# data[].attributes.body
In this article, the author expresses that the U.S. health department is taking issue with this extra-sugary drink craze.  It has been discovered that the new "Unicorn Frappuccino" contains an absurd 59 grams of sugar. The author believes Starbucks should do more to inform their customers about the nutrition of their drinks.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Though Starbucks' new Unicorn Frappuccino has garnered national attention for its whimsical name and and enchanting, pink-and-blue color scheme, at least one local group in Connecticut is cautioning people about its oh-so-sweet content.

On Friday, the Stratford Health Department succinctly called out the drink's high sugar content on its Facebook page. "While the Unicorn Frappuccino may be pretty to look at, it's loaded with 59 grams of sugar! That is over two times the amount of sugar recommended by the American Heart Association!"

That statement likely shocked few fans, as the Unicorn Frappuccino contains four kinds of syrup, according to its ingredients label - Frappuccino syrup (Water, Sugar, Salt, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid); Mango Syrup (Sugar, Water, Mango Juice Concentrate, Natural Flavor, Passion Fruit Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Turmeric, Gum Arabic); Vanilla Syrup (Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid) and Classic Syrup (Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid). The calorie count is also high, at 410 per 16 fluid-ounce serving.

However, the drink's 59 grams of sugar only doubles the American Heart Association daily recommendation for women, which is 25 grams of sugar per day. For men, the AHA recommends no more than 36 grams a day - still considerably less than the sweetness packed into this latest Starbucks treat.
The Associated Press contributed to this report

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Health department criticizes Starbucks' Unicorn Frappuccino

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Though Starbucks' new Unicorn Frappuccino has garnered national attention for its whimsical name and and enchanting, pink-and-blue color scheme, at least one local group in Connecticut is cautioning people about its oh-so-sweet content. On Friday, the Stratford Health Department succinctly called out the drink's high sugar content on its Facebook page.

# data[].attributes.body
If we are what we eat, Americans are corn. This CNN article discusses how the American diet relies heavily on corn-based ingredients, mainly high-fructose corn syrup. It amounts to essentially 10 percent of our calories, on average, and seems to be a leading cause of type 2 diabetes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
If we are what we eat, Americans are corn and soy - CNN.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
To a degree some may find hard to swallow, science is proving the old adage "you are what you eat."

# data[].attributes.body
Man eats sugar-heavy diet for 60 days.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Following in the footsteps of Morgan Spurlock, who ate only McDonald's food for one month in the film Super Size Me, an Australian man has undergone a sugar-heavy diet for 60 days to explore the ingredient's impact on his health.

In the upcoming That Sugar Film, Damon Gameau, a filmmaker and TV actor, vows to follow a strict diet of "healthy," low-fat food with high sugar content, News.com.au reported.

Within three weeks, the formerly healthy Gameau became moody and sluggish. A doctor gave him the shocking diagnosis: He was beginning to develop fatty liver disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, the most severe outcome for fatty liver disease is liver failure.

"I had no soft drink, chocolate, ice cream or confectionery," Gameau told Yahoo. "All the sugars that I was eating were found in perceived healthy foods, so low-fat yogurts, and muesli bars, and cereals, and fruit juices, sports drinks ... these kind of things that often parents would give their kids thinking they're doing the right thing."
RELATED: Family goes for a year without sugar
Gameau reportedly consumed 40 teaspoons of sugar per day, or slightly more than the average teenager worldwide, according to News.com.au. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the average American consumes 20 teaspoons of sugar daily.

The AHA's daily recommendations for sugar consumption are 6 teaspoons for women and 9 teaspoons for men.

In That Sugar Film, Gameau observed that the additive impacted his physical and mental health. Doctors called his mental functioning "unstable," and the father-to-be reportedly put on nearly four inches of visceral fat around his waist. He was on the fast track to obesity.

Gameau said his sugar-laden diet left him feeling hungry, no matter how much he ate.

His final meal- which consisted of a juice, a jam sandwich, a bar, and a handful of other snacks- is similar to an ordinary child's school lunchbox.

"Sadly, it was very easy to do and fitted comfortably into the small plastic container," Gameau wrote on his blog documenting his experiment.

"The last meal was for all the people out there, especially parents, who are led to believe they are doing the right and healthy thing for their children. They are making an effort yet are horribly let down by the lack of integrity in marketing and packaging strategies."

Gameau told News.com.au that the experiment's findings don't suggest a need to completely cut sugar- but rather a need for more awareness about how much sugar has been added to perceptibly healthy food.

"Sugar's now in 80 percent of the processed food we're eating," he said. "If we can remove that, that's the first step towards making a change."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3 percent of the population, have diabetes. In adults, type 2 diabetes accounts for about 90 to 95 percent of all diagnosed diabetes cases. Research has shown that sugary drinks are linked to the disease.

Consuming excess added sugar is also associated with a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease-the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States, according to the CDC. Heart disease accounts for one in four deaths in the United States, or about 600,000 annual deaths.

That Sugar Film will be released in Australian movie theaters in February 2015. A U.S. release date has not been listed on the film's website.
Click for more from News.com.au.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Man eats sugar-heavy diet for 60 days, receives shocking diagnosis

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Following in the footsteps of Morgan Spurlock, who ate only McDonald's food for one month in the film Super Size Me, an Australian man has undergone a sugar-heavy diet for 60 days to explore the ingredient's impact on his health.

# data[].attributes.body
Information and facts about GMOs from the Monsanto Corporation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Monsanto is working to help farmers grow food more sustainably. Learn what we're doing to help nourish the world.

# data[].attributes.body
Information and facts about GMOs from a concerned parent.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Home of Rachel Parent, GMO Educator and Activist - Raising awareness about the risks of genetically modified organisms in our food and the need for GMO Labeling

# data[].attributes.body
YouTube Kids app under fire for marketing junk food to kids.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As Google's YouTube launched its children's app in Canada on Tuesday, two U.S. child advocacy groups filed new complaints with the Federal Trade Commission over its marketing of pop and candy to children.

The YouTube Kids App is supposed to be a safe zone for children under age 12, but the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) and Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) found both product placement in videos and inappropriate ads.

"Far from being a safe place for kids to explore, YouTube Kids is awash with food and beverage marketing that you won't find on other media platforms for young children," said CCFC's Josh Golin in a news release.

Canada's code of conduct for advertising to children on broadcast media does not allow any kind of marketing to pre-schoolers and prohibits use of cartoon characters or program stars to market products. It also limits food advertising that could discourage a healthy diet.

Food and beverage companies in the U.S. have signed on to the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, which prohibits marketing to children under the age of 12.

But internet services don't fall under broadcast rules, hence the appeal to a trade commission rather than the broadcast regulator.

End run around parents

Golin said Google is doing an end run around these rules and around parents by claiming it does not allow junk food marketing on the app, Golin said.

In one 11-minute video, the YouTube star Evan of EvanTubeHD, a Disney production, and his sister compete to identify 12 different flavours of Oreos in an extended instance of product placement.

The advocacy groups also found 47 television commercials and 11 longer promotional videos for Coke and Coke Zero on YouTube Kids although Coca-Cola Co. has pledged to stop marketing pop to children through the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative.

It is the second complaint to the FTC over advertising to children on YouTube Kids. The first was filed in April after the app launched in the U.S.

This complaint enlarges on the relationship between advertisers and makers of the YouTube videos, highlighting the use of "influencer marketing" in creating the videos.

Launched in Canada

The CCFC claims Google is engaged in "harmful, unethical, and irresponsible practices" that target the youngest children.

In a launch event on Tuesday, Angela Lin, head of YouTube Kids & Learning Partnerships in North America, said the app, which allows kids to watch videos on smartphones or tablets, is designed to be family friendly.

It has parental controls for aspects like screen time and whether search is on or off, she said, and ads are clearly marked.

"Any ad that appears there is an ad bumper that makes it very clear that an ad is about to show," Lin told CBC News.

"We wanted to make the YouTube Kids app free for kids anywhere in the world, so we use ad supporters to make sure that the people who are creating the content are able to be sustainable."

Kids' CBC is one of the content providers for the YouTube Kids app. CBC does not accept advertising for its children's programming for broadcast and does not accept programming that markets to children.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
YouTube Kids rife with product placement, junk food promotion, critics say | CBC News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As Google's YouTube launched its children's app in Canada on Tuesday, two U.S. child advocacy groups filed new complaints with the Federal Trade Commission over its marketing of pop and candy to children.

# data[].attributes.body
School lunches are often unhealthy, contain high levels of sugar, salt, and fat, and often resemble fast food options.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | School cafeteria favorites could disappear as food rules take hold

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As the government's nutrition standards become more strict, pizza, tacos and turkey sandwiches will take a hit on school lunch trays.

# data[].attributes.headline
MEAT
LABELS SHOWING FARMS AND HEALTHY ANIMALS

# data[].attributes.subject
MEAT
LABELS SHOWING FARMS AND HEALTHY ANIMALS

# data[].attributes.body
McDonald's, the meat industry, and chickens

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
McDonald's, the meat industry, and chickens (from Food, Inc)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From Food, Inc. The history of McDonald's, how the top meat companies control 80% of the market, and how the chicken has been changed to grow faster and larger.

# data[].attributes.body
Compilation of Junk Food Commercials Aimed at Children and Teens

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Compilation of Junk Food Commericials Aimed at Children and Teens

# data[].attributes.body
Unhealthy foods that are sugary and/or fattening are oftentimes marketed towards children.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
From Tony the Tiger to Scooby Doo, popular kids characters are playing a starring role in an unexpected story: a growing number of ads peddling often-unhealthy food to young Canadians, new research suggests.

Seven years ago, nearly 20 top food manufacturers joined a voluntary program designed to curb the promotion of unhealthy eating to children, considered a key factor in Canada's rampant obesity problem.

Some advertisers have made significant strides, but overall they are now actually targeting more commercials at children and teenagers on youth TV networks than before, the study concluded. And they are making greater use of both the brands' own "spokes-characters" and beloved figures from children's TV and movies, shown by other research to be powerful pitchmen.

About half the food advertised was rated by the study as nutritionally lacking - no better than in 2006.

The findings indicate that self-regulation of the industry has failed, and it is time for government to ban youth-focused food commercials, the researchers argue in the journal Obesity

.

"I know lots of people say 'Regulation - it's the whole nanny state.' But to me, it's a way to support parents," said Monique Potvin Kent, the University of Ottawa adjunct professor of health sciences who led the study.

"All parents are trying to do is feed their kids healthily. By having marketing regulations, you're actually helping parents raise their kids and make the choices, as opposed to industry making the choices."

A food-sector group questions the findings of the research, however, and says companies are, in fact, making important advances, with advertising of gum, candy and soda pop to young children all but eliminated. Other products have been reformulated with less sugar or calories, said Janet Feasby, a vice-president of Advertising Standards Canada (ASC), which oversees the program.

"We have noticed there has been a real change in what's being advertised to kids," she said. "It has resulted in significant changes and improvements in the type of foods."

Ms. Feasby also stressed that the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative launched in 2007 addressed programming and ads geared toward children under 12. Ms. Kent's study looks at a broader age group, and at nighttime programming for older people, she said. The kind of regulation it recommends could lead to absurd situations where, for instance, beer advertising is banned on Hockey Night in Canada, a show watched by many children as well as adults, said Ms. Feasby.

Regardless, it seems the federal government has little interest in intervening.

Health Canada will review the new study, but recognizes that the food industry is trying to reduce advertising of unhealthy foods voluntarily, and encourages the sector to strengthen its approach, said Gary Holub, a department spokesman.

No one questions that childhood weight gain is a pressing issue, with rates of obesity tripling from 1981 to 2013, and two major reviews of previous studies concluded that marketing of food contributes to the problem.

Ms. Kent and her colleagues looked at a month of data provided by Nielsen Media Research for several categories of food advertising on two highly watched children's TV channels - in May 2006, before the advertising initiative started, and in May 2011. Using a system developed by the U.K. Food Standards Agency, they rated each product as "less healthy" or "healthier."

The total number of food ads by companies in the initiative actually declined 24%, and some firms made "fabulous" changes, acknowledged Ms Kent. Coca-Cola and McCain Foods, for instance, had no commercials on the channels, while ads for chocolate bars were way down.

Overall, however, the number of spots judged by the researchers to be targeted at children under 12 remained just as high, while those jointly aimed at children and teenagers almost doubled in volume. And average nutritional quality did not change.

The use by initiative members of brand spokes-characters - like Cap'n Crunch or Snap Crackle and Pop - jumped by 27%, and of licensed characters - from Spider-Man to Super Mario - by 150%. And more of those characters were promoting less-healthy foods than in 2006, the research indicates.

Earlier studies have suggested that employing well-liked characters can influence children's food preferences.

"It kind of sweetens the deal for the child, it just makes that product more appealing," said Ms. Kent.

There is some precedent, meanwhile, for banning child food ads altogether. Quebec prohibited any advertising to children under 12 in the 1980s, while the U.K. instituted a ban on children's food advertising in 2008.

Such a rule would only eliminate the advantage that sophisticated marketers enjoy over children, insisted Yoni Freedhoff, an Ottawa doctor who focuses on obesity.

"I have three little kids and they're pretty savvy, but I wouldn't pit any of them against Don Draper," he said, referring to the Mad Men ad-executive character. "That is not the fight I would want our children to be forced to have on a regular basis."
National Post * Email: tblackwell@nationalpost.com | Twitter: tomblackwellNP

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Number of food commercials aimed at kids is increasing, study finds; calls for government to ban the ads

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From Tony the Tiger to Scooby Doo, popular kids characters are playing a starring role in an unexpected story: a growing number of ads peddling often-unhealthy food to young Canadians, new research suggests. Seven years ago, nearly 20 top food manufacturers joined a voluntary program designed to curb the promotion of unhealthy eating to children, considered a key factor in Canada's rampant obesity problem.

# data[].attributes.body
Food labels are difficult for the average consumer to read.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration for the first time in two decades will propose major changes to nutrition labels on food packages, putting calorie counts in large type and adjusting portion sizes to reflect how much Americans actually eat.

It would be the first significant redrawing of the nutrition information on food labels since the federal government started requiring them in the early 1990s. Those labels were based on eating habits and nutrition data from the 1970s and '80s, before portion sizes expanded significantly, and federal health officials argued that the changes were needed to bring labels into step with the reality of the modern American diet.

"It's an amazing transformation," said Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, commissioner of the F.D.A. "Things like the size of a muffin have changed so dramatically. It is important that the information on the nutrition fact labels reflect the realities in the world today."

The proposed changes include what experts say will be a particularly controversial item: a separate line for sugars that are manufactured and added to food, substances that many public health experts say have contributed substantially to the obesity problem in this country. The food industry has argued against similar suggestions in the past.

"The changes put added sugars clearly in the cross hairs," said Dr. David A. Kessler, who was commissioner during the original push for labels in the 1990s. "America has the sweetest diet in the world. You can't get to be as big as we've gotten without added sweeteners."

Millions of Americans pay attention to food labels, and the changes are meant to make them easier to understand - a critical step in an era when more than one-third of adults are obese, public health experts say. The epidemic has caused rates of diabetes to soar, and has increased risks for cancer, heart disease and stroke.

On Thursday, the Obama administration promoted the proposed labeling changes at an event at the White House. At an anniversary ceremony for her " Let's Move" campaign aimed at reducing obesity, Michelle Obama talked about how hard it is to understand what is in packaged food, and how the changes were a way to demystify that.

"Unless you had a thesaurus, a calculator and degree in nutrition, you were out of luck," Mrs. Obama said. "Our guiding principle here is simple - that you as a parent and a consumer should be able to walk into a grocery store, pick an item off the shelf and tell whether it's good for your family."

In a nod to the new added sugars line, she added: "You'll also learn where sugar in food comes from - if sugar in yogurt is added during processing or comes from fruits. This is a huge deal."

The proposal will be open to public comment for 90 days, and it will take months before any change is made final. In a special concession to industry, the agency is allowing companies two years to put the changes into effect.

It was not clear how the food industry would react to the proposed changes, which Michael R. Taylor, the agency's deputy commissioner for foods, estimated would cost about $2 billion to carry out. (He also said the health benefits could eventually be as much as $30 billion.) The Grocery Manufacturers' Association, an industry group, said, "We look forward to working with the F.D.A. and other stakeholders." It added, "It is critical that any changes are based on the most current and reliable science."

Public health experts applauded the proposed changes, which they said were long overdue.

"I really like them. I'm kind of stunned actually," said Marion Nestle, a professor in the department of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. The proposal "emphasizes calories; it's got added sugars; it fixed the portion-size problem."

She added, "My prediction is that this will be wildly controversial."

In all, the agency has proposed changing the serving size in about 17 percent of the approximately 150 categories of packaged food, Dr. Hamburg said. It would also add labels to some foods that were not mainstream in the early 1990s, such as pot stickers, won ton wrappers and sun-dried tomatoes.

Twenty-ounce bottles of soda would be counted as one serving, rather than the 2.5 servings often listed now. And the serving size listed on cartons of ice cream, currently a half-cup, would be increased to one cup.

"Half a cup of ice cream is absurd," Professor Nestle said. "Unless you go to a really fancy restaurant, you're lucky to come out under two cups."

The American Beverage Association said that its members already counted 20-ounce bottles of soda as one serving on the label, a commitment they made several years ago as part of the "Let's Move" campaign. Tracey A. Halliday, a spokeswoman, said that members also show calorie counts on the front of bottles. An F.D.A. spokeswoman said that the one serving count was not a federal requirement and was practiced by some producers, but not all.

Getting nutrition labels on food packages was a major battle. Dr. Kessler, the F.D.A. commissioner at the time, said the fight went all the way to the Oval Office, where President George Bush sided with the agency in what was considered a major victory for public health. More recent efforts have stalled, he said, including a push to get restaurants and movie theaters to put calorie counts on menus and efforts to put codes on the front of food packages to signal how healthy or harmful a food is.

He called the proposed changes "one of the most important public health upgrades in this decade."

Other public health officials were skeptical, arguing that too few Americans use nutrition labels for the changes to make much of a difference. Others argued that restaurants, which are a major source of calories for Americans and have increased portion sizes substantially, are the biggest offenders.

"This is a false victory," said Barry M. Popkin, a health researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, whose project to map what Americans eat has found that the average American consumes 300 calories of added sugars per day. "It will affect just a small segment of consumers who carefully study nutrition fact panels."

Dr. Hamburg said that the changes were meant to improve "people's awareness of how much and what they are eating" but could also have a helpful side effect. Detailing calories and portion sizes can be a strong market incentive for food companies to adjust what they put in food, she said. For example, when the agency last tinkered with labels, adding a category for trans fats in 2006, companies soon reduced the amount they added to food.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A14 of the New York edition with the headline: New F.D.A. Nutrition Labels Would Make 'Serving Sizes' Reflect Actual Servings. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
New F.D.A. Nutrition Labels Would Make 'Serving Sizes' Reflect Actual Servings

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration for the first time in two decades will propose major changes to nutrition labels on food packages, putting calorie counts in large type and adjusting portion sizes to reflect how much Americans actually eat.

# data[].attributes.body
In the United States, genetically modified foods are not labeled as GMOs, so people can’t make informed choices about what they’re eating.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.