Today's fruits & vegies lack yesterday's nutrition

[Guest guest]

Proof that what we knew was happening IS happening. Get this, near the

end of the article: " If there's a problem, I'm confident the government

will take it seriously and do the necessary research to address it. "

Yeah RIGHT, ho ho ho!

~ Carma ~

The article below shows that the nutritional content of fruits and

vegetables has declined quite a bit over the last 50 years.

Waldrop, OKC http://www.oklahomafood.org

Today's fruits, vegetables lack yesterday's nutrition

By ANDRE PICARD

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

This article appears at http://makeashorterlink.com/?A49425431

Saturday, July 6 ­ Online Edition, Posted at 11:26 AM EST

Fruits and vegetables sold in Canadian supermarkets today contain far

fewer nutrients than they did 50 years ago, according to an analysis

conducted by The Globe and Mail and CTV News.

Vital vitamins and minerals have dramatically declined in some of our

most popular foods, including potatoes, tomatoes, bananas and apples,

the analysis reveals.

Take the potato, by far the most consumed food in Canada. The average

spud has lost 100 per cent of its vitamin A, which is important for good

eyesight; 57 per cent of its vitamin C and iron, a key component of

healthy blood;

and 28 per cent of its calcium, essential for building healthy bones and

teeth. It also lost 50 per cent of its riboflavin and 18 per cent of its

thiamine. Of the seven key nutrients measured, only niacin levels have

increased.

The story is similar for 25 fruits and vegetables that were analyzed.

But Health Canada refused to comment on the findings, saying the debate

was an academic one. The academics, for their part, are intrigued, but

not alarmed.

Modern farming methods, long-haul transportation and crop-breeding

practices are all believed to be contributing to the drop in vitamins

and

minerals. Phil Warman, an agronomist and professor of agricultural

sciences at

Nova Scotia Agricultural College, said there is no doubt the nutritional

content of food is different today, due to the emphasis on producing

cheap food.

" The emphasis is on appearance, storability and transportability, and

there has been much less emphasis on the nutritional value of fruits and

vegetables, " he said. Dr. Warman said crops are bred to produce higher

yields, to be

resistant to disease and to produce more visually attractive fruits and

vegetables, but little or no emphasis is placed on their vitamin or

mineral content.

While there is little evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, that the changes

are

resulting in major nutritional deficiencies in the general population,

Dr.

Warman emphasized that consumers should care about the issue because

it is the nutrients, not the appearance, that give food value. " I care

because

I want to eat a product that is as high in nutritional value as

possible. Otherwise,

I would eat sawdust with nitrogen fertilizer, " he said.

Tim Lang, a professor at the Centre for Food Policy in London,

England, agreed. " It's an issue of consumer rights, " he said. " We think

of an

orange as a constant, but the reality is it isn't. " In fact, you would

have to eat

eight oranges today to get the same amount of vitamin A your

grandparents

got from a single orange. And you would need to eat five to get the same

level of iron. However, the amount of vitamin C has increased slightly.

Dr. Lang said declining nutrient levels may prove to be a health issue

because

we are only beginning to understand how important micronutrients are to

disease prevention. " The argument that it doesn't matter because we

overconsume is complacent. . . . Nutrient density might also be

important. "

Alison , director of research at the Heart and Stroke Foundation

of

Canada, said the biggest nutritional problem is that most Canadians do

not eat

anywhere near the recommended five to 10 servings of fruits and

vegetables daily.

But she is not unduly worried about today's consumers failing to get

their

required vitamins and minerals. " A lot of our foods today are fortified

— milk,

bread, apple juice, cereal, " she said.

In other words, grains and dairy products are far more important sources

of

essential nutrients than they were in the past.

To conduct the analysis, The Globe and Mail and CTV examined food

tables that were prepared by government researchers in 1951, 1972 and

1999,

and compared the nutrients available from 100 grams of the given food.

The results were almost identical to similar research conducted in the

United

States and Britain. The U.K. research was published in the British Food

Journal,

a peer-reviewed, scientific publication, while the U.S. data have been

published

only in alternative-health journals.

According to the Canadian data, almost 80 per cent of foods tested

showed drops in calcium and iron; three-quarters saw drops in vitamin A,

and half lost

vitamin C and riboflavin; one-third lost thiamine and 12 per cent lost

niacin.

But some experts said the explanation for the decline might be found in

testing

and sampling methods.Len Piché, an associate professor of nutrition at

Brescia

College in London, Ont., questioned the accuracy of the numbers, saying

testing methods

were not great in 1951, so we may only now be getting a true idea of the

nutrients in

fruits and vegetables. " Did they really go down, or do we just have

better techniques

for analyzing those nutrients? " he wondered.

However, Dr. Piché said the issue is one Health Canada should examine.

" If there's a problem, I'm confident the government will take it

seriously and do the

necessary research to address it, " he said.

In the analysis, the biggest loser was broccoli, a food that epitomizes

the

dictates of healthy eating. All seven of its measurable nutrients

declined,

notably calcium, which fell 63 per cent, and iron, which dropped 34 per

cent.

Broccoli is often cited as an excellent source of calcium and iron.

With a report from Avis Favaro

Copyright © 2002 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. .

This article appears at http://makeashorterlink.com/?A49425431

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