I came across this video by Registered Dietitian, Andy Bellatti, and had to share. It's a humorous look at the issues consumers face everyday when trying to make healthy choices, because of the overwhelming amount of information available, much of it bunk. It seems everyone is doling out "nutrition advice" these days, and food companies spend billions of dollars on "health washing" marketing campaigns to get you to eat their (often questionable) products and feel good about it. Choosing who to listen to can be difficult. Watch the video here.
We all know that processed foods, including cereals, can contain lots of preservatives and additives, including artificial flavours, but this may be the first time I've seen a cereal so blatantly try to pull the wool over the shoppers' eyes.
This week I came across this video, "outting" Total Blueberry Pomegranate Cereal as a nutrition imposter, of the worst kind. If I asked you to guess a few of the ingredients in Total Blueberry Pomegranate Cereal, what would you say? I'm going to bet that most of you would guess the ingredients would include a grain (maybe whole grains), sugar, blueberries, and pomegranates. That's a pretty safe guess right? But you would be wrong. Sure, Total Blueberry Pomegranate Cereal contains whole grains and sugar, but here's the kicker, it does not contain ANY blueberries OR pomegranates. So what does it contain? Here's the ingredient list (I've separated the vitamins and minerals, and highlighted the sugars and dyes, to make it easier to read):
Whole Grain Oats, Whole Grain Wheat, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Barley Malt Extract, Brown Sugar Syrup, Wheat Flakes, Malt Syrup, Rice Flour, Salt, Oat Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Canola Oil, Natural and Artificial Flour, Red 40, Blue 2 and Other Color Added, Soybean and Corn Oil, Sucralose, Molasses, Honey, Corn Starch, Nonfat Milk, Vitamin E (Mixed Tocopherols) and Bht Added to Preserve Freshness.
Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin C (Sodium Ascorbate), Zinc and Iron (Mineral Nutrients), Vitamin E Acetate, A B Vitamin (Niacinamide), A B Vitamin (Calcium Pantothenate), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Mononitrate), A B Vitamin (Folic Acid), Vitamin A (Palmitate), Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3.
So what's the deal?
My guess - General Mills' marketing team wanted to cash in on the "super food" trend going on. Why they couldn't just add real berries (even dried versions) is beyond me. I guess they figured it was just as good to add red and blue dyes, and the vitamins and minerals that are found in these fruits. Unfortunately, nutrition and foods don't work like that. Research has shown that the whole food is greater than the sum of its parts - meaning you can't simply put all the ingredients together and expect them to have the same benefits in the body as the whole food. Besides, I know blueberries don't come with ingredient labels, but if they did, I'm pretty sure "Blue 2" wouldn't be listed.
For a while now I'd been looking for a great chickpea recipe, other than our token chickpea curry and falafel that we make in this house, so I was thrilled when I stumbled upon this recipe. I wasn't too keen on the idea of so much lemon that they used in the original recipe, and I felt some serious veggies needed to be added, so I made a few modifications.
2 - 19 oz cans of chickpeas, drained
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup cottage cheese, ideally the small curd variety of cottage cheese
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley (I used dried)
2 stalks fresh rosemary (leaves only) (I used dried - and only a tbsp)
2/3 cup dried bread crumbs
Olive or canola oil **1/4-1/2 cup milk - see note below
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F and lightly grease a 9x13-inch or other 3-quart baking dish with oil.
2. In a large bowl, mix the chickpeas with the onion, garlic, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Mix the beaten eggs in a medium bowl with the cottage cheese, yogurt, and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese. Finely mince the parsley and fresh rosemary leaves. Stir the cottage cheese mixture and herbs into the chickpea mixture.
4. Spread the mixture in the prepared baking dish and top with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and the bread crumbs. (At this point the casserole can be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours.) Drizzle with oil. Cover the casserole and bake for 45 minutes (uncover for the last 10-15 minutes), or until bubbling and golden. I also set it to broil for 5 minutes to let the top turn a nice golden brown.
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
**I really enjoyed this recipe - it's healthy, very filling, and a very high protein vegetarian meal. My one word of advice would be to add about 1/4-1/2 cup of milk to the mixture - the recipe comes out just a teensy bit dry and I think this would help.
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A hot topic ad of late - private and public partnerships. First, the ADA sent it's members this survey. Now, the Canadian Medical Association Journal has published an editorial on the subject by controversial Dr. Yoni Freedhoff and Paul Hebert titled "Partnerships between health organizations and the food industry risk derailing public health nutrition".
In the article, the authors argue that "Health organizations, even when desperate for money or resources, should avoid co-branding with the food industry" and that "When they partner, health organizations become inadvertent pitchmen for the food industry. They would do well to remember that corporate dollars always introduce perceived or real biases that may taint or distort evidence-based lifestyle recommendations and health messages."
Keep in mind, an editorial is an opinion piece. What's your opinion?
Registered Dietitian, foodie, and former personal fitness trainer. My philosophy: we can't be healthy on an unhealthy earth. Take care of the planet and our bodies by eating food that's good for us, and good for the planet.
This blog is meant to inform and entertain the general public and other healthcare providers on nutrition and health issues. Information on this blog does not replace that of your own health care provider. The opinions presented on this blog are my own and do not necessarily represent that of my employer or associations.
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