News on Health and Nutrition from Northern America

PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America business unit announced the introduction of two new Lightly Salted varieties of chips. Fritos Lightly Salted corn chips and Ruffles Lightly Salted potato chips join Lay’s Lightly Salted potato chips, which were launche...

The Center for Science in the Public interest (CSPI) has announced it will take McDonald's to court if the fast-food chain continues to use toys to promote Happy Meals. According to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, using toys t...

El grupo defensor de los consumidores, con sede en Washington DC, amenazó el martes con demandar a McDonald's, acusando a la cadena de comercializar los juguetes "de manera injusta y engañosa". "La mercadotecnia de McDonald's tiene el e...

Boulder Canyon™ Natural Foods, the fastest-growing natural kettle chip brand in the United States (SpinScan® reporting of Boulder Canyon sales according to A.C. Nielsen data for the 52 weeks ending 12/27/09), continues to build its better-for-you snack...

Menus around the US are in the process of getting a makeover. The new health care bill will require all restaurants, with 20 or more locations, to include calorie counts on menus, menu boards and drive-thrus. According to Mintel’s latest research, more...

Analysts expect the fast-food industry to grow modestly this year. But the downturn is making them rethink their strategies. After a strong focus on value - sometimes to the detriment of profits - many companies are now introducing higher-priced items ...

A recent survey conducted commission by the Quebec Coalition on Weight-Related Problems shows that Canadians of all provinces are highly supportive of intervention by governments in a fight against the obesity epidemic. Significantly, 86% of responden...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that public comments are now being accepted on the Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans,...

The Texas A&M University published research that breast cancer cells died after treatments with peach and plum extracts. The researchers identified chlorogenic acid and neochlorogenic acid as the components responsible for killing the cancer cells...

The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit focused on public health, scoured nearly 100,000 produce pesticide reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to determine what fruits and vegetables we eat hav...

Fears that removing harmful trans fats from foods would open the door for manufacturers and restaurants to add other harmful fats to foods seem to be unfounded, a new study finds. A team from Harvard School of Public Health analyzed 83 reformulated p...

Following results of a study by the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab shows how labeling may stimulate purchase and consumption:   Fifty four college students were randomly assigned to try cookies that were labeled ‘organic’ or cookies that had no...

Frying potato rings rather than straight strips produces fries with less oil, lower levels of acrylamide, less salt, and better taste, says a new study from the US. “Our findings provide justification for a partial replacement of French fries with ring...

Six out of ten American consumers say they are eating healthier (34% much/26% somewhat) since the recession began in 2008, and a majority of consumers (51%) say they have also tried to get fitter to better withstand the pressures of the recession.The L...

Las compañías de alimentación empiezan a abandonar el uso de este tipo de aceites procesados de manera artificial, ante las evidencias de los daños que causa a la salud. El mayor enemigo nutricional para la salud cardiovascular no es el exceso de calo...

Today, First Lady Michelle Obama joined Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes and members of the Childhood Obesity Task Force to unveil the Task Force action plan: Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation. In conjunction wi...

Two more products have been recalled due to the possibility that they may contain salmonella-tainted hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) from Basic Food Flavors – but fears of a large-scale recall have proved unfounded.At the beginning of March, Food an...

Happy Meal toys and other promotions that come with high-calorie children’s meals will soon be officially banned in parts of Santa Clara County, unless the restaurants meet nutritional guidelines approved Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors. &...