MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'food politics'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:28:38 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3307122&cid=t_107064_167_f&fid=38576&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.drbriffa.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F02%2F25%2Fthe-meaningless-and-misleading-nature-of-food-health-claims%2F On Tuesday I was giving a presentation, and part of my advice was for individuals to avoid eating much in the way of processed food, including those emblazoned with health-related claims. Terms such as ‘low fat’, ‘low cholesterol’, and ‘high in fibre’ are misleading, to begin with, because these qualities have dubious health benefits (if [...] (Source: Dr John Biffa's Blog) Dr John Biffa's Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3307122 Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:37:19 +0100 3307122 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1933226&cid=t_107064_93_f&fid=34899&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mexicomedstudent.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fpalinhouseofchina.flv Is it about Obama being a turban-headed Muslim terrorist?  Is it about Palin’s $150,000 wardrobe that ostensibly will go to charity afterwards?  Is it about McCain’s gorilla-rape joke? No, no, it’s none of these silly, misguided attack ads. This “my friends” is about a Palin impersonator shilling for a CHINESE BUFFET RESTAURANT: What is not evident in the video above is the fact that, like many buffets of this caliber, it’s mostly full of grease-laden crap bearing no resemblance to fresh, bright Chinese food of any kind.  It’s so catering to the fried-chicken crowd that it even sports a drive-through. I kid you not. With the commercial and the food, clever gimmicks and bad substitutes go hand-in-hand. And there is no lack of people willing to ... Mexico Medical Student blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1933226 Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:30:15 +0100 1933226 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1455611&cid=t_107064_167_f&fid=36991&url=http%3A%2F%2Fefoodalert.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Fwhy-fda-needs-mandatory-recall.html Why FDA Needs Mandatory Recall AuthorityIn 2007, 70 people in 19 states became infected with Salmonella Schwartzengrund. The first confirmed cases were reported in May in Pennsylvania. One month later, infections with the outbreak strain of Salmonella had turned up in Ohio and several other states.Based on information uncovered by Pennsylvania health authorities and the CDC, suspicion fell on dry dog food as the source of the multi-state outbreak. Hot on the scent of the common link, investigators sampled 13 dog stool samples and 22 samples of dry dog food – and found the outbreak strain of Salmonella Schwartzengrund in 5 of the stools and in 2 dog food samples.The implicated dog food was manufactured in the Pennsylvania plant of Mars Petcare. Pennsylvania Department of Health inspectors... eFoodAlert.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1455611 Thu, 15 May 2008 19:49:00 +0100 1455611 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1173107&cid=t_107064_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2008%2F1%2F24%2Fmercury-in-our-food.html By Dov Michaeli MD, Ph.DRemember the Mad Hatter in Louis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland”? Why should a hatter be mad (insane, not angry)? Because the felt of the hats in old England was cured in mercury, and the hatters were chronically exposed to mercury fumes. They developed the classical symptoms of mercury poisoning: neurological damage, confused speech and impaired vision. So far, not so different from your favorite politician. But as concentrations of the poison go up with time, psychosis and hallucinations set in.This little gem came to mind when I read an interesting story in the New York Times. The paper ran a little experiment: they bought sushi in 20 establishments in Manhattan, both sushi bars and high end food stores. Sushi from 5 of the 20 places had mercury... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1173107 Thu, 24 Jan 2008 03:46:39 +0100 1173107 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=802199&cid=t_107064_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F8%2F16%2Fin-mcdonalds-vs-kids-guess-whos-ahead.html Brian Klepper Here's news to warm the heart of every fast food executive, but that, if the world were a sensible place, should jolt parents, school administrators and non-food industry business leaders out of their nutritional malaise. The New York Times reported this morning on a small sample taste test with 63 children ages 3-5. When presented with different foods - hamburgers, chicken nuggets, french fries, carrots - the kids invariably thought the ones in McDonald's packaging tasted better.Naturally, the McDonald's people were thrilled, and at the ready with corporate spin. The goal, you see, is to have kids associate good tasting foods with McDonald's, and then McDonald's will gradually introduce foods that aren't so terrible  for them.  Clever, huh? From the article:Wa... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=802199 Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:36:25 +0100 802199 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=749640&cid=t_107064_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F7%2F20%2Fbetter-food-ads-for-kids-is-it-a-step-in-the-right-direction.html This article motivated me to dig a bit deeper. According to a press release found on the CBBB’s website, the eleven companies* participating in its Childrens Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, have“pledged to focus essentially all of their advertising primarily directed to children under 12 on products meeting better-for-you standards or refrain from advertising to that age group.” (Better-for you, compared to what?? … the high sugar, high fat they were advertising to kids before?). Steven J Cole, President and CEO of the CBBB goes on to day, “These expansive commitments significantly exceed the Initiative’s baseline requirements.” The PledgesHere are some of the pledges:McDonalds:All advertising primarily directed to children under 12... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=749640 Sun, 22 Jul 2007 21:22:33 +0100 749640 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=682487&cid=t_107064_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F6%2F18%2Ffarm-bill-or-healthy-food-bill.html Thanks heavens, the Farm Bill is finally getting the attention of the healthcare community. In case you can’t make the link here are some equations:Cheap corn = cheap high fructose corn syrup = fat = diabesity.Pesticides + chemical fertilizers = toxic soil and toxic water I could go on and on, but you get the point. Michael Pollan, journalist and author of the best-selling book, "The Omnivore’s Dilemma," summed it up nicely in his April 22, 2007  NY Times opinion piece, "You Are What You Grow":“Compared with a bunch of carrots, a package of Twinkies, to take one iconic processed foodlike substance as an example, is a highly complicated, high-tech piece of manufacture, involving no fewer than 39 ingredients, many themselves elaborately manufactured... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=682487 Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:56:07 +0100 682487 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=599608&cid=t_107064_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthbolt.net%2F2007%2F05%2F07%2Fup-to-15-of-usda-certified-chicken-weight-is-fecal-soup%2F Mmmm, makes your stomach growl, right? Fecal soup is exactly what it sounds like, and it’s getting the rest of the world in a three-way row with U.S. chicken producers and the USDA. It’s The Jungle all over again at eXile, which is running a super-gross story on the condition of the U.S. poultry industry, and why the rest of the world’s won’t eat what like to deep fry and slather in honey-mustard. In August of last year, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a non-profit organization comprised of 5,000 physicians and more than 100,000 supporting members, filed a petition with the US Department of Agriculture to warn the public about the health hazards posed by American-raised poultry, and to urge the government take measures to clean it up. Specifically... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=599608 Mon, 07 May 2007 20:40:04 +0100 599608 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=564152&cid=t_107064_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F4%2F23%2Feat-green.html Did you know that 10 percent of the energy consumed in this country (~100 billion gallons of oil per year) is used to grow our foods? And 14% of that astounding number is related to transporting foods from where it is grown to where it is eaten? Another 1/3 of the energy related to producing food is related to the manufacture of fertilizers.  The SF Chronicle, in a supplement to celebrate Earth Day, published an article to help readers Eat Green.  Entitled, "Are You Gorging on Fossil Fuels?" the article , written by Carol Ness, provides some, well, food for thought...and hopefully it will spur you to action.  Here are some of the tips from that article:Eat local.  You can save tons of energy by eating foods grown within 100 to 150 miles of where... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=564152 Tue, 24 Apr 2007 01:49:31 +0100 564152 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=552824&cid=t_107064_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthbolt.net%2F2007%2F04%2F18%2Fquaker-oats-backs-down-on-health-claims%2F Chicken Little The Center for Science in the Public Interest has cowed Quaker Oats with threat of litigation. They think the company is marketing their oats recklessly. CSPI released this statement earlier: The Quaker Oats Company has agreed to drop certain claims on labels and in advertising that the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says exaggerated the health benefits of eating oatmeal. Quaker will no longer describe its oatmeal as a “unique” whole grain food that “actively finds” cholesterol and removes it from the body, and will no longer display a graph that greatly exaggerated the cholesterol-lowering potential of oatmeal. In turn, CSPI will not file a lawsuit that it warned Quaker company about in October. “Oatmeal is a healthy food, but... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=552824 Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:37:00 +0100 552824 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=500351&cid=t_107064_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F3%2F25%2Fthe-obesity-epidemic-again.html Yes, I know. We’ve all read these articles ad nauseam. And we all are in agreement, so what’s more to say? As Chris Matthews would say: tell me something I don’t know. Try this, Chris. Today on NPR was this news item: · If current trends continue, over 50% of the population (that’s everybody, adults and children) would be obese or morbidly obese by the middle of the century. · Babies as young as 2 years old are now being seen in hospitals and clinics with severe obesity and diabetes type 2. · An 880 lbs (that’s not a typo) man had to be taken to the hospital. It required 16 men (and I don’t mean girlie-men) to move him, a part of the house had to be demolished, and a specially constructed vehicle/ambulance had to be used. Question: w... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=500351 Mon, 26 Mar 2007 02:01:42 +0100 500351