Sugar – since when did the facts get in the way of a good story?
Last night’s Sunday programme on sugary soft drinks (TVNZ 10 June, 7pm) promised yet another “expose” of the type our current affairs love to hype up to get our eyeballs and ears on their screens at...
View ArticleCanned foods get a thumbs-up for sound nutrition and affordability
Image thanks to FreeDigitalPhotos.net The universal call to increase the consumption of fruits, vegetables, higher fibre foods and seafood, coupled with tightening family budgets, means that a study...
View ArticleFood Addiction
Are we using the term “addiction” too freely these days? Headlines portray a range of human weaknesses from social media “addiction” to shoe shopping “addiction”. We’ve long known about the serious...
View ArticleWho’s to blame? Time to try something different
We all know about the world’s obesity epidemic and the serious health consequences ahead of us. But we seem to be stuck in a blame game, rather than really committing to effective, collaborative...
View ArticleWhere has all the common sense gone?
Fad diets. They’ve always been a bugbear to dietitians and nutritionists. Generally they’re written by people with no formal nutrition expertise or understanding of scientific evidence, but rather...
View ArticleDoes commercial success by food companies equal public health failure?
Many public health advocates believe this about successful food companies: Food companies exist solely to make money, so they will sell whatever people will buy. Healthy food provides smaller margins,...
View ArticleLessons from the sacred cow
Some cows are so sacred that they can get away with almost anything. One of these is raw milk. As someone who’s consulted to various branches of the food industry for around 30 years, you could...
View ArticleAdvice to the Government
Earlier this week I was asked to speak at the Heart Foundation’s Biannual Forum on three things the Government could do to stop heart disease. While there is a lot of great material in their call for...
View Article‘Clean Eating’– new buzzword, old message
Image courtesy of vegetables.co.nz You’d have to be living under a rock if you haven’t heard the term “clean eating” being bandied around by diet advocates and eager adopters. But what does it mean?...
View ArticleQ. What’s the best thing about the Health Star Rating?
A. New Zealand actually has a Front of Pack Labelling (FOPL) system. According to my twitter feed I seem to be the only person who thinks the recent announcement* should be celebrated. As for the rest...
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