(ANTIMEDIA) Every Halloween, warnings to parents sound the alarm on cannabis and other drugs ending up in their children’s candy. While these advisories rarely come to fruition, another dangerous substance is guaranteed to be in kids’ treats: sugar.
If you want to cut the amount of sugar in a particular food, it makes sense to just…add less sugar, right? I mean, isn’t that the first thing that comes to mind? You just put less sugar in whatever it is you’re making. Voila! Mission accomplished. Well, Nestle came up with a “better” idea – reformulating sugar “so it can disassemble easily in your mouth with less going into your gastrointestinal tract.” [1]
Halloween is fast approaching, so you’re probably seeing pumpkins with all kinds of interesting carvings and elaborate colors. Gone are the days of simple jack-o-lanterns. Pinterest has put those to shame. But if you see a teal pumpkin, it has special meaning.
Teal-colored pumpkins signify participation with and support of the Teal Pumpkin Project, an initiative started by FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education), to provide children with food allergies a safe trick-or-treating experience. [1]
U.K. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has ordered restaurants, pubs, and cafes to make their food and drink healthier by cutting sugar content, and to shrink the size of desserts. [1]
It’s all part of Britain’s plan to combat obesity.
Hunt met with more than 100 major food chains, including McDonald’s, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Starbucks, and Pizza Express, and warned them that each restaurant’s performance would be monitored and that a public campaign would name any violators.
Hunt said:
In an attempt to improve buying decisions for its customers, Grocery chain Aldi announced earlier this year that it will be replacing the candy in checkout aisles with more healthful alternatives, such as trail mix, granola bars, and dried fruit. The change will go into effect by the end of 2016 in each of the company’s 1,500 stores.
In what I’d consider a tactically-influenced move, mega-food corporation Nestle has recently announced that it would phase out artificial flavors and colors from some of its candy bars by 2015. This move will make many consumers happy as it seemingly hits a note of health-consciousness, but a company who wants to control the world’s water supply probably isn’t driven by consumer’s desires.
