Food Myths, Lies & Straight Talk

[Adam's Apple]

'20/20' Tackles Fables in 'Food: Myths, Lies and Straight Talk'

Apr. 22, 2005 - Is margarine healthier than butter? Is it safer to eat at home than at a restaurant? Can you eat seafood if you're pregnant? These days there's quite a bit of conflicting advice about eating right, and it turns out a lot of us buy into a lot of food myths. Are you putting any food fables on your table?

Here's are 10 myths "20/20" tackled in "Food: Myths, Lies and Straight Talk"

Are You Safer Eating at Home?
Brand Names Taste Best?
Butter versus Margarine
Eight Glasses a Day

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/print?id=692388

 

[krisy]

Pretty interesting. I buy a lot of store brands,but there are some things I swear taste different and I won't stray from the name brand. Jif peanut butter,Heinz or Hunt's Ketchup.
If you buy some generic peanut butters,when you open the lid,there is a ton of oil sitting at the top!! I hate that. Most other stuff is o.k. if it's a store brand,cookies,chips.even some of the generic pop is allright.

As far as restaurants being cleaner than we think,I don't think I'm convinced. I have talked to people that have worked in restaurants and some of them say what goes on is pretty nasty. I worked with a guy a while back that worked at Bob Evans,and he said they were pretty clean. Who knows,it probably varies.

 

[Adam's Apple]

I agree with you about eating in restaurants and partly about the store brands. The restaurants in our town are investigated regularly by the State Board of Health and their findings are published in the local newspapers, but we still have outbreaks of hepatitis, etc. from time to time.

Regarding the brand names, when I first started my working career, I worked for the Kroger Co. out of Cincinnati. We would set up tables in our production plants to compare our store brands with the brand names. The employees who sampled the products did not know which was which, and amazingly, the majority preferred the store brands. I think the 20/20 article mentioned that almost the same thing happened in their tests except in the cases of Jif and Kraft, where a majority of tasters preferred their products to store brands.

 

[krisy]

I agree with you about eating in restaurants and partly about the store brands. The restaurants in our town are investigated regularly by the State Board of Health and their findings are published in the local newspapers, but we still have outbreaks of hepatitis, etc. from time to time.

Regarding the brand names, when I first started my working career, I worked for the Kroger Co. out of Cincinnati. We would set up tables in our production plants to compare our store brands with the brand names. The employees who sampled the products did not know which was which, and amazingly, the majority preferred the store brands. I think the 20/20 article mentioned that almost the same thing happened in their tests except in the cases of Jif and Kraft, where a majority of tasters preferred their products to store brands.

That's another one,cheese!! There is a clear difference in Kraft and a couple of the very generic brands that you've never heard of. Some of them taste like hardened oil!!!yuk!!!

Soup is another one that is pretty much the same. I shop at Kroger and Bigg's. I have found that kroger brand is pretty good. I buy a lot of their stuff.
I don't see being too picky about bread,buns,sometimes pop,(although I admit I am addicted to Coke!!),cereal.

 

[dmp]

Here's my favourite Myth:

"Get most of your calories from Carbohydrates!"

 

[Hobbit]

Here's my favourite Myth:

"Get most of your calories from Carbohydrates!"

Not really a myth. If you lead an active lifestyle, a carbohydrate heavy diet is necessary, as carbs are more easily processed than fats or proteins. I was very heavy into carbs when I was on the swim team, and those I knew who weren't pooped out more easily.

 

[dmp]

Not really a myth. If you lead an active lifestyle, a carbohydrate heavy diet is necessary, as carbs are more easily processed than fats or proteins. I was very heavy into carbs when I was on the swim team, and those I knew who weren't pooped out more easily.

It's a myth for 'normal' people...such as myself.

 

[Nienna]

It's a myth for 'normal' people...such as myself.

I think it depends on your body. My mother craves meat all the time, and she eats way more of it than I do. But if I eat too much meat.... let's just say, it's not good. My body seems to need more carbs through veggies, fruits, and whole grain breads & pastas. I could eat meat maybe 3 times a week and never feel the lack.

 

[dmp]

I think it depends on your body. My mother craves meat all the time, and she eats way more of it than I do. But if I eat too much meat.... let's just say, it's not good. My body seems to need more carbs through veggies, fruits, and whole grain breads & pastas. I could eat meat maybe 3 times a week and never feel the lack.

I think the myth of Carbs which is on my mind is the constant preaching to our kids to 'eat more carbs' than anything...it's the USRDA, of sorts. Their pyramid and schemes are not based on the current reality of our obese population.

 

[Annie]

Not really a myth. If you lead an active lifestyle, a carbohydrate heavy diet is necessary, as carbs are more easily processed than fats or proteins. I was very heavy into carbs when I was on the swim team, and those I knew who weren't pooped out more easily.

My son runs cross country and starting on marathons. He would agree. Pasta, rice, and bread. He only eats chicken and shrimp, with some hamburger thrown in about every 3 weeks. NO pop, coffee, etc. He is going 'wild' when he has 'cranberry juice cocktail', other than that, 100% juice and water.