7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2017
Fewer hefty
Americans
are trying to
lose weight
Bacon, soda and too
few nuts tied to big
portion of US deaths
Associated Press
CHICAGO — Fewer
overweight
Americans
have been trying to lose
weight in recent years, and
researchers wonder if fat
acceptance could be among
the reasons.
The trend found in a
new study occurred at the
same time obesity rates
climbed.
AP Photo/Patrick Sison
ONLINE
CDC:
www.cdc.gov/obesity/
“Socially accepted nor-
mal body weight is shift-
ing toward heavier weight.
As more people around us
are getting heavier, we sim-
ply believe we are fine,
and no need to do anything
with it,” said lead author
Dr. Jian Zhang, a public
health researcher at Geor-
gia Southern University.
Another reason could
be people abandoning
efforts to drop pounds after
repeated failed attempts,
Zhang said.
The researchers ana-
lyzed U.S. government
health surveys over nearly
two decades from 1988
through 2014. The surveys
involved in-person phys-
ical exams and health-re-
lated questions includ-
ing asking participants if
they’d tried to lose weight
within the past year. More
than 27,000 adults aged 20
to 59 were included. They
were not asked to explain
their answers.
In the early surveys,
about half the adults were
overweight or obese. Those
numbers climbed to 65 per-
cent by 2014. But the por-
tion of overweight or obese
adults who said they were
trying to slim down fell
from 55 percent to 49 per-
cent in the study.
Body mass index, a
measure of height and
weight, determines weight
status. Those with a BMI
of 25 to 29 are considered
overweight; 30 and above
is obese. A BMI of 30 gen-
erally reflects being about
50 pounds above your ideal
weight.
The study results were
published March 7 in the
Journal of the American
Medical Association.
Dr. Scott Kahan, direc-
tor of a weight-loss clinic
in Washington, said the
study is important and
echoes previous research.
He acknowledged that it
has become more accept-
able in some circles to be
overweight, but that many
patients still feel stigma-
tized. He said many come
to his center after repeated
attempts to lose weight and
some give up for a while
out of frustration.
The study found obe-
sity was most common
among black women —
55 percent were obese in
the most recent survey
years, and there was a big
decline in black women try-
ing to lose weight. Whether
that’s because of fat
acceptance, dieting frustra-
tion or other reasons is not
known.
The ingredients label for almond milk at a grocery store in New York. Dairy producers are
calling for a crackdown on the almond, soy and rice “milks” they say are masquerading as the
real thing and cloud the meaning of milk for shoppers. A group that advocates for plant-based
products has countered by asking the Food and Drug Administration to say foods can use
terms such as “milk” and “sausage,” so long as they’re modified to make clear what’s in them.
Mayo, wings and butter:
‘Fake milk’ is latest food fight
By CANDICE CHOI
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Is “fake
milk” spoiling the dairy indus-
try’s image?
Dairy producers are calling
for a crackdown on the almond,
soy and rice “milks” they say
are masquerading as the real
thing and cloud the meaning
of milk. A group that advocates
for plant-based products, the
Good Food Institute, countered
earlier this month by asking the
Food and Drug Administration
to say terms such as “milk” and
“sausage” can be used as long
as they’re modified to make
clear what’s in them.
It’s the latest dispute about
what makes a food authentic,
many of them stemming from
developments in manufacturing
practices and specialized diets.
DiGiorno’s frozen chicken
“wyngz” were fodder for come-
dian Stephen Colbert. An egg-
less spread provoked the ire of
egg producers by calling itself
“mayo.” And as far back as
the 1880s, margarine was dis-
missed as “counterfeit butter”
by a Wisconsin lawmaker.
The U.S. actually spells
out the required characteristics
for a range of products such as
French dressing, canned peas
and raisin bread. It’s these fed-
eral standards of identity that
often trigger the food fights.
ONLINE
Diet guidelines:
http://tinyurl.com/j5lcrv8
Nestle USA
A package containing Di-
Giorno pizza and boneless
Wyngz. DiGiorno owner
Nestle said it initially wanted
to call the boneless chick-
en pieces “wings,” since it
believes people understand
that “boneless wings” are
not whole wings. The com-
pany says the USDA instead
proposed “wyngz.”
Cow, nut, bean
companies like Tofurky and
milk alternatives, says stan-
dards of identity were created to
prevent companies from pass-
ing off cheaper ingredients on
customers. But the group says
that’s not what soy, almond and
rice milk makers are trying to
do.
Those companies are
charging more money, and con-
sumers are gravitating toward
them, said Michele Simon, the
group’s executive director.
The FDA says it takes
action “in accordance with pub-
lic health priorities and agency
resources.”
Though soy milk and
almond milk have become
commonplace terms, milk’s
standard of identity says it is
obtained by the “complete
milking of one or more healthy
cows.” That’s a point the dairy
industry is now emphasizing,
with the support of lawmakers
who last month introduced leg-
islation calling for the FDA to
enforce the guidelines.
“Mammals produce milk,
plants don’t,” said Jim Mul-
hern, president of the National
Milk Producers Federation.
The federation says it has
been trying to get the FDA to
enforce the standard since at
least 2000 , and that the lack of
enforcement has led to a pro-
liferation of imitators play-
ing “fast and loose” with dairy
terms.
Those products often refer
to themselves as “soymilk” or
“almondmilk,” single words
that the dairy industry says is
a way to get around the guide-
lines for “milk.”
The Plant Based Foods
Association, which represents
The little-known Associa-
tion for Dressing and Sauces
showed its might in a 2014
mayonnaise melee.
The group repeatedly com-
plained to the FDA that an egg-
less spread was calling itself
Just Mayo, noting that under
the federal rules mayonnaise is
defined as having eggs.
Hellmann’s
mayonnaise
maker Unilever, one of the
association’s members, had
sued Just Mayo’s maker citing
the same issue. That lawsuit
was dropped after the company
faced blowback from the vegan
spread’s supporters.
The dressings and sauces
group wasn’t the only one upset
by Just Mayo’s name. The CEO
of the American Egg Board,
which represents the egg indus-
try, also tried unsuccessfully to
get a consultant to stop the sale
of Just Mayo at Whole Foods.
The revelations led to
an investigation by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Soon after, the egg industry
Edible, but eggless
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group’s CEO retired earlier
than expected.
As for Just Mayo, the com-
pany worked out an agreement
with the FDA to keep its name
— with some strategic tweaks
to its label to make clear it does
not contain eggs.
Straining for yogurt
It was a milk protein con-
centrate at issue in a lawsuit
over Yoplait Greek.
That ingredient isn’t listed in
the FDA’s standard of identity
for yogurt. What’s more, the
suit said General Mills relied
on the ingredient to thicken its
yogurt, rather than straining it
the way other Greek yogurts
are made.
“Not only was it not Greek
yogurt, it wasn’t yogurt at all,”
said Brian Gudmundson, the
Minnesota lawyer who filed the
suit.
By LINDSEY TANNER
Associated Press
45 percent of those deaths,
according to the study.
CHICAGO — Gorging
on bacon, skimping on nuts?
These are among food habits
that new research links with
deaths from heart disease,
strokes and diabetes.
Overeating or not eat-
ing enough of the 10 foods
and nutrients contributes to
nearly half of U.S. deaths
from these causes, the study
suggests.
“Good” foods that were
under-eaten include: nuts
and seeds, seafood rich
in omega-3 fats including
salmon and sardines; fruits
and vegetables; and whole
grains.
“Bad” foods or nutri-
ents that were over-eaten
include salt and salty foods;
processed meats including
bacon, bologna and hot dogs;
red meat including steaks
and hamburgers; and sugary
drinks.
The research is based on
U.S. government data show-
ing there were about 700,000
deaths in 2012 from heart
disease, strokes and diabetes
and on an analysis of national
health surveys that asked par-
ticipants about their eating
habits. Most didn’t eat the
recommended amounts of the
foods studied.
The 10 ingredients com-
bined contributed to about
Typical American diet
It may sound like a famil-
iar attack on the typical Amer-
ican diet, and the research
echoes previous studies on
the benefits of heart-healthy
eating. But the study goes
into more detail on specific
foods and their risks or ben-
efits, said lead author Renata
Micha, a public health
researcher and nutritionist at
Tufts University.
The results were pub-
lished Tuesday in the Jour-
nal of the American Medical
Association.
Micha said the 10 foods
and nutrients were singled
out because of research link-
ing them with the causes of
death studied. For exam-
ple, studies have shown that
excess salt can increase blood
pressure, putting stress on
arteries and the heart. Nuts
contain healthy fats that can
improve cholesterol levels,
while bacon and other pro-
cessed meats contain satu-
rated fats that can raise levels
of unhealthy LDL cholesterol.
In the study, too much
salt was the biggest problem,
linked with nearly 10 percent
of the deaths. Overeating pro-
cessed meats and undereating
nuts and seeds and seafood
each were linked with about
8 percent of the deaths.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Canadian certified organic farm-raised King Salmon fi-
lets are placed on a tray in a store in Fairfax, Va.
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