The endlessly repeating process of defining health goals for the next ten years continues and the Department of Health and Human Services is now (or will be when the shutdown ends) collecting comments on draft objectives.

You can see the list of categories here.

That site also has links to the history of the objectives (which dates to 1979) and how the whole process works.

The point of the objectives is to set highly specific, measurable goals for health improvement, so that progress toward attaining the goals (or the lack thereof) can be tracked.

Here, for example, are the first two in the Nutrition section:

Lisa R. Young.  Finally Full, Finally Slim: 30 Days to Permanent Weight Loss One Portion at a Time.  Center Street, 2019.

I don’t usually write about diet books, but Lisa Young did her doctorate with me and I have followed her subsequent career with great interest.  She has taught for years in my NYU department and has a lively private practice counseling clients about weight loss and other nutrition issues.

Her book explains what works best with her clients.  She must be fun to work with.  The writing is warm, friendly, and to the point.  Her advice is easy and sensible: eat what you like (especially of healthy foods), just not too much.   She is generous with tips about how to deal with parties, restaurants, and other challenging situations, what she categorizes as “slices of advice,” “bite-size goodies,” and “wedges of wisdom.”

Her main focus is on portion control:

Portion control is like a classic wardrobe: It never goes out of style.  It’s not a trendy fad but a proven method for healthful living.  When you enjoy balanced meals and nutritious foods in appropriate portion sizes, you can get off the weight-loss merry-go-found.  So go ahead and enjoy a glass of wine or an occasional ice cream cone (a single scoop!).  Eat brown rice, quinoa, and other healthy carbs.  It’s not only okay.  It’s the best way to achieve long-term weight loss and maintenance.

Good advice, and easy to take.

No wonder its getting such great press.

• She’s on the cover of the January 2 New York Post, with much more about the book on pages 25, 26, and 27.
• Here’s an interview Lisa did in September.
• And here’s one she just did with Diet Detective.

Here are a few examples of the latest trends in snack products in the U.S. and Europe, culled from articles in FoodNavigator.com.  The purpose of these products is to make money for their manufacturers, the more the better.

Lots of interest in insects and worms these days….

• Bugs are big business for tomorrow’s snacks, says PepsiCo; calls for ideas: The Doritos and Cheetos maker is capitalizing on the growing insect and plant-based protein trend, and has called for novel protein ideas to use in its snacks. Read more
•  NPD trend tracker: Insect snacks, fruit desserts and soft Skittles: UK retailer Sainsbury’s creates a buzz with beer snack bugs, French jam brand Bonne Maman moves into the chilled dessert category and Mars France removes Skittles’ crunchy coating. Here is our round-up of some of Europe’s most interesting recent product launches. Read more
• NPD trend tracker: Plant-based fish, buckwheat biscuits and convenient cups: US brand Loma Linda debuts in the UK with a range of products including a seafood-free tuna alternative (‘Tuno’); the importance of on-the-go and convenience trends is evident in Euryza’s new range of rice cups in Germany; while the ‘craft’ craze continues to sweep France with the introduction of buckwheat biscuits. Here is FoodNavigator’s weekly round-up of some of the most interesting product launches to hit Europe. Read more
•  New product trend tracker: From the ‘biggest’ pig in a blanket to consumer-designed chocolate: This week’s round up of some of the most interesting products rolling out across Europe gets festive with the ‘biggest’ pig in a blanket available in the UK this Christmas. We also hear from crowd-sourced innovation platform C’est Qui Le Patron, while Nestle launches more ruby chocolate products. Read more
•  NPD trend tracker: From worm bars to ‘healthy’ confectionery balls: The latest products hitting the shelves in Europe reflect the concerns of an increasingly adventurous consumer base. Recent introductions range from celebrity-backed protein bars made from worms to better-for-you confectionery balls that are made without added sugar. Read more

Yum (?)

The Government Accountability Office has just published a report on memory supplements.

Available data indicate that memory supplements constitute a small segment of the overall dietary supplement market, but their sales nearly doubled in value from 2006 to 2015, increasing from $353 million to $643 million. Consumers searching to prevent or treat age-related memory loss, including Alzheimer’s disease, have increasingly turned to dietary supplements for help.

What did the GAO do?

This report examines the extent to which selected memory supplements contained: (1) their stated ingredients at the quantities stated on their labels and specific adulterants, and (2) certain contaminants.

Uh oh.  Never mind whether memory supplements do any good (a dubious claim).  They don’t even contain what they claim to contain:

• One product, marketed as Ginkgo biloba, did not contain that ingredient. Instead it contained an unknown substitute; as such the safety of the product is unknown.
• The second product was marketed as a supplement that included Ginkgo biloba. It also contained an unknown substitute, instead of Ginkgo biloba.
• The third product, marketed as a fish oil supplement, contained the stated ingredients.

Supplement products, you will recall, are essentially unregulated, by Congressional fiat (see the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994).

Since none of these supplements has been shown to improve memory, what’s in them only matters if it causes safety problems.  Fortunately, the study found contaminants to be a low levels.

When it comes to dietary supplements, caveat emptor.

Trump’s USDA has issued final rules for labeling food products of biotechnology, commonly known to all of us as GMOs.

Since GMOs have taken on a pejorative—Frankenfood—connotation, the USDA wanted to fix that.  And did it ever.

It drops GMOs, and substitutes “Bioengineered.”

Its logo depicts food biotechnology as sun shining on agriculture.And the rules have a loophole big enough to exclude lots of products from having to carry this logo: those made with highly refined GMO sugars, starches and oils made from GMO soybeans and sugar beets.

If the products do not contain detectable levels of DNA, they are exempt.  Never mind that GMO/bioengineered is a production issue.

When Just Label It was advocating for informing the public about GMOs, this was hardly what it had in mind.

Count this as a win for the GMO industry.

Christopher Gardner, the Stanford scientist who studies the ways various dietary patterns affect body weight, sent me this study to add to my post-book collection (I wrote about such things in Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat, just out).

Soon after Dr. Gardner sent this to me, I read about this study in DairyReporter.com.  Its account had this headline: “Mediterranean diet with added dairy shown to improve heart health in Australia.”  It said nothing about funding source (it should have).

The study:

Title: A Mediterranean diet supplemented with dairy foods improves markers of cardiovascular risk: results from the MedDairy randomized controlled trial.  Alexandra T Wade, Courtney R Davis, Kathryn A Dyer, Jonathan M Hodgson, Richard J Woodman, and Karen J Murphy.  Am J Clin Nutr 2018;108:1166–1182.

Rationale: The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) “may not meet Western recommendations for calcium and dairy intake.”  Translation: Australians don’t eat enough dairy foods.

Objective: Determine the effect of a MedDiet supplemented with dairy foods (MedDairy) on blood pressure and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Design:  The study compared the effects of consuming two different diets, (1) a MedDiet with 3–4 daily servings of dairy (MedDairy) versus (2) a lowfat control diet (LowFat).

Results: Participants on MedDairy reduced their blood pressure and other CVD risk factors.

Conclusion:  “The MedDiet supplemented with dairy may be appropriate for an improvement in cardiovascular risk factors in a population at risk of CVD.”

Funding: “Supported by a Dairy Australia Research Grant.”

Dr. Gardner’s comments: the study does not compare the MedDiet to MedDairy.  Instead, it compares MedDairy to LowFat—whatever people habitually eat, but restricted in fat.

In this study, compared to the LowFat group, the MedDairy group ate:

•  More fat
•  Less refined grain
•  More legumes
•  Less red meat
•  More meat substitutes
•  More nuts and seeds
•  And, yes, more dairy (mostly yogurt)

Even so, the LowFat group lost more fat mass and gained more lean body mass than did the MedDairy group, but the authors do not mention that in the abstract and don’t make a big deal about it.

But they do say this in their discussion:

However, the use of an LF [LowFat] control diet may limit the generalizability of our results, as well as our capacity to evaluate the benefits of adding dairy to a traditional MedDiet.

Precisely.

The World Resources Institute has a new report on how to feed the world in a way that is sustainable.

The report is based on the premise that 56% more food will be needed by 2050.  Given that premise, the unavailability of more land on which to grow food, and the need to mitigate greenhouse gases, the report recommends (among other things) increasing the efficiency of production and managing demand.

I’d like to see some careful evaluations of the basic premise of this report as well as its recommendations, which seem to place a large burden on individuals rather than governments or corporations.  The word “corporation” does not appear in the report; food companies come up only in the context of food waste (a non-controversial issue):

• The full report is here.
• The working papers for each of its recommendations are here.
• The charts are summarized here.

I think this collection of articles from FoodNavigator on the dairy industry is especially clear in revealing three notable trends: (1) the ongoing decline in milk consumption, (2) a more recent decline in yogurt consumption, and (3) an increase in production, availability, and marketing of dairy products high in fat.  Take a look:

 Special Edition: Dairy innovation

It’s been a challenging year for many dairy brands, with continued weakness in fluid milk and yogurt categories and growing competition from dairy-free alternatives. But there has been no shortage of innovation, spanning everything from ‘intentionally less sweet’ high protein yogurt launches to  whole milk and even ‘triple cream’ offerings as fat roars back in some parts of the category.

• Retail sales of French-style yogurt Oui have topped $100m, says General Mills: US retail sales of yogurt have tailed off in the past two years as Greek has lost its luster. But this is just a temporary blip, predicts the president of General Mills’ US yogurt business, who is confident the overall category will return to growth… Read
• Peak Yogurt taps into keto trend with 17% milk fat ‘triple cream’ yogurts: ‘Milk fat is one of nature’s original superfoods’:  Fat is back in the dairy aisles, if the recent proliferation of products touting their whole milk (c. 3.5% milk fat) credentials is anything to go by. But San Francisco-based start-up Peak Yogurt is taking the trend one step further in a bid to carve a niche in the market with ‘triple cream’ yogurts boasting 15-17% milk fat with low or no added sugar that tap into the keto trend… Read
• Tillamook CEO talks dairy innovation and ambitions of reaching $1bn in sales:  Tillamook County Creamery Association has had a loyal regional following in the Pacific Northwest for more than 100 years (founded in 1909), but in order to secure its next 100 years the dairy co-operative needed to execute a national growth strategy set forth by CEO Patrick G. Criteser who has ambitions of hitting $1bn in annual sales… Read
• Whole-fat and convenient merchandising drive dairy sales moving forward, IRI:  Fat has not only become more accepted among consumers but also the focal point of many popular diets such as keto and paleo. As a result, sales of some, not all, whole-fat dairy products are reaping the benefits of a renewed interest in fat influenced by convenient merchandising at retail, according to IRI… Read
• Full fat and Icelandic pockets of growth in lackluster US yogurt market; while flavored milk and lactose-free help offset declines in fluid milk:  US retail sales of yogurt have continued to fall over the past year, although there have been pockets of growth in Icelandic style and full fat products, according to data from Nielsen and SPINS… Read
• American cheesemakers must balance innovation & cost with consumer education to thrive:  Free from the constraints of the appellation d’origine contrôlée that dictate how cheese in Europe is made, American cheese makers are able to add innovative twists to traditional methods to create unique products that meet evolving consumer demand, according to leadership at the American Cheese Society… Read
• Siggi’s launches whole milk Simple Sides, says top line grew 36% in latest 52 weeks:  Icelandic skyr brand siggi’s aims to expand its share of the US yogurt market with a move into the ‘mix-ins’ category via the launch of Simple Sides, a new line of whole milk skyr with a side of dried fruits and nuts containing no added sugar… Read
• Chobani gears up for national rollout of low sugar, high protein, Hint Of yogurts:  Chobani is rolling out its Hint Of… low sugar, high protein, Greek yogurts nationwide in August following a successful debut in the Pacific, Northeast and Florida markets, with ‘new formats’ of the brand hitting stores in January 2019… Read
• Arla introduces skyr cream cheese line: ‘We’re trying to get in early on that adoption curve…’:  It’s not as big as Greek just yet, but the explosive growth of Icelandic skyr in the yogurt aisle could inspire a flurry of skyr-infused spin-offs in other parts of the store, predicts Arla Foods Inc, which has recently launched a skyr cream cheese in the US market with three times the protein and just over half the calories of regular cream cheese… Read
• General Mills unveils ‘intentionally less sweet’ YQ by Yoplait: ‘It’s unlike anything that exists in the yogurt aisle today’:  Following on from the success of its French-style yogurt Oui, General Mills has unveiled YQ by Yoplait, a 99% lactose-free yogurt made with ultra-filtered milk (milk filtered to concentrate the protein and reduce the lactose/milk sugar) that “delivers big on protein with an intentionally less sweet taste.”.. Read
• Ample Hills Creamery hopes square pints will build brand awareness, loyalty and community:  By thinking inside the box, the husband and wife duo behind Brooklyn-based ice cream company Ample Hills Creamery hopes to better connect consumers to each other and the brand with the launch of unique square-shaped pints at retail… Read
• Got milk? Yes, but not as we used to know it, Jim:  While sales of plain dairy milk have been declining for years, and US yogurt production has dropped off after peaking in 2014, new data shows the continued growth of cheese, butter, and ready-to-drink coffee, yogurt drinks and protein beverages featuring dairy milk, suggesting that the growing interest in all things plant-based has not prompted a mass consumer exodus away from dairy, but that consumption habits are changing… Read
• Plant-based and dairy drive growth in yogurt side-by-side, Danone exec says:  While still growing at a healthy clip, the yogurt category is slowing slightly – but Danone North America still sees significant potential for the segment, especially related to options that are plant-based, lower in sugar, packed with science-back probiotic strains and dairy-based, according to a top company executive… Read
• Children are drinking less milk and juice as they get older… But what are they drinking instead?  New government data* shows that water accounted for 43.7% of beverage consumption among US kids aged 2-19 in the period 2013-2016, followed by milk (21.5%), soft drinks (19.9%), and 100% juice (7.3%)… Read
• a2 Milk rolls out at Walmart: ‘It’s a real validation of our business proposition’:  Tummy-friendly brand a2 Milk is now in more than 6,000 stores in the US, including Walmart. However, the reception from the wider dairy industry has been “lukewarm at best,” claims its US CEO Blake Waltrip: ‘There’s an irrational fear that this is somehow going to vilify milk, when in fact it’s going to bring consumers back to milk.”.. Read