News on Health and Nutrition from Northern America

Acrylamide, that surprised scientists when it was discovered in certain foods might not be as big a concern after all, an Augusta researcher said. Dale Sickles, a neurotoxicologist and vice chairman of Cell Biology and Anatomy at Medical College of Ge...

Dr. David McKeown, Toronto's medical officer of health, is calling on Canadian politicians to address the country's growing obesity rate by banning junk food advertising to children under 13. Last week, acting on a recommendation by Dr. McKeown, the To...

Nothing goes better with salty than sweet and that might be the reason why kids who snack on salty foods tend to drink calorie-rich sodas and put on more weight, an article in Hypertension suggests. It’s well known that eating salty foods can make you...

In this study, a numerical model was developed to simulate frying of potato strips and estimate acrylamide levels in French fries. Heat and mass transfer parameters determined during frying of potato strips and the formation and degradation kinetic par...

U.S. food suppliers are overhauling their own food safety rules, executives from companies involved in recent food recalls said on Tuesday, but lawmakers said the industry must do more to prevent future outbreaks.   A series of high-profile food safet...

ConAgra Foods, Inc., (NYSE: CAG) today announced simple and unique packaging enhancements designed to help consumers make better-informed food choices to improve their diet and health. The new nutrition guide, designed by ConAgra Foods, will be feature...

The food industry across Europe needs to make a big effort to reduce saturated fat in food regardless of whether national agencies set targets - and it should not wait around for governments to do all the awareness-raising with its consumers.   Last we...

Many snack foods and spreads on the market are now free of artery-clogging trans fat, but consumers still need to be savvy label-readers, according to researchers. In a sampling of packaged foods at a local Wal-Mart, researchers at the University of Mi...

 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has become the first nationwide U.S. grocery chain to require suppliers of its private label and other food products such as produce, meat, fish, poultry and ready-to-eat foods to have their factories certified against one of th...

It is common knowledge that obesity levels in America have been recorded at record levels, almost reaching the point of an epidemic. However, in the wake of numerous federal guidelines that promote a low fat diet, one must beg the question -- is it pos...

The Virginia Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to phase out the use of artery-clogging trans fats in food sold at public schools, from the cheese pizza in the cafeteria to the chips in the vending machine. The bill would direct the state superintendent...

To see whether potato chips and cheese crunchies, those quintessential Super Bowl snacks, can lose their fat but keep their taste, we compared regular versions with some lower-calorie, lower-fat, or multigrain cousins. We also dipped the tortilla chip...

A new United States Potato Board (USPB) website, www.potatogoodness.com, joined the Board’s online cache of resources championing the goodness and nutrition found in America’s favorite vegetable. This consumer website went live January 17, 2008 and re...

Bell Flavors and Fragrances has responded to concerns over the use of diacetyl in popcorn by developing butter flavors that are free from the additive. The company claims its replacers provide the same fatty, creamy mouth feel that diacetyl does, and ...

Super Bowl Sunday is the “Super Bowl” of snacking. Research by the Calorie Control Council and the Snack Food Association finds that Americans will eat 30 million pounds of snacks on the big game day. That breaks down to 11.2 million pounds of potato ...

PepsiCo Inc (PEP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) expects its business, based on "comfort foods", to be resilient to a U.S. economic slowdown, Chief Executive Indra Nooyi said on Wednesday. "In many ways we are countercyclical and it helps...

Swanson Health Products has filed a petition with the FDA asking it to determine that California's Proposition 65 conflicts irreconcilably with food and supplement regulations, making the industry vulnerable to 'bounty hunters'.   Proposition 65 was i...

A top food safety expert at ConAgra Foods Inc. was fired last week because he violated one of the company's employment polices, company officials said Monday. ConAgra declined to provide more details about Paul A. Hall's termination as vice president ...