Starting Off With the Anomaly…

Then off to reality… Many Americans (including this author) prefer or at least appreciate the increasing mandates for calorie disclosure, lower sodium in the foods, and slew of other potential regulations. Others find complaining to be the best supporter of their lazy lifestyles. They throw out unsubstantiated concerns about regulations turning the FDA (and the government) into the dreaded Big Brother, while continuing to gluttonously pack on the pounds and dangerous health issues associated with them.

While I’m not one to judge which category or shade of gray in between you may fall under, the Washington Post wants you to stop eating processed foods and stick to ones that have “curves.”

The CSPI made a list of heart attacks on a plate a.k.a. winners of their bad food awards:

• Bob Evans’ Cinnamon Cream Stacked & Stuffed Hotcakes – 1,380 calories and 34 grams of saturated fat. Syrup adds another 200 calories for every four-tablespoon serving.
• California Pizza Kitchen’s Tostada Pizza with Grilled Steak – 1,680 calories, 32 grams of saturated fat, and more than 3,300 mg of sodium.
• California Pizza Kitchen’s Pesto Cream Penne – 1,350 calories, 49 grams of saturated fat, and 1,920 mg of sodium.
• Five Guys’ Bacon Cheeseburger – 920 calories and 30 grams of saturated fat. A large order of French fries at Five Guys adds 1,460 calories.
• P.F. Chang’s Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo – 1,820 calories and 7,690 milligrams of sodium.
• The Cheesecake Factory’s Pasta Carbonara with Chicken – 2,500 calories and 85 grams of saturated fat.
• The Cheesecake Factory’s Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake – 1,670 calories and 48 grams of saturated fat. 

• Outback’s New Zealand Lamb – 1,820 calories, 80 grams of saturated fat, and 2,600 mg of sodium.
• Chevys’ Crab & Shrimp Quesadilla – 1,790 calories, 63g of saturated fat, and 3,440 mg of sodium.

Is Paula Dean the chef at ALL of these places?

Danger! High Cholesterol and Diabetes Ahead

Just as the “Smart Choice” label might make you more inclined to buy a product, the Korea Food and Drug and Administration is looking to label more than 70 percent of hamburgers and chocolate as unhealthy (read: danger!).

“The Korea Food and Drug Administration revealed a draft plan for its system, under which depending on the amount of unhealthy ingredients in food products, three labels — colored red, yellow or green — will be attached to the packaging of food items.

“It is the minimal standards that we ‘recommend.’ We will see whether it is an effective measure or not. We will, then, decide whether to make it mandatory or further expand it. We have tried to solicit opinions from companies,” Park [Hye-kyung, director of the nutrition policy division at the KFDA] said.

Called the “traffic light label system,” the plan focuses mainly on the amounts of fat, saturated fat, sugars and sodium contained in certain products.”

How can the health of the population not be mandatory? What’s the point of passing the legislation in the first place? Why wouldn’t you give U.S. FDA inspectors carte blanche to recall contaminated food rather than the motherly slap on the wrist. The Food Modernization Act, currently stalwart in the Senate, would give the FDA power to force a recall and avoid disasters like the recent bagged lettuce E.coli catastrophe.

Not only should the U.S. adopt a similar labeling system as the above, it should be mandatory for every food manufacturer that receives FDA approval.

The general trend is that, the lower your household income, the more likely you are to eat fast food or other processed foods because they provide a much larger calorie punch for the buck… Fair enough. But for those Americans who choose to eat unhealthily, sit on welfare and drain our tax dollars for medical expenses simply due to the fact that they are not responsible enough for themselves and their children to have healthy eating habits, perhaps an “Avoid” label would help those that need help make better diet decisions.

As If The Food Weren’t Bad Enough..

We go to the hospital for treatments, checkups, surgeries, and emergencies with the trust that the nurses, doctors, and staff know what they’re doing and have our best interest in mind. As if you aren’t sick enough when admitted, the food might make you.

“State health officials suspect food poisoning caused the deaths of three patients this weekend at Pineville’s Central State Hospital..

Two patients of the state hospital remain hospitalized Saturday night at Huey P. Long Medical Center in Pineville. A total of 11 patients and four staff members were treated at Huey P. Long for possible food-poisoning symptoms.

‘At the moment our hearts and our prayers go out to the three folks that we’ve lost,’ Levine said. ‘Our mission and our goal is that we want to serve people and make their lives better. Obviously, we are all heartbroken when you have an outcome like this.’ ”

Test results in the next few days will determine if the deaths were related to foodborne pathogens and Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine said that they believe this is an isolated incident since the food came from a local source.

Officials are speculating that an ingredient in the chicken salad could be to blame. My comment above might be controversial, but, whether it’s the local producer’s fault or the hospital’s for improper storage of the food/preparation/etc., three people died. If food poisoning really is to blame, then the current FDA reform bill in the Senate will need to include serious oversight and consequences for those who don’t care enough to take the necessary food safety measures, especially when serving food to the (at least briefly) immunocompromised.