Category: Scientific/Technical Items
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Study Purportedly Links SSB Consumption to Higher Risk of Death from Cancer
A study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society has purportedly found that people who drank two or more servings of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) per day had a 5% higher risk of death from particular types of cancer than people who never drank SSBs. Marjorie L. McCullough et al., “Sugar- and Artificially-Sweetened Beverages and…
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Researchers Examine “Kidfluencers” and Children’s Health
A group of researchers has published a study in Pediatrics examining the “frequency with which kid influencers promote branded and unbranded food and drinks during their YouTube videos and assess the nutritional quality of food and drinks shown.” Alruwaily et al., “Child Social Media Influencers and Unhealthy Food Product Placement,” Pediatrics, November 2020. The researchers reviewed the 50 most-watched…
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Study Assesses Consumer Perception of “Whole Grain” Labeling
University of Cambridge researchers have published a study examining “whether consumers are misled about wholegrain (WG) content and product healthfulness based on common product labels.” Wilde et al., “Consumer confusion about wholegrain content and healthfulness in product labels: a discrete choice experiment and comprehension assessment,” Public Health Nutrition, August 10, 2020. The researchers showed online participants…
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Study Criticizes Marketing for “Toddler Milks”
A Public Health Nutrition study has purportedly found that “toddler milks,” or “sugar-sweetened milk-based drinks for toddlers,” are a growing market but are advertised as providing unsubstantiated benefits. Choi et al., “US toddler milk sales and associations with marketing practices,” Public Health Nutrition, February 4, 2020. The researchers reportedly found that 45% of preschoolers (24…
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Researchers Argue for Labeling Featuring Calorie-Equivalent Exercise
U.K. researchers have published a meta-analysis in The BMJ asserting that physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE) labeling on food packaging “may reduce the number calories selected from menus and decrease the number of calories/grams of food consumed by the public, compared with other types of food labelling/no labelling.” Daley et al., “Effects of physical activity…
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Red Meat Review Finds Alternate Conclusions on Health Effects
Researchers have published a review of studies evaluating the effects of “reducing red meat intake on clinically important outcomes” and purportedly showed that red meat may not have the carcinogenic effects that previous studies have found. Zeraatkar et al., “Effect of Lower Versus Higher Red Meat Intake on Cardiometabolic and Cancer Outcomes: A Systematic Review…
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Study Purportedly Finds Tea Bags Release Micro- and Nanoplastics
Researchers from McGill University examining the effects of plastic teabags have reportedly found that a teabag, when steeped at 95 degrees Celsius, can release “approximately 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into a single cup of the beverage.” Hernandez et al., “Plastic Teabags Release Billions of Microparticles and Nanoparticles into Tea,” Envtl. Sci. &…