China's newest university has no football field or fancy library. For inspiration, it looks not to Confucius, but to Ronald McDonald. ...

Corporate Accountability International seems to be a day late and a few brains cells short.

McDonald’s opens Hamburger U. in China

If they want to go after someone, why not the BK King...He promotes bad manners and general obnoxiousness...

What's next...ketchup???

Santa Clara County: Supervisors Ban Toys With Fast-Food Meals

IHOP: The gluttony race intensifies

First it was KFC’s “Double Down,’’ a 540-calorie sandwich made of bacon, cheese, and sauce, with two pieces of fried chicken in place of bread. Now, IHOP has entered the gluttony arms race with its limited-edition “Pancake Stackers,’’ a cheesecake lodged between two buttermilk pancakes, covered with fruit compote and whipped topping. IHOP won’t release the calorie count, but says the “Pancake Stackers’’ combo meal, complete with eggs, bacon, and hash browns, will run up 1,250 calories. To put that in perspective: The average person consumes about 2,000 calories per day.

Excessively layered food has been around for at least as long as Louisianians have feasted on the turducken, made of a chicken stuffed into a duck and wedged inside a turkey. But the determination of fast-food chains to make politically correct noises about reducing salt and adding fruits and vegetables, while at the same time creating products that are an amalgam of every unhealthy element of their menu, is galling. So while KFC, Burger King, and Taco Bell fight for supremacy in the grease-and-sinew market, IHOP creates a sweet pile of fat all its own.

Yes, fast food can be tasty, and no one likes the wagging finger of the food police. But it’s reasonable to expect the chains to ease up a bit in the name of, well, sanity.

Michelle Obama: Food Profiteer Turned Food Cop

Let me summarize first lady Michelle Obama's anti-obesity agenda: Shed as I say, not as I gain. While she crusades for organic foods and puts government pressure on corporations to stop marketing fast food and junk food to children, Mrs. Obama herself profited from the very same processed food industry she now demonizes.

In June 2005, a few months after her husband was elected to the U.S. Senate, Mrs. Obama hustled a seat on the corporate Board of Directors of TreeHouse Foods, Inc. Despite zero experience, the food-processing company put her on its audit and nominating and corporate governance committees. For her on-the-job training and the privilege of putting her name and face on their literature, the company forked over $45,000 in 2005 and $51,200 in 2006 to Mrs. Obama -- as well as 7,500 TreeHouse stock options worth more than $72,000 for each year.

The chairman of the TreeHouse Foods board, Sam K. Reed, was a top executive at Kellogg's and Keebler Foods, home of that great menace to children, the Keebler Elf. Before that, he headed up Mother's Cake and Cookie Company. The conglomerate sells cheese sauces, Cremora non-dairy creamer, instant soup, puddings and powdered soft drink mixes. Hardly the stuff of Mrs. Obama's new vision of nutritional paradise. TreeHouse is also a leading supplier of pickles used in the burgers of evil fast food chain McDonald's -- exactly the kind of corporate restaurants Mrs. Obama is now targeting in her war on urban "food deserts."

The corporation-bashing Mrs. Obama would have continued raking in her TreeHouse cash if it hadn't been for her husband's pesky pledge to pander to Big Labor and swear off Wal-Mart. The retail giant, you see, happened to be TreeHouse's biggest customer. And Wal-Mart is to Big Labor as sunshine is to Dracula.

In May 2007, Obama told AFL-CIO workers in Trenton, N.J., that Wal-Mart was dead to him. "I won't shop there," he pledged, with an eye toward embarrassing then-chief rival Hillary Clinton, who had served on Wal-Mart's board from 1986-1992. The AFL-CIO has waged relentless attacks on Wal-Mart, dubbing it the "Poster Store for Greed." That, by extension, would make Mrs. Obama -- all-too-happy recipient of a Wal-Mart dependent compensation package worth more than $100,000 in 2008, according to Securities and Exchange Commission records -- a Poster Child for Ancillary Avarice.

Candidate Obama shrugged off his wife's conflict of interest. "Michelle and I have to live in the world and pay taxes and pay for our kids and save for retirement," Obama explained to Crain's Chicago Business magazine before his White House bid. Political expediency, alas, required that the candidate's wife step down when the issue reared its head after Obama's Wal-Mart bashing during the presidential campaign cycle. True to form, Mrs. Obama turned the decision into an ostentatious display of self-sacrifice:

"As my campaign commitments continue to ramp up, it is becoming more difficult for me to provide the type of focus I would like on my professional responsibilities," said Chicago's Joan of Arc in a resignation statement eight days after her husband declared his boycott of the stores stocked with food items processed and distributed by her TreeHouse colleagues. "My priorities, particularly at this important time, are ensuring that our young daughters feel a sense of comfort and normalcy in this process, and that I can support my husband in his presidential campaign to bring much needed change to this country."

She saw no conflict then. And she sees no conflict now in wielding her East Wing clout to restrict the advertising free speech of the food industry that lined her pocketbook with big, fat paychecks. The Obama White House is on an insatiable control binge. No private space has been left behind -- not your grocery aisles, not your children's TV shows, not even your refrigerator.

What's next...ketchup???

New Heinz Ketchup recipe shakes up fans of the condiment

Heinz will change the recipe for its flagship ketchup product this summer, sparking outrage among some lovers of the condiment Thursday.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Thursday that the salt content of the condiment will drop by 15 percent, saying it was the most significant change in the ketchup recipe in nearly 40 years. Under the new formula the average serving will have 160mg of sodium, down from 190mg.

Heinz has been testing the new recipe in its hometown of Pittsburgh and six other cities to "ensure the recipe met our consumers' expectations," Heinz spokeswoman Jessica Jackson told the Post-Gazette.

But there were mixed reactions to the news on the Heinz Ketchup Facebook page.

"PLEASE DON'T CHANGE YOUR RECIPE!!!!!!!!! We need salt in our diets. Make a low sodium one if you want.....but don't mess with perfection. Wars use to be fought over salt.....do I have to start hoarding Heinz with salt?," one fan wrote.

Another added: "Just read the article in the PG about changing our ketchup! No, no, no!!!! We like our ketchup just as it has been for over 100 years. Remember that whole "New Coke" fiasco?!?"

But some of the about 390,000 fans of the Heinz Ketchup Facebook page welcomed the change.

"Very happy to hear about the new reduced sodium ketchup coming to a supermarket near me soon," one wrote Thursday.

What's next...ketchup???

Amid a 'food desert,' East St. Louis is getting a farmers market

EAST ST. LOUIS — The first customer walked in, just before 8 a.m. Saturday, and walked out a few minutes later with an armful of beans and greens.

A promising start.

In a depleted city with mostly fast-food restaurants and produce-starved corner stores, the East St. Louis Farmers Market is an anomaly. But one, organizers believe, that could eventually change the way East St. Louisans eat and live.

"This farmers market, it's a beginning for them," said Gerald Higginbotham, the market's founder. "It's their renaissance."

Higginbotham, an airline pilot, community organizer and St. Louis resident with a couple of doctorates in religion, speaks in biblical tones and with no small aims about the market's capacity to change a community where many residents are stuck in unhealthy eating patterns and suffer the consequences.

"It's more than just the farmers market, it's a whole movement," he said, adding, "To have a better community, you have to have healthy citizens, mind, body and spirit."

For more than two years, Higginbotham has worked to convince community health groups, residents and city officials that a market here will not just thrive, but boost the city's long- decimated economy. On Saturday he stood inside the neglected remains of a shuttered Buick dealership on State Street, the market's home, with bigger aspirations.

"It's going to be like Soulard one day," he said. "It will be an engine to help sustain the community."

Like hundreds of urban areas across the country, parts of East St. Louis are a "food desert" where residents have limited access to healthy, affordable food, and where the most convenient options are often fast-food restaurants and stores where food is cheap but laden with fat, salt or sugar.

"There's just not access to healthy choices," said Cheryl Kelly, a public health professor at St. Louis University, speaking about food deserts in general. "In some cases there are grocery stores, but there aren't always healthy options, and, on the flip side, there are lots of fast-food restaurants."

This lack of access affects the poor and minorities more. One study found that only 8 percent of blacks live in an area with a supermarket, compared with 31 percent of whites. In several American cities, studies have found that stores in low-income, minority communities stock less healthy food, particularly produce and dairy. Nationally, one study found, low-income ZIP codes have 30 percent more convenience and liquor stores, which tend to carry more processed, shelf-stable food.

East St. Louis has two supermarkets, but not everyone can reach them easily, and their produce selection can be limited, some say.

"It's not as wide a variety as you'd have in other stores," said Elizabeth Patton-Whiteside, head of the East Side Health District. "The two in East St. Louis are on the bus line, but you know how difficult it is to carry groceries and catch the bus."

Over time, this lack of access has become one of the primary causes leading to higher rates of obesity and diet-related diseases in low-income, minority areas. In East St. Louis, for example, nearly half the high school boys and more than half the girls are overweight, according to the health district.

"Kids are raised on fast foods, on food that families can afford," Kelly added. "The kids get used to that as their taste buds develop and continue to eat that way over their lives. That increases the likelihood of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer."

Changing these entrenched habits will be a battle.

"You can't put a market in the middle of a community and expect things to change right away," said Nicky Uy, manager of the farmers market program for the Food Trust, a Philadelphia-based organization that works to get healthy food to underserved areas. "Some people say we've lost two generation of cooks."

Education will be critical.

"It's not just about fresh produce. It's also about educating people on healthy eating," said Joyce Coleman, who helped Higginbotham with the project. "We know that's going to be an uphill battle."

To that end, the market's organizers say they plan to have cooking demonstrations and recipes to help engage people with unfamiliar foods. They also plan to accept the new version of food stamps and government-subsidized vouchers for fresh produce.

The goal for this year is to reach 500 families. And in coming years, organizers hope that residents will not only buy produce from the market, but learn to grow it in some of the city's vacant lots and sell it.

"This is the nucleus for this community to grow," said Philamina Johnson Edwards, manager of the market. "We want to make sure we're here for the long term."

Watchdog Group Wants Ronald McDonald To Retire

I continue to stand strong in my right to buy my grandkids French Fries at McD's....

Good for KFC...no one is shoving the product down anyone's throat...youngest son has become quite fond of these as he's not a bread fan...

Jack Nugent urges a pedestrian to support his cause calling for McDonald's to retire Ronald McDonald in March in Chicago.
View related photos

Do they come with a side of Lipitor?

How Will You Celebrate National Hamburger Day?

If the cards, gifts, and the annual parade down Fifth Avenue hadn't been clue enough already, May is National Hamburger Month and Friday, May 28, specifically, is National Hamburger Day. As it happens, it’s also my birthday although, fond as I am of hamburgers, there is no connection between the two observances.

Having said that, a few places will be marking the occasion –

National Hamburger Day, not my birthday – with specials on the all-American meal. In fact, hamburger enthusiasts have been marking the month with observations all over the Internet and one man – a Canadian – has attempted to produce the world’s largest hamburger, thereby proving the hamburger’s ability to bring all of humanity closer together and ushering in an era of world peace. Incidentally, the world’s largest hamburger available commercially weighs in at 150 pounds (Guiness listed them in 2008) and sells for $499 at Mallie’s Sports Grill & Bar in Southgate, Mich. It also requires a 30-day advance order, so plan ahead for next year.

White Castle – I wrote about their burger-scented candles earlier this month – claims credit for the establishment of the month-long observation but other burger places have jumped on board to hawk their wares, as well, including Krystal Burgers, the southeastern burger chain. Of course, you don’t have to actually buy a burger to mark the occasion. Making hamburgers at home can be a wonderful opportunity to bring the people you love together in the spirit of the holiday season. Preferably with bacon. It is my birthday, after all.

I guess now that Homie the Clown has shaken down BP for an unlimited pot of money, than the do-gooders think they can 86 the weekly 'reward' for American kids.

What next, will the CSPI go after the Hansel and Gretel's witch for her overfeeding Handel and than allowing the pair to pig out on sweets.

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Presidents Obama and Medvedev bond at Ray's Hell Burger

During the Cold War, President Richard Nixon once gave Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev a Lincoln Continental. The car fanatic and notoriously bad driver immediately took the startled president on a high-speed ride through the twisting mountain roads near Camp David, running a stop sign in the process.

President Obama kept things simpler Thursday. He took visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to his favorite hamburger joint, Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington County, and paid for Medvedev's order of a cheddar cheeseburger, piled high with onions, jalapeno peppers and mushrooms, shared fries and a Coke.

...

Harry Potter Fans Deemed Too Heavy for 'Wizarding World' Ride

Most people remember the feeling of not being tall enough to ride an amusement park ride, but some would-be riders of the signature attraction at Universal Studios' new "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" theme park in Orlando are being turned away because of their girth. The ride, "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey," employs individual restraints to keep each guest tucked in to his or her seat, but the restraints aren't large enough to accommodate heavier riders.

Universal seems to have anticipated this issue, stationing staff "wizards" and test-seats along the line and at the entrance to Forbidden Journey. Riders test their ability to fit in the seats, as well as the restraint (which must click three times to be deemed safe and for the potential rider to be allowed into the attraction).

One Harry Potter fan, Jeff Guillaume of Lansing, Michigan, expressed disappointment on his "Harry Potter" fan site after he failed the test. Guillaume is 5'8" and weighs 265 pounds, and says the restraint wouldn't fit over his torso, though he reports that other rides at the park have special cars reserved for bigger riders.

Universal, which doesn't have "specific weight limits (just the test seats and a requirement that riders be at least 48 inches tall), says the "body dimension" restrictions are "to ensure the safety of our guests. It's #1."

That's all fine and good, but considering the average weight of an American man is 191 pounds (and rising: in 1960 it was 166 pounds), "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" could be turning away quite a few potential revelers.

Universal isn't the first theme-park operator to deal with issues raised by the growing rate of obesity in the United States. In 2007, Disney had to modify the "It's a Small World" ride after weighted-down boats began regularly getting stuck in the plume.

One Harry Potter fan who was unable to ride "Forbidden Journey" when his seat test yielded only two clicks of the restraint, is turning the incident into a personal motivational challenge. Banks Lee, who says he's 6'2? and approximately 310 lbs, has decided to diet and exercise until he can get on the ride (and hopes to continue his quest even after meeting that goal.) He's even started a blog: Banks Lee and the Three Clicks: My Journey to Fit on an Enchanted Bench, where the Orlando resident is documenting the long walks and sensible diet that he hopes will lead to a ride on "The Forbidden Journey."

Missing: Fresh foods in Baltimore
New urban 'food czar' aims to change the way city eats

At the Almost Everything Grocery & Deli in east Baltimore, a cashier hits a buzzer, allowing customers to open the locked door. Inside, they're greeted by ... very little.

Many of the dingy shelves are empty, the lights are off, and the odor of cat litter hangs in the air. There's no fresh produce — sodas and salty snacks are the big sellers.

It's a familiar scene in many of Baltimore's poorest neighborhoods, but it's something the city is trying to address in an innovative way.

Last month, Baltimore hired a food policy coordinator, making the city one of the first in the country with a paid "food czar." While Holly Freishtat's directive may be straightforward — get more healthy food on the tables of the people who need it — accomplishing it may not be.

She doesn't get a budget for major initiatives, so much of her time is spent pursuing grant money. He salary doesn't even come from the city, which recently raised taxes and cut services to close a $121 million budget deficit.

A coalition of nonprofits pays her salary, and they've only committed to cover 30 hours a week for a year. Nevertheless, this is progress.

"Baltimore is ahead of the curve in one sense in that they actually hired Holly," said Mark Winne of the Community Food Security Coalition, who has worked with food policy councils for nearly 20 years. "The actual idea of putting staff into this is new, but I think it's emblematic of the growth of food policy councils around the country."

Dozens of cities and a handful of states have food policy councils, but they tend to function as advocacy groups, pushing change from outside government. Few have taken on paid staff. New York City hired a food czar in 2007 and is currently seeking his replacement. Boston, too, is in the process of hiring one. Kansas City, Mo., has a food policy coordinator, but she's housed at a nonprofit.

Author and sustainable food advocate Michael Pollan has called on the federal government to establish a department of food. No city or state has one either.

"The urgency of the situation is that we have chronic health issues and disparities in our low-income neighborhoods," Freishtat said. "Food access can make a difference."

'Food deserts'
A study of Baltimore neighborhoods found that nearly a fifth of its 630,000 residents live with little or no access to fresh foods — neighborhoods often described as "food deserts." Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of adults and nearly half of all high school students are overweight or obese, and the death rate from heart disease is 30 percent higher than in the rest of Maryland.

Freishtat works out of the planning department, and her job is to implement the 10 recommendations for improving the city's food system made last December by Baltimore's food policy task force. They include expanding access to farmers markets, community gardens and community-supported agriculture; improving the food served in city schools; and pushing for new zoning laws that remove roadblocks to food production and sales.

The city is seeking funding, from the same nonprofits and other groups, to make Freishtat's position full-time and permanent. Because taxpayers aren't paying her salary, city officials wouldn't say how much money she makes.

Seema Iyer, a division chief in the city's planning department who led the effort to hire Freishtat, said her role is to coordinate disparate efforts related to food. When city employees encounter a food-related problem, they now have someone to call who has expertise, Iyer said.

Winne said it's not realistic to expect Freishtat to implement all the food task force's recommendations on her own, but thinks she still will prove invaluable even during the first year.

"A food policy person's overall responsibility should be the bigger picture," he said. "It's not to go off and set up a farmer's market or set up a community garden."

And no matter how impressive her title, Freishtat can't just talk Safeway into opening a supermarket in the blighted inner city. Nor can she persuade corner store owners to change a business model that's worked for decades.

Almost Everything Grocery & Deli owner Antonio Melvin used to offered more products — including healthier ones, like turkey burgers, whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables — when he opened two years ago. It didn't work.

"I put fruit in here, it goes bad. Everybody wants unhealthy stuff. That's the diet that people have been brought up in," he said. "I try to provide more, but it's killing me as a business owner."

Michelle Obama promotes anti-obesity agenda at NAACP convention

Michelle Obama called on the NAACP Monday to help end childhood obesity, a health issue that hits African-Americans especially hard.

Nearly half of African-American children will develop diabetes at some time in their lives, Obama told the crowd at the national NAACP convention.

"We need to take this issue seriously — as seriously as improving underachieving schools, eliminating youth violence and stopping the spread of HIV," Obama told the packed hall at the Kansas City Convention Center.

Obama has made ending childhood obesity her priority, kicking off the campaign in March 2009 by planting a vegetable garden on the South Lawn at the White House.

Her speech came on the same day that Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon signed into law a bill establishing an urban farming committee to study and make recommendations on how to improve and increase community gardening.

Government, however, cannot go at it alone, Obama said.

"To address this challenge, we need to be honest about how we got here," she said. "The way we live today is very different from the way we grew up. Fewer children are walking or biking to school, more families are eating on the run, and children are watching more TV than playing outside."

Obama said her "Let's Move" initiative includes beefing up food label requirements so it's easier to determine what's in a package, can or bottle. That process with the Food and Drug Administration is under way. Also, new health care legislation requires chain restaurants to post calories of the items on their menus.

Legislation is also pending to revamp school meals to include less sugar, salt and fat, Obama said.

A goal of her initiative is that all families have access to affordable, quality food in their neighborhoods. Some 23.5 million Americans — 6.5 million of them children — live in "food deserts," neighborhoods without markets, she said. Food is bought at gas stations and convenience stores instead.

That's why the administration plans to invest $400 million in recruiting developers to bring stores to underserved communities and to help small businesses offering limited food choices expand their healthier options, she said.

Obama said that healthful food is only half of the equation; the other is exercise. Efforts are under way to encourage more physical education classes in school. Obama is working with professional sports groups such as the National Football League and Major League Baseball to conduct sports clinics and launch public service announcements about the importance of 60 minutes of activity per day.

"Will you move with me?" Obama asked. "I'm gonna need you, NAACP."

Obama's remarks were well-received. Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said it was an appropriate venue for Obama.

"She is talking to the right audience," Adolphus Pruitt, first vice president of the St. Louis chapter of the NAACP, said.

Lori Wagner, a pediatric endocrinologist at St. Louis Children's Hospital and medical director of the pediatric obesity program, said Obama's efforts were invaluable to health care professionals fighting a growing, complicated problem.

"I really encourage baby steps," Wagner said. "We talk a lot about what you can and can't do. Something is better than nothing."

Growing trend: All-you-can-eat sections at big-league parks

Matthew Cavalier had a seat in Section 280 for a late June game between the Orioles and Athletics at Camden Yards. But for a good portion of the fourth inning, he chose to watch the game on TV from inside the concourse. That way, he could be closer to the food.

The all-you-can-eat food -- the nachos, hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn, lemonade, sodas and ice cream -- that he was entitled to with the purchase of a ticket in the Orioles' Left Field Club Picnic Perch was that big of a draw.

"It's an easier walk," Cavalier said.

The left-field sections at Camden Yards are part of the growing trend of all-you-can-eat style options in major league ballparks. At a cost of $40 per ticket in the section, fans are entitled to a buffet-style choice that includes all the above-mentioned foods and even salad -- you know, in case you are feeling guilty.

"It's a great deal, especially for the teams that aren't selling out every game," Cavalier said. "The Phillies, Yankees and all them are always going to be fine. They don't need to do this. But for fans of, say, this team, it's a good plan."

The Orioles aren't the only franchise attempting to boost attendance in slacking sections with the promotion. Nineteen of the 30 major league teams offer the all-you-can-eat seats at some games in 2010, up from 13 two years ago and six in 2007.

Knowing many fans like Cavalier will spend more than $40 on a ticket and food, teams target fans like him and lure him with the value of the ticket. And with his penchant for going back for more (Cavalier said he usually eats "double to triple" in the all-you-can-eat seats as he normally does at an Orioles game), he also embodies the concerns of nutritionists and the questions of responsibility that have followed the trend since its inception.

"Well, it's all-you-can-eat," Cavalier said, shrugging. "I figure I might as well take advantage of it."

Blurring the line between value and gluttony is something that worries nutritionists and health professionals about the promotion. "Anytime you have an open buffet, people are more likely to eat more and drink more," said Lona Sandon, a registered dietician and American Dietetic Association national spokesman. "It's perceived as cost-effective. Well, not when it comes to your health."

According to the American Medical Association, nearly 34 percent of all American adults and 17 percent of children are obese. Put in context, these numbers raise the question: Is it socially responsible for teams to set up these all-you-can-eat sections?

Teams say the intention is not for fans to gorge themselves on the food, but many fans say it often comes with the culture of being at the ballpark. Even as Orioles fan Michele Sparklin ate a salad and said she yearned for choices like a grilled chicken wrap, she admitted to overindulging in hot dogs -- and food in general -- while sitting in the section. "When there's a hot dog in your face, you have to take it," she said.

Cavalier walked back to his seat before the bottom half of the fourth inning, third hot dog in not more than 10 minutes in hand.

"I mostly go for the hot dogs," he said. "One good thing about this is that they have cold stuff like ice cream. I've had a bunch of the ice cream. Oh, I tried one thing of salad too, because last year they didn't have a salad.

Tried? "I didn't eat all of it," Cavalier said. "It's nice that they're trying for healthier stuff, but I'm at a ballpark."

Still, while many teams shy away from using overeating as a promotional tool for the sections -- even in some cases shying away from "all-you-can-eat" descriptions -- there are still hints of its endorsement. The Indians promote their section on their website with the opening tagline of, "How much food can you eat?" while offering fans a chance to "test their limitations." An Astros executive made casual reference to hot dog-eating contests among college-aged fans.

Mary Lee, an usher at Camden Yards for 17 years in one of the sections transformed into part of the Picnic Perch, said she's seen more than a few such contests since the Orioles started the promotion in 2007. She remembered one last season most specifically. "There were two kids from Virginia," she said, pointing to the seats she remembered them occupying. "One had eaten 16 hot dogs, and the other wasn't far behind."

A few teams have started to implement healthier options in their ballparks and all-inclusive sections. The Orioles, for one, added salads to the menu this season. Salads are also available in Pittsburgh's PNC Park.

For now, though, healthy food choices are mostly non-existent in these sections. The Padres sell fruit, salad and yogurt at some concession stands in the stadium, but not in their all-inclusive sections. Other teams only say they're looking into the possibility. Aramark, which provides food service for 12 major league teams, said it is "continuously evaluating and refining our menus." Fan feedback is an important step in that process.

Still, Sandon worries that too much is already established in ballpark traditions for fans to choose healthier options, even if they were available.

"It's the concept of culture," Sandon said. "People expect to go to a ballgame and have a hot dog smothered in chili cheese. People choose on taste. What's the tastiest? Even if you weren't hungry when you walked in, it's tough to walk into a ballpark and not get triggered by the aroma of the smell of the hot dogs."

That culture only made the development of the all-inclusive package a natural one in the sports arena.

...

Kraft will increase whole grains in more than 100 cracker products over next 3 years

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Kraft Foods Inc. says it will more than double the amount of whole grain in many of its Nabisco crackers, becoming the latest food maker to respond to consumer and health advocates' demands for improved nutrition from packaged foods.

Kraft will increase the whole grain in more than 100 products over the next three years, the company announced Monday.

As a result, its Ritz and Premium crackers will contain whole grains for the first time. Whole grain will more than double and quadruple in the company's Wheat Thins crackers in its Honey Maid graham crackers.

Whole grains are considered a part of a healthy diet, adding necessary fiber and nutrients. They help reduce the risk of heart disease, improve digestion, provide essential nutrients and may help control weight, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

While most Americans consume enough grains, few are whole grains.

Whole grains use the entire grain kernel, but many packaged foods are made with refined grains that have been milled to remove the bran and germ. This process give the grains a finer texture and helps improve shelf life. But it removes dietary fiber, iron and many B vitamins, the USDA says.

Some refined grains are enriched to add certain nutrients back in but not fiber.

Dietary guidelines suggest that adults get at least half of their recommended five to eight ounces of grains per day from whole grain sources.

Kraft said the move was a response to consumer demand for healthier products. The company already used whole grains in its Triscuit crackers and increased the amount of whole grains in its some Wheat Thins products last summer. As a result of these latest changes, some of its products such as Original Wheat Thins and Honey maid original products will use only whole grains.

"People are looking for more whole grains, we know that they aren't getting enough," said Carlos Abrams-Rivera, Vice President of our Nabisco Crackers business.

A number of food makers have reformulated products recently to respond to growing concerns about Americans' diets.

Kellogg Co. announced last June that it was increasing the amount of fiber in its U.S. ready-to-eat cereals by the end of 2010. Last week, the company introduced a new line of FiberPlus cereals that with antioxidants.

Kraft, ConAgra Foods Inc., Del Monte Foods Co. and many other large food makers have recently announced sodium reductions. Others have reduced sugar and increased certain nutrients to draw health-conscious shoppers, despite increased scrutiny from federal regulators on the health claims made on their labels.

Kraft, based in Northfield, Ill., said the move is solely a response to consumer demand. The company declined to disclose the cost of the change but said the process has been under way for four years as it tried to find formulas that allowed the addition of whole grains but did not compromise taste or quality.

"We can make products activists or regulators want, but if consumers don't eat them, it doesn't help them or us," said Rhonda Jordan, Kraft's president of health and wellness.

KFC owners wonder what happened to the 'F'
Angered franchisees sue saying focus on grilled chicken has hurt the brand

Marilynn Pankratz fondly recalls the time Colonel Sanders donned an apron at her Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and taught the staff how to fry chicken according to his Original Recipe. Ask her if KFC's current president, Roger Eaton, would do the same, and she's off: "Roger Eaton and his company don't give a rat's ass," says Pankratz, who has run KFC franchises since 1963 and operates eight in Florida and Louisiana. "They hire marketing guys with blue blazers who tell us what to do with our damn stores. But it's one thing to be behind the big mahogany desk calling the shots and another to be down here in the trenches."

Pankratz is part of a group of franchisees who blame KFC's falling sales on Eaton's decision in early 2009 to emphasize grilled chicken and sandwiches over KFC's bone-in fried fare. Managers at the Yum! Brands-owned chain say they're trying to reach health-conscious, on-the-go consumers. Many franchisees say the strategy confuses customers and hurts the brand. Second-quarter revenue at U.S. stores open at least a year fell 7 percent.

In January the KFC National Council & Advertising Cooperative, which represents all U.S. franchisees, sued KFC to gain control of ad strategy. The Association of Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchisees, which speaks for about two-thirds of all U.S. KFC restaurants, has hired Larry Light, once McDonald's chief marketing officer, to bolster local marketing independent of headquarters.

KFC, which calls the lawsuit "baseless," didn't make Eaton available because of the litigation. "KFC's strategy is derived from extensive consumer research," spokeswoman Laurie Schalow wrote in an e-mail. "While some franchisees may not be aligned with this strategy, Roger Eaton is executing a plan that will ensure the KFC brand remains relevant with consumers."

The civil war over what KFC should stand for erupted last year when the company introduced grilled chicken with the slogan "Unthink KFC." Some franchisees saw it as a bald effort to distance the chain from its much-cherished Southern fried legacy. "Kentucky Fried Chicken hit the streets with 11 herbs and spices, pressure-cooked, and by and large the general public doesn't give a damn how many calories are in it," says Wallace Fowler, who runs 60 franchises with his son Chris in Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. " 'Unthink' hurt KFC as a brand," adds Chris. "We told our customers not to think of us as a fried chicken chain." KFC management dropped the "Unthink KFC" national campaign in May.

Tempers flared again when KFC launched a grilled chicken giveaway on Oprah in May 2009. Management told franchisees to expect a couple hundred customers to redeem online coupons at each store, says Pat Dempsey, who owns seven franchises with her husband. Thousands showed up. Dempsey says she and other franchisees ran out of food and had to placate angry customers. "The cost to the franchisee was much larger than they said," says Dempsey, who estimates the promotion cost her as much as $15,000. "That started a continued downfall in trust." KFC canceled the promotion, and Eaton apologized to customers in an online video.

Grilled chicken sales have dwindled since, says Larry Starkey, who owns seven franchises in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Grilled chicken accounts for about 16 percent of all "on the bone" chicken sold, according to Starkey. He says an internal survey of 642 franchisees showed almost 50 percent of stores' grilled chicken is thrown away.

According to the complaint filed by the franchisee association, KFC takes a hard line on advertising. If franchisees don't vote to approve ads, it says, the company pulls all national spots from TV for the month. After the two sides reached an impasse earlier this year, one national KFC advertising campaign went dark in July, says Starkey, who serves on the chain's cooperative ad panel.

Franchisees are working with Light to develop their own marketing. So far the group has created an in-store promotion to celebrate this month's 70th anniversary of Original Recipe, complete with pennants depicting fried chicken buckets and life-size standups of Colonel Sanders. Unlike KFC's corporate advertising, the franchisee group's ads and promotions will emphasize fried chicken.

Not all franchisees agree with suing the parent. Charles Nailen, who owns 28 stores, says the timing is wrong: "We ought to be walking arm in arm to figure out a way out of this sales decline. We ought to be shooting the competition. Instead, we're shooting one another."

Big Brother in Iowa? School District Monitors Kids' Lunch Choices

An Iowa school district's lunch program asks children as young as 5 years old to memorize a four-digit PIN code so it can monitor what they eat in the school cafeteria -- prompting some parents to claim it's an unhealthy case of "Big Brother."

The Ankeny Community School District is maintaining a database that records what the kids buy to eat and then checks their food choices against national nutrition guidelines.


The program is intended to provide the children with more food options while ensuring compliance with new and stricter state-mandated nutrition requirements. But some parents are worried that the program infringes on people's freedoms. And others want to know why their 5-year-olds need to memorize a PIN before they can tie their shoelaces, and what they're supposed to do if they forget their four-digit number.

Garry Howe says he was shocked when his two sons brought home a letter from school last week informing him of the program. The letter included two sets of PIN numbers -- one for Benny, 5, who is in kindergarten, the other for Nate, 7, who is in second grade.


"The PIN numbers will make serving lines more efficient and allow more time for students to focus on their lunch selections through our offer vs. serve program and daily salad bar. This will in turn accommodate increased meal choices and the relocation of our point-of-sale machine.

"Classroom teachers have been working with students to memorize their PIN numbers. As students "check-out" they will tell the checkout scanner their number. The scanner will record the items purchased and verify that a lunch is purchased that meets the new National School Lunch
Program (NSLP) guidelines. The point of sale employee will also visually verify the student's identity to ensure the appropriate number was given by the student."

The letter went on to thank parents for helping their kids memorize the PINs and asked them to stress the importance of keeping the numbers confidential.


"My children have to memorize a four-digit PIN if they want to eat lunch at school," said Howe, two of whose four children are in grades K-5. "It sounds like Big Brother to me....

"The PIN pulls up the child's picture for validation and records what the child is eating so Big Brother can keep track of my child's food consumption," he said.

But the school district says the PIN system provides for quicker, more efficient and streamlined food service while ensuring what students select from the cafeteria complies with the law.

"We're making sure that as they're leaving the lunch line that the menu items they've selected match up with state law, so they're selecting a meal that has all the basic [components] of good nutrition," said school district spokesman Jarrett Peterson. "We're not tracking what each individual child eats."


The PIN program being rolled out this week is a response to Iowa's 2008 Healthy Kids Act, which targets childhood obesity through an overhaul of school food, wellness and fitness programs throughout the state.

One provision of the law, which went into effect in July, says that any and all food offered on school grounds -- in vending machines, a la carte cafeteria options, even fundraising bake sales -- must adhere to federal guidelines.

Peterson said the school district is not storing the information in any kind of database.

"We are not tracking each individual student's meals, we are tracking to make sure the meals we serve are in compliance with the Healthy Kids Act," he said.

It's not unusual to use technology to ensure compliance with federal nutrition standards, said Rochelle Davis, founding executive director of Healthy Schools Campaign, a Chicago-based national non-profit organization that advocates for healthier schools.


"A lot of school districts have moved to students having a card or a code," she said. "I've mostly heard about it in connection with tracking money and trying to deal with student confidentiality, so the fact that they're monitoring one extra thing might just be in the end a good third use."

But Marc Rotenberg, executive director of Electronic Privacy Information Center, a privacy and civil liberties advocacy center, said there is a growing trend of schools collecting student data and that schools need to be open with parents about what they're doing with that student information.

He said he could not recall hearing about a program like this.

"It's interesting, it's obviously more than just debiting of student account, it's about tracking what kids are eating in kindergarten," Rotenberg said.

"What exactly is the point? Seems like there's a much less intrusive way to meet this goal. It's also kind of weird to teach kindergartners how to remember PIN numbers so they can get lunch."


Davis didn't think this would be much of an issue.

"I'm amazed how young kids don't have problems with technology and remembering their passwords, their parents' passwords, cell phone numbers," she said. "It's a four digit pin number -- I don't know if it's a huge issue."

But Howe says it's ridiculous that Benny, his 5-year-old, has to memorize a PIN, though he isn't too concerned about his older son.

"I just asked Nate if he knew his number, and he rattled it off with no problem," Howe said.

"Benny had no idea."

City may curb sales of sugary beverages
Health idea involves municipal buildings

First, it was smoking in restaurants and bars. Then, artery-clogging trans fat in fast food joints and bakeries. Now, Boston health regulators have their crosshairs fixed on soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages sold in city buildings.

Concerned about the girth of employees and visitors to government agencies, Boston officials are weighing — gingerly — whether to restrict or even prohibit the sale of calorie-laden refreshments on city-owned property.

The city has convened influential health, education, and housing leaders to develop a policy that aims to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. While discussions are ongoing, Bill Walczak, head of a community health center and a member of the city’s panel, said, “Somebody has to take a stand, and if it isn’t the government and health care institutions leading the way to a healthier lifestyle, who’s going to do it?’’

There are precedents: San Francisco’s mayor earlier this year issued an executive order banning sale of sugary drinks, and New York has imposed rules governing the mix of beverages in city vending machines to favor water.

In both cases, politicians and health authorities cited the link between soft drinks and the nation’s bulging waistline: From the mid-1970s to 2000, the average American’s daily calorie load attributed to sugary drinks rose from 70 to 190, one study reported. And Harvard researchers found that women who consume more than two of the beverages a day have an almost 40 percent higher risk of heart disease than women who largely forgo them.

Boston’s earlier prohibitions on workplace smoking and trans fat arrived at a time when public sentiment had already shifted. But Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s top health official acknowledged in an interview that restricting the availability of sodas, which are already banned from the city’s school, could engender greater resistance than previous public health causes.

“I think we’re going to run into a big issue of people saying, ‘Why would you take away our sodas, why are you interfering with what we’re eating and drinking?’ ’’ said Barbara Ferrer, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission. “Unlike tobacco that is always harmful and if a person is smoking in the workplace it harms other people, I think people will look at sugar-sweetened beverages differently.’’

Ferrer said no policy has been drafted, but it appears inevitable that some measure will be adopted. The city promised when it received a $12.5 million federal stimulus grant to combat obesity and tobacco that it would “decrease consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages through counter-advertising and policy change,’’ according to a city document.

Unions representing city workers either said they were unaware of the discussions or did not return phone calls seeking comment. Firefighters declined to comment at a South End firehouse where a hulking blue Pepsi machine offers a dozen options, most containing sugar. Revenue from the machines is used by firefighters to help pay for coffee, utensils, and other dining supplies, said Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald.

Employees at City Hall were similarly reticent. The City Hall Deli on the eighth floor stocks a variety of soft drinks, as does the City Hall Coffee Stop in the bowels of the building.

“I think everything has its place,’’ said the manager of the Coffee Stop, John Moreira. “We’ve got healthy and we’ve got junk.’’

The coolers there offer bureaucrats an array of choices: V8 and Diet Coke, Nesquik and apple juice, full-sugar sodas and designer iced tea. Water is the biggest seller, and diet sodas outsell the full-sugar varieties.

Banning the sale of unhealthy drinks would not necessarily stop workers from indulging, Moreira said. “They won’t get mad,’’ he said. “They’ll just bring it from home, or run across the street to CVS.’’

The trade group representing the biggest producers and distributors of soft drinks, including Coca-Cola and Pepsi, argues that it is unfair to demonize sodas when attempting to address a health condition as complex as obesity.

“The American Beverage Association and its member companies completely agree that obesity is a very serious public health challenge that we need to face,’’ association spokesman Chris Gindlesperger said. “Outright bans, they do nothing to teach people about balance and moderation. It’s overly simplistic and inaccurate to target one product or one ingredient when it comes to obesity.’’

But Walczak has already embraced a soft-drink prohibition at the Codman Square Health Center, where he is chief executive.

The nutrition club at the charter school located in the clinic demanded that the drinks be banished, as well as junk food once peddled in vending machines.

Walczak recalled that, in the 1980s, social workers at the health center smoked while counseling patients. “It would be considered bizarre to see someone smoking in a health care institution today,’’ he said. “We see this as the beginning of the food revolution.’’

Similar restrictions are being considered by other medical centers, as well. A tiny hospital in the Berkshires earlier this year banned sugary soft drinks and sports drinks. Now, one of the state’s biggest hospitals, Brigham and Women’s, is creating a task force to evaluate what strategies it should adopt to discourage soda drinking.

In an experiment at the hospital reported in a medical journal in June, researchers found that boosting the price of sugary soft drinks while keeping the cost of a diet soda steady yielded lower sales of the high-calorie drinks.

“With smoking, we’re talking about yea or nay, yes or no, there’s no median in there,’’ said Kathy McManus, the Brigham’s nutrition director. “When you’re talking about sugar-sweetened beverages, there is more of a continuum, so how to best reduce and then eliminate — there’s all sorts of potential strategies to be discussed.’’

The head of the Washington State Potato Commission says he's sick of people linking spuds to junk food. So, starting Friday, Chris Voigt says he's going to eat nothing for 60 days except potatoes.

Twenty potatoes a day. And no cheating with cheese toppings or bacon bits.

Why? "I woke up one day and said, 'I'm tired of getting beaten up,' Voigt said, according to MyNorthwest.com. "The potato has a pretty poor reputation in the U.S., and it's time to do something extreme to wake them up to just how great the potato really is."

Potatoes are rich in potassium, fiber, vitamin C and other nutrients and have plenty of protein, Voigt said.

He wrote in his blog that he will eat "many processed potato products such as chips, dehydrated potatoes and frozen potatoes" but nothing that adds nutritional value. Seasonings and herbs are OK, he wrote, but "no creamy scalloped or cheesy twice baked."

He will have some of his taters cooked in oil, on the advice of a dietitian he consulted who was concerned about the absence of fat in a potatoes-only diet.

Boredom and temptation will likely arise, Voigt told MyNorthwest.com. "My family is excited about this diet," he told the site. "But they're not about to join me. So they'll be eating steak or a roast or chicken, and I guess I'll just have to sit there and stare."

You can follow his starchy culinary journey via his website.

Food stamps for soda? Mayor seeks ban
NYC's Bloomberg says recipients should focus on products 'that provide real nourishment'

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg sought federal permission on Wednesday to bar New York City’s 1.7 million recipients of food stamps from using them to buy soda or other sugared drinks.

The request, made to the United States Department of Agriculture, which finances and sets the rules for the food-stamp program, is part of an aggressive anti-obesity push by the mayor that has also included advertisements, stricter rules on food sold in schools and an unsuccessful attempt to have the state impose a tax on the sugared drinks.

Public health experts greeted Mr. Bloomberg’s proposal cautiously. George Hacker, senior policy adviser for the health promotion project of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said a more equitable approach might be to use educational campaigns to dissuade food-stamp users from buying sugared drinks.

“The world would be better, I think, if people limited their purchases of sugared beverages,” Mr. Hacker said. “However, there are a great many ethical reasons to consider why one would not want to stigmatize people on food stamps.”

The mayor requested a ban for two years to study whether it would have a positive impact on health and whether a permanent ban would be merited.

“In spite of the great gains we’ve made over the past eight years in making our communities healthier, there are still two areas where we’re losing ground — obesity and diabetes,” the mayor said in a statement. “This initiative will give New York families more money to spend on foods and drinks that provide real nourishment.”

New York State, which administers food stamps locally, signed on to the request, which was received by the Agriculture Department on Wednesday evening.

“We appreciate the state’s interest,” a spokesman, Justin DeJong, said. “We will review and carefully consider the state’s proposal.”

'Myth'
In 2004, the Agriculture Department denied a request by Minnesota to prevent food-stamp recipients from buying junk food. The department said that the plan, which focused on candy and soda, among other foods, was based on questionable merits and would “perpetuate the myth” that food-stamp users made poor shopping decisions.

Congress debated but rejected restricting the purchase of sugared drinks with food stamps as part of a 2008 farm bill, Mr. Hacker said. But this year, the chairman of the House’s Agriculture Committee, Collin Peterson, Democrat of Minnesota, said the House should think about such a ban in its deliberations over the next farm bill.

Mr. Bloomberg and his health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, said the ban would help curb the city’s obesity epidemic, which they contend has been fueled by rising soda consumption over the past 30 years.

City statistics released last month showed that nearly 40 percent of public-school children in kindergarten through eighth grade were overweight or obese, and that obesity rates were substantially higher in poor neighborhoods. City studies show that consumption of sugared beverages is consistently higher in those neighborhoods.

Calorie counts
Dr. Farley and the state’s health commissioner, Dr. Richard F. Daines, said in an Op-Ed article in The New York Times on Thursday that the ban would not reduce the ability of food-stamp recipients to feed their families. “They would still receive every penny of support they now get, meaning they would have as much, if not more, to spend on nutritious food,” Dr. Farley and Dr. Daines wrote. “And they could still purchase soda if they choose — just not with taxpayer dollars.”

The health of New Yorkers, and particularly obesity, is one of the mayor’s signature issues. During his first term in office, Mr. Bloomberg expanded the city’s smoking ban to almost all indoor public places, and he is proposing to expand it to beaches, parks and plazas. New York City has banned trans fats in restaurants and requires restaurants to post calorie counts.

The city’s campaign against sugary drinks has been especially aggressive. This week, it introduced ads showing a man drinking packets of sugar. But its attempt to persuade the State Legislature to impose a tax on the drinks was met with skepticism and opposition from the beverage industry and grocery owners.

Tracey Halliday, a spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association, said of the mayor’s request: “This is just another attempt by government to tell New Yorkers what they should eat and drink.”

The number of New Yorkers qualifying for food stamps has grown more than 35 percent in the past couple of years, mirroring a nationwide trend. And the mayor’s proposal could raise concerns about equity, since it is aimed at one segment of the city, its poorest. When Minnesota sought its ban, welfare rights advocates there accused the state of being patronizing to food-stamp users.

Anticipating such criticism, Dr. Farley and Dr. Daines said that the food-stamp program already prohibited the use of benefits to buy cigarettes, beer, wine, liquor or prepared foods.

The ban would affect beverages with more than 10 calories per 8 ounces, and would exclude fruit juices without added sugar, milk products and milk substitutes. A 12-ounce soda has 150 calories and the equivalent of 10 packets of sugar, according to the health department. City health officials say that drinking 12 ounces of soda a day can make a person gain 15 pounds a year.

Dr. Farley and Dr. Daines said that over the past 30 years, the consumption of soda and other sugary beverages in the United States had more than doubled, paralleling the rise in obesity. They blame that trend for the rising rate of diabetes, which now afflicts one in eight adults in New York City, and is nearly twice as common among poor New Yorkers as among wealthier ones.

Told of Mr. Bloomberg’s request on Wednesday, one food-stamp user, Marangeley Reyes, 24, of Harlem, said the mayor should not dictate what foods she bought. Ms. Reyes had just emerged from a Shop Fair supermarket on Lenox Avenue with a 20-ounce bottle of Orange Crush — she drinks at least one a day. But after giving it some more thought, she said, “I probably shouldn’t be drinking so much soda.”

Our school no longer includes cookies/bars/cake as a dessert with lunch...fruit only...What a shame, as our cooks have a sugar cookie recipe that is to die for...

We also can't buy a pop @ any school functions...it's either BYOB or drink juice, water or a sports drink...so far they have not outlawed candy bars...