Category: Food News

Policy Point Wednesday: WIC and Letting Science Decide

Policy Point Wednesday: WIC and Letting Science Decide
USA Today recently invited controversy with its editorial “Let science decide what food to subsidize: Our view”, in which they support the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation that potatoes be excluded from the WIC list.  The IOM maintains that Americans eat lots of potatoes without the support of a government subsidy – without getting a lot... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
May 14, 2014 at 9:00 am • 

Policy Point Wednesday: Commercials and Reward Sensitivity

Policy Point Wednesday: Commercials and Reward Sensitivity
As a probably too-frequent television watcher, I’ve noticed (while flipping quickly past) that a large proportion of current infomercials advertise exercise programs. Even though junk food is advertised heavily, there are plenty of commercials supporting healthy behaviors – so why is it we aren’t all exercising frenetically instead of inhaling french fries and soda? One... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
April 30, 2014 at 9:00 am • 

Policy Point Wednesday: Critical Thought, Scientific Studies and the News

Policy Point Wednesday: Critical Thought, Scientific Studies and the News
This is a re-print of an older post I wrote, but I thought it was timely because of this recent article in the New York Times. The news is full of attention-grabbing headlines:  Studies Question the Pairing of Food Deserts and Obesity, Study Finds That School Junk Food Doesn’t Lead To Childhood Obesity, and Obesity rate... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
April 16, 2014 at 8:20 am • 
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Policy Point Wednesday: The Female Athlete Triad Syndrome

You may not have heard of the Female Athlete Triad Syndrome – I hadn’t, until just recently.  I knew, of course, that women athletes sometimes stop menstruating, but I didn’t know about the risk of bone density loss and fractures.  According to Femaleathletetriad.org, the Triad is “a syndrome of three interrelated conditions that exist on... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
April 2, 2014 at 9:00 am • 

Policy Point Wednesday: Interventions for Health in Rural America

While Americans have a mental picture of “healthy country living,” rural Americans are more often obese than their urban counterparts. High rates of obesity correlate with higher rates of chronic health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and other diseases. (Keep in mind that obesity over a large population correlates with lifestyle-related disease, although a given... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
February 25, 2014 at 9:00 am • 

Policy Point Wednesday: Conventional Farmers Face Off with Chipotle

Policy Point Wednesday: Conventional Farmers Face Off with Chipotle
CNN’s food blog, Eatocracy, posted this op-ed from agricultural advocate Ryan Goodman: Farmers and ranchers are upset about how a burrito company is portraying their business. If you haven’t seen them already, Chipotle has run a series of ads during the past few years centered around “Food With Integrity” and the idea that we can “Cultivate... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
February 18, 2014 at 3:50 pm • 
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Policy Point Wednesday - Hope for Peanut Allergy Sufferers

Policy Point Wednesday - Hope for Peanut Allergy Sufferers
Peanuts are a fantastic food: they don’t spoil, they’re high in protein and healthy fats and contain all kinds of trace minerals.  Kids readily eat them in multiple forms.  You can safely send a kid to school with your personal peanut-butter concoction and rest assured that it will be eaten and won’t cause them to... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
February 5, 2014 at 10:01 am • 

Policy Point Wednesday: Research on Obesity Researchers Finds a Flaw

Policy Point Wednesday: Research on Obesity Researchers Finds a Flaw
No news to anyone who reads this blog, but financial conflicts of interest can bias science, which may contribute to the conflicting information out there. For instance, a review published just last month specifically targeted bias in studies on sugary drinks and obesity rates. Researchers showed that the studies with possible financial conflicts of interest were... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
January 22, 2014 at 9:00 am • 

Policy Point Wednesday: Food Product Dates and Food Waste

Policy Point Wednesday: Food Product Dates and Food Waste
It is perhaps not surprising that a report on food waste in the UK connects consumer’s misunderstanding of product date labels to over 20% of avoidable food waste. Research on date labelling undertaken in the UK shows that 45-49% of consumers misunderstand the meaning of the date labels “best before” and “use by” (WRAP 2010). WRAP’s Household Food... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
January 8, 2014 at 9:00 am • 
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Policy Point Wednesday: Holiday Food Safety

Policy Point Wednesday: Holiday Food Safety
Holiday dinners are notoriously large – and large dinners usually means leftovers!  Make sure your leftovers don’t go to waste – and don’t make your family sick!  Here are some tips to make sure nobody has any regrets about food over the holiday season: The UK’s food safety site, the Food Standards Agency (click through... Read more »
By QuipsTravails,
December 24, 2013 at 9:00 am •