Diabetes News

I've had a chance to learn more, and I'm now wondering if the concessions that the Kellogg Co. made this week are enough in terms of limiting sugar content in the foods it advertises to kids under age 12.

You see, I was initially really excited about what I perceived to be momentous changes afoot at the Kellogg Co. So I happily, quickly and eagerly announced the agreement here that CSPI had reached with the company after a year and a half of negotiations. (I was in the midst of many things that day so I didn't have time to delve into this extensively. This is a really hectic week for me because of the CBS News Sunday Morning story on sugar and also because I'm in the middle of a move but still haven't found a new place yet.)

Remember to watch CBS News Sunday Morning this Sunday or set your TiVos, because sugar is the topic of its lead story.

Anyhow, I've now had a chance to read this wonderful article from Andrew Martin of the New York Times. He was quite specific about the nutrition guidelines to which the Kellogg Co. agreed.

Of course, as the author SUGAR SHOCK!, I'm interested in the new sugar guidelines. (The agreement also calls for limiting calories, fat and sodium.)

Basically, under the new guidelines, to advertise to children under 12, one serving of cereal must have no more than 12 grams of sugar. That means one serving can have 3 teaspoons of sugar. (To arrive at that figure, you just divide by 4.)

Take for instance, Kellogg's Cocoa Krispie's -- one of my favorites as a child. Well, you learn here that one serving is only 3/4 cup. So that means the cereal company can't advertise this cereal to children under 12 because it has 14 grams of sugar (3.5 tsp.) in one serving.

Americans, wake up to your real taste buds! Don't get lured or lulled into clamoring for sickeningly sweet, sugar-packed cereals, candies, yogurts, vitamin-spiked waters, protein bars and other foods.

All you need are naturally sweet fabulous treats from Mother Nature -- foods like organic, luscious strawberries, blueberries, apples, cherries, peaches, cherry tomatoes, red peppers, jicama, red snap peas, sweet potatoes, etc.

Besides, these delicious, natural, fiber-filled goodies -- which you can pick or pluck from trees or out of the ground -- are much more healthy for you and full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. as I point out in my book SUGAR SHOCK!

The reason I have American tastebuds on my mind is because yesterday I spent much of the day Friday with a crew from CBS News (as I mentioned yesterday) and I was pointing to the unnaturally high sugar content in many packaged foods available today -- something that's not only completely unnecessary, but also quite harmful to millions. (Stay tuned, because CBS News Sunday Morning is airing an 8-to-9-minute story about sugar next Sunday, June 17. I'll give you details shortly.)

Back to American tastebuds. So this morning, after resting up from my long day and week getting ready for my interview with CBS, I received a humorous reminder of the horribly sweet cereals now heavily promoted when a Google Alert notified me that Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes fame is gung-ho about a fictional cereal, Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs.

Indeed, thanks to Topher's Castle, a creative, fun site for "Topher's Breakfast Cereal Character Guide," you can learn that:

"Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes fame has been known to eat Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs which Calvin says are `tasty, lip-smacking, crunchy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside, and they don't have a single natural ingredient or essential vitamin to get in the way of that rich, fudgy taste.' Hobbes says the cereal makes his heart skip and likens this cereal to `eating a bowl of milk duds.'"

As entertaining as that Topher's Castle entry about a fictional cereal may be -- especially the part about not having "a single or natural ingredient or essential vitamin to get in the way of that rich, fudgy taste" -- the fact remains: Our nation's poor kids are being brainwashed to develop taste buds completely out of whack.

Food corporations are training our poor children -- via tempting TV food commercials, in-store tastings, etc. -- that they need to begin their days with a blast of refined sugar!

But young people -- and adults, too, of course -- just don't need to eat all those sugary foods and refined carbs.  People NEED to know consuming all those culprit carbs could wreak havoc galore on your poor body -- it could lead to difficulty concentrating (and hence bad grades), brain fog, anxiety, depression, restlessness, mood swings, irritability and even very severe consequences like obestiy, cancer, type 2 diabetes.

By the way, Topher's Castle also spotlights other fictional, sugar-packed cereals such as:

• TurboMan Cereal, which comes with "with pink marshmallow boosters"
• Chocolate Frosted Frosty Krusty Flakes ("only sugar has more sugar"), which is a favorite of Krusty the clown
• "Super Sugar Slaps," which the Slappy the Bear (from the comic strip "Jump Start" likes)

Remember: Fiction often points to a larger truth, and that's why I laud Topher's Castle for pointing out to Americans that cereals now in supermarkets today are much sweeter than they should be.

FYI, you can purchase some non-sugary cereals that are quite tasty, too. See my Sugar-Free Shopping List for details.

Timely message -- New Yorkers, take action today

I just received the following urgent appeal from the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food (NYCHSF), a statewide nonprofit group that works to improve the health and well-being of New York's students by advocating for healthy plant-based foods, farm-to-school programs (including organic where possible), the elimination of unhealthy competitive foods in all areas of the school (not just the cafeteria), comprehensive nutrition policy, and education to create food- and health-literate students.

The organization has been closely following the bills up for vote so rather than summarize the contents of their urgent memo, I'm including it in in its entirety.

Please note that the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food recommends that you take action today. FYI, the organization's suggestions clearly do still include some sugar (not my preference but I think what they're suggesting is more realistic).

Also, please forward this to all your friends, relatives, colleagues, etc. who live in New York so that they, too, can take a stand.

• Senator Steve Saland (S.5892), Poughkeepsie (ph:) 518-455-2411  saland@senate.state.ny.us
• Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, (A.8698), Queens County (ph:) 518-455-4851 nolanc@assembly.state.ny.us
• Speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, ( A.8698), NYC  (ph:) 518-455-3791 speaker@assembly.state.ny.us
• Your Assemblyperson: go to http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/
• Your Senator: go to http://www.senate.state.ny.us and click on “Senators”

After calling, tell the person that you speak with that you will be emailing the recommended amendments. But do not email only, call first!

PLEASE make these calls now. Let’s show the New York state elected officials that NYCHSF has a powerful voice, one that is louder, and stronger, and more determined than the food industry lobbyists!!! Exercise your democratic rights. We absolutely can not let the powerful food industry determine food policy, nor our children’s future, so PLEASE make your calls right away.

Thank you for your support,

Amie Hamlin
Executive Director

Support Governor Spitzer’s Bill (A.8642) with these Amendments:

Follow the link below to read the suggestions, please.

1. Tighten Language

• Close large potential loophole on p3, line 43 that exempts all foods and beverages offered “in order to raise funds for school activities.”
• Require that all nutrition standards for school districts and regulations regarding food policy take effect immediately (to prevent districts from signing new long term contracts with food and beverage companies)
• Require that schools shall make available to the Department, parents and students, upon request, documentation setting forth the ingredients and nutrients of any food item sold, served or offered.
• BMI’s should not be reported to parents until such time that all families can have referrals and access to support services such as NYS Certified Dietitian Nutritionists, Registered Dietitians, and/or a community based program that addresses overweight/obesity.
• If Local Wellness Policies are addressed in the bill, it should be mandated that NYS Certified Dietitian Nutritionists or Registered Dietitians be on the committee since they are the nutrition experts.

2. Nutrition Standards

• Mandate that only fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes be available outside of the school meal program.
• Require that fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and whole grains be available at each meal
• Mandate no artificial colors, artificial flavors, artificial preservatives, or artificial sweeteners
• Mandate that foods/beverages contain no added transfats, ie, the ingredients list shall not contain any hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats. Currently up to ½ gram would be allowed based on the current labeling law and this is not acceptable.
• Mandate that no foods/beverages contain any high fructose corn syrup
• Mandate that foods/beverages with added sugars should be limited to 10 grams per serving or less
• Require that snack items meet a sodium content limit of 200 mg or less per package (regardless of number of servings) or 480 mg or less per entrée
• Require that meals contain no more than 5 milligrams saturated fat total per meal.
• Mandate that plain potable water is available throughout the school day at no cost to students
• Mandate that schools will offer during lunch period vegetables and entrees which are not fried, pre or post procurement
• Rewrite plant-based entrée requirement to read “as its primary component, one or more of the following: legumes (beans or bean products, including soy or lentils), Seitan (wheat protein), nuts, and/or seeds or their butters. Such an entrée will contain no cholesterol and will be part of a meal containing no more than 5 grams of saturated fat in total.” Without this provision, we will see entrees containing cheese - the primary source of saturated fat in school menus - on the menu every day.
• Require that yogurt should contain no more than 30 grams of sugar per 8 ounce serving (IOM recommendation), 
• Mandate that fruits shall be packed in their own juices or water

3. Mandate key elements rather than leaving them to the discretion of the school district wellness committees

• Mandate the use of skim or low fat milk (1%)
• Prohibit the use of food or beverages as a reward or punishment
• Require schools to provide students with a minimum of 20 minutes to eat breakfast and thirty minutes to eat lunch, and that lunch meals occur between the hours of 11 am and 2 pm to prevent students from having lunch too early or late in the day
• Require schools to provide students in eighth grade and under a recess period involving physical activity of up to 30 consecutive minutes on each day when there is no physical education class
• Prohibit schools from disciplining a student by taking away such recess period
• Require the establishment and implementation of nutrition education competencies for K-12

4. Schools need increased funding for school food and nutrition programs if there is to be accountability for achieving strong nutrition standards. Current reimbursements are not enough and an investment in children now will result in lower medical costs to the state later.

Most Americans are unknowingly falling prey to obesity-generating traps that are put into place by the United States Department of Agriculture. You see, all around us, folks are overeating potentially dangerous sugary, fatty, high-calorie, nutrient-poor, processed junk foods laden with high fructose corn syrup and soybean oil, in large part, because of Uncle Sam.

Sadly, the U.S.D.A. funds a farm bill that encourages over production and over consumption of many of the foods that it warns against. At the same time, the governmental agency is encouraging the profits of agribusiness and ignoring its own advice -- to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

These are some of the important points made in an enlightening and much-needed editorial in the Baltimore Sun from physician and Johns Hopkins University postdoctoral fellow Scott Kahan, M.D.., founder and director of the Institute for Evidence-Based Nutrition, an organization dedicated to promoting a sensible and scientific approach to nutrition and preventive health.

Specifically, more than $20 billion yeartly -- or more than one-fifth of the USDA’s budget -- is spent on the farm bill, which mostly subsidizes corn and soybean crops, Dr. Kahan writes as this year's farm bill is up for consideration.

"Take corn," he writes, "the most highly subsidized crop, which received $9.4 billion in 2005 -- nearly as much as all other crops combined."

Dr. Kahan continues.

"Corn production has more than doubled since the 1970s, and all of this artificially cheapened corn is unloaded on the public, largely in the form of tasty but empty-calorie junk foods. Refined corn is the chief source of carbohydrates and calories in most processed foods, particularly snack foods. High-fructose corn syrup is the most widely used caloric sweetener in the United States. And corn meal is widely used as cheap animal feed to fatten factory-raised livestock." (Incidentally, my book SUGAR SHOCK! delves into the dangers of high fructose corn syrup.)

The US government also pushes soybeans -- it's the fourth-most-subsized crop. "Although soy protein is a healthful meat substitute, soybeans are more commonly used in junk foods," Dr. Kahan points out.

In fact, he observes, soybean oil "accounts for 75 percent of the fat in processed foods and is commonly hydrogenated to create trans fats, which improve shelf life but are known to cause cardiovascular disease."

At the same time, "healthful foods are grossly underfunded," Dr. Kahan rightly observes.

He then supports important facts to back up his observations about the USDA's hypocrisy.

"USDA guidelines advise that fruits and vegetables make up at least one-third of daily intake, but just 5 percent of its food funding supports the fruit and vegetable indsutries. There is virtually no funding for public education and advertising encouraging fruit and vegetable consummption. At its peak, the `Five-a-day' campaign budget was just $3 million annually -- compared with the $11 billion spent yearly in the United States for fast food and junk food advertising..."

But the new farm bill could provide a venue to change these current fat-promoting policies, Dr. Kahan writes in his Baltimore Sun editorial.

I was very happy to see such an eye-opening opinion piece. More Americans need to know about the USDA's hypocrisy, and we need to encourage our legislators to vote on behalf of us consumers, not agribusiness.

Thanks to Althea Chang for doing back-up research for this post.