Fast-food is usually considered unhealthy, as it contains added salts, fats and sugars in most menu items, but how does the packaging of fast-food harm you? A new study funded by the National Science Foundation and the Silent Sprint institute showed how chemicals used in an array of fast food packaging can be dangerous to consumers. Health risks like cancer, thyroid disease, immune suppression, low birth weight and decreased fertility are associated with a chemical used in fast food packaging called PFASs (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) also known as PFCs, which are highly fluorinated chemicals. “These chemicals have been linked with numerous health problems, so it’s concerning that people are potentially exposed to them in food,” said Laurel Schaider, an ...
Telling reporters and gaining attention from Good Morning America, Michigan mom, and healthy food advocate, Jane Kramer has started a petition towards healthier checkouts for retailers. The mom explained in her online petition, that stores should do more to combat the obesity epidemic, by providing shoppers with healthier foods at checkouts instead of encouraging impulse buys of junk food that are often sold with tabloids as well. Kramer is asking a specific retailer in Michigan, Meijer, that has over 220 stores across the state, to provide children's books along with healthier snack options at checkout lanes. More than 1,195 supporters have signed her petition to help create healthier checkout aisles where kids are often faced with soda, candy, and chips. As Kramers hopes, kids ...
Latino communities often have more access to fast food and corner stores with less access to healthy foods, so ensuring healthier food access is available in corner stores is an important avenue to help bring healthier foods and diets to Latino neighborhoods. Research shows that increased access to supermarkets can help Latino communities economic vitality and is linked to healthier body weights, so how can corner stores play a part in healthier food access for Latinos? A new guide from the Food and Nutrition Service of USDA can help corner stores sell healthier foods, with strategies on marketing and displaying healthy food and beverage options, sourcing these options and making changes to their overall stores. The Healthy Corner Store Guide helps corner store owners learn how ...
Many Latino preschool kids deal with heavy advertisements of unhealthy food marketing and consume more sugary beverages and junk foods than their peers. Now a new study highlights the importance of healthier food marketing to kids of preschool age. The study reported on in Pediatrics found that food advertisement exposure may actually encourage more eating among the young, and depending on which foods are offered, could be adding to a risk for unhealthy weights. Sixty children ages two to five were given a healthy snack then asked to watch a 14-minute TV ad, half watching an ad about food, the other half watching an ad featuring a department store. They were then given an option after seeing the ads to consume more snack foods, where the kids who saw the food ad ate 30 more ...
Unhealthy food and beverage marketing ads are targeted more at Latinos and minorities on TV, social media and more, according to recent research. The Praxis Project, led by Latino advocate Xavier Morales, and others filed a legal complaint against Coca-Cola and the American Beverage Association for deceptive marketing practices that push sugary drinks to communities of color. The complaint was filed in federal court in California is confusing the public, and indicates “the world’s largest soft-drink maker and the trade association run ads that tout the energy boost from drinking soda, and disregard scientific findings that sugary beverages can lead to obesity, diabetes, and heart problems,” according to a CBS News report. Both Coca-Cola and the American Beverage ...
Ever had a song stuck in your head before? Well if it's Minneapolis youth's "Grow Food" song, it may just help you think more about healthy food. Rapping to encourage people to grow healthy food, teens from Minneapolis with the non-profit Appetite For Change (AFC), have made veggies like broccoli into latest and greatest rap song of 2016, according to Vibe. After working in the summer of 2016 with AFC's Youth Employment & Training Program that also worked with Beats & Rhymes, youth in Northern Minneapolis were inspired to create the "Grow Food" song, which has garnered over 136,138 likes and counting. The catchy song that raps phrases like "pullin' veggies out the garden" and "drinking water living longer, no processed drama", inspires youth to change their unhealthy ...
There are many options for dining out these days, but which restaurants offer healthier and more sustainable options for families? REAL, standing for Responsible, Epicurean, and Agricultural Leadership, is a nationally recognized mark of excellence for food and foodservice operators committed to holistic nutrition and environmental stewardship. The United States Healthful Food Council (USHFC), established in 2012, works to help restaurants become REAL Certified in three areas that show conscious health for the environment and the people. The goal is to make sure healthy choices are highlighted and offered, and that unhealthy options are limited or changed for families dining out. Through this certification, healthy changes are being made in restaurants all over the ...
Some grocery stores are working towards helping consumers make the healthy choice the easy choice for consumers. H-E-B, a popular and large grocery chain located throughout Texas has been practicing healthy marketing practices like marking food products with nutritional tags, helping consumers online with the Health and Wellness section of their website and including select ingredients marking for products made with no artificial ingredients. Nutritional tags like on the H-E-B made products help consumers clearly see healthier food options like foods with low sodium, low saturated fat, sugar-free products, and products that may be a fiber source or something that is heart healthy. These markings can help consumers conveniently see products that may be a better option for them in ...
Today kicks off the National School Lunch Week, helping to provide awareness and support for National Farm-to-School Month throughout October and to share and support schools who are implementing healthy school food efforts all year round. Considering that students eat more than half of their daily calories at school, nutritious school food plays a vital role in the development of healthy students and healthy eating habits. This is even more true for Latino kids who often are in schools that don't always implement healthy foods and snacks in schools, studies show. To learn more about how school meal programs have encouraged healthy eating decisions among students insights were gathered from a panel of school nutrition leaders commissioned by the Kids' Safe and Healthful Foods ...
