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Informing the Public about Food

Author : United States. General Accounting Office

Publisher :

Page : 84 pages

File Size : 46,86 MB

Release : 1982

Category : Consumer education

ISBN :

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Book Description

Abstract: Problems facing the Federal Government in its efforts to improve food information systems are reviewed. The report includes an introduction on factors (external and internal) that influence food choices and federal food information programs (125 programs in 42 agencies). Examples of alternative approaches (for establishing a food information strategy) developed by other countries are Sweden's food information policy and the Nethelands' food-labeling approach. A framework for developing a food information strategy is presented; conclusions, recommendations and agency (HHS, USDA, and FTC) comments are described. Appendices include summaries of pertinent reports, organizations contacted, and letters from the other agencies. (rkm).



Ensuring Safe Food

Author : Institute of Medicine and National Research Council

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 208 pages

File Size : 17,63 MB

Release : 1998-08-19

Category : Medical

ISBN : 0309173973

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Book Description

How safe is our food supply? Each year the media report what appears to be growing concern related to illness caused by the food consumed by Americans. These food borne illnesses are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, pesticide residues, and food additives. Recent actions taken at the federal, state, and local levels in response to the increase in reported incidences of food borne illnesses point to the need to evaluate the food safety system in the United States. This book assesses the effectiveness of the current food safety system and provides recommendations on changes needed to ensure an effective science-based food safety system. Ensuring Safe Food discusses such important issues as: What are the primary hazards associated with the food supply? What gaps exist in the current system for ensuring a safe food supply? What effects do trends in food consumption have on food safety? What is the impact of food preparation and handling practices in the home, in food services, or in production operations on the risk of food borne illnesses? What organizational changes in responsibility or oversight could be made to increase the effectiveness of the food safety system in the United States? Current concerns associated with microbiological, chemical, and physical hazards in the food supply are discussed. The book also considers how changes in technology and food processing might introduce new risks. Recommendations are made on steps for developing a coordinated, unified system for food safety. The book also highlights areas that need additional study. Ensuring Safe Food will be important for policymakers, food trade professionals, food producers, food processors, food researchers, public health professionals, and consumers.



Food Politics

Author : Marion Nestle

Publisher : Univ of California Press

Page : 537 pages

File Size : 30,56 MB

Release : 2013-05-14

Category : Cooking

ISBN : 0520955064

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Book Description

We all witness, in advertising and on supermarket shelves, the fierce competition for our food dollars. In this engrossing exposé, Marion Nestle goes behind the scenes to reveal how the competition really works and how it affects our health. The abundance of food in the United States--enough calories to meet the needs of every man, woman, and child twice over--has a downside. Our over-efficient food industry must do everything possible to persuade people to eat more--more food, more often, and in larger portions--no matter what it does to waistlines or well-being. Like manufacturing cigarettes or building weapons, making food is big business. Food companies in 2000 generated nearly $900 billion in sales. They have stakeholders to please, shareholders to satisfy, and government regulations to deal with. It is nevertheless shocking to learn precisely how food companies lobby officials, co-opt experts, and expand sales by marketing to children, members of minority groups, and people in developing countries. We learn that the food industry plays politics as well as or better than other industries, not least because so much of its activity takes place outside the public view. Editor of the 1988 Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health, Nestle is uniquely qualified to lead us through the maze of food industry interests and influences. She vividly illustrates food politics in action: watered-down government dietary advice, schools pushing soft drinks, diet supplements promoted as if they were First Amendment rights. When it comes to the mass production and consumption of food, strategic decisions are driven by economics--not science, not common sense, and certainly not health. No wonder most of us are thoroughly confused about what to eat to stay healthy. An accessible and balanced account, Food Politics will forever change the way we respond to food industry marketing practices. By explaining how much the food industry influences government nutrition policies and how cleverly it links its interests to those of nutrition experts, this path-breaking book helps us understand more clearly than ever before what we eat and why.



The Public Health Effects of Food Deserts

Author : National Research Council

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 114 pages

File Size : 48,63 MB

Release : 2009-07-02

Category : Medical

ISBN : 0309137284

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Book Description

In the United States, people living in low-income neighborhoods frequently do not have access to affordable healthy food venues, such as supermarkets. Instead, those living in "food deserts" must rely on convenience stores and small neighborhood stores that offer few, if any, healthy food choices, such as fruits and vegetables. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) convened a two-day workshop on January 26-27, 2009, to provide input into a Congressionally-mandated food deserts study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. The workshop, summarized in this volume, provided a forum in which to discuss the public health effects of food deserts.



Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States

Author : National Research Council

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 156 pages

File Size : 37,29 MB

Release : 2006-05-02

Category : Medical

ISBN : 0309180368

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Book Description

The United States is viewed by the world as a country with plenty of food, yet not all households in America are food secure, meaning access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. A proportion of the population experiences food insecurity at some time in a given year because of food deprivation and lack of access to food due to economic resource constraints. Still, food insecurity in the United States is not of the same intensity as in some developing countries. Since 1995 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has annually published statistics on the extent of food insecurity and food insecurity with hunger in U.S. households. These estimates are based on a survey measure developed by the U.S. Food Security Measurement Project, an ongoing collaboration among federal agencies, academic researchers, and private organizations. USDA requested the Committee on National Statistics of the National Academies to convene a panel of experts to undertake a two-year study in two phases to review at this 10-year mark the concepts and methodology for measuring food insecurity and hunger and the uses of the measure. In Phase 2 of the study the panel was to consider in more depth the issues raised in Phase 1 relating to the concepts and methods used to measure food security and make recommendations as appropriate. The Committee on National Statistics appointed a panel of 10 experts to examine the above issues. In order to provide timely guidance to USDA, the panel issued an interim Phase 1 report, Measuring Food Insecurity and Hunger: Phase 1 Report. That report presented the panel's preliminary assessments of the food security concepts and definitions; the appropriateness of identifying hunger as a severe range of food insecurity in such a survey-based measurement method; questions for measuring these concepts; and the appropriateness of a household survey for regularly monitoring food security in the U.S. population. It provided interim guidance for the continued production of the food security estimates. This final report primarily focuses on the Phase 2 charge. The major findings and conclusions based on the panel's review and deliberations are summarized.



Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Author : National Research Council

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 107 pages

File Size : 25,92 MB

Release : 2010-01-10

Category : Medical

ISBN : 0309139279

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Book Description

The prevalence of childhood obesity is so high in the United States that it may reduce the life expectancy of today's generation of children. While parents and other adult caregivers play a fundamental role in teaching children about healthy behaviors, even the most positive efforts can be undermined by local environments that are poorly suited to supporting healthy behaviors. For example, many communities lack ready sources of healthy food choices, such as supermarkets and grocery stores. Or they may not provide safe places for children to walk or play. In such communities, even the most motivated child or adolescent may find it difficult to act in healthy ways. Local governments-with jurisdiction over many aspects of land use, food marketing, community planning, transportation, health and nutrition programs, and other community issues-are ideally positioned to promote behaviors that will help children and adolescents reach and maintain healthy weights. Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity presents a number of recommendations that touch on the vital role of government actions on all levels-federal, state, and local-in childhood obesity prevention. The book offers healthy eating and physical activity strategies for local governments to consider, making it an excellent resource for mayors, managers, commissioners, council members, county board members, and administrators.



Global food crises: Monitoring and assessing impact to inform policy responses

Author : Todd Benson, Nicholas Minot, John Pender, Miguel Robles, Joachim von Braun

Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Page : 52 pages

File Size : 17,23 MB

Release : 2008

Category : Social Science

ISBN : 0896295338

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Book Description

Strong upward trends and increased variability in global food prices over the past two years have led to concern that hunger and poverty will increase across the world.



Informing Food and Nutrition Assistance Policy

Author : Priscilla Smith

Publisher : DIANE Publishing

Page : 62 pages

File Size : 10,53 MB

Release : 2009-05

Category : Health & Fitness

ISBN : 1437911056

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Book Description

About 1 in 5 Americans participates in at least one of USDA¿s food and nutrition assistance programs. Sound research is needed to ensure that the programs operate effectively and efficiently. Since 1998, Congress has provided funds to the USDA¿s Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program (FANRP) to study and evaluate the Nation¿s domestic food and nutrition assistance programs. FANRP has become the premier source of food and nutrition assistance research in the U.S., sponsoring over 600 publications on a wide range of topics related to food and nutrition assistance. This report, prepared at the 10-year anniversary of the FANRP program, highlights some of the key research conducted during the program¿s first decade.



Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005

Author : United States. Department of Health and Human Services

Publisher : Government Printing Office

Page : 0 pages

File Size : 43,93 MB

Release : 2005

Category : Diet

ISBN : 9780160723988

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Book Description

"This document is based on the recommendations put forward by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee"--Message from the Secretaries.



Salt Sugar Fat

Author : Michael Moss

Publisher : Signal

Page : 461 pages

File Size : 13,67 MB

Release : 2013-02-26

Category : Business & Economics

ISBN : 0771057091

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Book Description

From a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter at The New York Times comes the troubling story of the rise of the processed food industry -- and how it used salt, sugar, and fat to addict us. Salt Sugar Fat is a journey into the highly secretive world of the processed food giants, and the story of how they have deployed these three essential ingredients, over the past five decades, to dominate the North American diet. This is an eye-opening book that demonstrates how the makers of these foods have chosen, time and again, to double down on their efforts to increase consumption and profits, gambling that consumers and regulators would never figure them out. With meticulous original reporting, access to confidential files and memos, and numerous sources from deep inside the industry, it shows how these companies have pushed ahead, despite their own misgivings (never aired publicly). Salt Sugar Fat is the story of how we got here, and it will hold the food giants accountable for the social costs that keep climbing even as some of the industry's own say, "Enough already."