Dr. Oz's Sweetener Segment Riles Calorie Control Council

Mehmet Oz, the TV celebrity with an M.D. behind his name, has been shredding sweeteners for years, warning consumers that these butter and sugar alternatives may be linked to cancer, weight gain and possibly Alzheimer's.

In just the latest salvo aimed at the sweetener industry, Dr. Oz warned in a segment that aired Thursday that low-calorie sweeteners could lead consumers to pack on the pounds.
"What I'm concerned about is that it's not delivering on its promise," Dr. Oz said, referring to sweeteners. "By reducing your sweet tooth, it could help you. But if it's increasing your sweet tooth, it could be hurting you."
On television, Dr. Oz gave a woman a raspberry to eat, explaining the natural effects of sugar on the body.
"After a couple pumps you're body says, 'you know what, I feel pretty full. My sweet has been satisfied' and that's what is supposed to happen," Dr. Oz said.
In contrast, phony sugar is unable to "fool our brains into feeling satisfied," the Oz Blog's Medical Research Team wrote, citing a study from Yale University School of Medicine.
Professor Ivan de Araujo, who led the study, said the results imply "humans frequently ingesting low-calorie sweet products in a state of hunger or exhaustion may be more likely to 'relapse' and choose high calorie alternatives in the future."
The Calorie Control Council (CCC), whose members include manufacturers of sweeteners, on Thursday rushed to the defense of sugar substitutes.
"Numerous studies in humans have shown that the consumption of low-calorie sweeteners do not lead to an increase in feelings of hunger or body weight," Haley Curtis Stevens of the CCC said.
The CCC also refuted the suggestion on Dr. Oz's program that low-calorie sweeteners could lead to diabetes, heart disease or obesity.
"Experts agree that excess weight contributes to heart disease and diabetes, not sugar substitutes," CCC asserted, citing health organizations that it said have found sweeteners can be used as part of an overall healthy diet.
CCC characterized Dr. Oz's claims related to sweeteners' effect on weight gain as "gross exaggerations" that are not grounded in science.
Perhaps most frustrating for the sweetener industry is that Dr. Oz commands influence. After one of his segments aired ("America's Dangerous Artificial Sweetener Addiction, Part 1), Jacqueline Quinn LaRocca wrote, "Thank you Dr. Oz. It's been eight days since my last diet soft drink and I have no desire to drink one ever again."

Pretzel Bread on the Rise

The pretzel is taking over the American stomach.
Particularly as a holding vehicle for burgers and sandwiches. 7-Eleven has just begun a national rollout of its first pretzel sandwich. And next week, Wendy's, which arguably started the national pretzel mania with its summer rollout of the wildly successful Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger, is about to introduce yet another pretzel product: a chicken sandwich served on a pretzel bun.Now the pretzel craze that began this summer has extended into fall with 7-Eleven's Diablo Chicken Ranch Sandwich and Wendy's upcoming Pretzel Pub Chicken sandwich. A record 160 pretzel products were rolled last year, vs. fewer than 60 back in 2009, reports research specialist Mintel.

JACK IN THE BOX: Grilled cheese atop a burger?

And this may be just the beginning.
Mintel's new-products guru, Lynn Dornblaser, is even projecting the possibility that some sort of pretzel doggie treat will hit the market. After all, many folks love to feed their pooches dog-ified versions of what they eat themselves. "It seems inevitable," says Dornblaser.

So many restaurants already have jumped in — and some, out already — that pretzel buns are almost becoming common. Blimpie got into the action by putting pretzel bread on its permanent menu in June. Sonic rolled out a Cheesy Bacon Pretzel Dog over the summer. Last month, Ruby Tuesday rolled out four different pretzel burgers and Dunkin' Donuts introduced a Pretzel Roll Roast Beef Sandwich. Red Robin just brought back its Octoberfest Burger served on a pretzel bun. Even Starbucks has a Stoneground Dijon Bavarian-Style Pretzel — with the mustard inside.
Maybe that's why pretzel bread is the fastest-growing sandwich bread, with a 36% jump on sandwich menus from 2011 to 2012, reports research specialist Datassential.

But fast-food's pretzel innovations aren't limited to sandwiches. Back in April, Dairy Queen rolled out what it called a Choco-Covered Peanut Butter Pretzel Blizzard.

For 7-Eleven, plopping a sandwich inside a pretzel bun was a no-brainer, says Kelly Buckley, vice president of fresh foods innovation. "We know that one of the first senses you want to hit is a visual wow."

Customers' requests drove Wendy's to add the Pretzel Pub Chicken sandwich, which rolls out Monday, says spokesman Denny Lynch.
Pretzels have been transplanted into just about everything this year. Just this month, Aldi rolled out Pretzel Bread Stuffed Sandwiches to compete with Hot Pockets. Wal-Mart rolled out Great Value Parmesan Garlic-Flavored Pretzel Balls. And last month, Nature Valley rolled out Chocolate Pretzel Nut granola bars.

What's driving all this pretzel-mania?
For one thing, says Dornblaser, the new products expert, pretzels taste yummy and crunchy, but don't typically come loaded with all the fat grams of other breads and pastries.

Look for crushed pretzels showing up in fancier entrees soon, she suggests, in the form of pretzel-crusted fish or pretzel-crusted chicken.
And — hold the mustard — perhaps even a pretzel-crusted pie.

Retail Visits For Lunch Increase 29%

Visits to retail stores for prepared foods at lunch increased 29% since 2008, while restaurant lunch visits have declined, according to research from the NPD Group.

The foodservice market research report, The Retail Prepared Foods Market: Assessing the Competition, says consumers prefer retail stores, compared to restaurants and quick service restaurants (QSRs), for healthy options, a good variety of foods, light meal offerings, affordability and one-stop shopping convenience. These attributes are key drivers for the 29% visit growth for retail prepared foods at lunch. High unemployment and shaky consumer confidence are among the reasons lunch visits to restaurants have declined by 1% since 2008.


The growth in the retail prepared foods market is part of the broader trend on the part of Americans to consume more meals in home. A recent NPD forecast through 2022 finds that the instances of prepared food purchased at retailers for at-home consumption will increase by 10% over the next decade compared to a 4% increase forecast for restaurant traffic. The component of the retail prepared food market that is supporting growth is the portion that is purchased and eaten at home or at work for lunch and dinner.

.S. Cheese Consumption at Record High

The report's dairy chart tells us the average U.S. consumer is, at 23 pounds per year, eating more than the occasional cheese dip. In 1970, the number was about eight pounds.
In relative terms, yogurt's rise is even more impressive, but yogurt isn't the kind of thing that defines a nation. It's also a lot of low-fat and non-fat stuff, which, as long as it's not loaded with sugar, should be of less cardiovascular consequence than cheese.
Why are we eating thrice the cheese? If you're into cheese and conspiracy, check out Michael Moss in The New York Times a while back:

Dairy Management, which has made cheese its cause, is not a private business consultant. It is a marketing creation of the United States Department of Agriculture — the same agency at the center of a federal anti-obesity drive that discourages over-consumption of some of the very foods Dairy Management is vigorously promoting.

Urged on by government warnings about saturated fat, Americans have been moving toward low-fat milk for decades, leaving a surplus of whole milk and milk fat. Yet the government, through Dairy Management, is engaged in an effort to find ways to get dairy back into Americans’ diets, primarily through cheese. ... In a series of confidential agreements approved by agriculture secretaries in both the Bush and Obama administrations, Dairy Management has worked with restaurants to expand their menus with cheese-laden products.

Consider the Taco Bell steak quesadilla, with cheddar, pepper jack, mozzarella and a creamy sauce. “The item used an average of eight times more cheese than other items on their menu,” the Agriculture Department said in a report, extolling Dairy Management’s work — without mentioning that the quesadilla has more than three-quarters of the daily recommended level of saturated fat and sodium.
Dairy Management, whose annual budget approaches $140 million, is largely financed by a government-mandated fee on the dairy industry. But it also receives several million dollars a year from the Agriculture Department, which appoints some of its board members, approves its marketing campaigns and major contracts and periodically reports to Congress on its work.

That's the story that became the hook for Moss's book, released earlier this year, Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. Possible rejected tagline: Who are the real cheese-eating surrender monkeys?
In July, Dairy Management released a report on its next initiative: stemming our lack of interest in milk. "From 1975 to 2010, annual per capita fluid milk consumption dropped from 28.6 to 20.9 gallons. ... It’s been a painful time for the fluid milk industry." Dairy Management remains partnered with McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and Domino's "to create new and innovative products using dairy to delight consumers."