As we know, processed foods come in many shapes and sizes. Some are minimally processed (i.e. fresh cut and packaged produce) and some are “ultra-processed” such as American cheese, frozen pizzas, and deli meats. While fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats are always better, nutritionally speaking, when eaten at peak freshness it is the classical nutritionist’s view that the health benefits start to diminish as they’re … Continue reading Processed food from a classical nutrition point of view by Anna Kathryn Colbert

When someone proclaims “The Truth” about any topic, they usually unveil a villain who is trying to obscure the message. Last week I described some points of agreement between Marion Nestle and me in Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat. This week I describe points of strong disagreement between the two of us. It should come as no surprise … Continue reading A food scientist responds to the dark side of Unsavory Truth

I am drawn into Marion Nestle books like a moth to a flame. When she preaches nutrition, I say a loud “Amen,” but when she goes on her rampages about how evil the food industry is, I just want to say “Give me a break!” Unsavory Truth is the fourth of Nestle’s books I have read. In each one, I picked up a gem of … Continue reading Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat

There is some dissonance in being a food blogger and a disability access professional. This gap is not just because these are two very different things. Rather, there is a broad frustration. In my work, I am immersed in a world where access is everything. Things that give people more options to do things independently are good. We encourage the development of practices that reflect … Continue reading Processed Food, Disability, and Autonomy by Jonathan Katz

Any normal person who lives with a food scientist can tell you that their partner has some strange ideas about food. Generally speaking, when it comes to the role of food in health, a food scientist tends to think about it in terms of nutrition. The trend among normal people with respect to food and health now is its role in the development of chronic … Continue reading The elusive connection between health, safety and food

I’m at a party and I see a veggie platter, bags of chips, and a plate of raw hamburger meat. I’m confused, are people supposed to make burger patties themselves and barbecue them outside? This seems like an odd thing to do at someone else’s house. Other people at the party assure me this raw meat is actually steak tartare, perfectly fine to eat as-is, but … Continue reading Chemicals and Food Safety in the 21st Century by Danielle Robertson Rath

In surveying the CDC website, I found 24 multistate, foodborne outbreaks listed for the calendar year 2018. The investigations of these outbreaks identified 2584 cases resulting in 788 hospitalizations and 11 deaths. These outbreaks represent only a very small view of the estimated 48 million people who become sick due to foodborne illness, 128,000 become hospitalized and 3000 die. In the grand scheme of things, … Continue reading Notable food safety outbreaks in 2018

Should food scientists consider Harvey Wiley a hero who used science to make food safe? OR was he the man who fought valiantly to get chemicals out of our food but failed? Based on the limited introduction to his work in my Food Science classes in college, I considered him to be a hero. Now books like The Poison Squad by Deborah Blum have cast … Continue reading The Poison Squad: One Chemist’s Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Century

Do you still believe in calories? I do. I understand that there are exceptions to the rules such that protein calories may not be metabolized as rapidly as those from alcohol, carbohydrates and fats. I also understand that there are variations in metabolic rates from one person to the next. Some of us can eat massive amounts of calories without gaining weight, while others seem … Continue reading Top 10 sources of calories in the American diet

Names matter. Success or failure of an idea, product or genre can hinge on its name. Two weeks ago, I suggested that the success of a monumental change in the way we produce meat could hinge on how it is named. The power of a name in today’s society has major implications for how a person, place or thing is perceived. A common name and … Continue reading What’s in a name? Why does it matter?