Finding Reliable Nutrition Information

1. Please note: No lectures on 7 and 9 March-due to external examiner duties for a doctoral thesis at the University of Saskatchewan-these lectures will be made up on later dates

2. Note Sydney River Superstore- food safety tour- 22 March 2016 – arrive at Superstore at 10:20 am- tour finishes at 10:55 am.- we will not have a class that day 31 March-:10:05 am- Ms. Teasdale, a dietitian at Sobey’s, will give a lecture on 31 March in class on food selection, portion sizes and healthy eating.

3. Lecture 13 - 16 February 2017 Obtaining Accurate Nutrition Information

4. Usually reliable University publications (.edu) Web sites ending in .gov or .org Peer reviewed journal publications (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Nutrition Research, British Journal of Nutrition, Nutrition Reviews, New England Journal of Medicine, Lipids, Journal of Lipid Research, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Biological Chemistry and Journal of Clinical Investigation)

5. USUALLY RELIABLE Government Health Canada eg http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca Nova Scotia Department of Health www.gov.ns.ca/health/ Cape Breton Regional Health Unit www.cbdha.nshealth.ca Pharmaceutical and nutraceutical firms – caution- they have something to sell but Good science required by Health Canada and FDA

6. USUALLY RELIABLE Volunteer Agencies Canadian Cancer Society http://www.cancer.ca/ Canadian Diabetes Association www.diabetes.ca Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada http://ww1.heartandstroke.ca/

7. USUALLY RELIABLE Consumer groups American Council on Science and Health www.acsh.org Federal Consumer Information Centre http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/ International Food Information Council http://www.ific.org/

8. USUALLY RELIABLE Professional Associations American Dietetic Association http://www.eatright.org/ Dietitians of Canada www.dietitians.ca American Medical Association http://www.ama-assn.org/ Canadian Medical Association www.cma.ca

9. Usually unreliable sources Firms and other organisations that are here one day and gone the next Firms that claim to have qualifications in the field but can produce no evidence of qualifications .com – may be alright but be cautious

10. Reliable versus unreliable Credentials Real results Evidence of misinformation

11. Credentials -Nutrition and/or dietetics training from an accredited university ( who is doing the accreditation?) -least 3-4 years of training

12. Credentials Watch out for: “nutrimedicine” fee for degree schools liberal use of the word doctor members of “professional societies” dietitian or nutritionist- this term may be unregulated in some jurisdictions

13. Real credentials yield real results usually -usually- watch out for dry labing or fixing results -real results gained by the scientific method

14. Scientific method -hypothesis -objective -method-validity and numbers of subjects -results-data and statistics are accurate -discussion and interpretation

15. Scientific method continued Conclusions -not generalised to all people – use of word may References Publication in reputable peer-reviewed journals Repetition- with in group and by multiple groups Concept of a food (eg vegetables) to molecules to doses

16. Identifying misinformation Personal testimonials- Hearsay and gossip Time-tested Is it really true?- such findings would be widely published Nonsense Medical jargon Hunger stimulation point

17. Identifying misinformation Paranoia People are just out to get me- mostly my competitors Quick and easy fixes Who knows of the overnight cancer treatment “Just a little dab will do you” Natural Not necessarily safer or better

18. Identifying misinformation Satisfaction guaranteed How, over what time, what recourse do you have? One product does it all Is there only one chemical reaction or disease in the body? Glossy adverts – in all media Watch out for the slick willy approach Have I got a deal for you

19. Identifying misinformation People telling you not to listen to physicians or other qualified persons

20. Remember if it is too good to be true then it likely is not true and that the internet is hard to regulate- the net is worldwide and not every country has regulations at the point of source

21. Healthy choices -choose whole grain and enriched grain products more often -choose lower fat dairy products, leaner meats and foods prepared with little or no fat -choosing foods containing less salt

22. Where does one look on a food label for information on the above items? -look on the ingredient list -all packaged foods must list the ingredients used in the product -ingredients are listed in the order of the amount used

23. Where does one look on a food label for information on the above items? -the amount of the ingredient is based on weight and not volume -for example in some cereals whole wheat is listed as the first ingredient -this means that of all the ingredients listed, whole wheat is present in the largest amount

24. Nutrition claims -a nutrition claim is used to highlight the key nutrition feature of the food -it is often put on front of the package in big bold type

25. Nutrition claims -there are federal government rules for use of nutrition claims using words like “source of” and “low” -for example with regard to fats and fibre the grams of each must be given on the package label. Details are usually given under nutrition information

26. A closer look at nutrition information -nutrients always listed in same order making it easier to compare among various food products -nutrition information always given for the product as sold-

27. Nutrition information components -serving size in weight (grams) and volume (millilitres or portion of cup eg ½ cup) -energy is the calories per serving (Cal vs cal) or kilojoules /serving

28. Nutrition information components -fat-total amount -may also include content of polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat and saturated fat, trans fatty acids -for lower fat foods –look at total grams of fat -carbohydrate includes content of sugars, starch and fibre

29. Nutrition information components -sodium is the measure of the amount of salt in a food -percentage recommended daily intake – way in which vitamins and minerals are listed

30. Using food labels to choose foods for healthy eating To choose whole grains and enriched products more often -look at the ingredient listing -if whole wheat is not listed then one should look to see if the product is enriched

31. Using food labels to choose foods for healthy eating To choose whole grains and enriched products more often -enriched pasta is better than pasta that is not enriched -enriched means more vitamins and/or minerals

32. Using food labels to choose foods for healthy eating  To choose whole grains and enriched products more often -pasta is enriched if it includes iron (listed as ferrous sulphate), niacin, riboflavin and thiamine -whether the label says so or not- REMEMBER-that all white flour and foods made from flour like bread, cookies and muffins are enriched products because all flour in Canada must be enriched

33. Using food labels to choose foods for healthy eating - To choose lower fat foods more often -fat is found in a variety of foods -butter, margarine, oils, milk products -meats, poultry and fish -snack foods and many convenience products

34. Using food labels to choose foods for healthy eating   - To choose lower fat foods more often -the labels of many milk products help one choose lower fat products -many milk products are labelled with percentage butterfat(B.F.) -skim, 1 or 2 percent B.F. are best choices -compare labels and choose lower fat products including yoghurt and cheese more often

35. Using food labels to choose foods for healthy eating -To choose lower fat foods more often -also compare and choose lower fat mass (grams) per serving -healthy eating means one gets 30 % or less of calories from daily fat intake -this works out to consuming between 60 and 105 grams of fat per day

36. Using food labels to choose foods for healthy eating To choose lower fat foods more often Caution about fat claims -cholesterol free or no cholesterol does not mean that the food is low in fat -only foods that come from animals contain cholesterol -foods made from vegetable sources such as vegetable oil can be very high in fat but contain no cholesterol

37. Using food labels to choose foods for healthy eating To choose lower fat foods more often -caution about “light or lite” claims -read label to find out what is light about them -consumers often think the terms, light or lite, mean lower in calories or fat -not necessarily so- foods may be light in texture or taste and not reduced in calories or fat at all

38. Using food labels to choose foods for healthy eating -to choose lower salt foods more often -since salt is the major source of sodium in diet, one is advised to use less salt when preparing foods and to choose salty foods less often -check labels and compare brands to help lower the amount of salt one uses -crackers and canned soups are just some of the products now being made with less salt

39. Using food labels to choose foods for healthy eating -to choose lower salt foods more often -look for a nutrition claim telling you the product contains less salt -remember a product claim of 50 % less salt means the product is lower in salt compared to the original cracker but not necessarily low in salt- even a salt- reduced product can contain a lot of salt and be high source of sodium

40. Using food labels to choose foods for healthy eating -to choose lower salt foods more often -the explanation of what the claim means on the label- amount of sodium must be given-remember difference between salt and sodium -choosing a product that is lower in sodium than the original product is one of many steps to consuming less salt overall