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Food industry and nutrition education
May I suggest that Sue Bolger be advised to read "FDA Papers Magazine," and come up out of the sink hole of Nader's despair. The population explosion may give us less space in the sun, but the earth is yielding up its food bountifully. Those who unwisely choose to eat too much of anyone food, and thereby unbalance nutrients as well as the tolerance of additives, will always be with us. The hopeful side of this picture is reported in other articles in this issue such as advancements in school and adult nutrition education.
Editorial Food Industry and Nutrition Education As this issue goes to press, the "Nutritional Awareness" campaign by the Food Council of America is moving into its second month (see Summer issue, 2: 1, p. 7). This is the first organized effort of this kind that has been carried out in recent years. Unfortunately, the effort seems to be one of promotion rather than an effective nutrition education program. With a little more planning, time, and informed know-how, the education phase could have been included. The campaign equates nutrition with love and motherhood, but in the promotion seen so far there is very little information on how to achieve the state of good nutrition. The symbol of the campaign is a decorative drawing of the four food groups, but it takes more to help people choose nutritious foods. One cannot help but wonder if those in the field of promoting food are knowledgeable about the nutritive values of the food with which they are concerned. If they are, why is it that so little recognition is given to the importance of nutrition. The fault may be with the nutrition scientist and educator who has done little to convince the advertiser or promoter that nutrition can make the difference. There are many studies and surveys on the preferred size, shape and co~or of the package for the food. What studies and surveys have been done on how to sell good nutrition? The food industry has been keeping abreast. with the pace of life of the American family. Perhaps they are even helping to mold it. This is a pace where each family member fixes his own breakfast or skips it; eats lunch away from home and mother serves up short-order food for dinner over a span of several hours to suit the family needs. "Convenience" is the demand of the times. Has the nutritionist helped to find ways to insure a good diet which fits into this pattern of life? Recently, two companies announced that they were enriching their snack foods like cookies, cakes and crackers with thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron. This is one positive way in which the nutritional awareness has resulted in improving the food. Ways must be found for the food industry to give more recognition to the importance of nutrition, and the nutrition educator needs to understand the problems and interests of the food industry. Both should be working together towards the common goal of satisfaction and well-being of the consumer. Helen D. Ullrich
Una R. Woods, Consumer Specialist, San Francisco Office, Food and Drug Administration.
More on Nader I'm afraid that I can't be as charitable
I; about The Chemical Feast (the Nader I
Points of View The Nader Report
Constructive criticism indicates a willingness t.o participate and contribute to the advancement of that which is being criticized, but remarks which come from "off the top of the head" seldom are factual and more often are vilifying, damaging and dangerous. The letter from Sue Bolger offers little that is constructive but uses Ralph Nader's report to build fear, distrust and a feeling of doom. It contains no documented references to show that the writer has, on his own, researched . . . Ralph Nader's report has been swallowed hook, line, and sinker, and it is a good example of how easily some people can be influenced. Wha~ can be gained by tearing down government and industry and leaving 40 / JOURNAL OF NUTRITION EDUCATION
nothing but an atmosphere of fear, distrust, and gloom? The one question which I should like to pose for thoughtful consideration is this: "Has there been, since the passage of the Food Additive Amendment in 1958, a single outbreak of food poisoning or disease that can be attributed to a food additive?" The watch-dog has been on the job but each year is quietly subdued by lack of money and staff to hold to priority surveying, exploring, and checking with much assist!IJnce from university and approved priv!IJte laboratories and consumer help, on which it counts heavily through complaints and suggestions. The path of protection has been kept from receding into the jungle as some would have us believe.
expose of ,the FDA) as the reader whose Point of View appeared in the last. issue of this journal. In my opinion, this book is only one more garbled collection of truths, half-truths, and conclusions based on false assumptions. We are alreadly up to our ears in this kind of nutritional litter, and our only hope is that one day it will run afoul of the anti-pollution laws. I keep hearing "Oh, but many things in that book need to be said!" Undoubtedly, but which? The idea that the FDA has degenerated into a bungling bureaucracy at the administrative level is appealing. However, the exaggeration, ignorance, and misinterpretation .of fact encountered between the covers of The Chemical Feast deny its competence to present a balanced view of anything. Unquestionably there is a need for critical evaluation of our food supply. But does anyone really believe that "Due to the total collapse of the food protection efforts of the FDA which has allowed vicious unchecked battles for profit to wrack the food industry, food restoration has become an important national goal for all Americans to work toward?" How can anyone be serious about a book which states that "white flour is preferred by food industry executives because it keeps on the shelf longer than the more nutritious whole wheat bread and because insects avoid it - it doesn't have enough food value to keep them alive?" Like so many other books of its kind, The Chemical Feast exploits natural fears and particularly appeals to those with persecution complexes. Chapter 4, entitled "Food-Borne Disease," is painfully similar to the contents of half-a(Col/til/ued
Oil
page 42)
FALL, 1970
Editorial Food Industry and Nutrition Education As this issue goes to press, the "Nutritional Awareness" campaign by the Food Council of America is moving into its second month (see Summer issue, 2: 1, p. 7). This is the first organized effort of this kind that has been carried out in recent years. Unfortunately, the effort seems to be one of promotion rather than an effective nutrition education program. With a little more planning, time, and informed know-how, the education phase could have been included. The campaign equates nutrition with love and motherhood, but in the promotion seen so far there is very little information on how to achieve the state of good nutrition. The symbol of the campaign is a decorative drawing of the four food groups, but it takes more to help people choose nutritious foods. One cannot help but wonder if those in the field of promoting food are knowledgeable about the nutritive values of the food with which they are concerned. If they are, why is it that so little recognition is given to the importance of nutrition. The fault may be with the nutrition scientist and educator who has done little to convince the advertiser or promoter that nutrition can make the difference. There are many studies and surveys on the preferred size, shape and co~or of the package for the food. What studies and surveys have been done on how to sell good nutrition? The food industry has been keeping abreast. with the pace of life of the American family. Perhaps they are even helping to mold it. This is a pace where each family member fixes his own breakfast or skips it; eats lunch away from home and mother serves up short-order food for dinner over a span of several hours to suit the family needs. "Convenience" is the demand of the times. Has the nutritionist helped to find ways to insure a good diet which fits into this pattern of life? Recently, two companies announced that they were enriching their snack foods like cookies, cakes and crackers with thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron. This is one positive way in which the nutritional awareness has resulted in improving the food. Ways must be found for the food industry to give more recognition to the importance of nutrition, and the nutrition educator needs to understand the problems and interests of the food industry. Both should be working together towards the common goal of satisfaction and well-being of the consumer. Helen D. Ullrich
Una R. Woods, Consumer Specialist, San Francisco Office, Food and Drug Administration.
More on Nader I'm afraid that I can't be as charitable
I; about The Chemical Feast (the Nader I
Points of View The Nader Report
Constructive criticism indicates a willingness t.o participate and contribute to the advancement of that which is being criticized, but remarks which come from "off the top of the head" seldom are factual and more often are vilifying, damaging and dangerous. The letter from Sue Bolger offers little that is constructive but uses Ralph Nader's report to build fear, distrust and a feeling of doom. It contains no documented references to show that the writer has, on his own, researched . . . Ralph Nader's report has been swallowed hook, line, and sinker, and it is a good example of how easily some people can be influenced. Wha~ can be gained by tearing down government and industry and leaving 40 / JOURNAL OF NUTRITION EDUCATION
nothing but an atmosphere of fear, distrust, and gloom? The one question which I should like to pose for thoughtful consideration is this: "Has there been, since the passage of the Food Additive Amendment in 1958, a single outbreak of food poisoning or disease that can be attributed to a food additive?" The watch-dog has been on the job but each year is quietly subdued by lack of money and staff to hold to priority surveying, exploring, and checking with much assist!IJnce from university and approved priv!IJte laboratories and consumer help, on which it counts heavily through complaints and suggestions. The path of protection has been kept from receding into the jungle as some would have us believe.
expose of ,the FDA) as the reader whose Point of View appeared in the last. issue of this journal. In my opinion, this book is only one more garbled collection of truths, half-truths, and conclusions based on false assumptions. We are alreadly up to our ears in this kind of nutritional litter, and our only hope is that one day it will run afoul of the anti-pollution laws. I keep hearing "Oh, but many things in that book need to be said!" Undoubtedly, but which? The idea that the FDA has degenerated into a bungling bureaucracy at the administrative level is appealing. However, the exaggeration, ignorance, and misinterpretation .of fact encountered between the covers of The Chemical Feast deny its competence to present a balanced view of anything. Unquestionably there is a need for critical evaluation of our food supply. But does anyone really believe that "Due to the total collapse of the food protection efforts of the FDA which has allowed vicious unchecked battles for profit to wrack the food industry, food restoration has become an important national goal for all Americans to work toward?" How can anyone be serious about a book which states that "white flour is preferred by food industry executives because it keeps on the shelf longer than the more nutritious whole wheat bread and because insects avoid it - it doesn't have enough food value to keep them alive?" Like so many other books of its kind, The Chemical Feast exploits natural fears and particularly appeals to those with persecution complexes. Chapter 4, entitled "Food-Borne Disease," is painfully similar to the contents of half-a(Col/til/ued
Oil
page 42)
FALL, 1970