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Wrinkles and Your Diet

December 10, 2013 by Joyce Bunderson

As time goes on our skin ages; it becomes less elastic, more fragile, and the deeper layers of our skin lose fat. The skin begins to appear looser and the lines become more obvious. Most of us like to avoid the deep crevices of aging skin for as long as possible. Many of us know […]

Troublesome Intake

December 3, 2013 by Joyce Bunderson

An October 15, 2013 report in Connecticut College News is causing a big stir in the food industry. Certainly a headline suggesting that Oreos are just as addictive as drugs (cocaine or morphine) is fodder for media and argument. Of course this is not the first time researchers have explored the issue of the possibility […]

FDA Trans Fats Ruling: Better Late than Never

November 12, 2013 by Joyce Bunderson

On Thursday, November 7, 2013, the FDA finally got around to saying that trans fats aren’t safe in foods. Ya think? The FDA gave notice that trans fats will be removed from the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) list. It will be the second item to be removed from the list since the list was […]

Conflict of Interest

October 29, 2013 by Joyce Bunderson

I like the term junk food; it’s so helpful. It gets right to the identification of the item as something that you’re not counting on to nourish yourself or your family. It says, “This is just a treat;” and “Too much of this stuff is not great for my health.” I belong to the Academy […]

Sugar Industry Tactics Reprise Tobacco’s

October 15, 2013 by Joyce Bunderson

On September 11, 2013 Credit Suisse published a report on the impact of global sugar consumption. You can read a quick summary of their report done by WorldNow and ABC. Because I’ve already written so much about the use of sugar I’m not going to spend much time about the nutritional aspects of sugar intake. […]

Beyond Organic’s Health Halo

October 8, 2013 by Joyce Bunderson

In my own family cooking, I shop organic when it is natural, not processed, and not overly price-inflated; but I’m convinced that the term “organic” is increasingly being used to include un-natural substances and to justify increased prices.  A good statement of the Organic Skeptic position is found in the Eden Foods website.  They certify […]

The F as in Fat Report

September 3, 2013 by Joyce Bunderson

The 2013 F as in Fat Report from the Trust for Americas Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows U.S. obesity leveling off. Before we get too excited and head for the ice cream parlor in celebration, we should note that extreme obesity has grown and the obesity leveling off is at the rate […]

Soft Material with Fat-Like Functionalities

August 27, 2013 by Joyce Bunderson

A small bit of information in this week’s food technology news caught my attention. Two reasons why this one stood out from the background of so much food engineering is first that there have already been short-term failures in creating new fat-like molecules in the lab (Olestra); and second, that following the creation of the […]

Re-educate Your Palette to Flavorful Whole Grains

August 13, 2013 by Joyce Bunderson

Some years ago, I enjoyed a conversation with a school food service director from the city in which my family and I lived. I’ve never forgotten her explanation of the challenges she faced in taking advantage of using the whole foods available from the USDA surplus school nutrition commodity program. She explained that when she […]

The Sweetness of Fruit, including Cotton Candy Grapes

August 6, 2013 by Joyce Bunderson

Last week I read a story about a fruit breeder in Kern County – a rural part of California where I enjoyed shooting the rapids, floating down the Kern River and exploring the mountains during my preteen and teenage years. One on my numerous childhood memories of the ‘50s and ‘60s was the drive to […]