Food Myths, the Media & Lawyers (Oh My)

bm99

"you people"?? Just what kind of "people" am I? Please enlighten me.

omg I lol'd because that is a perfect cliche. :laugh:

Nice one.

Krazy_Kat

What I hate beyond hate is margarine ads (shudder). Saying it's healthy because it's made from seeds, lower in saturated fat than butter. GM, high heat extracted, Full of transfats, bleached and filtered and hydrogenated. Always with a picture of a little girl in a field of flowers.

BLAGH

FrugalMomsRock75

"you people"?? Just what kind of "people" am I? Please enlighten me.

omg I lol'd because that is a perfect cliche. :laugh:

Nice one.

Oh. haha. "We people" aren't really laughing at your idiotic implications. But whatev. No skin off my teeth. I work with "poor" people, though...and they aren't all uneducated ninnies as you imply. Get over yourself.

People like you bore the hell out of me.

futuremalestripper

First - anyone that passes judgement on any profession based on a few bad apples, be it mechanics, lawyers, doctors, contractors, etc is an idiot
Second - how can you be pro business while taking the stance that it is every company's responsibility to raise children for their parents and instruct them what is best? You can bash on cereals, but you can use that same argument against any product. Vitamin companies claim healthy attributes, yet a lot of them have absorption levels so low that they are effectively useless. Should they advertise "useless" on their product? Many products exist that are useless or crap, should every company be forced to put that on their product? If so, who would be the deciding force? A vegan might label a slab of meat unhealthy, while another labels soy unhealthy and sites concerns for sterility. Practically everything has been deemed a carcinogen. Should we expect no intelligence on part of the consumer? If so, then your problem is humanity - not the companies selling products, not the media, and not the lawyers. Also, the media is only the way it is because people respond favorably to it. If everyone hated it, it would change. Again, the problem is humanity and not the media.

Start blaming the cause, not the effect.

bm99

"you people"?? Just what kind of "people" am I? Please enlighten me.

omg I lol'd because that is a perfect cliche. :laugh:

Nice one.

Oh. haha. "We people" aren't really laughing at your idiotic implications. But whatev. No skin off my teeth. I work with "poor" people, though...and they aren't all uneducated ninnies as you imply. Get over yourself.

People like you bore the hell out of me.

Oh... you weren't joking.

You are just bound and determined to be insulted, aren't you? I'm not implying anything, I've been completely straightforward with my opinions. And I never said all poor people are "uneducated ninnies" although you seem to REALLY want me to say it.

You're right though, facts are MEAN, aren't they? Keep your head in the sand, sweetie, it's much easier.

FrugalMomsRock75

According to one recent nationally representative sample, obesity prevalence was higher in lower income and education groups, but the rate of increase in obesity over two decades was faster for higher income and education groups (Singh et al., 2011). For instance, between 1992 and 2008, obesity prevalence increased by 42.3 percent for the lower income group compared to 88.5 percent for the higher income group.

National data indicate that obesity rates increased at all income levels between 1971 and 2002, but the poor did not necessarily experience the largest increases during this time period (Chang & Lauderdale, 2005).

National data from over 3 decades (1971 to 2002) suggests a weakening association between SES (based on the poverty income ratio) and child obesity over time, especially among adolescents (Wang & Zhang, 2006).

http://frac.org/initiatives/hunger-and-obesity/are-low-income-people-at-greater-risk-for-overweight-or-obesity/

During that three-year period, the number of people with master's degrees who received food stamps and other aid climbed from 101,682 to 293,029, and the number of people with Ph.D.'s who received assistance rose from 9,776 to 33,655, according to tabulations of microdata done by Austin Nichols, a senior researcher with the Urban Institute. He drew on figures from the 2008 and 2011 Current Population Surveys done by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor.

http://chronicle.com/article/From-Graduate-School-to/131795/


a few facts... just for your entertainment.

kymillion

Bzzzztttt!

You just hit one of my hot buttons. I become incensed over deliberately misleading labeling.

You know those "single serve" heat and eat pasta bowls? I don't know anyone who splits those with anyone else. Yet, if you read the label, you will discover that the one bowl of chicken and wild-rice that you would keep in your desk drawer so you can "eat healthy" is actually considered 1.5 servings. It infuriates me so. It is pure marketing and eveeel bamboozling.

Yeah... that "serving size" crap annoys the hell out of me.

I am fun sized.

Oompa Loompas rule.

I am hardly an oOmpa loompa.for your height almost any woman hits that "standard"

I'm a beast.

wanna go a few rounds...?

vklebanova

Did anyone see those ads they were running on TV for a while about how high fructose corn syrup is good for you?

can someone (lawyer, cpa, or otherwise) please explain to me how the hell they got away with that?


If you haven't seen one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl9vZYj-aJ4

bm99

According to one recent nationally representative sample, obesity prevalence was higher in lower income and education groups, but the rate of increase in obesity over two decades was faster for higher income and education groups (Singh et al., 2011). For instance, between 1992 and 2008, obesity prevalence increased by 42.3 percent for the lower income group compared to 88.5 percent for the higher income group.

National data indicate that obesity rates increased at all income levels between 1971 and 2002, but the poor did not necessarily experience the largest increases during this time period (Chang & Lauderdale, 2005).

National data from over 3 decades (1971 to 2002) suggests a weakening association between SES (based on the poverty income ratio) and child obesity over time, especially among adolescents (Wang & Zhang, 2006).

http://frac.org/initiatives/hunger-and-obesity/are-low-income-people-at-greater-risk-for-overweight-or-obesity/

During that three-year period, the number of people with master's degrees who received food stamps and other aid climbed from 101,682 to 293,029, and the number of people with Ph.D.'s who received assistance rose from 9,776 to 33,655, according to tabulations of microdata done by Austin Nichols, a senior researcher with the Urban Institute. He drew on figures from the 2008 and 2011 Current Population Surveys done by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor.

http://chronicle.com/article/From-Graduate-School-to/131795/


a few facts... just for your entertainment.

You realize I can google, too, right? Give me a moment...

bm99

Due to the additional risk factors associated with poverty, food insecure and low-income people are especially vulnerable to obesity http://frac.org/initiatives/hunger-and-obesity/why-are-low-income-and-food-insecure-people-vulnerable-to-obesity/

Numerous studies show that low-income children and adults are far more likely to be overweight than those of greater means. And the statistical distribution fits a nice, neat curve – as income falls, the rate of obesity rises. http://naturalhealthdossier.com/2011/04/the-economics-of-obesity-why-are-poor-people-fat/

Why are you making this such a huge issue? Are you really trying to argue that people who live in poverty are not more vulnerable to becoming obese? Or that the majority of the people who are poor in this country are well educated?

LesterBlackstone

Did anyone see those ads they were running on TV for a while about how high fructose corn syrup is good for you?

can someone (lawyer, cpa, or otherwise) please explain to me how the hell they got away with that?


If you haven't seen one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl9vZYj-aJ4

What do you perceive as inaccurate about that commercial? It didn't tout HCFS as "health food". The exact words were:

"Like sugar, it's fine in moderation".

LesaDave

[/quote]

I'm not a fan of food stamps. They taste horrible.
[/quote]

HAHAHAHA!

gchutson

First - anyone that passes judgement on any profession based on a few bad apples, be it mechanics, lawyers, doctors, contractors, etc is an idiot

I can pass judgement on any profession I wish. It's a Constitutional right. I learned that in law school. (Yeah... hang on, it's about to get worse.)

Second - how can you be pro business while taking the stance that it is every company's responsibility to raise children for their parents and instruct them what is best?

I can be pro business because I own two of them.

And, if you could highlight the part where I claim it's the food company's responsibility to raise other people's children, that would be super-duper.

You can bash on cereals, but you can use that same argument against any product.

Yeah. That was the crux of my entire post. But thanks for repeating it as though it was your original idea.

Vitamin companies claim healthy attributes, yet a lot of them have absorption levels so low that they are effectively useless. Should they advertise "useless" on their product?

They do... "This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease."

This statement of "effective uselessness" is a federal mandate pursuant the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) (21 U.S.C. 321, Section 201)

(Believe it or not, it's still about to get even worse for you.)

Many products exist that are useless or crap, should every company be forced to put that on their product?

Nope. Odds are, most people wouldn't effectively read it. If only we had a real-life example of someone not reading and/or not comprehending a written statement, and looking foolish. Hmm.

If so, then your problem is humanity - not the companies selling products, not the media, and not the lawyers. Also, the media is only the way it is because people respond favorably to it. If everyone hated it, it would change. Again, the problem is humanity and not the media.

I didn't. I blame idiots, across the board.

I can honestly say, I have truly enjoyed this epic e-*kitten*-beating.

This was fun.

We should do it again sometime.

What does your calendar look like for next week?

LesaDave

I'm not a fan of food stamps. They taste horrible.
[/quote]

HAHAHAHA!
[/quote]

Well, it's obvious I don't know how to do the "quote" correctly. HAHAHAHAHA!

taunto

You know what infuriates me more than Bad business practices? When people stop thinking for themselves and start looking every other place to put the blame.

Really? You really thought that a food packet that had over 9000 chemicals was bad for you? Really?
Really? You didn't knew that eating 6000 calories from McD's drive through would make you fat? Really?
Really? You wanna suit tobacco companies even though on the 5 packs that you smoke daily it clearly tells you of health complications? Really?

KaleidoscopeEyes1056

ps. I don't think that this has anything to do with food stamps. I also don't think that just because someone has food stamps, they're automatically "uneducated." That's a little harsh (and a gross generalization), IMO.

I agree with this. My family was on food stamps for a while, and guess what? My mom was a nurse. She went through 4 years of college to get her degree, and the only reason she chose to stop being a nurse was because my brother was born with Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome and she wanted to stay home to take care of him. After he got older, she was planning to go back to work at the hospital she worked at, but she had to attend classes to be re-certified, which she didn't have the money for. Bad things happen to good people. Not everybody on welfare is a leach on society.

bm99

You know what infuriates me more than Bad business practices? When people stop thinking for themselves and start looking every other place to put the blame.

Really? You really thought that a food packet that had over 9000 chemicals was bad for you? Really?
Really? You didn't knew that eating 6000 calories from McD's drive through would make you fat? Really?
Really? You wanna suit tobacco companies even though on the 5 packs that you smoke daily it clearly tells you of health complications? Really?

I agree with you, but it's hard to sort through the mountains of crap information to find the truth about what we should be eating. There are billions being spent to misinform and mislead us.

Schools don't teach nutrition education, parents don't teach it (how many generations has HFCS been around? Aspertame? They don't know about that crap), the government seems to change their mind depending on who's paying the bills and you certainly can't trust the food companies to tell the truth. You can find a Google article that will tell you anything you want to know, and another to refute that with a couple clicks.

It's not all willful ignorance, some people don't have access to the information or simply don't know where to begin to find anything useful.

bm99

ps. I don't think that this has anything to do with food stamps. I also don't think that just because someone has food stamps, they're automatically "uneducated." That's a little harsh (and a gross generalization), IMO.

I agree with this. My family was on food stamps for a while, and guess what? My mom was a nurse. She went through 4 years of college to get her degree, and the only reason she chose to stop being a nurse was because my brother was born with Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome and she wanted to stay home to take care of him. After he got older, she was planning to go back to work at the hospital she worked at, but she had to attend classes to be re-certified, which she didn't have the money for. Bad things happen to good people. Not everybody on welfare is a leach on society.

Crazy defensive? Over what? NO ONE IS INSULTING POOR PEOPLE.

Good God. I have been on assistance myself for a few months.

Are you saying that people who aren't educated but are on welfare ARE leaches on society?

thefreebiemom

It doesn't matter if Disney stops advertising. Kids see that crap in the store and beg mommy to buy it or mommy sees the bright colors and health claims and thinks its kid food.

The only, ONLY thing that will ever help is for parents to educate themselves on what their kids should be eating.

On second though, I bet if you couldn't buy that crap with food stamps sales would plummet.

I'm not a fan of food stamps. They taste horrible.

It may sound insensitive but... these companies have a huge base of uneducated parents subsidized by the government. If all of a sudden the government teat was taken away and FS money could only be spent on food that meets certain nutritional standards, the food companies would follow.

That is why WIC is a great program. Milk, cheese, juice (although juice itself is pretty sugary), carrots, beans or rice. Its been years since I was on it though. I've heard now that they actually allow whole grain bread, other vegetables and real fruit instead of just juice as options.

melbaby925

You know what infuriates me more than Bad business practices? When people stop thinking for themselves and start looking every other place to put the blame.

Really? You really thought that a food packet that had over 9000 chemicals was bad for you? Really?
Really? You didn't knew that eating 6000 calories from McD's drive through would make you fat? Really?
Really? You wanna suit tobacco companies even though on the 5 packs that you smoke daily it clearly tells you of health complications? Really?

^^THIS. If everyone took the time to read a label and understand what they put in their mouths, the grocery store wouldn't have over 40,000 products in it. It would probably go back to having only about 200 - fresh fruit, fresh veg and healthily (non genetically messed with) grain and meat products.

Once you decode the ingredients list, you'll never eat another packaged item again. At least that's how it went for me.

ETA: Wow, should have read the whole thread, didn't realize we went off to food stamps. Didn't mean to step in the middle of what looks to turn into an epic discussion.