Local Organic Foods at a Wal-Mart Near You?

As of late, everyone has chimed in on the "Wal-Mart going healthy" discussion. I think it's my turn to do the same.

I'm not a supporter of Wal-Mart or Sam's Club. I don't agree with their labor practices. I don't believe in getting my daily necessities from a store that's the size of Rhode Island. I also don't think selling packaged processed food in bulk for household use is doing us (and our health) any good. I doubt any family needs 5 loaves of white bread and 5 pound bags of candies.

Subsidies vs. Recommendations

Talk is cheap. Hypocrisy is even cheaper. So when I came across the subsidies that USDA allocates for each food group, the jarring contradictions that exist within the department were disturbing. It's the same agency that preaches healthy eating that gives more than half of its subsidies to the food that most Americans over-consume. It also happens that this food is one of the culprits for heart disease- an increasingly expensive illness for both the government and its people. It would be a laughable matter if it wasn't such a serious issue.

Celeb Nutritionism

I regard most nutrition advice from celebs like financial advice from Lehman Brothers. While indulging my guilty pleasure on PerezHilton.com today, I came across this gem from the beautiful Kelly Osbourne:

"I've completely changed the way I eat since doing Dancing With The Stars. A trick I've learned is to eat just a little bit of something that has no carbs and no sugar in it before you go to sleep because it keeps your metabolism going. They say you should never eat before you go to bed, but I've found just having a tiny little snack - like half an apple or something like that - before you go to sleep really helps."

Never is a very strong word. If hungry, it's a good idea to nibble on something even if it's within an hour of going to sleep. Moreover, people with diabetes should have a bedtime snack so their medication is not going to induce hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) while they sleep. 

Also, apples are primarily made up of sugars (hence carbs). There is fiber but definitely no fat and protein. Apples and other fruits are terrific bedtime snacks, and I'm glad Ms. Osbourne is making good snack choices. But to go on record and say there are no carbs and sugar in apples? That cannot be more misleading. 

There is a reason why celebrities look good. Their career hinges on their appearance. If we had personal trainers and chefs and consultants for this and that plus airbrushing for every blemish, I'm sure most of us will look pretty darn faboosh, too. 

Smart (aka Deceptive) Labeling

Just when you think you're getting the hang of reading labels, food manufacturers throw you a curve ball and makes food labels even more confusing to decipher.

A recent inquiry to Kellogg's® by a fellow health educator revealed a surprisingly contradictory practice from an answer that didn't really, well, answer anything. Before, the label for these cereal bars didn't separate the ingredients for the crust and the filling. Now, all packages of Nutri-Grain® Cereal Bars look like the one above. When my fellow health educator emailed the company and asked about the change, she was replied with the following:

Thank you for contacting us regarding Kellogg's® Nutri-Grain® Cereal Bars. There has not been a change in the Nutri-Grain formula since 2008 when more whole grains were added to the crust.

As far a the weight of each component, we do not have that information readily availabe but I would think that the filling would be more dense and weigh more than the crust.

I hope these answers helped address any concerns you may have about Kellogg's® Nutri-Grain® Cereal Bars. If you have any additional questions or concerns, simply reply to this email or contact us at 1-800-962-1413.

Thanks again for writing us. We appreciate your interest in our company and products.

          Sincerely, 
          Jill DeLong
          Sr. Consumer Specialist
          Consumer Affairs Department

The rule for listing ingredients is that they are listed in order by weight from the most to the least amount used to make the food. If even Kellogg's® believes that the filling weighs more than the crust, then why on Earth is the crust's ingredients listed first? 

For label-savvy consumers, seeing "whole grains rolled oats" as the first ingredient is a lot more appealing than "high fructose corn syrup." Capitalizing on this fact, food manufacturers decided to separate the components of the same food item (i.e. crust and filling) so their products can be seemingly healthy. If you've eaten one of these cereal bars, you would know how unappetizingly sweet they are- all thanks to the FIVE kinds of sugar in this one little bar!

Special thanks to Suzy S. for challenging Kellogg's® and sharing the response on Healing Foodie!

Will the Real Korean BBQ Please Stand Up

The majority of Korean BBQs here in the States conjure up a very "beefy" picture- marinated beef of all cuts with pork in equal or slightly smaller proportions. And perhaps some sort of seafood if the eatery offers them on its menu. Of course, AYCE (all you can eat) Korean BBQs have gained momentum as more meat-loving customers are demanding... well, more meat.

Reality and my naive understanding of Korean food collided on a trip to South Korea last year. During my 5-day stay, I only had 0.5 servings of beef- if that at all. A day or two into the trip, the tour guide explained that seafood, along with pork, are the predominant animal protein in the country. The hilly terrain makes it difficult to raise cattle so it has never been a big part of the Korean diet. Also, a little known fact is that Korea once imported much of its beef from the U.S., and the largest current beef supplier to the country is Australia. A strong currency, high import duties, and the continued ban on U.S. beef have combined to create record beef prices. 

So how did Korean BBQ get so distorted from one side of the Pacific to the other? 

The abundance of beef in Korean BBQ is as Korean as Orange Chicken in Chinese cuisine. While it's delicious, it's absolutely untraditional and a spoof to the culture. It's time to bring back some authenticity to the cuisine so everyone can experience the brilliance of real Korean food.

Pictured above (clockwise from top left): 
Assorted veggies and meat hot pot, samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup), pork 2-ways (shabu shabu and grilled), fresh sashimi, pork and squid cabbage shabu shabu, pork samgyeopsal (unseasoned pork grilled at table), kimchi dumplings with chicken "yakisoba" and rice dish. 

Shenanigans at the Supermarket

As much as I enjoy certain Asian specialties, most Asian supermarkets baffle me in more ways than one. See photo for case in point. I'm not sure if the fish is being called "idiot" or it's implying that the people who purchase it are.

Also spotted on the same day in the same grocery store is Chilean Sea Bass for sale at $8.99 per pound. This is also baffling since the sea bass is from China. Either way, Chilean Sea Bass has been consistently red-listed by Seafood Watch in the past few years. I guess this supermarket missed that memo? For more reasons to boycott sea bass, visit Seafood Watch at Monterey Bay Aquarium and how you can support sustainable seafood.

In the Name of Charity

Food is a common instrument in fundraisers and charity events, but companies often exploit products and consumers to boost sales. Raising money is usually just a side effect from these campaigns.

One such example is Ethos Water. "For each bottle of Ethos Water purchased, $0.05 will be donated towards Starbucks'... commitments towards humanitarian water programs by 2010." Last time I checked, Ethos Water was selling for $1.85 at Starbucks. From the almost $2 "donation", only 2.78% is actually going to provide clean water to the designated countries. I'm no mathematician but that's not a very generous amount. 

Recently, KFC partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure to raise money for breast cancer research. For every Pink Bucket purchased, KFC will make a $0.50 contribution to the cause. A bucket of fried or grilled chicken is about $9 so 5.6% of the cost actually goes to the further research. That's a more commendable effort but fat-laden hormone-injected chicken for breast cancer research? Talk about an antithesis! 

While I'm glad corporations are committed to charitable efforts, they're so frequently lost in the quest for larger profits even in the name of charity. I'm certain there much more effective ways to help those in need instead of using overpriced and unhealthful food to lure donations.  

Update: My food politics heroine, Marion Nestle, also wrote about KFC's breast cancer research promo. Click here to read her commentary about this oxymoron-ic campaign. 

Photos from ethoswater.com and kfc.com

Supersizing is Back!

Supersizing was all the rage in the 90s and early 2000s at McDonalds. For $0.39 more, you could upgrade to 7 oz. of French fries and a 42 fl. oz. soft drink. Customers are drawn to "more bang for your buck" concepts so "supersize" did very well in America. That is until the documentary "Super Size Me" and consumer groups demonstrated the negative health effects associated with consuming supersized meals. Finally, McDonalds retired the supersize option in late 2004.


16-oz Grande vs. 31-oz Trenta 
Well, "supersize" is still very much alive if we take a look at portion sizes offered at restaurants. But extra large portions may come back in a the form of supersized drinks... at a Starbucks near us soon.


Currently, the giant coffee chain is testing out Trenta, a 31 ouncer, at selected stores in Tampa and Phoenix. You read that right. 31 ounces of iced teas or iced coffees are necessary because Venti, the 24 ouncer, isn't enough. Iced tea or coffee by itself only has a few calories. But when sugary syrup or cream is added to drinks in these Trenta cups, we can expect each to carry at least 200 calories. Frothy coffee "dessert" drinks topped with whipped cream and caramel drizzle can easily add up to 500 calories. Do Americans, or anyone on the planet for that matter, really need to ingest so much sugar and fat in liquid form?

Read more about Trenta here from msnbc.

Update: Stephen Colbert gave Trenta a "Tip of the Hat" on his show The Colbert Report on Wednesday night. He said, "it's their version of the Big Gulp, or in this case, the Big Twitch." Fast forward to the 12:45 mark to watch Colbert's hilarious commentary on Starbucks's Trenta.

Photo: Carl Lisciandrello