Culinology - December 2015 - (Page 12)

QUALITY over calories Menu labeling efforts are driving innovation to reduce calories and improve nutrition by Karen Weisberg editor@sosland.com S ince many Americans consume about onethird of their calories away from home, it is believed that clearly labeling the calorie content of prepared foods will help consumers monitor their food choices and reduce the calories they consume at the point of purchase. Yet even as federal regulators push to enact the menu labeling regulations, product developers and consumers are faced with understanding the evolutionary nature of nutrition science. For example, clear declarations about the negative health effects of fat in the diet are evolving. Earlier this summer, in a co-authored editorial, "Why is the federal government afraid of fat?" in The New York Times, doctors Dariush Mozaffarian (dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University) and David S. Ludwig (director of the Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children's Hospital) took aim at the federal government's 1980 Dietary Guidelines for Americans with its focus on 12 | Culinology | DECEMBER 2015 reducing total fat in the American diet to no more than 30% of daily calories. "In place of fat, we were told to eat more carbohydrates," the authors reported. In reality, "this fear of fat also drives industry formulations, with heavy marketing of fat-reduced products of dubious health value." Mr. Mozaffarian and Mr. Ludwig go on to point to recent research including "large randomized trials in 2006 and 2013 [that] showed that a low-fat diet had no significant benefits for heart disease, stroke, diabetes or cancer risk, while a high-fat, Mediterraneanstyle diet rich in nuts or extra-virgin olive oil - exceeding 40% of calories in total fat - significantly reduced cardiovascular disease, diabetes and long-term weight gain." Most recently, for the first time in 35 years, members serving on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee have not recommended an upper limit on total fat.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Culinology - December 2015

Culinology - December 2015
Table of Contents
President's Letter - A day in the life
Emerging Trends - Hot cocoa flavor heats up
Gourmet porridge trend has ancient grain appeal
Ingredient Applications - Quality over calories
LYFE – Love Your Food Everyday
Flavor Trends - Sweet heat takes flight
Member Profile - A fresh perspective
Expert Voices - Cinnabon’s director of R&D finds room for innovation
Industry News - Mile High City hosts Future of Food Conference
Industry mourns loss of chef-entrepreneur Paul Prudhomme
Petits Fours - Tacos on the menu
Mintel identifies emerging trends for 2016
Ad Index

Culinology - December 2015