January 2015
cheese and bulk deli salads. Foods
served on transportation – airplanes,
trains, food trucks – and school food
are also not required to label calories.
Bars, grocery stores and independent
restaurants are also excluded. The
new rules are a part of the Affordable
Care Act. The purpose for the calorie
Calorie Counts
Coming To Menus Per labels is to reduce obesity by showing
consumers how many calories are in
the food they consider ordering. Two
New FDA Rules
thirds of Americans are overweight or
The FDA announced new calorie
labeling rules at the end of November. obese, and Americans eat and drink
about one third of their calories away
Establishments that sell prepared
foods and have 20 or more locations from home.
must post the calorie content of food
Psychologists Claim
“clearly and conspicuously” on their
menus, menu boards and displays
The Brain Is Central To
by November 2015. The new rules
also apply to convenience stores, big Obesity
A McGill University study published
top grocery stores, bakeries, coffee
in the journal Psychological Science
shops, pizza delivery, movie theater
found that our brains tend to favor the
concessions, amusement parks and
more calorie-dense option when choosvending machines from companies
ing between foods. When we make food
that have 20 or more machines.
choices, an area of the brain called the
Beverages, including alcohol if it is
ventromedial prefrontal cortex comes
listed on the menu, must also be
labeled. Only calories are required to into play. This area of the brain calcube labeled, but additional nutritional lates value. Brain scans revealed this
information like sodium, fats, sugars, area lit up and tracked caloric density
when subjects bid on food items. This
etc. must be available in writing per
suggests that the caloric density of food
request. The rule does not apply to
prepared meals typically intended for is what determines its value to us. All
participants were willing to pay more
more than one person (aside from
pizza, which will be labeled per slice for calorie-laden foods such as chocolate chip cookies, chips and other junk
and per topping) such as deli meats,
FOLLOWING FOOD NEWS
AND TRENDS
By Angela S.
Hoover, Staff
Writer
“100%
Natural” To
Be Removed From
General Mills Products
General Mills settled a lawsuit Nov.
21 over the use of the term “natural” on
labels. The company agreed to remove
the label “100% Natural” from more
than 20 of its products that contain
more than 0.9 percent of synthetically
produced ingredients such as GMOs,
high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin,
sodium bicarbonate and several others.
The class action lawsuit against General
Mills was filed in 2012 by the nonprofit
Center for Science in the Public Interest.
The nonprofit approached General
Mills in 2005 over the company’s
misleading labeling but General Mills
would not end its use of artificially
produced products or remove the term
“100% Natural” on labels.
&
35
food. How this brain function leads to
obesity is the availability of plentiful,
cheap food year round. In the past,
consuming calorie-dense foods when
they were available was helpful because
the extra calories could be stored as fat
to be burned later. But it’s only recently
that we have cheap food year round
so our brain’s unique feature to value
calorie-rich food so highly is leading to
obesity, per the researchers. “Obesity is
a problem of choice,” said neurologist
Alain Dagher. “We need to think of the
brain as being central to obesity.”
Gluten Detecting
Device
A handheld device that detects gluten
will be available from 6SensorLabs in
late 2015. The device uses established
chemistry-based technology to determine if a food sample contains the protein. Scoop a tiny amount of food into
a disposable pod and place that inside
the pocket-sized sensor and in a couple
of minutes or less it will display a g-free
or non g-free reading. It will work with
both restaurant and packaged foods. A
price has not yet been set but the company’s founders say it will be accessibly
priced. A mobile app to share results and
give kudos to restaurants is also planned.
The company is also brainstorming what
to detect next as the device’s technology
can be used for any food allergy.
Your new
home is
waiting just
moments
away from
downtown
Richmond,
Kentucky.
Health&Wellness
Digital is just a Click Away
Read the current issue on your smart phone,
tablet & computer.
Scan here to view the current issue:
St. Andrews
Place
Retirement
Community
offer
quality
residential
homes since
1992.
St. Andrews
Place offers
a friendly,
peaceful,
serene
and secure
neighborhood
for retirees.
300 Stocker Dr
Richmond, KY 40475
(859) 625-1400
www standrewsplace org
www.standrewsplace.org