How Supermarkets Are Shaping Up and Growing Their Lower-Calorie Products

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than a third of adults and nearly 17 percent of children in the United States are obese. This public health crisis has spurred policy debates at all levels of government, and has prompted initiatives aimed at making schools and communities healthier for children and families. For the past four years, Hudson Institute, a nonpartisan policy research organization, has studied the link between healthier, lower-calorie products and the sales performance of the companies that offer them. It has completed several landmark studies covering consumer packaged goods (CPG) food companies and restaurant chains that have demonstrated the positive impact of lower-calorie and/or better-for-you (BFY) foods and beverages on overall sales growth. This latest study aims to determine whether supermarket chains, like CPG companies and restaurant chains, are also reaping business benefits from selling lower-calorie products

The high-intensity hyperon beam at CERN

A high-intensity hyperon beam was constructed at CERN to deliver Sigma- to experiment WA89 at the Omega facility and operated from 1989 to 1994. The setup allowed rapid changeover between hyperon and conventional hadron beam configurations. The beam provided a Sigma-flux of 1.4 x 10^5 per burst at mean momenta between 330 and 345 Gev/c, produced by about 3 x 10^10 protons of 450 GeV/c . At the experiment target the beam had a Sigma-/pi- ratio close to 0.4 and a size of 1.6 x 3.7 cm^2. The beam particle trajectories and their momenta were measured with a scintillating fibre hodoscope in the beam channel and a silicon microstrip detector at the exit of the channel. A fast transition radiation detector was used to identify the pion component of the beam.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures. Submitted to Nucl. Instr. Meth.

Foodservice in hospital: development of a theoretical model for patient experience and satisfaction using one hospital in the UK National Health Service as a case study

Hospital foodservice does not operate in isolation but requires the cooperation and integration of several disciplines to provide the ultimate patient experience. The objective of this research was to explore the antecedents to patient satisfaction and experience, including the service element. Accordingly, focus groups were conducted with doctors (n = 4), nurses (n = 5), ward hostesses (n = 3) and patients together with their visitors (n = 10), while open-ended interviews were conducted with the foodservice manager, facilities manager, chief dietitian, orthopaedic ward dietitian and chief pharmacist. Themes centred on ‘patients’, ‘foodservice’ and ‘mealtimes’, and results show that food qualities, particularly temperature and texture, are important factors impinging on patient satisfaction, and the trolley system of delivery is an acceptable style of service. Service predisposition demonstrates little relevance to patient satisfaction towards overall meal enjoyment. A theoretical model has been developed that identifies hospital foodservice in a cyclic relationship with the community primary healthcare team

Effect of information about organic production on beef liking and consumer willingness to pay

The present study was aimed to assess the effect of information about organic production on beef liking and consumer willingness to pay. Mean scores of perceived liking were higher for organic beef (OB) as compared to conventional beef (CB). Expected liking scores were higher for OB than for CB. For OB the expected liking was significantly higher than the perceived liking expressed in blind conditions (negative disconfirmation), whereas for CB no difference was observed. Consumers completely assimilated their liking for OB in the direction of expectations. Consumers showed a willingness to pay for OB higher than the suggested price (P < 0.001), the latter corresponding to the local commercial value for organic beef. We conclude that the information about organic farming can be a major determinant of beef liking, thus providing a potential tool for meat differentiation to traditional farms

Hospital food service: a comparative analysis of systems and introducing the ‘Steamplicity’ concept

Background Patient meals are an integral part of treatment hence the provision and consumption of a balanced diet, essential to aid recovery. A number of food service systems are used to provide meals and the Steamplicity concept has recently been introduced. This seeks, through the application of a static, extended choice menu, revised patient ordering procedures, new cooking processes and individual patient food heated/cooked at ward level, to address some of the current hospital food service concerns. The aim of this small-scale study, therefore, was to compare a cook-chill food service operation against Steamplicity. Specifically, the goals were to measure food intake and wastage at ward level; ‘stakeholders’ (i.e. patients, staff, etc.) satisfaction with both systems; and patients’ acceptability of the food provided. Method The study used both quantitative (self-completed patient questionnaires, n = 52) and qualitative methods (semi-structured interviews, n = 16) with appropriate stakeholders including medical and food service staff, patients and their visitors. Results Patients preferred the Steamplicity system overall and in particular in terms of food choice, ordering, delivery and food quality. Wastage was considerably less with the Steamplicity system, although care must be taken to ensure that poor operating procedures do not negate this advantage. When the total weight of food consumed in the ward at each meal is divided by the number of main courses served, at lunch, the mean intake with the cook-chill system was 202 g whilst that for the Steamplicity system was 282 g and for the evening meal, 226 g compared with 310 g. Conclusions The results of this small study suggest that Steamplicity is more acceptable to patients and encourages the consumption of larger portions. Further evaluation of the Steamplicity system is warranted. The purpose of this study was to directly compare selected aspects (food wastage at ward level; satisfaction with systems and food provided) of a traditional cook-chill food service operation against ‘Steamplicity’. Results indicate that patients preferred the ‘Steamplicty’ system in all areas: food choice, ordering, delivery, food quality and overall. Wastage was considerably less with the ‘Steamplicity’ system; although care must be taken to ensure that poor operating procedures do not negate this advantage. When the total weight of food consumed in the ward at each meal is divided by the number of main courses served, results show that at lunch, mean intake with the cook-chill system was 202g whilst that for the ‘Steamplicity’ system was 282g and for the evening meal, 226g compared with 310g

Should healthy eating programmes incorporate interaction with foods in different sensory modalities? A review of the evidence

Commercial interventions seeking to promote fruit and vegetable consumption by encouraging preschool- and school-aged children to engage with foods with ‘all their senses’ are increasing in number. We review the efficacy of such sensory interaction programmes and consider the components of these that are likely to encourage food acceptance. Repeated exposure to a food's flavour has robust empirical support in terms of its potential to increase food intake. However, children are naturally reluctant to taste new or disliked foods, and parents often struggle to provide sufficient taste opportunities for these foods to be adopted into the child's diet. We therefore explore whether prior exposure to a new food's non-taste sensory properties, such as its smell, sound, appearance or texture, might facilitate the food's introduction into the child's diet, by providing the child with an opportunity to become partially familiar with the food without invoking the distress associated with tasting it. We review the literature pertaining to the benefits associated with exposure to foods through each of the five sensory modalities in turn. We conclude by calling for further research into the potential for familiarisation with the visual, olfactory, somaesthetic and auditory properties of foods to enhance children's willingness to consume a variety of fruits and vegetables

Chemical stimulation of single human fungiform taste papillae.

PsychologyDoctor of Philosophy (PhD

Effects of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) on Generative and Elaborative Aspects of Creativity

While some research suggests that Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) negatively impacts creative abilities by limiting the processes thought to aid divergent thinking (focused attention, executive functions, etc.), others have found that cognitive traits associated with ADHD may aid in accessing uninhibited ideas. Studies, however, have failed to separate the effect of ADHD on the idea generation vs. elaboration phases within creativity. This study investigated how traits of ADHD affect these two phases, predicting that those with strong traits of ADHD would excel in creative idea generation over elaboration. Participants completed a two-part drawing task designed to separate the creative phases. They were given 3 minutes to transform nine incomplete circles into as many original and creative sketch ideas as they could, before choosing one drawing to elaborate on further during a second 3 minute time block. The results found a significant positive relationship between traits of ADHD and average creativity rates for the idea generation phase. No significance was found between traits of ADHD and the idea elaboration phase creativity rates. The study concluded that ADHD has a positive impact on novel idea generation (but not elaboration) within creativit

Creating Community: First-Gen Sense of Belonging

First-generation college students are the first in their families to pursue higher education degrees, and as such are piloting new undertakings in many respects. Research on a sense of belonging has demonstrated that higher rates of belonging are correlated with greater academic success and graduation outcomes (Gopalan & Brady, 2020). Estimates display first-generation college students, make up around a quarter to one third of total enrollment in post-secondary institutions in the United States, however graduate at a significantly lower rate than the national average. And first-generation college students are a particularly vulnerable population and have been found to have several traits that characterize them as an at-risk population in higher education (Ishitani, 2006). This workshop will examine the research of sense of belonging as it relates to first generation college students and explore the implications and recommendations to increase sense of belonging and ultimately promote persistence, college degree completion and overall well-being

Impact of bread making on fructan chain integrity and effect of fructan enriched breads on breath hydrogen, satiety, energy intake, PYY and ghrelin

Recently, there has been considerable interest in the satiety inducing properties of inulin type fructans (ITF) as a tool for weight management. As a staple food, breads provide an excellent vehicle for ITF supplementation however the integrity of the ITF chains and properties upon bread making need to be assessed. Breads enriched with 12% fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and 12% inulin were baked and the degree of polymerisation of fructans extracted from the breads were compared to those of pure compounds. An acute feeding study with a single blind cross-over design was conducted with 11 participants to investigate the effect of ITF enriched breads on breath hydrogen, self-reported satiety levels, active ghrelin, total PYY and energy intake. Size exclusion chromatography indicated that little or no depolymerisation of inulin occurred during bread making, however, there was evidence of modest FOS depolymerisation. Additionally, ITF enriched breads resulted in increased concentrations of exhaled hydrogen although statistical significance was reached only for the inulin enriched bread (p=0.001). There were no significant differences between bread types in reported satiety (p=0.129), plasma active ghrelin (p=0.684), plasma PYY (p=0.793) and energy intake (p=0.240). These preliminary results indicate that inulin enriched bread may be a suitable staple food to increase ITF intake. Longer intervention trials are required to assess the impact of inulin enriched breads on energy intake and body weight