May 8, 2025 — David Kessler is the former FDA Commissioner who laid the groundwork for aggressive tobacco regulation with a simple metaphor. He argued that nicotine is addictive like heroin or cocaine. Now he and many others are working to stretch that metaphor to warn the public about addictive junk food. It is a simple and very appealing […]
April 20, 2025 — Morgan Gates sums up his approach to nutrition for the Wall Street Journal succinctly: “I found that if I prioritized protein and half-assed the rest of everything else, it gave me the body I wanted.” Gates is 28-year-old sales rep. He’s a consumer who has clearly absorbed a certain thread of health claims from food […]
March 17, 2025 — Nothing succeeds like success. And thus, the success of GLP-1 medicines for obesity seems to be prompting a re-ordering of marketing for packaged food. Under the Healthy Choice brand, ConAgra has begun promoting an ON TRACK badge that identifies their meals as “GLP-1 Friendly,” as well as high in fiber and protein. ConAgra Senior VP […]
March 8, 2025 — “It takes years for scientists to prove things we’ve always known were true – like food addiction.” This thought emerged from the meeting this week of the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions. The current science of food noise was a focus. In the course of some outstanding presentations, three distinct and distinctly challenging concepts mixed together […]
December 22, 2024 — For the first time in 30 years, FDA has handed the food industry a better tool for marketing their products as “healthy.” But that’s not all. The agency is also working on a seal – an FDA-approved symbol – food marketers can put on their products if they meet the agency’s definition for healthy food. […]
September 10, 2024 — Consumer spending is by far the biggest driver of U.S. economic growth. So you can be sure that businesses are paying close attention to the disruption in longstanding consumer behavior patterns that GLP-1 medicines are bringing. People are buying new clothes, better food, spending less on weight watching, and more on health. Make no mistake. […]
July 26, 2024 — The rousing success of GLP-1 medicines for obesity and overweight evokes a wide range of feelings. At the National Academy of Sciences this week we heard lamentations from a scholar in exercise physiology. To him, these highly effective treatments are a distraction from the importance of focusing in healthy eating and active living. We hear […]
June 16, 2024 — All-you-can-eat is a trap. In repeated case studies, it drives restaurants to lose money, sometimes to the point of bankruptcy. The latest poster child is Red Lobster and its Endless Shrimp deal that brought the chain financial misery and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. How did this happen? Why did management seemingly have no clue […]
May 27, 2024 — The top dishes for this Memorial Day in the U.S. are hamburgers, hot dogs, barbecue ribs, grilled chicken, corn on the cob, coleslaw, and potato salad. Homemade, none of it (except maybe the hot dogs) belongs to the current boogeyman category of ultra-processed food. Nor does it qualify as the bedrock of a healthy diet. […]
May 8, 2024 — Eight years ago, Chile implemented a sweeping food policy initiative to fight obesity. Many public health advocates quickly endorsed these policies. Researcher Deborah Cohen praised this as a success and called it a four-point lesson plan for the U.S. and other countries to follow: “Chile recognizes obesity rates are a crisis that demands urgent action. […]
