Category: Food Industry News

Breaking food industry news covering major food companies, regulatory updates, labeling changes and developments impacting consumers and manufacturers,

Eat healthy — your circulatory system will thank you

Me with the heart mascot, sporting my survivor's cap and beads for each year since my 2012 surgery.
My heart mascot and I in a recent heart-health walk.

People who know me know that I’ve had two near-fatal heart incidents, one in 2012 and a second in 2017.

Two different arteries were blocked, although not badly enough to cause damage to my heart (a heart attack causes heart damage; short of that is just an incident in medical jargon).

So worrying about my circulatory system is always on my to-do list. which is why I read this piece, How Diet Impacts Your Circulatory System on a site called Vitasupportmd.com.

“The foods consumed each day play an important role in how well the circulatory system performs. A balanced and nutrient-rich diet can support vessel tone, help maintain blood pressure within a healthy range, promote the balance of blood lipids like cholesterol, and encourage a healthy inflammatory response,” the article notes. One more important reason to eat healthy.

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Was it fiber or taste that propelled Olipop and Poppi?

Are Americans so worried about their stomach health that they’re willing to spend more than three-quarters of a billion dollars a year on gut-health-promoting sodas?

That might be too simple an explanation for the rapid growth of competitors Olipop and Poppi, according to a fascinating analyst in the Food Institute site by Dr. James Richardson is the founder of Premium Growth Solutions,rt a strategic planning consultancy for early-stage consumer packaged goods brands.

Continue reading “Was it fiber or taste that propelled Olipop and Poppi?” →
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Spring and Asparagus go hand-in-hand

Asparagus ready for my backyard grill. I use these disposable grilling sheets to keep my main grill clean.

In spring, an old man’s fancy turns to — asparagus? Well, hopefully still other things as well. But spring is traditionally thought of as asparagus season, the New York Times tells us.

Asparagus should be on your healthy menu. It’s high in probiotics and a good source of Vitamin K (although if you’re on some blood thinners as I am, vitamin K may not be your friend, see below for details).

Continue reading “Spring and Asparagus go hand-in-hand” →
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Balsamic-Roasted Broccoli — try this for summer fare

I saw this recipe for balsamic-roasted and was shocked to discover I’ve never written about it on this blog. I did have a piece on roasting broccoli and cauliflower, but never just the broccoli.

Start with fresh broccoli, cut off the bulky stems and trim as you like
Broccoli often is on sale in the Chciago area where we live. Watch out for sales near you.

So here it is. Leave out the salt, obviously. The balsamic vinegar will give it plenty of flavor even without the salt.

Leave out the cheese too if you’re worried about salt and fat. OR search out low-fat or no-fat cheese to help a bit.

Recipe

Balsamic-Roasted Broccoli

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  20 mins

Total time:  25 mins

Yield: 2 side-dish servings

Ingredients

  • 3 cups broccoli florets (about ¾ lb/350 g fresh broccoli)
  • 1 small onion, peeled, halved, and thickly sliced
  • 1½ tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • ¼ teaspoon coarse salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoon fresh grated Parmesan cheese, for topping (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425F.
  2. Toss together all ingredients, then arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.
  3. Roast until the broccoli is tender and browned in spots, about 18 to 22 minutes (depending how crispy you like your broccoli), tossing once halfway through.
  4. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top, if using, and serve immediately.
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Seven 100-calorie snacking options

I’m always wary of stories with headlines like 7 Foods Under 100 Calories You’ll Love. Normally those lists involve mostly foods I don’t like to eat, such as nuts.

Eating watermelon doesn't fill me up, although it's high in water content.
A fun snack, although I don’t find it filling at all given its high water content.

But this list from LoseIt! actually has six things I do like to snack on — six out of seven, not bad. The only loser for me is hard-boiled eggs.

The rest — cherry tomatoes, yogurt, edamame, oranges, popcorn and watermelon, are all items I turn to when I don’t want to eat junk food.

Watch for them on sale at your local supermarket and then try them. Pints of cherry tomatoes and watermelon cups tend to be on sale regularly where I live, for example.

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Asparagus — how to buy it, why to eat it

Asparagus always seemed like something only posh people ate when I was a grubby blue-collar kid growing up in Brooklyn. These days, I must be posh because I regularly eat asparagus and have come to love them. I recently read This Is the No. 1 Thing to Look for When Buying Asparagus which answered a question I’ve always had about them.

Asparagus and zucchini ready for my backyard grill. I use these disposable grilling sheets to keep my main grill clean.

Ever see asparagus sitting in a tray of water in your supermarket? That always looks messy to me. But it turns out that’s a must, according to the Food & Wine article. the water helps keep asparagus fresh.

Other tips — look for firm stalks, dry buds and know when it’s asparagus season. My tips include smelling it, old asparagus has a distinctively bad smell. Also decide whether you like very thin stalks or thicker ones. I normally go small, I love the more delicate flavor.

On the health side, asparagus is high in nutrients but low in calories, according to 7 Reasons You Should Eat More Asparagus

With summer coming to northern climes, my favorite way to prepare asparagus is grilled on my backyard grill. Simply wash them, then lay them out in a disposable aluminum pan, spray with olive oil, season with a salt-free Italian spice mixture and grill them for 8-10 minutes depending on your grill. Here’s one quick recipe I found on Hey Grill Hey.

You’ll find more tips in this piece I wrote as well, just click here.

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Time for our annual hidden sugar primer

When I saw Justvegantoday.com writing this piece about hidden sugars, I thought — haven’t I written about that before? Yes, severel times it seems. But it’s good to have an annual reminder.

Sugar is hiding everywhere in our food supply, be aware.

“Sugar often masquerades under various aliases, making it even more challenging to identify them in an ingredients list. Common names include fructose, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, and dozens more. Manufacturers often use these alternative names to disguise the actual amount of sugar they are putting into products,” Justvegantoday.com writes.

How to combat the sugar rush?

Continue reading “Time for our annual hidden sugar primer” →
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Up for a wellness challenge? Check out NYT

The New York Times started the year with a five-day wellness challenge, a series to help you shop for healthier foods.

Fiber One ultraprocessed? Yes, according to the Times.

Day one defines ultra processed foods and gives you a digital game to see how much of what you buy can fit the definition.

Some of the results may surprise you, as I’m sure they were picked to do.

I found out, for example, that Fiber One cereal, my fallback buy when I can’t find Trader Joe’s High Fiber Cereal, is considered ultra processed because of thickening agents and Sucrolose it contains.

How does the series define ultraprocessed?

“Ultraprocessed foods, or UPFs, are commonly defined as products you couldn’t typically make in your own kitchen. They contain ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, protein isolates, emulsifiers and artificial flavors, colors and sweeteners. Think chicken nuggets, hot dogs, flavored yogurts, sodas and many breakfast cereals, packaged breads and snack foods,” it states.

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We’re stepping it up in 2025

The No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal (the blog you’re reading right now) drew 69,185 views in 2024, a jump of slightly more than 9,000 from 2023. Not bad for a year in which our attention was mainly focused elsewhere, producing what will likely be our last show for the Evanston 2nd Act Players.

This year, we’re returning this blog back to center stage, so to speak. Expect to see a lot more posts on relevant food topics, along with a lot more on the recipe page everyone loves here.

Our recipe page was the second most visited, after our home page, last year.

We’ll be writing about diet trends, food trends, new food products and more. If there are topics you’d like to see covered, just drop us a line by writing johnnfrank@gmail.com.

Happy New Year and happy eating in 2025!

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More good news on olive oil, it can deter dementia

Olive oil should be a go-to good fat for any heart patient. Plus it can taste great, I use it not only on salads but on grilled veggies and a host of other dishes, just check my recipe page.

And now there’s more good news, a study has found it can cut the risk of developing dementia.

According to a report in Everydayhealth.com:

Olive oil we brought back from Italy in 2017.

“Scientists examined data collected over almost three decades on about 93,000 middle-aged adults. At the start of the study, participants were 56 years old on average and had no history of cardiovascular disease, a major risk factor for dementia. 

“Every four years, participants completed dietary questionnaires detailing what foods they typically ate and indicating how often they consumed olive oil: no more than once a month; up to 4.5 grams (g), or 1 teaspoon (tsp) daily; between 4.5 and 7 g (1.5 tsp) daily; or more than 7 g daily. 

“Compared with people who rarely if ever consumed olive oil, those who got at least 7 g a day were 28 percent less likely to die of dementia-related causes by the end of the study, according to results published in JAMA Network Open.

Continue reading “More good news on olive oil, it can deter dementia” →
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