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French-fries and potato-chip fans concerned about cancer risk from fried potatoes may have hope on the horizon. Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Co. has received USDA regulatory approval for a genetically modified potato that produces less acrylamide when fried. Thats the naturally occurring chemical linked to concerns about increased cancer risk from fried-potato consumption. The Innate potato, which comes in Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet and Atlantic varieties, also resists bruising, a potential money-saver for growers and processors.

Q. Is it safest to avoid grilling foods because of increased risk of colon cancer?

Despite a drumbeat of bad press for aspartame, the US Food and Drug Administration says theres no new credible scientific evidence to change the agencys position that the zero-calorie sweetener is safe for the general population. The FDA recently rejected two citizen petitions calling for an aspartame ban. The agency noted it had analyzed 195 reports of supposed aspartame-related side effects over a 10-year span and did not identify any causal link between aspartame consumption and the reported adverse events or an established mechanism that would explain how aspartame is associated with the reported adverse events.

Nutrition is not a science of breakthroughs, explains Tufts professor Jeanne Goldberg, PhD, founder and director of the Friedman Schools Nutrition Communication Program, which trains professionals to explain research findings in ways that the public can understand. Nutrition research often moves the needle only a little bit at a time. Its evolution, not revolution, she says.

Bugs Bunny, always depicted munching on a carrot, may have been onto something. Researchers have found that carrot consumption not only helps insure an adequate intake of a variety of important nutrients and fiber, but may also reduce your risk of chronic disease.

Multivitamin supplements are no substitute for a nutritious diet in preventing cardiovascular disease, according to a large new study of multivitamin use in women. Despite the widespread use of multivitamin supplements, few studies have investigated whether they reduce the risk of major chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease.In 2012, results from the Physicians Health Study II did report that, among a group of US male physicians, taking a daily multivitamin did not reduce major cardiovascular events, heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular mortality after more than a decade of treatment and follow-up.

Vitamin K, once thought important primarily for blood clotting, may have a much wider array of health benefits. One recent Spanish study reported that people with the highest dietary intake of vitamin K were at significantly lower risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease, cancer and all causes. And if youre not already consuming plenty of vitamin K-found in dark leafy greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and other vegetables (see box)-its not too late to start: The study also found that people who increased their vitamin K intake were at lower mortality risk.

If a little is good, most Americans are accustomed to thinking, more must be better and a lot must be better still. When it comes to vitamins and minerals, however, it is possible to get too much of a good thing-especially if some of your nutrients are coming from pills instead of food.Remember that most of your vitamin and mineral needs can be safely met by a thoughtful diet, cautions Irwin H. Rosenberg, MD, editor of the Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter. The use of so-called dietary supplements will always be associated with some degree of risk.

After youve reached a certain age, does eating right really matter? As a reader of this newsletter, you might take it for granted that the answer is, Yes, of course!-after all, you subscribe to a publication whose tagline is Living healthier longer. But exactly how does nutrition affect the health of older individuals?

The ancient Egyptians were onto something when they paid their pyramid-building crews with onions, and placed onions in the tombs of their pharaohs. In the Biblical account of the Exodus, onions are among the Egyptian foods the children of Israel miss. In ancient Greece, Olympians prepared for the games by drinking onion juice and rubbing their bodies with onions.