Michael Jacobson, director of CSPI, makes some strong suggestions for food brands in today’s NYT and Huffington Post about how labels should more clearly communicate better for you and not so better for you ingredients.  Among his suggestions, he urges more prominent display for calorie content; sugar info should include only refined sugars added to food not natural sugar; clear listing for partially hydrogenated oil not trans fat; and highlighting high amounts of saturated fats and sodium.  He lauds rating systems of Food Lion and Hannaford Supermarkets and the NuVal system for its simplicity in giving credit to nutrients that we should be eating more of and subtracting credit for those we should avoid.

Food marketers who are targeting families with a nutrition message should focus more on the kids than the adults, says the results of a new survey by IFIC.   Parents concentrate on nutrition and health needs of their children but are less likely to think about their health, say the findings.  The IFIC Foundation’s 2012 Food & Health Survey revealed only 16 percent of parents said they have a very or extremely healthful diet, while nearly 70 percent said they worry more about the healthfulness of the foods and beverages they buy for their children than those they buy for themselves. Twenty-three percent of adults who are not parents said they had a very or extremely healthful diet.

The New York Times Magazine focused on all things food this past Sunday.  One article discusses what the ideal food label would look like?  Writer Mark Bittman suggests labeling foods using traffic light signals to indicate the ideal level of health.   By “ideal,” he means from the perspective of   consumers, not marketers   Bittman says: “Right now, the labels required on food give us loads of information, much of it useful. What they don’t do is tell us whether something is really beneficial, in every sense of the word. With a different set of criteria and some clear graphics, food packages could tell us much more.  He suggests that even the simplest information would encourage consumers to make healthier choices.   Bittman doesn’t go on to answer how the label would be created or administered.

Veggies are getting a starring role at the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics annual conference, The Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo.  Barbara Rolls of the nutrition department at Pennsylvania State University and RD Ellie Krieger, a host on The Food Network are recommending a fuller plate as a better for you means of nutrition.  This isn’t a call for a plate load of burgers, dogs or pasta but rather a suggestion that we add more vegetables on our plates. Studies show that people have a strong tendency to eat the amount of food placed in front of them, so if the assumption is that diners are going to clean their plate, having that plate contain better4you veggies and fewer calorie-and-fat-laden meats and starches is a smart choice.

Consumers can be obese yet physically healthy and fit and at no greater risk of heart disease or cancer than normal weight people, say researchers at the University of South Carolina.  The key is being “metabolically fit”, meaning no high blood pressure, cholesterol or raised blood sugar, and exercising, according to experts.   The results of studying 43,000 U.S. people, published in the European Heart Journal, found that being overweight did not pose a big health risk.  The subset of metabolically healthy obese people who did not suffer from conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure, were generally fitter and exercised more than the other obese people.  The findings show that getting more exercise can keep you healthier, even if you still carry a bit of extra weight.

Should better4you brands promote organic foods in light of a new study from Stanford University and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care?  The study finds that organic produce and meat typically isn’t any better for you than conventional food when it comes to vitamin and nutrient content.  It does, however, reduce exposure to pesticides and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.  The study compared either the health of people who ate organic or conventional foods or, more commonly, nutrient and contaminant levels in the foods themselves.   Just like the bottled water industry, which has marketed itself as pure, uncontaminated, organic fruits, vegetables, grains, meat, poultry eggs and milk still hold the edge when it comes to better4you health.

To help build better4you habits, one organization is introduced  a school-wide program that motivates children to be more active by challenging them to move 100 miles in three weeks. MOVchallenge makes use of a MOVband, a new wrist-worn activity monitor that helps children become aware of their daily activity, and encourages more get up and go.  Kudos to the MOVband folks.  They’d make a good partner for a company looking to reach families.

Are licensing vehicles a good idea for brands to get kids to eat better for you foods?  Apparently so.  Adding a cartoon face on a healthy snack may make those choices more appealing, according to a study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.  The researchers found that when kids were offered apples and cookies with lunch, they were more likely to opt for an apple when it was branded with a cartoon sticker – such as one of the “Sesame Street” character Elmo.  “If we’re trying to promote healthier foods, we need to be as smart as the companies that are selling the less-healthy foods,” said David Just, co-director of the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Program, who worked on the study.

Stressing calories and reduced saturated fats is a smart way to think about marketing better for you snacks and other food products in light of a new government survey that shows 12 states now have very high obesity rates.   More than a third of adults are obese. States with very high obesity rates went from nine to 12. At least 30 percent of adults are obese in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia. Colorado was lowest, at just under 21 percent, and Mississippi was highest at nearly 36 percent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the figures Monday.

Is gluten free just another fad?  Gluten-free products are flying off grocery shelves, and restaurants are boasting of meals with no gluten. Celebrities on TV talk shows chat about the digestive discomfort they blame on the wheat protein they now shun. Some churches even offer gluten-free Communion wafers. “I don’t know whether there’s more people getting this or that more people are noticing” they have a problem, said the Rev. Richard Allen, pastor at Mamaroneck United Methodist Church, north of New York City. Americans will spend an estimated $7 billion this year on foods labeled gluten-free, according to the market research firm Mintel. But the best estimates are that more than half the consumers buying these products — perhaps way more than half — don’t have any clear-cut reaction to gluten.  Takeaway for marketers: consumers are looking for healthier foods and gluten-free is an easy way for them to navigate through thousands of products to get there.