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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNYT: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food
A long read, but worth it for anyone who eats.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
...
As he spoke, Mudd clicked through a deck of slides 114 in all projected on a large screen behind him. The figures were staggering. More than half of American adults were now considered overweight, with nearly one-quarter of the adult population 40 million people clinically defined as obese. Among children, the rates had more than doubled since 1980, and the number of kids considered obese had shot past 12 million. (This was still only 1999; the nations obesity rates would climb much higher.) Food manufacturers were now being blamed for the problem from all sides academia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society. The secretary of agriculture, over whom the industry had long held sway, had recently called obesity a national epidemic.
Mudd then did the unthinkable. He drew a connection to the last thing in the world the C.E.O.s wanted linked to their products: cigarettes. First came a quote from a Yale University professor of psychology and public health, Kelly Brownell, who was an especially vocal proponent of the view that the processed-food industry should be seen as a public health menace: As a culture, weve become upset by the tobacco companies advertising to children, but we sit idly by while the food companies do the very same thing. And we could make a claim that the toll taken on the public health by a poor diet rivals that taken by tobacco.
...
What happened next was not written down. But according to three participants, when Mudd stopped talking, the one C.E.O. whose recent exploits in the grocery store had awed the rest of the industry stood up to speak. His name was Stephen Sanger, and he was also the person as head of General Mills who had the most to lose when it came to dealing with obesity. Under his leadership, General Mills had overtaken not just the cereal aisle but other sections of the grocery store. The companys Yoplait brand had transformed traditional unsweetened breakfast yogurt into a veritable dessert. It now had twice as much sugar per serving as General Mills marshmallow cereal Lucky Charms. And yet, because of yogurts well-tended image as a wholesome snack, sales of Yoplait were soaring, with annual revenue topping $500 million. Emboldened by the success, the companys development wing pushed even harder, inventing a Yoplait variation that came in a squeezable tube perfect for kids. They called it Go-Gurt and rolled it out nationally in the weeks before the C.E.O. meeting. (By years end, it would hit $100 million in sales.)
arcane1
(38,613 posts)I'm replying now to keep the thread kicked. Back to the article!
RainDog
(28,784 posts)Atman
(31,464 posts)Interesting, even if you think you know much of this stuff.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
ErikJ
(6,335 posts)Bottom line: They are terrified of sin-Junk Food taxes. But that's what's needed. Junk food can be worse for health than cigs or alcohol which have both been sin-taxed for decades. No wonder they are talking about tobacco comparisons.
Stuart G
(38,427 posts)This quote is from that book.
.It is an incredible book
Here is a review:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/books/salt-sugar-fat-by-michael-moss.html?pagewanted=all
a second review:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/feb/24/salt-sugar-fat-moss-review
TeamPooka
(24,226 posts)fascinating and scary
young_at_heart
(3,767 posts)"By years end, it would hit $100 million in sales." Money/profit is more important than anything!
Stuart G
(38,427 posts)It was posted in April if you link to it, you get the interview
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017109732
daleanime
(17,796 posts)postulater
(5,075 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)I cook fresh every day, and I mean everything. (Well almost, a few things I don't, gluten free bread and pizza crust is nasty) but things like pasta sauce, I make it at home. It's easy. The same for pizza sauce. Rarely we get the one in the bottle. I can taste the salt in that.
This goes for many other products. But we don't eat much commercial food. When we go out, I can taste the extra salt. It is nasty stuff actually once you get unused to it. And the same goes for soda. When we rarely get it, it's just too filling. It's the gas.
Cha
(297,240 posts)anything other than slow organic food for decades.
Glad this being brought to light, though.. the more who are cognizant of this the better. First Lady Michelle Obama had her work cut out for her.
thanks Scuba
scarletlib
(3,411 posts)Javaman
(62,530 posts)I never tell people how to raise their kids that's their business, but they fed their kids (ages 10 and 5) only crap junk food. They made the claim that they were "fussy" eaters. Granted kids tend to have very selective tastes, but their diet consisted more of sugar than of actual food. I already see the underpinnings of food related issues later on when they are adults. The mom, really wasn't all that much better and does have food "issues".
They are good kids and I hated to see what is happening to them.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)TeamPooka
(24,226 posts)LWolf
(46,179 posts)And we wonder why we have an epidemic of obesity and type II diabetes. Can we get anything we don't make ourselves that doesn't come with sugar?
malaise
(269,004 posts)We don't eat junk.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)going to finally understand that the first step in a healthy diet is to not eat any of this crap. At all. Ever.
And here's even worse news for them. After ridding your body of the burden of processing all this shit, in a very short time you will begin to see and feel the results.