Oct.

6, 2003
Carolyn Lumsden,
Op-Ed Editor
Hartford Courant
oped@courant.com
-THE FOOD SUPPLY, FOR DUMMIES-
DAVID L. A!", #D, #$%, &AC$#, &AC$
'ALE $(EVE)!IO) (E*EA(C% CE)!E(
'ALE +)IVE(*I!' *C%OOL O& #EDICI)E
In our dri,e-t-rou.-, on-t-e-/ly, no-time-to-stop-and-t-in0 society, t-e pac0a.in. o/ e,eryt-in. /rom
dietin. to estate plannin. /or 1dummies2 is ,ery muc- in style. *o /as-iona3le is t-e trend t-at 4e seem
to ta0e no o//ense, indi,idually or collecti,ely, at t-e aspersions cast upon our am3ient intelli.ence.
#a0in. use o/ -elp/ul tips pac0a.ed /or t-e co.niti,ely c-allen.ed some-o4 passes /or politically
correct.
*o 3e it. In li.-t o/ t-is, 4-y do 4e tolerate an inscruta3ly la3eled /ood supply e,en as our
society succum3s e,er more t-orou.-ly to epidemic o3esity, dia3etes, and related illness5 6it- nearly
708 o/ adults no4 o,er4ei.-t, and c-ildren more apt to 3e -armed o,er t-eir li/etime 3y t-e 4ay t-ey eat
t-an 3y to3acco, dru.s, and alco-ol com3ined, t-e sta0es could scarcely 3e any -i.-er. 6-y not mar0 a
sa/e passa.e t-rou.- t-e to9ic 3adlands o/ t-e modern nutritional landscape5 In ot-er 4ords, 4-y not
recast t-e /ood supply:/or dummies5
!-is 4ould not 3e terri3ly di//icult. &or e9ample, o,er recent decades, somet-in. called ;t-e
tra//ic li.-t diet; -as 3een used in numerous 4ei.-t loss studies t-at -a,e succeeded in ac-ie,in. 4ei.-t
loss /or as lon. as t-e inter,ention is maintained. &oods are la3eled ;.reen,; ;yello4,; or ;red.; ;<reen;
/oods, suc- as ,e.eta3les, /ruits, and 4-ole .rains are ,ery -i.- in nutrients, and relati,ely lo4 in
calories, and can 3e eaten 4it-out muc- concern o,er =uantity. &oods 4it- a ;yello4; la3el -a,e a more
neutral 3alance 3et4een nutrients and calories. ;(ed; /oods are treats, suc- as dessert, -i.- in calories
and relati,ely lo4 in nutrient ,alue.
!-e /act t-at t-is approac- -as 3een used in researc- studies t-at -a,e produced s-ort-term
4ei.-t loss s-o4s it to 3e plausi3le. !-e notion is not too di//erent /rom t-e 6ei.-t 6atc-ers point
system, 4-ic- similarly coa9es clients pre/erentially to4ard t-e nutrient-dense, calorie-dilute /oods t-at
come at t-e lo4est cost in points.
!-e 3ene/iciaries o/ t-is simple strate.y s-ould not 3e limited to participants in researc- trials or
t-e payin. clients o/ t-e 4ei.-t loss industry. A .roup o/ nutrition e9perts could 3e con,ened to come up
4it- a ,alid, relia3le nutrient inde9 /or /oods as a 3asis /or t-e color-coded la3els. !-e inde9 s-ould ta0e
into account t-e =uantity o/ calories, 3ene/icial nutrients, and potentially -arm/ul nutrients suc- as trans
/at, in a ser,in. o/ any .i,en /ood. On t-e 3asis o/ t-is o3>ecti,e 1nutrient inde9,2 /oods in t-e
supermar0et could 3e clearly stamped 4it- a .reen, yello4, or red la3el.
As some cate.ories o/ /oods, suc- as ,e.eta3les at t-e one e9treme and c-ocolate candies at t-e
ot-er, 4ould li0ely all 3e la3eled 4it- t-e same color, it could 4ell pro,e use/ul to pro,ide additional
.uidance 4it-in /ood cate.ories. *o, /or e9ample, t-e most nutritious ,e.eta3les ?3roccoli comes to
mind@ could -a,e an ;A; superimposed on a .reen circle, t-ose o/ a,era.e nutritional ,alue a ;A,; and t-e
least nutritious ?e..., ice3er. lettuce@ a ;C.; !-e same 4ould apply at t-e ot-er end o/ t-e spectrumB dar0
c-ocolate deser,es a red 1A2 /or its -i.- content o/ /i3er, ma.nesium, and antio9idants, and t-e /act t-at
t-e /at it contains does not raise c-olesterol le,els. #il0 c-ocolate -as opposite c-aracteristics, and
4ould 4arrant a 1C.2
!-atCs it. <reen, yello4, redB A, A, C. !-e /ood supply, /or dummies, as promised.
!-is is ur.ently needed. )o matter -o4 many /acts t-e &DA re=uires /ood companies to report
on nutrition la3els, t-e opportunities /or deception a3ound. &or e9ample, ri.-t 4-ere one /ruit >uice la3el
-elp/ully indicates t-at it is 1D0082 >uice, a competitor t-at is mostly a mi9 o/ su.ar and dyes 3oasts t-at
it, too, pro,ides 1D008,2 and in /ine print, 1:o/ a dayCs supply o/ ,itamin C.2 Only an all-encompassin.
/ood la3el /or dummies 4ould ser,e to trump t-e many mar0etin. deceptions employed 3y t-e /ood
industry.
*imply c-oosin. mostly nutritious /oods, and ma0in. t-e 3est c-oices in eac- /ood cate.ory,
could .o a lon. 4ay to4ard impro,in. eatin. patterns and -ealt-. !4o s-oppin. carts, /illed item /or
item /rom t-e same /ood cate.ories, could di//er dramatically in t-eir content o/ e,eryt-in. /rom /i3er,
calcium, &olate, ome.a-3 /atty acids, and 3io/la,onoids, to sodium, su.ar, re/ined starc-, trans and
saturated /at, and e,en carcino.ens. 6-y s-ouldnCt e,en dummies 4ind up 4it- a s-oppin. cart /illed
4it- t-e .ood stu//5
And once t-e supermar0et -as 3een suita3ly dum3ed-do4n, 4-y stop t-ere5 (estaurant meals,
and in particular /ast-/ood restaurant meals, could 3e similarly demysti/ied.
In Euly o/ t-is year, *ecretary o/ %ealt- !ommy !-ompson con,ened an o3esity /orum to 4-ic-
-e in,ited a.ency leaders /rom -is department-t-e *ur.eon <eneral, &DA Commissioner, and t-e
Directors o/ t-e )I% and CDC-and DF e9perts /rom around t-e country to o//er recommendations /or
o3esity control. I 4as pri,ile.ed to 3e amon. t-em, and to su..est t-is system t-en. Aut t-ere 4ill 3e
political capital at sta0e, as no /ood company 4ill 3e 0een to see red la3els on t-eir products. !-atCs
4-ere 4e come in.
Collecti,ely, 4e-countless 1dummies2 4-o 4ould actually pre/er not 3ein. duped into /eedin.
our c-ildren >un0-are a political /orce to 3e rec0oned 4it-. 6eC,e applied our uni/ied mi.-t 3e/ore in
/i.-tin. to3acco and -a,e mo,ed, i/ not mountains, at least co43oys and camels. 6e s-ould certainly 3e
up to t-e tas0 o/ demandin. a clearly mar0ed trail to sa/ety t-rou.- t-e -aGards o/ our unnecessarily
con/usin. /ood supply.
-fin
Da,id L. atG, #D, #$%, &AC$#, &AC$
Associate Clinical $ro/essor o/ $u3lic %ealt- H #edicine
'ale +ni,ersity *c-ool o/ #edicine
Aut-or, 1The Way to Eat,2 *ource3oo0s, Inc. 2002 ?444.t-e4aytoeat.net@
CorrepondenceI
Da,id L. atG, #D, #$%B Director
'ale $re,ention (esearc- Center
D30 Di,ision *t.
Der3y, C! 06JD7
$-oneI
6or0I ?203@ K32-D26F
%omeI ?203@ 277-2227
&a9I ?203@ K32-D26J
atGdlLpol.netB da,id.0atGLyale.edu
Administrati,e assistantI Eenni/er AallardI >enni/er.3allardLyale.ri//inprc.or.
Da!"d L. #at$, MD, MPH, F%CPM, F%CP is Associate Clinical $ro/essor o/ $u3lic %ealt- H #edicine
at t-e Yale University School of Medicine, and Director o/ t-e Yale Prevention Research Center. )utrition
columnist to MO,C t-e Opra- #a.aGine, -e is t-e aut-or o/ K 3oo0s to date, includin. a nutrition te9t
4idely used in medical education and t-e course te9t at 3ot- t-e 'ale H %ar,ard #edical *c-ools, and
1The Way to Eat2 ?*ource3oo0s, Inc., 2002I 444.t-e4aytoeat.net@, 4-ic- details t-e s0ills and
strate.ies needed to o,ercome o3stacles to nutritional -ealt- and li/elon. 4ei.-t control. %e 4as one o/
DF e9perts /rom t-rou.-out t-e +* in,ited 3y *ecretary o/ %ealt- !ommy !-ompson to o//er
recommendations /or a national response to t-e o3esity epidemic at a /orum in 6as-in.ton, D.C., on Euly
30
t-
, 2003, attended 3y t-e *ecretary, t-e &DA Commissioner, t-e Directors o/ t-e )I% and CDC, and t-e
+* *ur.eon <eneral.