Food Addiction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edison de Mello
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Food Addiction ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pharmacological Intervention ◽  
Addiction Recovery ◽  
Physiological Factors ◽  
Obesity Epidemic ◽  
High Glycemic Index ◽  
The Brain

Although an impressive and increasing amount of research has shown how particular foods affect brain chemistry and can lead to food addictions, the idea of food addiction as an actual disease is still controversial. The alarming growth in the obesity epidemic in the United States, however, is quickly eating away at this controversy. Research now shows that genetics, the nucleus accumbens, the gut bacteria (microbiota), and other physiological factors have a vast effect on obesity, cravings, binge eating, and food addiction. Speculation that the food industry has utilized the effects of the high glycemic index foods, such as refined starches, sugars, and fat have on the brain to engineer foods for taste, not nutrition and to get people “hooked” is also discussed. Integrative treatment approaches to food addiction that can synergically help with food addiction recovery are presented. These include biochemical restoration, IV nutrient therapy, meditation practices, pharmacological intervention, and more.

Creating an Environment in Which Youths Are Encouraged to Eat a Healthier Diet

2007 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marvin E. Goldberg ◽  
Kunter Gunasti
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Young People ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
The United States ◽  
Product Price ◽  
End Points ◽  
Convenience Stores ◽  
Marketing Activities ◽  
Youth Obesity

More than one-third of young people in the United States are either obese or at risk of becoming obese. The authors consider how food marketers have contributed to this problem and how they might help resolve it. The article organizes the marketing activities of food-related companies around the classic four Ps. The authors first discuss product, price, and promotion in terms of past, present, and potential future industry actions. They then discuss place as a function of four key commercial end points in the food channel: (1) supermarkets, (2) convenience stores, (3) restaurants, and (4) schools. The authors consider government actions in terms of how they affect the actions of both the food industry and consumers. Throughout the article, the authors consider how extant research can be extended in an effort to better understand and address the youth obesity problem.

Preliminary Estimates of Costs of Foodborne Disease in the United States

1989 ◽  
Vol 52 (8) ◽  
pp. 595-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
EWEN C. D. TODD
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
The United States ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Foodborne Diseases ◽  
Hemorrhagic Colitis ◽  
E Coli ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Total Impact

Although the full economic impact of foodborne diseases has yet to be measured, preliminary studies show that the cost of illness, death, and business lost is high indeed. This impact is probably greatest in developing countries, but few facts are known. For the United States, preliminary estimates are 12.6 million cases costing $8.4 billion. These may seem excessive but other authors have postulated even higher case and dollar figures. Microbiological diseases (bacterial and viral) represent 84% of the United States' costs, with salmonellosis and staphylococcal intoxication being the most economically important diseases (annually $4.0 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively). Other costly types of illnesses are toxoplasmosis ($445 million), listeriosis ($313 million), campylobacteriosis ($156 million), trichinosis ($144 million), Clostridium perfringens enteritis ($123 million), and E. coli infections including hemorrhagic colitis ($223 million). Botulism has a high cost per case ($322,200), but its total impact is only $87 million because relatively few cases occur (270). This is because the food industry has been able to introduce effective control measures. Salmonellosis, however, is much more widespread (2.9 million cases) and affects all sectors of the food industry.

scholarly journals Non-Thermal Preservation of Fruit Juices

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. M. (Bala) Balasubramaniam
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Pulsed Electric Field ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Pressure Processing ◽  
Fruit Juices ◽  
Microbial Inactivation ◽  
Juice Processing

Consumers demand healthier fresh tasting foods without chemical preservatives. To address the need, food industry is exploring alternative preservation methods such as high pressure processing (HPP) and pulsed electric field processing. During HPP, the food material is subjected to elevated pressures (up to 900 MPa) with or without the addition of heat to achieve microbial inactivation with minimal damage to the food. One of the unique advantages of the technology is the ability to increase the temperature of the food samples instantaneously; this is attributed to the heat of compression, resulting from the rapid pressurization of the sample. Pulsed electric field (PEF) processing uses short bursts of electricity for microbial inactivation and causes minimal or no detrimental effect on food quality attributes. The process involves treating foods placed between electrodes by high voltage pulses in the order of 20–80 kV (usually for a couple of microseconds). PEF processing offers high quality fresh-like liquid foods with excellent flavor, nutritional value, and shelf life. Pressure in combination with other antimicrobial agents, including CO2, has been investigated for juice processing. Both HPP and PEF are quite effective in inactivating harmful pathogens and vegetative bacteria at ambient temperatures. Both HPP and PEF do not present any unique issues for food processors concerning regulatory matters or labeling. The requirements are similar to traditional thermal pasteurization such as development of a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan for juices and beverages. Examples of high pressure, pasteurized, value added products commercially available in the United States include smoothies, fruit juices, guacamole, ready meal components, oysters, ham, poultry products, and salsa. PEF technology is not yet widely utilized for commercial processing of food products in the United States. The presentation will provide a brief overview of HPP and PEF technology fundamentals, equipment choices for food processors, process economics, and commercialization status in the food industry, with emphasis on juice processing. Paper published with permission.

scholarly journals McDonald's — Much Maligned, But an Engine of Economic Development

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1850123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian E. Tschoegl
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
The United States ◽  
External Effects ◽  
Fast Food Industry ◽  
The Us ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Backward Linkages

Critics have excoriated the US fast-food industry in general, and McDonald's most particularly, both per se and as a symbol of the United States. However, examining McDonald's internationalization and development abroad suggests that McDonald's and the others of its ilk are sources of development for mid-range countries. McDonald's brings training in management, encourages entrepreneurship directly through franchises and indirectly through demonstration effects, creates backward linkages that develop local suppliers, fosters exports by their suppliers, and has positive external effects on productivity and standards of service, cleanliness, and quality in the host economies.

scholarly journals Bad Biocitizens?: Latinos and the US "Obesity Epidemic"

2014 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Greenhalgh ◽  
Megan Carney
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
The United States ◽  
Normal Weight ◽  
The Political ◽  
Structural Barriers ◽  
Obesity Epidemic ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Let's Move

For years now, the United States has faced an "obesity epidemic" that, according to the dominant narrative, is harming the nation by worsening the health burden, raising health costs, and undermining productivity. Much of the responsibility is laid at the foot of Blacks and Latinos, who have higher levels of obesity. Latinos have provoked particular concern because of their rising numbers. Michelle Obama's Let's Move! Campaign is now targeting Latinos. Like the national anti-obesity campaign, it locates the problem in ignorance and calls on the Latino community to "own" the issue and take personal responsibility by embracing healthier beliefs and behaviors. In this article, we argue that this dominant approach to obesity is misguided and damaging because it ignores the political-economic sources of Latino obesity and the political-moral dynamics of biocitizenship in which the issue is playing out. Drawing on two sets of ethnographic data on Latino immigrants and United States-born Latinos in southern California, we show that Latinos already "own" the obesity issue; far from being "ignorant," they are fully aware of the importance of a healthy diet, exercise, and normal weight. What prevents them from becoming properly thin, fit biocitizens are structural barriers associated with migration and assimilation into the low-wage sector of the US economy. Failure to attain the normative body has led them to internalize the identity of bad citizens, assume personal responsibility for their failure, naturalize the conditions for this failure, and feel that they deserve this fate. We argue that the blaming of minorities for the obesity epidemic constitutes a form of symbolic violence that furthers what Berlant calls the "slow death" of structurally vulnerable populations, even as it deepens their health risks by failing to address the fundamental sources of their higher weights.

Obesity Epidemic in the United States

2005 ◽  
pp. 61-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna M. Hunsaker ◽  
John C. Hunsaker
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Obesity Epidemic

Letters to the Editor

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-473
Author(s):  
David B. Nelson ◽  
Renate D. Kimbrough ◽  
Philip S. Landrigan ◽  
A. Wallace Hayes ◽  
George C. Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Drug Administration ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
The United States ◽  
Letters To The Editor ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Food Commodities

Dr Wray's comments are, of course, very appropriate and encouraging. Aflatoxin was first detected in food commodities from other parts of the world. As concentrations in other parts of the world have usually been higher, little attention has been paid to the possibility of aflatoxin exposure in humans in the United States except by those who are directly involved in monitoring the human food supply (US Department of Agriculture, the food industry, and the US Food and Drug Administration).

Some Economic Aspects of the Brain Drain

1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 7-14
Author(s):  
Harry G. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
Brain Drain ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Economic Aspects ◽  
National State ◽  
The One ◽  
Professional People ◽  
The Brain

The concept of “brain drain” is in its origins a nationalistic concept, by which is meant a concept that visualizes economic and cultural welfare in terms of the welfare of the residents of a national state or region, viewed as a totality, and excludes from consideration both the welfare of people born in that region who choose to leave it, and the welfare of the outside world in general. Moreover, though the available statistics are far from adequate on this point, there is generally assumed to be a net flow of trained professional people from the former colonial territories to the ex-imperial European nations, and from Europe and elsewhere to North America and particularly the United States. The concept thus lends itself easily to the expression of anti-colonial sentiments on the one hand, and anti-American sentiments on the other. The expression of such sentiments can be dignified by the presentation of brain drain as a serious economic and cultural problem, by relying on nationalistic sentiments and assumptions and ignoring the principles of economics—especially the principle that in every transaction there is both a demand and a supply—or by elevating certain theoretical economic possibilities into presumed hard facts.

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