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American Dietetic Association

Top Food Trends Spotted at ADA’s Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo

by Janet on October 8, 2011

I recently returned from the American Dietetic Association’s Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo in San Diego.  There were lots of good sessions, including the “great weight debate” that I previously wrote about: Is The War On Obesity a Battle Worth Fighting?  One big piece of news coming out of the meeting is our association’s name change.  Effective in January 2012, we’ll become the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.  I would have liked the word “food” in the name, but overall I like this new branding.   But more about that later.

In the meantime, I wanted to recap a few of the trends I spotted on the exhibit floor.

Probiotics

Digestive health has been named a top mega-trend by New Nutrition Business (and others), which has fueled the popularity of  probiotics.  These good bacteria are no longer simply in yogurt — they’re showing up in all sorts of products, including Good Belly Juice Drinks and GoLive Probiotic Drinks that are sweetened with monk fruit extract.  Expect to hear more about monk fruit, which had its own booth touting this New Zealand fruit extract as a natural, calorie-free sweetener (brand name Purefruit).

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Omega-3s

Several exhibitors showcased products that are rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids, including these portable packets of flaxseeds that are pre-ground and ready to sprinkle onto foods. They were promoted as “the delicious easy way to take your flax with you.”

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I prefer to get my omega-3s by eating fish, and one fish that made a big splash at the meeting was barramundi, dubbed “the sustainable seabass.”  Expect to hear a lot more about barramundi that provides a trio of tough-to-find benefits all in one fish:  high in omega-3s, low in mercury and sustainably raised. It’s increasingly available in supermarkets, including some of these convenient packages of frozen fillets.   Learn more at thebetterfish.com.

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Whole grains

The evidence on whole grains keeps getting stronger, yet only 1 in 10 Americans meet whole grain recommendations (at least 3 servings a day.).  But it’s getting easier with all the new whole grain products popping up. I thought these Flatout breads were interesting: 100% whole grain with flax, 90 calories, Hungry Girl endorsed.  (Although I think they should have skipped the “guilt free” description, all bread should be guilt free.)  Hungry Girl herself, Lisa Lillien, was at the Expo at some other booths showcasing products that she endorses, such as Laughing Cow cheese.
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IMG_1208Whole grain pastas from Jovial foods played up the ancient grains and artisanal trends.  Touted as “harvested from history,” these pastas are made from einkorn (meaning “single grain”), which is one of the earliest cultivated forms of wheat, along with emmer wheat.  I thought these pastas looked really great (and a gluten-free brown rice pasta from Jovial just won a Cooking Light taste test award), but I was really disappointed that the company didn’t have any products to sample.  Note to the company:  if you want to promote your product to dietitians, let us taste it. Play up the deliciousness by actually serving the pasta.  Let us experience the product.  Don’t just talk to us about your history and nutrition facts.  We also care about the taste.

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Nutrition bars

There were lots of different “nutrition bars” on display, some I liked more than others.  I think these kinds of products have a place, but I’m not crazy about using them as meal replacements.  I don’t always like some of the claims they make either.  Here’s one that I was less than enthusiastic about: thinkThin.  First, why the emphasis on thin?  The company’s tagline is “deliciously natural nutrition” and the website describes the bars as an “excellent source of energy without the punishing side effects of gluten and sugar.”  They make such a big deal about these bars being sugar-free, but what you may not realize is that they’re made with sugar alcohols, specifically maltitol.  This doesn’t mean they’re calorie free (and they typically have the same number of total carbs as other bars).  Some people have trouble digesting sugar alcohols and they’ve been linked to intestinal discomfort:  see what the American Diabetes Association has to say about sugar alcohols.  The company may think “it’s all about what’s inside.”  Well, I’m not so impressed with what’s inside.  Sorry.  Not sugar coating my comments.

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Vegetables

Now here’s a trend I fully support. It was great to see different forms of vegetables make an appearance on the exhibit floor. Cut ‘n Clean Greens sampled several interesting vegetables, including this kale salad kit with avocado tomatillo dressing.  It was delicious!  Tossing kale with the vinaigrette prior to serving helps to soften up the aggressive greens. I’m all for making vegetables more convenient so they’re easier for families to incorporate into their meal rotation.  The company also served a kale quesadilla that was amazing.  This is the kind of product that can help mainstream kale.  Loved it.

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Check out what others had to say about food trends at FNCE:

Teaspoon Communications
Michelle Dudash
Emma Stirling
The Buzz Bin
Food and Health Communications
Green Grapes Nutrition
Self Magazine – Eat Like Me  
Meal Makeover Moms’ Kitchen

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Is The War On Obesity a Battle Worth Fighting?

by Janet on October 1, 2011

4207677152_9634680793_oThat’s the question posed in a debate during a provocative session at the American Dietetic Association’s Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo last week in San Diego.  In one corner was John Foreyt, PhD,  a prominent obesity researcher at Baylor College of Medicine.  In the other corner was Linda Bacon, PhD, a nutrition researcher at the University of California-Davis and author of Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight. She also heads up a Health At Every Size Community and speaks throughout the country about her HAES approach — which she calls the new peace movement.

We’ve lost the war on obesity. Fighting fat hasn’t made the fat go away. And being thinner, even if we knew how to successfully accomplish it, will not necessarily make us healthier or happier. The war on obesity has taken its toll. Extensive “collateral damage” has resulted: Food and body preoccupation, self-hatred, eating disorders, discrimination, poor health… Few of us are at peace with our bodies, whether because we’re fat or because we fear becoming fat. It’s time to withdraw the troops.

This was certainly one of the more lively sessions at this year’s conference, and I’m so glad I attended (sitting next to my friend and colleague Marsha Hudnall, author of the blog A Weight Lifted.). However, I’m afraid at the end of the 1-1/2 hours, the sides were more divided than ever and we (the audience) were left a bit wounded on the battlefield.  I think we have more to gain by working together than fighting with each other.

Here’s a blog post that gives the backstory of the session and a clip of Linda Bacon talking about her approach so you can get a better idea of what I’m talking about:

Each debater scored some points. Each one lost a few rounds. They both did a good job of discounting the other’s point of view, but the debate format made it challenging to adequately address the topic.  I’m not even sure this should have been a debate. But it was….and here’s how I thought it played out.

Round 1 Winner: John Foreyt
I don’t think it serves Linda Bacon’s position well to deny the health consequences of obesity. She spent so much of her time sharing data that the obese live just as long as normal weight individuals and downplaying the health risks of being obese. Why go there? I think that’s why some people just shut down and never hear what this movement is all about. You’re right, Linda, perhaps this shouldn’t be “war,” but I don’t see how you can dismiss the health risks associated with obesity. And there are certainly quality of life issues (not being able to play with your kids, ride a bike, etc.). I just don’t think this is the question we should be asking. Our priority should be discussing what we do about obesity — not debating if there’s even a problem.

Round 2 Winner: Linda Bacon
I think John Foreyt shocked the audience when he dismissed mindful or intuitive eating — and even said it was the reason why we have an obesity problem in America. He lost me on that. I actually think that’s the missing equation in so many weight loss programs. The emphasis should be on health — and how to achieve it. Teaching people the principles of mindful eating — honoring our body’s signals of hunger and fulness, not making judgments of our choices, and choosing pleasureable foods that help you feel good — are all positive things. I agree that it’s all about adopting healthy habits, not dieting. But sometimes this movement takes a militant approach and people think it’s all about “fat acceptance.” Yes, we need to embrace size diversity, but the real value of this approach is sometimes lost because people assume that it means throwing in the towel and giving up.

Round 3 Winner: Tie
At the end of the session, they both made good points. I believe in small changes and long-term weight loss can be sustainable (as Foreyt said), but I do think that most traditional attempts at dieting can do more harm than good (as Bacon reinforced). I liked so many things that Linda Bacon had to say, but I think her statements about “the best way to win the war against fat is to give up the fight” are being misinterpreted. I think it’s more about being happy at every size, and letting go of past approaches to dieting. This movement is quickly gaining ground, and an increasing number of dietitians are embracing the HAES approach. But I think it’s important for people to get past the immediate reaction that these are “obesity doubters” (as Foreyt described) or simply fat acceptors. It’s really all about a healthy lifestyle. Restrictive diets don’t work…but people need guidance on what they should do instead. It’s not enough to say diets don’t work. I think we need to bring these opposing points of view together. I fully agree with the woman in the audience who asked the last question during the session. She ended with “why can’t you both kiss and make up?”

Good question.

If you’re interested in learning more about HAES, here are the handouts that Linda Bacon provided to support her presentation at FNCE.

[Scale image courtesy of flickr user brightcd]

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Could Our Love of All Things “Low Fat” Backfire?

by Janet on November 17, 2010

DSCN1041One of the most anticipated sessions at the American Dietetic Association’s Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo last week was “The Great Fat Debate.”

Even though it didn’t quite live up to the billing — and no feisty arguments erupted — the session was thought-provoking.   Yet at the end, the debaters seemed to agree on things more than they disagreed.  Bottom line conclusion:   low fat diets are not all they’re cracked up to be.  The type of fat we eat is more important than the total amount.  There’s also no debate that trans fats are bad, omega-3s are good.

The first of the four experts to take to the stage was Walter Willett, MD, DrPH (shown above), chair of the Harvard School of Public Health’s nutrition department.  He was probably the boldest in his statements.  He thinks all the focus on fat reduction in dietary guidelines  has been a “massive distraction” and he wants to see total fat and % of calories from fat abolished from food labels so people won’t zero in on the amount of fat in foods. 

He believes today’s low fat advice  can even be harmful because it results in the reduction of healthy fats, along with a corresponding increase in carbohydrates — most often refined, sugary grains. 

Harvard’s Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH, believes this trade-off can be harmful to our health.  The average carb we eat in the U.S. is worse than saturated fat, he said. 

So it all comes down to replacements.  Saturated fat has been singled out due to its link to heart disease — although even that connection was called into question during the session because of conflicting evidence.  However, unless we replace saturated fat with other fats (mono- and polyunsaurated fats) we could be doing more harm than good.

All four experts agreed that replacing saturated fat with carbohydrates is likely to raise the risk of heart disease, not reduce it (especially with the type of carbohydrates most people typically eat). 

How did we get it all wrong?   Alice Lichtenstein, DSc, director of the cardiovascular health laboratory at Tufts University, said it’s a problem of message translation.  Oh, how often that’s the case. (See my related guest post on the International Food Information Council’s blog Food Insight.)

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There’s been an over simplification of dietary guidlines, which had lead to misinterpretations, she said.  Cutting down on saturated fat has been translated to cutting down on all fats.  “Low fat” was equated with “healthy,” and then ”low fat”  became “low calorie” in the minds of consumers. 

People may feel good about buying a low fat muffin, for example, but the calories may be just as high or even higher than a regular fat version. 

Lichtenstein warned against focusing on single nutrients for disease risk reduction.  This is where the advice can lead people astray.

She said we should stop emphasizing  individual dietary components  because when one goes down, another goes up.

Instead, Lichtenstein recommends a food-based approach. 

I agree.  After all, we do eat food — not nutrients.

What do you think?

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Food Trends Spotted at ADA’s Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo

by Janet on November 10, 2010

I’ve  just returned from the annual meeting of the American Dietetic Association in Boston – the ADA’s Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo.  It was a great conference to hear the latest science, reconnect with my dietitian colleagues and learn about new products.

Beyond the scientific sessions, the conference attracts all the major food and beverage manufacturers (and small niche companies) that want to showcase their offerings to registered dietitians.   I’ll be posting more about the conference in the weeks to come, but for now, here are some of the trends I spotted on the Expo floor.

For starters, two big buzz words were CLEAN and CONSCIOUS .

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Products boasted about clean labels (no artificial ingredients or colors) and touted multiple free-from claims. Perhaps the biggest was GLUTEN-FREE. In fact, there was an entire gluten-free pavilion where all of the exhibitors with gluten-free products assembled in one big area. It’s great that they are more options now for people with celiac disease, but a lot of the products on display were not really so healthful.  I saw an awful lot of gluten-free sweets, including brownies…

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Gluten-free cookies…

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Gluten-free donuts…

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Gluten-free ladyfingers for making your own Tiramisu or other desserts.

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I’m happy that people with celiac can enjoy a greater variety of foods — including favorite desserts that they’ve had to eliminate after their diagnosis.  But  I’d like to see more efforts in creating gluten-free grain products that are high in fiber (which is often low in gluten-free baked goods), or products made with nutritious grains that are naturally gluten free.   Gluten-free diets can be fairly restrictive, which makes it even more important to eat nutrient-rich foods.  Plus, I’d hate to see other people snatching up these foods just because “gluten-free” is on the label.  The trendy term carries a health halo and many people who don’t have celiac may assume that these sweets are somehow healthier options.  They’re not.  See my previous articles on the topic: Gluten-free is Latest Diet Craze and The Blinding Light of Health Halos.

Another product that I feel conflicted about is Gimme Chocolates — billed as the world’s first nutritionally enhanced candy.  So a fourth trend I found was FORTIFIED SNACKS.

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Gimme Chocolates are rice puff balls coated in neon-colored chocolate and infused with different nutrients — vitamin D, omega 3, probiotics and calcium. I know the argument of…well, if you’re going to eat candy, why not make it nutritious. And it’s true that most Americans need more vitamin D and calcium in their diets.  But I just can’t excited about this product. I think candy should be candy.  I don’t think we should try and turn it in to something it’s not. We shouldn’t feel so virtuous that we’re eating something “good” that we slack off in trying to get these nutrients in other TRULY good-for-you  foods. Fortifying a product with one single nutrient doesn’t suddenly transform it into a nutritious food.

The Gimme Omega 3 candies are made with Salba — the white version of chia seeds that are quickly gaining superstar status (not deserving, in my opinion).  The promotional materials that were distributed at the Gimme booth said Salba provides 8x more omega 3′s than salmon.  Well, I sure don’t want people to be grabbing handfuls of these candies instead of salmon.  Plus, the form of omega 3 in Salba is quite different than what you’ll find in salmon – so it’s not even a fair comparison.  Salba contains ALA omega 3, while salmon contains EPA and DHA omega 3 ( and that’s what you want to aim for.)

Do you think I’m wrong about these candies?  What do you think about Gimme Chocolates?

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I’d be more likely to snack on some of the new products I sampled from Cabot Cheese. I liked these portion-controlled, reduced-fat snack bars, including Habanero cheddar cheese….

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and reduced-fat Pepper Jack cheese.

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Speaking of portion control, I liked these MU Measure Up Bowls that can help people measure portions to prevent super sizing….

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I thought Dr. Praeger’s offered some interesting products, including different types of veggie burgers, sweet potato pancakes, falafel flats and fish sticks.

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And take a look at these cute broccoli “nuggets” for kids.  So a fifth trend, if you’re keeping track, is MEATLESS MEALS.  A lot of new vegetarian and vegan products were on display.

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Wrapping up, trend six is FUNCTIONAL BEVERAGES. I just couldn’t believe the various drinks on display — from superfruit juices and nutrient-spiked energy drinks to pumped up protein drinks.

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Protein seems to be the new darling in drinks, and here’s just one example:  protein-fortified water from the folks that make Muscle Milk.

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My favorite booths on the exhibit floor were showcasing products that didn’t have a fancy label or nutrition claim on the front of the package.  Believe me, there were wonderful displays from the industry groups representing strawberries, blueberries,  raspberries, raisins, avocados, mushrooms, peanuts, walnuts, almonds and other fresh, whole foods.

To my fellow RDs, what food trends did you spot at FNCE this year?

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