The Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2010, Ron Winslow
Maybe that juicy steak you ordered isn’t a heart-attack-on-a-plate after all. (But still raises the risk of colon cancer sic.)
A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests that the heart risk long associated with red meat comes mostly from processed varieties such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs and cold cuts—and not from steak, hamburgers and other non-processed cuts.
The finding is surprising because both types of red meat are high in saturated fat, a substance believed to be partly …

The New York Times, Roni Caryn Rabin, May 10, 2010
Schoolchildren are more likely to be bullied if they are overweight, and a new study suggests just how much more likely: 60 percent more, if they are obese (with a body mass index in the 95th percentile for children in their age group), and 13 percent more, if they are simply overweight (85th percentile or higher).
The researchers also tried to determine if overweight children from certain backgrounds were more vulnerable than others, and if some had social skills or other characteristics …

ZDnet, Dana Blankenhorn | May 4, 2010,
To all the cries of “big brother” and “nanny state” that come here whenever I touch on preventable causes of death and campaigns to fight back I have one word.
Oregon.
A study published in Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine this week describes a childhood obesity epidemic that has gotten noticeably worse since 2003.
Nearly one-third of all school-age children in 2007 were overweight, the study says, and nearly 22% of Mississippi kids were clinically obese, headed for a short life of heart attacks and diabetes.
The exception? Oregon, …

NZ Herald, Geoff Cumming, May 8, 2010
Salt may be a hidden killer but as health campaigners call for regulations, the picture keeps shifting. Geoff Cumming sifts through the evidence
Give the food police credit for trying. Knocked back on calls for maximum sugar limits, junk food advertising bans and school tuckshop restrictions, some health experts now want a government clampdown on the amount of salt we eat.
A call by the United States Institute of Medicine for the Obama Administration to impose maximum limits for salt content – and progressively lower them …

FOR much of 2009, Michael Locascio, an executive at ConAgra Foods, watched with concern as the bad news about high-fructose corn syrup kept coming.

In January, there were studies showing that samples of the sweetener contained the toxic metal mercury. Then came a popular Facebook page that was critical of the syrup. By year-end, there were about a dozen spoofs on YouTube mocking efforts by makers of high-fructose corn syrup to show that science is on their side.
But it was pleading comments like this one, from a devoted ConAgra  customer, …

Los Angeles Times, Karen Kaplan, April 27, 2010
In Santa Clara County, one out of every four kids is either overweight or obese. Among 2- to 5-year-olds from low-income families, the rate is one in three. The county health system spends millions of dollars a year treating kids for health problems related to obesity, and the tab is growing.
On Tuesday, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors took action by prohibiting fast-food restaurants from using toys to lure kids into buying unhealthy meals. The vote was 3-2.
In order to combine trinkets …

CNN, Kat Kinsman, April 28, 2010
Can chicken breasts help beat breast cancer? KFC officials are hoping customers will flock to help the chicken chain make a record-breaking donation of $8.5 million.
But some critics are calling foul on the company’s mixed message, especially in light of the recent, heavily publicized addition of the aggressively fat-and-sodium laden Double Down sandwich to their menu.
KFC’s “Buckets for the Cure” initiative boasts a bright pink website, packed with breast cancer facts, survivor stories and a pledge to donate 50 cents from each specially branded pink …

CNN, Sarah Klein, April 15, 2010
The fast-food industry has long been under fire for selling high-fat, high-calorie meals that have been linked to weight gain and diabetes, but the financial health of the industry continues to attract investors — including some of the leading insurance companies in the U.S., a new study reports.
According to Harvard Medical School researchers, 11 large companies that offer life, disability, or health insurance owned about $1.9 billion in stock in the five largest fast-food companies as of June 2009.
The fast-food companies included McDonald’s, Burger King, …

Neville Rigby, April 16, The Guardian
The mere mention of trans fats – an unhealthy by-product in our industrialised diets – leaves many respectable scientists fulminating, food manufacturers shrugging and pleading that they’ve done their best, while responsible government agencies and some of their scientific advisers look the other way while the media headlines shriek about killer fat.

Yet how many of us realise that trans fats turn up in all kinds of funny places – and very frequently in the frying pan at home. Read the labels and wherever they mention …

The New York Times, Robert Pear, April 4, 2010
Amid all the rancor leading up to passage of the new health care law, Congress with little fanfare approved a set of wide-ranging public initiatives to prevent disease and encourage healthy behavior.
The initiatives provide a big dose of prevention in an effort to counter the powerful forces that encourage people to engage in sedentary lifestyles, to smoke and to eat fatty, high-calorie foods.
The emphasis on disease prevention comes nine months after President Obama signed a law that gave sweeping authority to the Food and Drug …