Todays Newsbites

Since 2007, 16 of the nations leading food and beverage companies have cut 6.4 trillion calories out of the American diet-equivalent to 78 daily calories per person. Thats the conclusion of a report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which worked with the companies to help combat childhood obesity.

When it comes to safe food handling for parties and other gatherings, Americans motto seems to be: Do as I say, not as I do.

Look for more worries about wheat and increasing interest in ancient grains, kale, coconut oil and chia seeds as 2014 goes on. Thats the forecast from a survey of more than 500 registered dietitians conducted by Todays Dietitian and Pollock Communications.

Look for the next step in the FDAs proposed crackdown on trans fats to come this spring, as the agency extended its comment period on the rule to March 8. Late last year, the FDA proposed revoking the fats status as generally recognized as safe (GRAS), which would lead to a phase-out of trans fats in most food products.

Dont count on extra vitamin D to get you through cold and flu season sniffle-free. Results from a large new clinical trial show no significant difference in upper respiratory tract infections between people randomly assigned to vitamin D supplements and those getting a placebo. The study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, also found no benefit from calcium supplements, either in duration of infection or severity of symptoms. The 759 generally healthy participants, ages 45-75, received either 1,000 IU of vitamin D, 1,200 milligrams of calcium, vitamin D plus calcium, or a placebo daily. Their days of illness and symptom severity were tracked over four winters.

By their own report, Americans ate less healthfully last year than any time since 2008. A daily poll by Gallup and Healthways, totaling more than 150,000 adults over a years polling, asks whether respondents ate healthfully the previous day.

Heres a new reason for watching your waistline and keeping active thats worth listening to: Extra weight and greater waist circumference are linked to a higher risk of hearing loss with aging, while moderate physical activity is associated with reduced risk.

Frozen produce is just as nutritious as fresh-and superior in vitamin and mineral content to fresh produce stored in the refrigerator for a few days.

After one of the most comprehensive risk assessments of aspartame ever undertaken, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded the artificial sweetener is safe at recommended levels of consumption.

Is your household throwing away hundreds of dollars worth of usable food every year? Thats the conclusion of a new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, which warns that $165 billion of edible food is tossed in the trash annually and 40% of US food production never gets eaten. The leading culprit? Confusing food date labels, according to the report.