The Food Movement Minute is a top story news analysis for busy foodies. I chew up the top industry and consumer publications each day and spit out only the news that matters most in a quick and entertaining read. I have a very discerning palate.
Today’s topics: Meat and Cancer, Sugar and Childhood Obesity, Future of Food
———-
Meat and Cancer
The Story
Bacon wrapped date lovers everywhere cringed this week when the World Health Organization (WHO) named meat, especially processed meat a ‘probable carcinogen’.
The Details
Put some bacon on it. Or not. A working group of 22 experts from 10 countries convened by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) – the cancer agency of WHO – found sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer. Not fun. So how much bacon are we really talking about here? Well, according to an article on the topic by Grist, if you start eating 50 grams a day (about three strips of bacon) more processed meat, your risk of cancer increases 18 percent. This correlation isn’t exactly new news, however. Eating less processed and red meat has been accepted dietary advice since the late 1950s. More recently, the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) – who makes recommendations to the USDA about its Dietary Guidelines – highlighted the same health risks of diets higher in red and processed meats and recommended the USDA include this link in its guidance, not only for the health of people but due to the negative impact meat production has on climate change.
Why it Matters
You can imagine what the meat industry thought of the DGAC’s recommendations on this subject. Two thumbs down. Even if red meat’s negative link to people and planet health doesn’t make it into the USDA Dietary Guidelines, I’d say the cat (or maybe the cow and pig) are out of the bag on this one.
———-
Sugar and Childhood Obesity
The Story
A new study published today in the journal Obesity finds that obese kids who cut back on sugar intake see improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol and other health markers in just 10 days.
The Details
Kids, it’s time to put down the Coke and Cocoa Puffs. The study, financed by the National Institutes of Health, removed foods with added sugar from a group of children’s diets and replaced them with other types of carbohydrates so that the subjects’ weight and overall calorie intake remained roughly the same. Despite losing little or no weight, the kids showed significant health improvement. The findings from this study add fuel to the debate about added sugars found in many U.S. foods and beverages. Remember that in February, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommended Americans limit their intake of added sugars to no more than 10 percent of daily calories and, the FDA also recently proposed a change to nutrition facts panels that would highlight added sugar separate from total sugar in a serving of a product. From the New York Times article, “The newly released study is timely in part because it lowered sugar intake among children to roughly 10 percent of daily calories, the amount recommended by the dietary guidelines committee.”
Why it Matters
Many food and beverage companies function from a platform that there is room for everything in the diet in moderation. The results of the study stand in the face of this position, and demonstrate that all calories are not created equal.
————
Future of Food
The Story
Target is collaborating with MIT and design firm, IDEO, to explore the future of food. Bulls-eye for the Red Circle Boutique.
The Details
What do you get when you pair creativity, brains and a highly motivated retailer together? At a minimum, the adoration and envy of a bunch of competitors. The collaboration will collect and analyze billions of public data points – spanning communications, social media messages and supply chain information – in an effort to map global conversations related to food and make predictions about where food is headed in the next 15 years. Project plans include the launch of a website with IDEO to identify trends and explore how food will be grown, sold and consumed, and the Open Agriculture initiative at MIT’s Media Lab will explore the potential of urban agriculture.
Why it Matters
Urban farming, food transparency and authenticity, ingredient sourcing and processing and the links to people and planet health is not only a summary of emerging consumer trends, but a summary of the issues most likely to influence policy and agricultural practices in the near future. Looking forward to the executive summary on this one.
———-
Factoid of the Day
As little as 100 grams (a quarter-pounder) of red meat a day, and half that much of processed meats, increases cancer risk by 15% to 20% according to the IARC commission.
Image by rick