Non-kosher hotdog sparks outrage in NY

[AlHayatZween 2]

Well, I wasn't really trying to fear monger, but it still seems slightly mad to me that food production is so ad hoc and rarely based on nutritional requirements. If we could make some changes now, it would be possible to continue to have an interesting and varied diet while cutting back on wasteful production techniques etc. Leave things as they stand and who knows what the future might bring?

and maybe we'd stop overconsuming and be healthier to boot.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

One thing I thought was interesting from that movie Supersize Me, is the bit where they look at advertising budgets for processed foods - and how much money there is in selling processed packaged ####### that's high in salt, fat and refined sugars.

You rarely see TV advertisements for things fresh orange juice or grapefruit juice, for example - but Sunny D (with its 1/3 canola oil) is on virtually every channel.

[Peikko 1,575]

I think you have summed it up. There is profit in ####### but not in nutrition. I wish it were possible to distinguish food that is nutritional and food that is ####### and tax the latter. I don't think it is, but I would really, really like it if it were.

More food for thought

[Ladylethal 12]

Only adds I see about healthy eating is the Got Milk campaign and now the egg one.

[Peikko 1,575]

In more news that has steak-lovers feeling deflated, a study published in this week's issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine finds that people who indulge in high amounts of red meat and processed meats, including steak, bacon, sausage and cold cuts, have an increased risk of death from cancer and heart disease. The findings add power to the growing push — by health officials, environmentalists and even some chefs — to cool America's love affair with meat.

The analysis of more than half a million Americans between the ages of 50 and 71 found that men in the highest quintile of red-meat consumption — those who ate about 5 ounces of red meat a day, or roughly the equivalent of a small steak, according to lead author Rashmi Sinha — had a 31% higher risk of death over a 10-year period than men in the lowest consumption quintile, who ate less than 1 ounce of red meat per day, or approximately three slices of ham. Men in the top fifth also had a 22% higher risk of dying of cancer and a 27% higher risk of dying of heart disease. In women, the figures were starker: women in the highest quintile of consumption had a 36% increased 10-year risk of death compared with women who ate little red meat; eating lots of meat was also associated with a 20% higher risk of dying of cancer and a 50% higher risk of dying of heart disease. (Read "A History of Beef, Times Two".)

Oh dear!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Only adds I see about healthy eating is the Got Milk campaign and now the egg one.

We've all become conditioned to silly advertising strategies for product gimmicks (like the idea that PG pyramid tea bags actually brew a better cup of tea), but its hard to imagine a TV ad extolling the virtues of a certain brand of onions, for example.

I mean - quality of fresh produce can vary quite considerably between different suppliers and retailers, depending on the quality standards employed. Its not like one brand of onions is the same as any other - but because advertisers haven't deemed the marketing of onions to be a worthwhile enterprise, the very idea likely sounds ridiculous to most of us.

Edited March 24, 2009 by Private Pike

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

In more news that has steak-lovers feeling deflated, a study published in this week's issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine finds that people who indulge in high amounts of red meat and processed meats, including steak, bacon, sausage and cold cuts, have an increased risk of death from cancer and heart disease. The findings add power to the growing push — by health officials, environmentalists and even some chefs — to cool America's love affair with meat.

The analysis of more than half a million Americans between the ages of 50 and 71 found that men in the highest quintile of red-meat consumption — those who ate about 5 ounces of red meat a day, or roughly the equivalent of a small steak, according to lead author Rashmi Sinha — had a 31% higher risk of death over a 10-year period than men in the lowest consumption quintile, who ate less than 1 ounce of red meat per day, or approximately three slices of ham. Men in the top fifth also had a 22% higher risk of dying of cancer and a 27% higher risk of dying of heart disease. In women, the figures were starker: women in the highest quintile of consumption had a 36% increased 10-year risk of death compared with women who ate little red meat; eating lots of meat was also associated with a 20% higher risk of dying of cancer and a 50% higher risk of dying of heart disease. (Read "A History of Beef, Times Two".)

Oh dear!

I pretty much cut out red meat - we hardly eat it at all anymore, unless we go out to a steakhouse.

Only meat I eat is chicken or fish - and that's when I can be bothered to cook. Whenever I go to the gym - I just make a salad or have hummus with cold veggies.

In point of fact one of the worst things to eat is actually bread, pasta, or anything that has complex carbohydrates. You wouldn't think so but those things actually have a big impact on cholesterol - perhaps more so than the red meat.

[Ladylethal 12]

I know that all too well, I don't eat a lot of fried food or tons of meat but love bread and pasta and my cholesterol is elevated.

And true we won't see an onion brand commercial but back home we have commercials for markets specialized in selling fresh veggies, and these type of markets are big there.

I also don't think it helps to have a commercial now saying HFCS isn't bad in moderation, I mean, I'm sure it's not the devil and everything industrialized must be just as bad but a commercial to say it's just as bad as sugar? Shouldn't it be common knowledge that beverages filled with sugar/HFCS that can be stored for a year in a box can't be the same as drinking a fresh fruit beverage or fresh milk beverage?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I know that all too well, I don't eat a lot of fried food or tons of meat but love bread and pasta and my cholesterol is elevated.

And true we won't see an onion brand commercial but back home we have commercials for markets specialized in selling fresh veggies, and these type of markets are big there.

I also don't think it helps to have a commercial now saying HFCS isn't bad in moderation, I mean, I'm sure it's not the devil and everything industrialized must be just as bad but a commercial to say it's just as bad as sugar? Shouldn't it be common knowledge that beverages filled with sugar/HFCS that can be stored for a year in a box can't be the same as drinking a fresh fruit beverage or fresh milk beverage?

Yeah really - its like trying to justify why your food needs to be laced with industrially processed additivies.

I've seen containers of MSG crystals in supermarkets here - that chit is disgusting.

[Nagishkaw 510]

I just lost my appetite.

[mkg265 2]

Only adds I see about healthy eating is the Got Milk campaign and now the egg one.

We've all become conditioned to silly advertising strategies for product gimmicks (like the idea that PG pyramid tea bags actually brew a better cup of tea), but its hard to imagine a TV ad extolling the virtues of a certain brand of onions, for example.

I mean - quality of fresh produce can vary quite considerably between different suppliers and retailers, depending on the quality standards employed. Its not like one brand of onions is the same as any other - but because advertisers haven't deemed the marketing of onions to be a worthwhile enterprise, the very idea likely sounds ridiculous to most of us.

The genius marketing guy behind the "Got Milk" ads actually made a marketing campaign for California fresh chicken. Between chicken plants their is very little difference in product. He created an ad campaign around comedy to sell the product. The book he wrote was "Truth, Lies, and Advertising" He was the top ad man in Britain before he defected for more money in the US.

Well, I wasn't really trying to fear monger, but it still seems slightly mad to me that food production is so ad hoc and rarely based on nutritional requirements. If we could make some changes now, it would be possible to continue to have an interesting and varied diet while cutting back on wasteful production techniques etc. Leave things as they stand and who knows what the future might bring?

Prof. Marion Nestle, is that you?

[Peikko 1,575]

Marketing campaigns in the UK are certainly more subtle

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Only adds I see about healthy eating is the Got Milk campaign and now the egg one.

We've all become conditioned to silly advertising strategies for product gimmicks (like the idea that PG pyramid tea bags actually brew a better cup of tea), but its hard to imagine a TV ad extolling the virtues of a certain brand of onions, for example.

I mean - quality of fresh produce can vary quite considerably between different suppliers and retailers, depending on the quality standards employed. Its not like one brand of onions is the same as any other - but because advertisers haven't deemed the marketing of onions to be a worthwhile enterprise, the very idea likely sounds ridiculous to most of us.

The genius marketing guy behind the "Got Milk" ads actually made a marketing campaign for California fresh chicken. Between chicken plants their is very little difference in product. He created an ad campaign around comedy to sell the product. The book he wrote was "Truth, Lies, and Advertising" He was the top ad man in Britain before he defected for more money in the US.

It is true though - you can sell anything. Half of the new products on the market (like the aforementioned tea bags) are little more than gimmicks.

Some of the stuff is just total ####### and its obscene how much money goes into marketing them. Have you seen the ads for that scrubbing bubbles shower cleaner?

It looked like total ####### to me (as if anything less than getting in the shower with a sponge and a bottle of bathroom cleaner is going to do the job for you) but a lot of people bought it.

Marketing campaigns in the UK are certainly more subtle

Did you see the one for John West salmon a few years ago - hilarious.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Not to mention the poisonous toxins in that #######.

[Peikko 1,575]

No, sadly not. I actually really miss the TV ads. I find that a tough pill to swallow, but it's true