Extension Foods and Nutrition, Cooperative Extension Service, Kansas State University

July/August 1992

What's New

McDonald's Teams Up With SNE

Please Return Book

 

Food/Nutrition Policy/Legislation

Food Shoppers Respond to Food Label Formats

 

Food Safety

Foodsaver Compact

Biotech Foods Approved

BST and Milk Safety

Consumers See Biotech Foods as ' Favorable '

 

Limited Resource

Shortages of Surplus Food

 

Nutrition/Health

World Food Day

Are We Promoting Obesity in Our Schools?

Ask the Specialist

Modifying Recipes

Percent of Calories From Fat

Communication and Nutrition Programs

Food Allergies in Infants

Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative

Let's Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

Incidence of Low Birth Weight Is Up

 

Resources

McDonald's Today - Promotes Dietary Guidelines

McDonald's Teams Up With SNE
The Society for Nutrition Education has undertaken a partnership project with the McDonald's Corporation to develop an educational program aimed at children. The program is entitled "What's on Your Plate?" and is a series of 55-second public service announcements (PSAs). The PSAs teach children about health-promoting food choices through the "fun and engaging escapades" of original clay animation characters. They will be aired on CBS-TV Saturday mornings beginning sometime this fall. They are to be shown between some of the most popular shows and will reach around 2 to 2.5 million children each Saturday.

An educational brochure is also being developed to support the series. No reference will be made in the PSAs or the brochure to any McDonald's product and SNE was responsible for assuring the credibility of the health and nutrition information. Be watching for them this fall. (PP)

Please Return Book
Karen may have loaned one of her books to an agent in March. The book is "FOOD TRENDS AND THE CHANGING CONSUMER" by Senauer, Asp and Kinsey; it's a hardback. If you have it, please return to Karen Penner. Thanks. (JD)

Food Shoppers Respond to Food Label Formats
The FDA recently completed two consumer food label surveys in conjunction with the Nutrition Education and Labeling Act of 1990. Results will be used to make policy decisions on new label formats. Mall shoppers in various locations were asked to perform tasks to show how well the formats could be used to compare nutrients between products and to choose the format they considered most helpful and least helpful for selecting nutritious meals and planning menus. Other shoppers were surveyed to measure additional label uses. Surveyed shoppers wanted a short, easy-to-read, easily interpreted food label that would provide more information than the current label. They tended to prefer labels with the most information, but when participants tried to use them, these complex labels were harder to use. Thus, preference did not correspond with performance. Whether a consumer can actually make practical use of the label is the more important consideration.

As a result of the survey, FDA researchers grouped consumers into these types: 1) those who are already motivated to use a nutrition label, 2) those who are not, and 3) those who would use the label if it were easy to use. Motivated consumers were divided into two categories: the healthy educated and the health-compromised with a desire to know.

What kind of a label reader are you? (KP)

Source: FDA Consumer, June 1992.

Foodsaver Compact
Foodsaver compact, the home vacuum packing system, is available for purchase ($200) and needs to be understood. It does not replace processing in a boiling water bath or pressure canner. If a food would normally require refrigeration or freezing, then it still must be refrigerated or frozen when vacuum packed.

This vacuum packing system can be used with Foodsaver bags, mason jars or Foodsaver canisters. As a general rule refrigerated fresh foods will keep about twice as long as without vacuum packaging. When foods are frozen in vacuum packed Foodsaver bags freezer burn is eliminated. Dry foods that are vacuum packed will have a longer shelf life.

All foods to be vacuum packed in containers need to be cool or at room temperature so that liquids will not boil over.

One of the selling points of the Foodsaver Compact is that you might save money. Their cost comparison says if you spend $250 at the supermarket on groceries each month, with this device you can save $177.50 by purchasing at a bulk warehouse plus saving the typical 15% of all solid food which ends up in the trash.

So, what do you need to consider to decide if this device is something you want. Do you or can you purchase food at a bulk price? Do you have enough storage space - cupboards, refrigerator and freezer? Do you have the time to do the procedure? Do you have $200 plus more if you need more bags or canisters? (JD)

Biotech Foods Approved
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a policy statement on foods from new plant varieties derived from recombinant DNA techniques and cell fusion techniques that enable developers to make genetic modifications in plants, some of which would not be possible with traditional plant breeding methods. The policy discusses the safety and regulatory status of foods derived from new plant varieties.

Under the policy, foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains and their byproducts developed by the new genetic modification methods are regulated under the existing Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The key factors in reviewing safety concerns are the characteristics of the food product rather than the method by which it is produced.

The policy includes a "guidance to industry" section that describes food safety and nutritional concerns and identifies situations when producers need to consult with FDA on scientific issues and to determine if a food additive petition may need to be filed. According to the policy, a scientific basis should exist to establish new plant varieties that do not result in unacceptable levels of nutrients, natural toxicants or allergens. Safety assessments need to be conducted to assure that foods from the new plant varieties will be safe to consume. (KP)

Source: Fed. Reg, 57(104), May 29, 1992.

BST and Milk Safety
An article in the May 1992 issue of Consumer Reports magazine claims that using bovine growth hormone to increase milk production in dairy cows might have negative effects on human and animal health and lead to increased residues of antibiotics in the milk supply. The following may be used to answer public inquiries.

The effect of all veterinary drugs on food consumed by people is a principal concern of FDA. Before allowing drugs for food-producing animals to be marketed, FDA requires that these drugs be shown to be safe by rigorous scientific studies. Safety in this context means, among other things, that residues of the drug in meat, milk and eggs are safe for people to eat.

FDA has evaluated all aspects of BST 's safety for human food, including the effect of very high doses of BST on the content of BST in milk and the effect of BST on the concentration of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a protein hormone, in milk. Numerous studies, including the data on BST evaluated by FDA, have been published in scientific journals.

After a thorough review of these studies, FDA concluded that milk derived from cows treated with BST is safe for human consumption. This conclusion was supported by an independent scientific panel of experts at the Technology Assessment Conference of the National Institutes of Health in 1990. The European Community and the government of Canada have reached similar conclusions about the safety of milk from BST-treated cows. (KP)

Consumers See Biotech Foods as 'Favorable'
Four out of five people in focus group research conducted by a food science society have a favorable view of biotechology applied to food, The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) reported recently.

IFT, a 25,000-member scientific society, interviewed consumers in focus groups in Colorado, Nebraska, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Besides discussing biotechnology and food safety, focus group participants were given questionnaires before and after discussion. After discussion among themselves, "favorable" responses about biotechnology rose from 70 percent to 78 percent and "very favorable" responses went up from 10 percent to 15 percent.

These responses were to the question: "Based on what you know of biotechnology, what is your overall impression?"

Consumers in focus groups, of 8-12 people, who were probed on given topics, approved of increased milk production (70 percent) and lower-fat meat (91 percent) using biotechnology.

These consumers told researchers they believed government funding for biotechnology research should be increased. They also said Americans need more information about the use of biotechnology.

The same respondents reported some concerns about the safety of the food supply, but a majority expressed "some confidence" (46 percent) or "a lot of confidence" (23 percent) in governments' ability to keep foods safe.

When asked how much control they felt they personally had over the safety of the food they ate, 51 percent replied "some", 16 percent said "a lot" while 30 percent responded "a little." Consumers said that bacteria in foods were the most serious short-term risk to their health.

The IFT focus groups were conducted in March and April in Fort Morgan and Denver, CO; Lincoln, NE; Elmira, NY; Columbus, OH, and Bensalem, PA. (KP)

Source: IFT, May 27, 1992.

Shortages of Surplus Food
Thousands of hungry Americans are being turned away from food banks because USDA is running out of surplus commodities. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and an anti-hunger activist expressed concern about the impact on families this summer. Rep. Bob Wise (D-WV) said, "There is something very wrong with USDA's policy when they aggressively subsidize overseas food exports at the same time commodities are being denied to food banks, school nutrition programs and soup kitchens. This policy is being implemented at the same time there is a record number of Americans on food stamps." (MS)

Source: Associated Press, June 10, 1992

World Food Day
World Food Day, (WFD), October 16, was initiated 12 years ago. It is a worldwide event designed to increase awareness, understanding and informed, year-around, long-term action on the complex issue of food security for all.

Being a part of WFD on October 16 starts a process -- from interest to commitment, from ideas to action, from local problem awareness to international understanding, from single-day observances to year around planning and programs. WFD asks you to become involved in that process as part of a global movement dedicated to hunger alleviation and food security.

World Food Day was created by the member nations of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Now observed in more than 150 counties, the day's purpose is to focus attention on all food and farm problems, and to get the people of the world more directly involved in the search for solutions. The U. S. observance is coordinated by the U. S. National Committee for World Food Day, made up of 450 private voluntary organizations, and the U. S. Department of Agriculture. But the main effort comes from more than 16,000 local organizers in all 50 states.

What Do People Do On World Food Day?
WFD is observed in hundreds of ways around the world. There is no one way. Each nation, each community, each person is free to choose and plan the most useful/effective ways to increase informed action. Here are just a few:

How Do We Determine What Is The Best Way To Observe The Day In Our Community?
Request the WFD booklet "Ideas in Action" to learn what others are doing. Form a committee or coalition .. develop a consensus about what to do .. divide the responsibilities and go to work. The national office can often put you in touch with others who have tried what you want to do and thus help you skip some trials and errors.

For further information, contact: Patricia Young, National Coordinator; The National Committee for World Food Day; 1001 22nd Street, N.W.; Washington, D.C. 20437; 202-653-2404. (JD)

Are We Promoting Obesity in Our Schools?
One of the most common nutritional problems for children is obesity. About one in four elementary school children are overweight in New York, according to a Cornell University study. There is no reason to believe that other states are any different. In the U.S., childhood obesity has increased dramatically in the last 15 years. Fifty percent more children are now overweight. Not only do obese children have an increased risk for obesity later in life, they often suffer the same health problems as obese adults. Overweight children are usually physically unfit and at risk for hypertension, atherosclerosis, adult-onset diabetes, orthopedic disorders, respiratory disease, and psychosocial dysfunction.

Obesity occurs in both genders and all socioeconomic classes. But Wendy Wolfe, the Cornell nutritionist that conducted the study mentioned above, says children are more likely to be overweight if they: live in low-income families, have no or few siblings, skip breakfast, or participate in school lunch programs (which tend to have more calories from fat than the recommended 30 percent).

Wolfe also looked at grade school physical education programs and their effect on obesity. She found that when schools offered 120 minutes of physical education per week they had significantly lower rates of obesity than schools that offered less. Unfortunately she also found that in New York State only 25 percent of schools offered this much PE to second graders and only 40 percent offered this much to fifth graders.

In addition, some teachers use candy or snacks for positive reinforcement in the classroom or participate in promotions offered by fast-food establishments. Lunchrooms provide high fat snacks and desserts in many schools.

Children consume much of their daily food in school. This is one of the easiest ways to reach them with nutrition messages. October 11-17, 1992 is National School Lunch Week - what a great time to promote the consistency of nutrition messages so that the quality of food and nutrition activities already in place can be enhanced. (PP)

Sources: Susan S. Lang. A fourth of schoolchildren are overweight. Forum, Winter 1992.. RC Klesges, RJ Stein, LH Eck, TR Isbell, and LM Klesges. Parental influence on food selection in young children and its relationships to childhood obesity. AJCN 1991; 53:859-64.

Ask the Specialist
What is an RE and what does it measure?

Answer: RE stands for retinol equivalent and is a measure of vitamin A activity or potency. Numerous forms of vitamin A are found in both animal and plant foods. Animal foods, such as liver and butter, have the fat-soluble forms that can be very toxic if large amounts are consumed. These related compounds are found as retinol, retinal and retinoic acid, almost all of them coming from animal foods. Plant carotenoids, deep yellow in color, are vitamin A precursors and provitamin forms. Their lesser potency is also measured in RE but it takes more (6 micrograms (mcg) of beta-carotene or 12 mcg of other carotenoids) to equal 1 RE of retinol. REs have replaced the old International Units (IU). To compare REs with IUs, one RE equals 3.33 IUs of retinol and 10 IUs of beta-carotene. (MC)

Modifying Recipes
Those who attended the Food for the 90s workshop seemed to really enjoy the lab sessions. Food items were made that compared an original higher fat, cholesterol or sodium recipe to a modified recipe lower in one or all three nutrients.

For the next few months, an original and modified recipe will be highlighted.

Chicken and Potatoes Oregano (Original)

3 medium sized potatoes (1 lb)

1/2 cup onion, minced

vegetable cooking spray

4 tablespoons margarine

8 medium-sized chicken thighs (2 lbs)

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon oregano leaves

1. Peel potatoes; cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Mince onion.
2. Spray 12-inch non-stick skillet with vegetable cooking spray; place over medium heat. Melt margarine in skillet; add potatoes, onion and chicken thighs; sprinkle with salt, pepper and 1/2 the oregano. Cook about 15 minutes, gently turning potatoes often with pancake turner.
3. Turn thighs; sprinkle with rest of oregano and cook 10 minutes longer or until potatoes and thighs are well browned and fork-tender. Sprinkle with parsley. Serves 4.

Chicken and Potatoes Oregano (Modified)

To modify the recipe change two (2) ingredients. Instead of four (4) tablespoons margarine, use 2. Instead of 8 medium sized chicken thighs (with bone and skin) use 8 medium-sized skinless, boneless thighs.

 

3 medium sized potatoes (1 lb)

1/2 cup onion, minced

vegetable cooking spray

2 tablespoons margarine

8 medium-sized boneless, skinless chicken thighs (2 lbs)

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon oregano leaves

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1. Peel potatoes; cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Mince onion.
2. Spray 12-inch non-stick skillet with vegetable cooking spray; place over medium heat. Melt margarine in skillet; add potatoes, onion and chicken thighs; sprinkle with salt, pepper and 1/2 the oregano. Cook about 15 minutes, gently turning potatoes often with pancake turner.
3. Turn thighs; sprinkle with rest of oregano and cook 10 minutes longer or until potatoes and thighs are well browned and fork-tender. Sprinkle with parsley. Serves 4.

Nutrition per Serving

*See article below (JD)

Percent of Calories From Fat
Some of the agents have asked for fat guidelines on recipes. No one has done that. The dietary guidelines of 30 percent of your calories from fat is for a total diet not one recipe.

The Mealtime/Family Time menus were designed so that the whole meal is within the 30 percent of calories from fat guideline. Let's look at the main course in three of these menus to see what the fat percentage is for the main course alone and compared to the whole meal.

Tangy Beef Stew Menu

Total calories of meal -- 606

Calories of stew -- 264

Fat from stew -- 7.3g

Percent of fat calories for stew -- 25%

Percent of fat calories for "meal" from stew -- 10.8%

 

Meat Loaf Menu

Total calories of meal -- 763

Calories of meat loaf -- 228

Fat from meat loaf -- 17.5g

Percent of fat calories from meat loaf -- 69%

Percent of fat calories for "meal" from meat loaf -- 21%

 

Chicken Water Chestnut Casserole Menu

Total calories of meal -- 492

Calories of casserole -- 189

Fat from casserole -- 9.2g

Percent of fat calories from casserole -- 44%

Percent of fat calories for "meal" from casserole -- 16.8%

As you can see in the above three menus, the percent of fat calories for the main course varies from 25 to 69 percent and yet each menu meets the 30 percent fat guideline.

Maybe together we can come up with ranges of fat for main dishes, meat only, side dishes, breads and grains, and desserts. Please call or write to me with your ideas. (JD)

Communication and Nutrition Programs
Recently a conference entitled "Effective Nutrition Communication for Behavior Change" was held in Paris by the International Nutrition Planners Forum and UNESCO to review the use of social marketing in nutrition programs. Multidisciplinary teams consisting of a nutritionist, program manager and media specialist from twelve countries attended. Some observations and conclusions from the conference have implications for nutrition education programming in Extension.

Source: Mothers and Children, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1992.

Food Allergies in Infants
Although research indicates that less than 10 percent of babies have allergic reactions to food, if yours is one of them it is a major problem to you. So, what causes the allergic reaction? It's a "foreign" protein--a protein that the body does not recognize as its own.

The most common causes of allergy in infants are the foreign proteins in milk, such as cow milk protein or soy bean protein found in infant formula. Foreign proteins eaten by the mother can also be passed to the infant during breast-feeding.

Usually it takes several exposures to the particular protein before a reaction occurs. The reactions may include diarrhea, skin rash, colic or in extreme instances, swelling of the mouth, eyes and throat. The symptoms vary and an infant may have different reactions when re-exposed to the same protein.

Some common infant problems, such as excessive salivation, spitting up, recurrent colds, and ear infections, are many times blamed on food allergies. Generally, these are not related to an allergy to food. And when a baby has some typical symptoms of food allergy they may not always be the result of an allergy. For instance, incomplete digestion of milk sugar (lactose) can cause vomiting and diarrhea, but lactose intolerance is not an allergy and requires different treatment.

When the baby gets older and is introduced to new foods, there is exposure to a great many of potential allergy causing proteins. This is why it is recommended that you introduce one new food at a time and give it to your baby for several days to check for any adverse reactions. If there is a reaction, remove the food from the diet and wait for the symptoms to clear. Serve the food again later and if the symptoms recur a food allergy is likely. This is really the only way to document an allergy in infants, because skin testing and laboratory tests generally are not useful for them.

If your family has a history of food allergies, wait to introduce foods that commonly cause intolerance until the baby is at least a year old. Some common allergens are citrus fruits, peanuts, eggs, wheat, fish, and tomatoes. In the case of suspected milk allergy, avoid erratic formula changes. Most brands of formula are basically the same anyway. Ask your doctor. A pediatrician can also suggest a formula that contains neither cow's milk or soy protein.

If your baby does show symptoms of food allergy, don't give up on the food forever. Fortunately, most food allergies with intestinal symptoms disappear by the time the infant is one to two years old. (PP)

Source: Children's Nutrition Research Center. Food Allergies in Infants. Nutrition and Your Child. Winter 1991.

Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative
With the support of world leaders, health experts and non-governmental organizations, UNICEF and the World Health Organization have launched the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), a global campaign to foster breastfeeding. The goal of the initiative is to mobilize health care systems and health workers to support breastfeeding. The long-term aim is to enable all women to feed their infants exclusively on breast milk from 4 to 6 months of age and give children appropriate and adequate complementary foods past their second birthday.

Provision of low-cost formula to maternity wards and hospitals is an obstacle to breastfeeding. Consultations with formula companies, WHO and UNICEF have led a commitment by industry to end free or subsidized supplies of infant formula to maternity wards and hospitals in developing countries by the end of 1992.

A strategy to end supplies to hospitals and clinics was implemented in 12 countries in 1991. It is expected that by the end of 1992 another 66 countries will stop the distribution of infant formula to new mothers. (MS)

Source: Mothers and Children, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1992.

Let's Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
"Americans are not eating enough fruits and vegetables," so say extension food and nutrition specialists at KSU and the nutritionists with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDH&E). While total consumption of fruits and vegetables is up, only 9 percent of U. S. adults are eating five or more servings daily. Ten percent of them had no fruits, fruit juice or vegetables on any given day. A telephone survey conducted by KDH&E in 1990 indicated that 60 percent of those surveyed do not eat fruit daily. Adequate vegetable consumption is questionable as well; for example 83 percent report eating green salad less than daily.

People have all kinds of excuses for not eating fruits and vegetables. Some complain they cost too much. (Have they really compared the cost of a piece of fruit or serving of vegetable with a bottle of pop or other popular snack?) Others just never learned to like them as children. In today's time-pressured families, cooking a vegetable or fixing a salad is seen as taking too much time and not very important. Parents are frustrated when their children refuse to eat them and they give the child a vitamin pill in hopes that it will replace missing nutrients. Unfortunately, such thinking is wrong. Food has a wide variety of components besides protein, vitamins, and minerals, the nutrients perceived by the public as being most important. Take fiber, for example. Bowels don't function right without fiber. Now research findings point to a wide variety of plant chemicals as being cancer fighters, not just the antioxidant vitamins A, C and E. And fruits and vegetables are the best weight control food groups around.

So when it comes to deciding what you're going to eat at your next meal or snack, reach for a fruit or veggie. No diet should be without five servings each and every day. (MC)

Incidence of Low Birth Weight Is Up
Despite a slight drop in infant deaths in the U. S., the number of low birth weights is up, according to Louis Sullivan, Secretary of Health and Human Services. The rate of low birth weight (LBW) is the highest it has been since 1978, up from 6.9 percent in 1988 to 7 percent in 1989. But data suggest that the infant mortality rate declined 2 percent in 1991, from deaths in the first year of life per 1000 births in 1990 to 8.9 deaths per 1000 births last year.

Unfortunately, higher survival rates reflect better technology rather than an increase in prenatal care or a lower incidence of women smoking and drinking during pregnancy. According to Jennifer Howse, President of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, the babies who are surviving are increasingly handicapped and sickly. Scientists say that 20-40 percent of all LBW's are linked to maternal smoking or drinking. Yet 20 percent of all women drink alcohol or smoke during pregnancy.

Some groups appear to have a greater incidence of LBW and higher infant mortality rates. Teenage mothers and unmarried women are less likely to get prenatal care or to gain recommended weight. African Americans have double the infant mortality rates of white. (MS)

Source: CNI, April 24, 1992

McDonald's Today- Promotes Dietary Guidelines
McDonald's has a brochure entitled McDonald's Today which translates the dietary guidelines into a variety of menu choices from McDonald's. This brochure was developed for health care professionals and their patients.

The brochure shows sample breakfasts, lunches and dinners that contain less than 30 percent of calories from fat and 10 percent of calories or less from saturated fat. All but two meals contain less than one-third of the daily recommendation for cholesterol and sodium.

Nutrition information per serving for all standard menu items at McDonald's is also listed. To obtain the McDonald's Today brochure write or call McDonald's Educational Resource Center, 3620 Swenson Avenue, P. O. Box 8002, St. Charles, Illinois 60174-8002; 1-800-627-7646. FAX: 1-708-513-1669. (JD)

K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.