And now, a trans fat-free cracker
April 20, 2004 | 12:00am
The health-conscious, especially those who are able to separate fat from fiction, know only too well how bad trans fats are. (According to research, a daily intake of one gram could increase the risk of heart disease by 20 percent; it contributes to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.) The bad news is trans fats are present in a lot of products on the market today – would you believe even in baby cereals and your favorite microwave popcorn you often snack on while watching movies on DVDs?
Trans fats are common in packaged goods like cookies and in fast foods. They are produced when liquid vegetable oils go through a chemical process called hydrogenation. A trans fat is solid at room temperature and gives products a longer shelf life.
Here’s good, nay, hearty news: US giant Pepperidge Farm Inc. (which boasts the world’s best chocolate chunk cookies) has introduced a trans fat-free cracker – Goldfish, which kids just love. Likewise, Canadian cookie maker Voortman has dropped trans fats from its products. Soon after, your favorite chipmaker Frito Lay (Canada) announced that it was eliminating trans fats from the last few brands of its chips that still used them.
US and Canadian authorities are also implementing tougher nutrition labelling regulations that would require companies to disclose 13 specific ingredients on food packaging, including the controversial trans fats. However, Washington and Ottawa have given these companies several years to comply with the new labelling rules to allow them to use up existing stocks.
Of course, before the Americans and Canadians, there were the Danes who introduced a law limiting the amount of trans fat in processed foods.
"We put public health above the industry’s interests," says Danish food minister Mariann Fischer Boel, adding that increasing shelf life shouldn’t result in decreasing human life.
US health authorities now require every female patient given the acne drug Accutane to enlist in a national registry in a move to prevent pregnancy among women using the birth defect-causing medicine. If a woman finds herself pregnant while taking Accutane (generic isotretinoin), her baby can suffer brain and heart defects, mental retardation and other abnormalities. Even a small dose of Accutane taken for a short period could be harmful to the unborn baby.
Commonly prescribed for acne that causes large cysts and deep scars, Accutane has been linked to birth-defect problems since it was introduced on the market in 1982.
Dear Consumerline,
I’m 73 years old and retired. Recently, you mentioned something about a "poly pill," a daily dose of which keeps blood pressure down and cholesterol level normal. One of its components is aspirin which, if taken regularly, helps the heart to remain healthy, or so we learned from other sources.
May we know if this pill is an over-the-counter or prescription drug and if we could avail of it and how?
My wife and I are not obese. I’m 5’6" tall and weigh 132 pounds while my wife is 4’11" and weighs 95 lbs. We have stayed this way, slim and trim, since our teens. For this, we thank God.
– SLIM AND TRIM COUPLE
It is, indeed, a sweet pill to swallow! According to the British Medical Journal, the Poly Pill is now on the drawing board in England. The super pill is reported to contain six active ingredients that address the main risk factors of heart disease. It is designed for middle-aged and elderly people and could be taken the way you’d take a daily multivitamin.
Dear Consumerline,
Many multilevel/networking companies claim that they are legitimate and the "others" are scams. Based on my experience and research, practically all, if not all, multilevel marketing (MLM) schemes are scams.
By MLM, I mean schemes where recruitment is the main activity and main source of income. Thus, you have "multi-level" layers of recruits, members or agents. They may have "products," but the emphasis is the recruitment of members who pay and invest in the "products." MLM firms who claim they have no membership fees are deceptive. The "membership fees" are already incorporated in the overpriced products and kits.
But we must distinguish legitimate direct marketing/selling companies from MLM firms. MLM firms do engage in direct selling, but their main source of income and main activity is recruiting members ad infinitum and ad nauseam.
Under the law, MLM firms look legitimate. But since more than 99 percent of those who join MLM firms inevitably lose money or make very little money, then we can say that MLM schemes are de facto scams. (This claim is based on research on MLM schemes in the United States where many MLM firms in the Philippines come from or are patterned after.) We can also say that MLM schemes are de facto scams because they are designed to make money for a very few (owners and their upline friends) at the expense of the overwhelming majority of joiners.
But there is 100 percent sure sign that a "legitimate" MLM company will inevitably turn out to be a scam: Everyone stupid enough to part with his money is qualified to join the MLM firm. Is there an MLM firm that does not encourage its recruits to recruit their relatives, friends, officemates, religious groups, etc., etc.?
As a marketing guru wisely puts it, "MLM schemes are based on two big llies: A bogus business opportunity (+99 percent will lose) and overpriced, overhyped products. If enough fools believe, the MLM firm, not the members, will be rich."
– AMY
Ex-MLMer
Trans fats are common in packaged goods like cookies and in fast foods. They are produced when liquid vegetable oils go through a chemical process called hydrogenation. A trans fat is solid at room temperature and gives products a longer shelf life.
Here’s good, nay, hearty news: US giant Pepperidge Farm Inc. (which boasts the world’s best chocolate chunk cookies) has introduced a trans fat-free cracker – Goldfish, which kids just love. Likewise, Canadian cookie maker Voortman has dropped trans fats from its products. Soon after, your favorite chipmaker Frito Lay (Canada) announced that it was eliminating trans fats from the last few brands of its chips that still used them.
US and Canadian authorities are also implementing tougher nutrition labelling regulations that would require companies to disclose 13 specific ingredients on food packaging, including the controversial trans fats. However, Washington and Ottawa have given these companies several years to comply with the new labelling rules to allow them to use up existing stocks.
Of course, before the Americans and Canadians, there were the Danes who introduced a law limiting the amount of trans fat in processed foods.
"We put public health above the industry’s interests," says Danish food minister Mariann Fischer Boel, adding that increasing shelf life shouldn’t result in decreasing human life.
Commonly prescribed for acne that causes large cysts and deep scars, Accutane has been linked to birth-defect problems since it was introduced on the market in 1982.
I’m 73 years old and retired. Recently, you mentioned something about a "poly pill," a daily dose of which keeps blood pressure down and cholesterol level normal. One of its components is aspirin which, if taken regularly, helps the heart to remain healthy, or so we learned from other sources.
May we know if this pill is an over-the-counter or prescription drug and if we could avail of it and how?
My wife and I are not obese. I’m 5’6" tall and weigh 132 pounds while my wife is 4’11" and weighs 95 lbs. We have stayed this way, slim and trim, since our teens. For this, we thank God.
– SLIM AND TRIM COUPLE
It is, indeed, a sweet pill to swallow! According to the British Medical Journal, the Poly Pill is now on the drawing board in England. The super pill is reported to contain six active ingredients that address the main risk factors of heart disease. It is designed for middle-aged and elderly people and could be taken the way you’d take a daily multivitamin.
Many multilevel/networking companies claim that they are legitimate and the "others" are scams. Based on my experience and research, practically all, if not all, multilevel marketing (MLM) schemes are scams.
By MLM, I mean schemes where recruitment is the main activity and main source of income. Thus, you have "multi-level" layers of recruits, members or agents. They may have "products," but the emphasis is the recruitment of members who pay and invest in the "products." MLM firms who claim they have no membership fees are deceptive. The "membership fees" are already incorporated in the overpriced products and kits.
But we must distinguish legitimate direct marketing/selling companies from MLM firms. MLM firms do engage in direct selling, but their main source of income and main activity is recruiting members ad infinitum and ad nauseam.
Under the law, MLM firms look legitimate. But since more than 99 percent of those who join MLM firms inevitably lose money or make very little money, then we can say that MLM schemes are de facto scams. (This claim is based on research on MLM schemes in the United States where many MLM firms in the Philippines come from or are patterned after.) We can also say that MLM schemes are de facto scams because they are designed to make money for a very few (owners and their upline friends) at the expense of the overwhelming majority of joiners.
But there is 100 percent sure sign that a "legitimate" MLM company will inevitably turn out to be a scam: Everyone stupid enough to part with his money is qualified to join the MLM firm. Is there an MLM firm that does not encourage its recruits to recruit their relatives, friends, officemates, religious groups, etc., etc.?
As a marketing guru wisely puts it, "MLM schemes are based on two big llies: A bogus business opportunity (+99 percent will lose) and overpriced, overhyped products. If enough fools believe, the MLM firm, not the members, will be rich."
– AMY
Ex-MLMer
BrandSpace Articles
<
>
