Daily diet: Fortified junk foods should not replace those whole ones

I was recently perusing some nutritional headlines and stories on-line and came across the Food Marketing Institute’s (FMI) 19th annual Shopping for Health Survey which is held in conjunction with Prevention magazine.

The survey included a nationally representative sample of 1,579 US adults who are the primary grocery shoppers.

The survey was conducted in November and December of 2010.

The results were puzzling to me. Read on and see what you think.

What the survey found is that people are not as concerned with the “undesirables” of food (i.e. fats, added sugars, sodium and calories, etc.) as they are with healthy ingredients and what foods are fortified with.

Okay, sounds great!

Of course I would like to see everyone pay attention to naturally healthier foods, but then there is the fortification factor.

Food fortification goes back to 1924 when iodine was added to salt on a voluntary basis in an attempt to address the prevalent health problem of goiter in the United States.

We still use iodized salt to this day.

In 1933, came Vitamin D fortified milk.

Then in the 1930s and 1940s, due to new science, specific deficiency disease syndromes were identified and documented in the United States.

In 1940 the Committee on Food and Nutrition (now the Food and Nutrition Board) recommended the addition of thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, and iron to flour. (I could cite more examples, but I’m sure you get the idea.)

These types of fortification are defined as “mandatory fortification” (aka enrichment) and have been more than beneficial in helping to improve our overall health.

I would think we could all agree that the eradication of nutrition deficiency syndromes is a good thing. Right?

However, we have once again taken a good thing too far. Just go to the grocery store and scan the shelves.

There is nary a product that isn’t “new and improved” or “now fortified with…” (fill in the blank).

While there is the aforementioned “mandatory fortification” there is also “discretionary fortification”.

Let’s use the Fiber One version of the Pop Tart as an example.

While it does have 5 grams of fiber, it is also packed with 190 calories.

Nutritionally, a better breakfast choice would be a medium apple (approximately 3 g fiber and 80 calories) with a slice of light, whole grain toast (3 g fiber and 35 calories).

You would have enough calories to spare to add some peanut butter to the toast and have a healthier, more wholesome breakfast.

The true problem with discretionary fortification is that these types of fortified foods may decrease the intake of truly healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, meat, meat alternatives, and milk products.

I’m sure you have noticed that many of the foods that use discretionary fortification are generally what we refer to as “sometimes foods” such as salty snacks, sodas, baked goods, chocolate, ice cream and flavored beverages.

The belief behind discretionary fortification for manufacturers is that people will at least get nutrients when they eat junk food. Seriously?!

So we should let our kids eat fortified snack foods instead of fruits and vegetables?

Study after study shows that kids will eat healthy foods when they are offered.

I’ve seen it myself at classroom parties where the kids devour fresh fruits and veggies with low-fat dip.

Don’t say that kids won’t eat “that kind of stuff”. For some kids—and adults—it may take time.

But by continually offering a new food item, eventually people will try it.

According to 2010 national obesity rates, NY state rolls in at 23.9%.

With the obesity crisis for children and adults at such a high percentage do we really want put out the message that it’s ok to consume large quantities of less nutrient-dense foods?

It seems to me that we would be better off educating and encouraging people to eat more fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products.

Honestly, stop by the Farmers’ Market on Friday from 2 to 6 p.m., a roadside stand, or at your grocery store’s produce aisle and try some of the sweet berries, flavorful tomatoes, and other seasonal produce.

Then tell me that people are better off eating fortified “junk” food.

Give me some farm fresh goodness and whole grains vs. fortified veggie crisps any day!

Happy, healthy eating everyone!