteria from parent co., PepsiCo) and snipe it with a “good source of whole grain” (whole grains are great, but see Shaping Youth’s label lingo article on weasel words and “good source of” claims)…and it just serves to muddy the waters even further with folks thinking they're eating 'better for you' foods when they're not!
I'll look deeper at the proposed 'coalition' involved and report back soon, meanwhile, dashing off to vote!
p.s. The greenwashing effect is another FDA regulatory uh-oh that needs addressed in terms of environmental claims, as shown in this great piece on the ecopreneurist detailing why we need 'standards' to discern what all of it really MEANS!
http://tinyurl.com/5hxd3t
More soon...thanks for weighing in!
Amy Jussel
Founder/Exec. Dir.
www.ShapingYouth.org
Hi Jamie, I posted this on SY blog and also here for your readers:
First… check out my blog too about the different marketing/nutrition programs and many other nutrition related topics. http://www.rebeccascritchfield.wordpress.com
I want to clarify your mention of chips. Most potato chips have 180 mg sodium per serving or less. Actually, it is one of the lower salt processed foods. Not saying everyone should eat a bag of chips a day. But so many times people have an “all or nothing” attitude and point out the wrong “culprits”.
Also frozen veggies usually have low or no sodium - unless a seasoning packet is added. Frozen veggies - and sometime canned (there are low salt options) can be an economical way to get good nutrition (fiber, vitamins). I have a blog post on food processing.
Another word about salt intake. People with high blood pressure, people taking blood pressure medications, or people with heart disease (previous heart attack, on a cardiac diet), and people with kidney disease not on dialysis may need a salt restriction — and the amount restricted is variable, but sometimes it is 2g sodium per day - or 2,000mg. This is not far off from the recommended limit of 2,400mg/day for healthy adults. Even in the hospital I worked in there were patients on a 4 g/day salt diet - 4,000mg and that is considered a restriction! By all means, a healthy person should follow the guidelines of 2,400mg a day to support heart health and maintain blood pressure. But the fact is that our bodies can handle salt. We excrete excess. Many chefs praise the ability of salt to add flavor depths to fresh, whole foods. Actually, it is weight, rather than salt, that contributes significantly to high blood pressure.
I hope that clears up some misconceptions.
As far as the smart choices program goes. I know very little about it. However, my hunch is that it is a way for food companies to follow one set of standards to provide “front of package” labeling of healthy food. This is a way for the industry to self-regulate to try to avoid government regulation. The different front-of-package nutrition marketing symbols have been under serious scrutiny.
There is a benefit to self regulation. Government regulation costs money. Do we want limited FDA dollars and resources go toward unified standards for front of package marketing or protecting the food supply from contamination? I also think the best thing parents can do is realize that the only symbol that means something on the package is the pyramid/nutrition facts. If sales of the labeled foods decrease they’ll go off the market. Parents do want an easy way of choosing packaged foods, which is what helped spark all of this. Some of the labeling is useful. I see bean soup with a 14g fiber symbol on the front and I know it’s a good choice… but it is more about understanding that a high fiber diet is needed for good health. Make sense?
Here’s a recipe idea:
I personally like to make homemade baked sweet potato chips and regular chips. Just slice ‘em thin spritz with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt and bake at 400 for about 20 minutes. You can do fries the same way, but try using garlic, parsley and feta cheese with the fries.
Glad Rebecca landed on your blog, Jamie, as she's the RD with the nutrition chops...I'm just the marketing/branding geek.
That said, I will say that 'self-regulation' may be worthy in theory, but we differ a bit in that I strongly believe that corporate competition will ALWAYS find a way to self-position ahead of the pack, which means that ANY kind of collaborative system put into play is at risk for a rogue member zinging off into superlative mode.
As a mom and a media maven, I'd implore the FDA, FTC and all other regulatory parties to listen, hear and heed the concerns of consumers that are sick and tired of brand confusion and don't want to have to be spending half our time at the grocery store trying to assess what's REALLY a 'smart choice' or 'sensible snack' or whatever by wading through the mice type on the sidebar.
This is where a simpler, quantifiable 'system' could level the playing field for purchasing power everywhere so that we 'know at a glance' what we're buying without being lured into brandwashing terminology and 'better for you' label lingo that's really hogwash.
So, you can see, I differ a bit on this issue. All good questions to open dialog for solutions...
Best, Amy Jussel
www.ShapingYouth.org
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