Renee Shelton's BlogPosted by Renee Shelton Taco Bell's 'Fresco Menu' is a lower calorie menu for the fast food consumer. Although the menu options are still high in sodium (1410mgs for the new Chicken Fresco Burrito Supreme) the tacos and burritios contain much less fat and cholesterol than their regular menu counterparts. How they are maintaining the lower calories for these new items is replacing the cheese and sauce on the new items and adding a 'Fiesta Salsa' that has five calories per serving. Choice of 7 new items can be found. A pictoral menu guide lists all the items and descriptions. Comparisons to their regular menu:
Read Taco Bell's complete menu nutrition information for all their menu items for calorie, sodium, fat and carb levels. Posted by Renee Shelton Nutritional standards have been proposed for ads seen by children. On Dec. 15 the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children worked to find solutions during the “Sizing Up Food Marketing and Childhood Obesity” that was held for the FTC. Proposal included restrictions being placed on those items containing significant amounts of sugar, sodium and saturated fat. Proposals for advertised foods marketed for kids under 18:
The food and beverage industry seem to trying already. The director of the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, Elaine Kolish noted that since 2006 advertised cereals have already been reduced from 16 grams of sugar to now 11 grams and canned soups advertised to children have had sodium levels reduced 20-30%. Even then, Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services has been quoted to have said: "...if a kid gets diabetes when he’s 18 partly because when he was younger he only ate the foods he saw everyday on TV and the Internet, that’s not his fault. It’s our fault." Perhaps a little bit of everyone's fault if parents only buy those products, or if those items are the only ones available to parents to purchase for their children to eat. Posted by Renee Shelton Smart Choices Program was first started by the Keystone Center, Food and Nutrition Roundtable, in 2007. The 'Smart Choices Program', first began to give consumers a quick peek at a product regarding its overall nutrition, and has been under scrutiny by many who wonder why products often containing high amounts of sugar are labeled as a 'smart choice' when shopping. For consumers who don't read labels, picking up a commercial package with a label stamped with a 'Smart Choice' and green check mark gives essentially a green light to eat it without reading the nutritional details. Here is a criteria of foods that qualify and general nutrition information, from the Smart Choices Program. This program is administered by the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) and NSF International, not the FDA. Even the FDA is concerned with the possibility of people choosing products that are more refined rather than the fresh foods themselves in this letter cowritten by the Senior Advisor for Food Safety at the Food and Drug Administration and Deputy Undersecretary for Food Safety at the Department of Agriculture. The FDA has been looking at other labeling, such as the UK's Food Standards Agency Traffic Light Labeling. Unfortunately, not many companies here in the US would appreciate being singled out with a red light, but perhaps that would make it easier for consumers who don't read lables to easily spot those products that are excessively high in sugar, salt or other criteria. Posted by Renee Shelton They now have new Potato and Spinach Potato gnocchis and other pasta dishes that are gluten-free and wheat-free and are made from rice. These two new items are also vegan pasta products, and perfect for those who suffer from Celiac desease. Since they are lactose-free they are great for people who want to enjoy pasta dishes who might also suffer from other gastointestinal problems. Available at Whole Foods Market. Posted by Renee Shelton While commercial pizza may not be an everyday healthy eating item, many companies are coming up with new ways to draw in customers with fresh takes on their traditional pizza such as providing nutrition information, creating menu items with all-natural ingredients and lower sodium items, and identifying those items for customers with dietary restrictions. Here are links to ingredient allergen, nutrition or ingredient sensititivity info from different popular quick serve and commercial pizza companies: Pizza Hut -
Pizza Pizza -
Dominoes Pizza -
Papa John's -
Little Caesars -
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