13 March - Lowdown on McDonalds Tick Approved meals

By now, chances are almost every Aussie has seen McDonalds' TV ad for its new National Heart Foundation Tick Approved meals. So what do you think? Chances also are that you think it's a good or a bad thing. But of course there pros and cons to this latest development in the trend for fast food to become healthy.

Pros:

• If you choose wisely, it's great to have a more readily available and wider choice of healthier takeaway options.
• If you swap a Thai Deli Choice Roll, fries and a coke for a new Thai roll, apple and water you'll drop the salt content of your lunch by 48%.
• If you swap your usual higher fat burger meal for the tick-approved meal of a lean beef burger, garden salad and orange juice you'll eat 70% less saturated fat. If 10% of customers make this swap, they'll remove 294 tonnes of saturated fat from their diet each year, according to Kelly Burke in the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH 6 Feb 2007).
• The Tick Approved meals are 15% cheaper than when you purchase the items separately, providing a dollar incentive to go for the healthy option.
• You can't modify a Tick Approved meal, but substituting fries or a coke, so it will help people stick to a healthy plan.

• People could now perceive that McDonalds is all healthy food and tell themselves fibs that it's OK to keep on eating the higher fat and salt options. Marketers know this is why Subway has a healthy image, even though many customers still walk out of Subway with a foot-long Italian BMT with over 4000 kilojoules.
• People could overindulge in Tick Approved meals. The total energy content of a Tick meal is capped at one third of the average daily energy requirement, but that doesn't allow for snacks. If you eat a Tick meal as a snack, it will still add calories you may not need.
• It will encourage people to eat out more often and eat on the go, which could contribute to the general decline in food and cooking skills.

For more information on the Tick Approved meals visit:
McDonalds.com.au
HeartFoundation.com.au

12 March - Watch the UK traffic light food ads

A few days ago (see below) I wrote about the UK banning junk food ads aimed at kids. Now, I've just seen the traffic light labelling advertisements by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) and they are fantastic.

Basically, UK consumers want to see a simplified label scheme to help them choose healthy foods. FSA Chair Deidre Hutton says about the advertisements promoting the new scheme, :Our new labelling TV ads, like the traffic light approach, are clear and simple - with the beauty being that these labels speak for themselves.”

Watch them yourself ands read more about the FSA's new labels.

I believe a simple traffic light system is much better than the %DI labelling scheme voluntarily offered by Australian food manufactures. See my previous comments in Matt's Snacks Oct 2006.

11 March- Beer & eggs: the secret to a long life?

Today's Sydney's Sun-Herald reports that a 128 year old Salvadoran women, believed to be the world's oldest person, has died a few days ago in her sleep.

What's the secret to her long life? Apart from exceptional long-life genes, is was said “many attributed her longevity to her favourite drink of beer with two raw eggs in it.”

Now, before you take off to make a beer-egg-shake keep mind that no amounts were stated in the article, so we don't know how often she would partake in this ovo-ale concoction? One reason we often here about the age-extending benefits of beer and other less nutritious foods when centenarians pass away is that we like to gather excuses to drink and eat more ourselves… “If she drank and lived to 128, well it must be good for you!” But we end up having ourselves on really.

I'd suspect that a big factor in her being around since 1878, the year Thomas Edison invented the phonograph and Karl Benz designed the two-stroke engine, may have been her positive approach to life.

I've never met a really old, real grumpy person. They just don't seem to last. So, as well as managing your food and fitness program, take time to develop your smile and laugh program. Today's task is sharing or learning a joke. If you need to kickstart, you'll find a few Jokes & Stories here.

7 March - Junk food ad update: UK bans high-fat, salt & sugar

For those following the debate about advertising junk food to children (see Matt's Snacks Sept and April 2006), here's the latest installment.

The British media regulator Ofcom released its report on 22 February, 2007 outlining its decision to ban certain food advertisements aimed at children.

Specifically, Ofcom report says:

• scheduling restrictions will be confined to food and drink products that are assessed as high-fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) as defined by the Food Standard Agency's (FSA's) nutrient profiling scheme;
• advertisements for HFSS products must not be shown in or around programmes specifically made for children (which includes pre-school children). For the avoidance of doubt this measure will remove all HFSS advertising from dedicated children's channels;
• advertisements for HFSS products must not be shown in or around programmes of particular appeal to children under 16; and
• these restrictions will apply equally to programme sponsorship by HFSS food and drink products.

The UK ban has Australian advertisers worried about a domino affect in other western countries, according a Sydney Morning Herald report (SMH, 5 March 2007). The UK ban will certainly give frustrated parents some leverage in calling for limitations on advertising in Australia.

Watch this space for the next installment…

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