By Larry Bivins
WASHINGTON – The federal government is
expected to propose new nutrition standards soon that could leave a bitter
taste in the mouths of cranberry growers from Massachusetts to Wisconsin.
To address childhood obesity in America, an
effort spurred by first lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move"
initiative, the Department of Agriculture is finalizing guidelines
for what can be sold in school vending machines, stores and a la carte
cafeteria lines. Sugar is widely viewed as a target, and sweetened beverages
like cranberry juice cocktail could be deemed unhealthy.
That would be unfortunate and unfair,
cranberry industry officials say, because the tart, deep red fruit is loaded
with nutrients and health benefits. But for consumers to avail themselves of
those benefits, cranberries must be sweetened.
"Cranberries can be sweetened with
anything," said Linda Prehn, a cranberry grower in Tomah, Wis., citing
apple juice as an example. "But you can't eat 'em raw. They're tough to
eat straight up."
Prehn, chairman of United Cranberry Growers
Cooperative, a collective of 85 growers in Massachusetts, Oregon and Wisconsin
in the U.S. and New Brunswick and Quebec in Canada, was among cranberry
industry honchos attending the recent inaugural meeting of the Congressional
Cranberry Caucus on Capitol Hill.
Prehn and others are hoping the bipartisan
caucus led by Reps. Reid Ribble, R-Wis., and Bill Keating, D-Mass., and
Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Scott Brown, R-Mass., can help
persuade agriculture officials to make an exception for cranberry products in
its nutrition standards for added-sugar products.
"Given the beneficial and scientifically
proven health properties of cranberries, we believe there is a need to
establish clear standards that recognize cranberries as a part of a healthy
diet," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
"We ask that you consider including a variety of cranberry juice and dried
cranberry products in USDA's food nutrition program so that children,
seniors and adults served by these programs are not denied benefits unique to
cranberries."
The lawmakers sent a similar letter to the
first lady, pointing out cranberries "contribute to whole body health,
particularly urinary tract health and the potential to fight cancer and other
diseases."
At stake is exclusion from an estimated $2.3
billion school vending machine business and an image that could have a negative
impact on the marketing of cranberry products worldwide, particularly cranberry
juice cocktail, industry officials say.
"If we're put into a category that says
these types of products are unhealthy, we think it would be inaccurate and
unfair," said Tom Lochner, executive director of the Wisconsin State
Cranberry Growers Association. "Lumping us in with other beverages that
don't have the health benefits associated with them that cranberries do is
definitely going to affect our ability to sell cranberry products."
Randy Papadellis, president and CEO of Ocean
Spray Cranberries Inc., a cooperative owned by more than 700 cranberry
growers in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, British
Columbia and other parts of Canada and 35 grapefruit growers in Florida,
said the new nutrition standards could damage the industry and the Ocean Spray
brand.
"We obviously would want to be on the
list of things USDA and other agencies buy," Papadellis said. "Our
concern is more the signal a standard that says cranberries are unhealthy sends
out to other constituencies. Many people take their cue from USDA in terms of
what is healthy."
Ocean Spray describes itself as the nation's
leading producer of canned and bottled juices and juice drinks, with $2.1
billion in sales last year and 2,000 employees worldwide.
The cranberry industry says research indicates
the fruit helps prevent urinary tract infections and reduces harmful bacteria
in the urethra, bladder and kidneys.
Connie Diekman, director of university
nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis and a former president of the American
Dietetic Association, is a cranberry booster.
"Cranberries contain more antioxidants
than almost any other fruit out there," Diekman said. "That's why it
has such a tart taste. It is a source of vitamin C. Fiber is great in the
cranberry."
Yet not all nutritional experts are sold on
cranberries as a health food, and some supporters of lowering the sugar intake
of children and adults say the need to address the nation's obesity crisis may
outweigh the concerns of those in the cranberry industry.
"There's some evidence to show that
cranberry juice can prevent urinary tract infections, but that doesn't mean
everyone should be drinking cranberry juice every day," said Margo Wootan,
director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
"Only 3 percent of kids a year have urinary tract infections, compared to
one-third who are overweight. Urinary tract infection is not a booming
epidemic. Obesity is."
The USDA already has established new
standards for what can be sold in school cafeterias as part of the federal
school lunch program and is now preparing criteria for school vending machines.
If the department follows its earlier
guidelines, only 100 percent juice beverages would be allowed in vending
machines and school stores, Wootan said.
"There's no evidence of any particular
public health problem to suggest that cranberry drinks should get a special
exemption," Wootan said. "It's curious that the cranberry industry is
pressing Congress for nutrient standards that are weaker than what Coke and
Pepsi have already agreed to."
Placing cranberry juice in the same category
with sodas and other sugary drinks is what the cranberry industry wants to
avoid.
"The current debate over added sugar and
the effort to help Americans consume less is commendable, but our point is you
have to make a distinction between nutrient-dense products and other products
that are empty calories," said Terry Humfeld, executive director of the
Cranberry Institute in Carver, Mass.
Original article here
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