News Brief -- Disney bans junk food except in its parks

Walt Disney Co, said Tuesday it would ban junk-food advertising on its TV channels and Web sites from 2015 to help fight obesity among US children, Taipei Times reports today, c/o AFP (full article here).

“The nutrition guidelines are aligned to federal standards, promote fruit and vegetable consumption, and call for limiting calories and reducing saturated fat, sodium and sugar,” it said.

Disney also said it would roll out a “Mickey Check” check-mark icon this year to identify nutritious food and menu items at its retail shops and theme parks.
[In other words, it does not ONLY sell nutritious foods at its venues.]

Seventeen percent of US children are obese, a figure that has tripled in 30 years, according to a report last month from the Institute of Medicine.

However, others expressed skepticism.
“Kids aren’t obese because they are watching fast-food commercials on the Disney Channel,” wrote a Virginia resident. “They are obese because instead of being active, they are sitting in front of a TV ... How about creating TV shows that challenge kids to be active while watching?”

News Brief -- staff/camera in kitchen expose food recycling (Kaohsiung)

The well known Big Cow Beef Noodles (大牛牛肉麵) located on Zhongzheng Road (中正路) in Kaohsiung City has been exposed as recycling customers’ leftovers and selling them to other customers, the Broadcasting Corporation of China reported yesterday (full Chinese-language article here). 

That restaurant has now closed its doors before the city’s Department of Health could investigate and impose fines, but another restaurant of the same name located on Kaohsiung’s Siwei Road (四維路), although completely unconnected, claims its business has fallen by between 10 percent and 20 percent.

Translation copyright Jiyue Publications 2012

News Brief: 'Nuclear' fruit and vegetable origins re-labelled

A Tokyo vegetable and fruit wholesaler has been caught relabelling produce originating in the nuclear meltdown zone of Fukushima Prefecture by putting "Made in Yamagata" stickers, reports ANN News (Japanese-language article here), courtesy of an English translation by EZSKF (here).

News Breif: 90% of US adults consume too much salt, main culprit is ... BREAD

Nine out of ten US adults exceed the daily recommended salt intake, and the main culprit is not potato chips or popcorn, but sliced bread and rolls, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced, local media report today (full Chinese-language article here) in a translation of a Reuters' report from yesterday (full English original article here).

The CDC said that 44% of salt consumed comes from 10 food types, with bread and rolls worst, followed by cold cuts and cured meats, pizza, poultry, soups, sandwiches, cheese, pasta dishes, meat dishes and snacks including chips.

rolls lead the list followed by cold cuts and cured meat, pizza, poultry, soups, sandwiches, cheese, pasta dishes, meat dishes and snacks such as pretzels and potato chips.

A single slice of white bread could contain as many as 230 milligrams of salt.

High salt intake can raise blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease and strokes.

The average American consumes 3,266 milligrams of salt daily, not counting salt added at the table, which is far above the recommended 2,300 milligrams, the CDC said.

For six out of 10 Americans, including those who are over age 51 or have high blood pressure or diabetes, 1,500 milligrams is the recommended daily salt limit.

Even foods that seem healthy such as cottage cheese may be high in salt, the agency reported. Even raw chicken and pork is often injected with salt.

The CDC recommended eating more fruits and vegetables and carefully reading the labels on food products to find those with the lowest salt content.

One in three American adults has high blood pressure.

Most adults eat or drink about twice the amount of sodium as is recommended, and most of that extra sodium comes from common grocery store and restaurant items and a very small proportion from the salt shaker at the table..

Salt per calorie of food consumed was much higher at restaurants than from store-bought food, the CDC said.

"While progress is being made, reducing sodium in products without affecting the taste or consumer acceptance of products is no easy task," the Grocery Manufacturer's Association said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

News Brief: Cook it Yourself this CNY

The New Taipei City Dept of Public Health (新北市政府衛生局) invited nutritionists and restaurant head chefs to develop tasty yet healthy lunar new year recipes that citizens can make for themselves, department deputy chief Lin Jin-fu (林金富) announced yesterday, the Liberty Times reports today (full Chinese-language article here)..
 

The recipes can be downloaded from the department’s website here (Chinese-language).

Frying in less oil or flash-boiling, using less fatty meat but more green vegetables and nuts is both cheaper and healthier than shop bough meals, advised Nutritionist Tien Shu-ching (田淑卿) of the Taipei City Hospital (市立聯合醫院).

Yang Chi-jun (楊琪鈞) chef at the Wedding Feast/Seafood Restaurant (龍鳳城餐廳) designed his new-year recipes using vegetable-based stock containing radish, pumpkin, greens, celery &c.



Text © Jiyue Publications 2012

News Brief: Don't support eating contests -- Control Yuan

Government agencies were told by the Control Yuan not to support eating contests and other competitions that could damage contestants' health, the Taipei Times reported today (here).

Strangely, however, it seemed more concerned with the waste of public money through health-insurance-covered medical bills than with the contestants themselves.