News on Health and Nutrition from Northern America

On September 13, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with several key initial partners, launched Million Hearts, an initiative that aims to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes over the next five years. As one component of ...

Calorie by calorie, first lady Michelle Obama is chipping away at big portions and unhealthy food in an effort to help America slim down. In the year and a half since she announced her campaign to curb childhood obesity, Mrs. Obama has stood alongside...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today a streamlined, integrated approach to effectively and rapidly respond to human and animal foodborne illness outbreaks: the FDA Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation (CORE) Network. The...

Manipulating the amount of fat in children’s foods could help to reduce energy consumption without reducing taste preferences or liking, according to new research. The study, published in the journal Appetite, reports that reducing the fat contents of ...

Manipular la cantidad de grasa en alimentos para niños ayudaría a reducir el consumo de energía sin disminuir las preferencias o gusto por el sabor, cita un estudio. El estudio publicado en la revista científica Appetite, reporta que reduciendo el con...

The 83rd annual Idaho Grower Shippers Association convention, held here Aug. 31-Sept. 2, featured a plethora of educational sessions and networking opportunities as well as a dose of controversy, as the top officials of two leading potato organizations...

The legislative fight over to what extent potatoes can be served at schools in the United States is not over yet. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has delayed an amendment that would challenge the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s proposal to limit potatoe...

De aardappel is meer dan alleen maar rijk aan koolhydraten. Een dagelijkse portie paarse aardappelen lijkt goed voor ons hart. Tenminste als je ze kookt en niet frituurt of van vette sauzen voorziet. Dat blijkt uit een Amerikaans onderzoek uitgevoerd...

The potato’s stereotype as a fattening food for health-conscious folks to avoid is getting another revision today as scientists report that just a couple servings of spuds a day reduces blood pressure almost as much as oatmeal without causing weight ga...

La mala fama de las patatas como alimentos que engordan debería ser revisada, así lo demuestra un estudio científico que revela que el consumo moderado del tubérculo reduce la presión arterial y no produce aumento de peso. El trabajo, dirigido por el ...

A University of Idaho researcher is teaming up with J.R. Simplot Co.'s food group to develop new potato products with resistant starch, which can improve digestive health and benefit people with diabetes. Resistant starch is modified starch that bypas...

Efforts to reduce the daily sodium intake of U.S. consumers have been underway for decades with little progress, in part because salt has many desirable properties and serves as an inexpensive way to enhance the flavor of food, making good food taste e...

The American Heart Association published in their journal the results of a meta-analysis of the relation between Potassium Intake and stroke. This is of particular interest to the potato industry since potatoes and potato products are a major dietary...

In response to criticism from the Idaho Potato Commission, the U.S. Potato Board has created a new set of rules for the use of its Potatoes: Goodness Unearthed logo. The biggest change governs the accepted size of the logo on retail bags, according t...

Portion control is a tenet of healthy eating, and it appears that consumers are increasingly aware of the importance of managing the portion size of the foods they eat, according to The NPD Group, a leading market research company. For a recent report...

Amerikaanse onderzoekers van de Purdue University Indiana bestudeerden het effect van kunstmatige vetvervangers en vergeleken daarbij normale chips met light chips. Daarbij kwamen ze tot de verrassende uitkomst dat chips gemaakt met vetvervangers bijdr...

In the United States, McDonald’s will begin rolling out a new Happy Meal in September 2011, with the goal of having them available in all 14,000 restaurants during Q1 2012.

Yahoo’s “Shine” is one of the most popular women’s lifestyle websites, offering information and advice on everything from food to health and beauty to finances, as well as a community interaction. Potatoes are often featured in a bright spotlight, as t...