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Q: Is it true that if I use my credit card at fast food places, my credit score will decrease or that it will affect my score in some way because it looks like I cannot afford to buy food? I pay my bill in full every month. -- Burger and Fries Lover A: Dear Burger: The fast answer is no, where you eat doesn't have an impact on your credit score, but that's not the full story. Your credit score is just one of the many factors that issuers use when making lending decisions, and while paying plastic for...

Krispy Kreme had been a popular doughnut chain in the South since 1937, but remained unknown to the rest of us until about 1996. That's when the first Krispy Kreme popped up in New York City, on West 23rd Street. ..." Krispy Kreme stock hit a high of about $49 in 2003. Then it started on a long downward spiral, losing about 90% of its value. This company had problems that had nothing to do with its doughnut recipe. It over-expanded and took on crushing debt. There were allegations of management misconduct. Some franchises went bankrupt. Competition was fierce in...

What parent hasn't used candy to pacify a cranky child or head off a brewing tantrum? When reasoning, threats and time-outs fail, a sugary treat often does the trick. But while that chocolate-covered balm may be highly effective in the short term, say British scientists, it may be setting youngsters up for problem behavior later. According to a new study, kids who eat too many treats at a young age risk becoming violent in adulthood. The research was led by Simon Moore, a senior lecturer in Violence and Society Research at Cardiff University in the U.K., who specializes in the...

The Center for Science in the Public Interest believes that many states might be able to close gaps in their budgets by placing a tax on soda and other sugary drinks. The health advocacy group released a study this week that estimates budget-strapped states -- including California -- could generate a combined $10 billion a year by levying a tax of 7 cents per 12-ounce can of Coke or other beverage. Currently, 25 states impose special taxes on sugary drinks. The group, which is lobbying for such taxes and has suggested a national excise tax on sugared drinks, said raising...

LONDON — Willy Wonka would be horrified. Children who eat too much candy may be more likely to be arrested for violent behavior as adults, new research suggests. British experts studied more than 17,000 children born in 1970 for about four decades. Of the children who ate candies or chocolates daily at age 10, 69 percent were later arrested for a violent offense by the age of 34. Of those who didn't have any violent clashes, 42 percent ate sweets daily. The study was published in the October issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry. It was paid for by...

Coke, bottler launching campaign against soda tax Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:27pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co and its largest independent bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc, are mounting a campaign against a possible U.S. tax on soft drinks. In addition to a print and digital ad campaign in seven key U.S. markets including Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles, the effort will include public relations, speaking engagements and education designed to emphasize to consumers the benefits of a balanced diet and lifestyle that includes exercise. "Clearly, the threat of a soft drink tax demonstrates the need to better...

My real interest is in the authors' third basis for regulation: market failure that ... results from time-inconsistent preferences (i.e., decisions that provide short-term gratification but long-term harm). This problem is exacerbated in the case of children and adolescents, who place a higher value on present satisfaction while more heavily discounting future consequences. Wow. This isn't socialism. It's sheer paternalism. This, according to the authors, is a market failure that justifies taxation to alter your behavior, totally apart from its impact on public health costs. This is what worries me about the crackdown on death sticks and edible crap. There's...

Newsom wants to charge stores that sell sodas (09-17) 20:36 PDT -- Calling soda the new tobacco, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will introduce legislation this fall that would charge a fee to retailers that sell sugary beverages. Newsom would need voter approval to tax individual cans of soda and sugary juice, but only needs approval from the Board of Supervisors to levy a fee on retailers. His legislation would charge grocery stores like Safeway and big-box stores, but would not affect restaurants that serve sodas. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/17/MNF619OSF4.DTL#ixzz0RfEhGzU6

(09-17) 20:36 PDT -- Calling soda the new tobacco, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will introduce legislation this fall that would charge a fee to retailers that sell sugary beverages. Newsom would need voter approval to tax individual cans of soda and sugary juice, but only needs approval from the Board of Supervisors to levy a fee on retailers.

Delia, in response to your question, how much can Americans stomach? The answer is, a LOT! Way too much, in fact. Like you, I am chagrined by the dominance of the fast-food industry in America, and not just because their ubiquitous presence every few feet along urban highways is an architectural eyesore. Like you, I happily eat some of it, and for cost, consistency and speed (in this era where a wait of five minutes seems a gross imposition), it can hardly be beat. But when I really look at what I'm eating, I know it's wrong. And when I...

Childhood Obesity Report Calls For Government Regulations to Limit Access to ‘Unhealthy’ Restaurant Chains Wednesday, September 02, 2009 By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer (CNSNews.com) - A newly released report by the Institute for Medicine and the National Research Council details strategies for local governments to combat what it calls an epidemic of childhood obesity, including enacting zoning and land-use regulations that would “restrict fast food establishments near school grounds and public playgrounds.” The report, “Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity,” was compiled by the Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention Actions for Local Governments, a committee of health care...

By now many are used to the ongoing manipulation of facts perpetrated within the health care debate, but as the President attempts to regain control of his own message his claims and statistical manipulation have crossed beyond the borders of absurd. In a conference call for his campaign organization, Organizing for America (formerly the Organizing for Obama), the president backed up his claims of how he intends to fulfill the promise of cost savings within Medicare without cutting benefits. The President's solution is simply to put America on a weight loss plan. According to the President, "If we went back...

(Why does the American version of this family favorite have more chemicals than the European variety?) So, for a little light reading lately I've been perusing The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick, by Robyn O'Brien. As you can probably surmise from the title, the book is filled with all kinds of frightening background and tidbits on the food that's on store shelves these days. One issue in particular struck a nerve with me ... not so much because it's my family's favorite ... but because it is one of America's favorite foods: mac n' cheese. Would...

A surcharge on cigarettes has helped curb smoking, but will the same tactic work to fight obesity? "Sin taxes" on cigarettes have turned out to be the most effective weapon in the campaign to reduce smoking. Why not try it on Flamin' Hot Cheetos, vanilla Coke and Twinkies? With increasing vigor, public health experts and think tanks are calling for extra taxes on foods and drinks that are heavy in calories and light on nutrition. New York Gov. David Paterson proposed an 18% soda tax last year as a budget-balancing measure, only to abandon it three months later in the...

It's no longer just enough to educate people about making healthy decision. You now have to influence them psychologically to effect true change according to CNBC's Jim Cramer. Cramer, during his "Stop Trading" segment on CNBC's "Street Signs" on Aug. 10, suggested eating so-called unhealthy food be demonized, similar to how the tobacco industry has been - through a publicity campaign that even appeared in movie theaters. ...more (w/video)...

As the Most Powerful Community Organizer in the world pushes through his vision for your future healthcare, his minions are hard at work. Myriad press outlets are blaming fat folks for the rise in healthcare costs. In Obamaland, fat is the new smoking! How and what you eat is the next evil behavior to be controlled by law .

The Trust for America's Health recently ranked Connecticut 48th lowest in America in obesity. The report naturally touched off hand-wringing by the chattering classes and food police over rising obesity rates killing statistical people and bankrupting Medicare. You know, Medicare, with its almost $90 trillion in unfunded liabilities. As you might expect, the report stuck to the script, right down to blaming income inequality for high obesity rates among low-income people who are forced to dine on junk food when they should be eating produce. Junk, however, better describes the science. To believe any of this, one must have faith...

The House has passed a far-reaching food safety bill requiring more government inspections and imposing new penalties on those who violate the law, reacting strongly to an outbreak of salmonella in peanuts that killed at least nine people. The legislation would require greater oversight of food manufacturers and give the Food and Drug Administration new authority to order recalls. It also would require the FDA to develop a system for better tracing food-borne illnesses. Food companies would be required to create detailed food safety plans. President Barack Obama praised the bill soon after it was passed, calling it "a major...

I told you so. Years ago I said the next target was food. In its tireless quest for power and money – done in the name of protecting you – the government has gobbled ever-larger chunks of the economy. Tobacco, health care, communication, energy, banking, the automotive industry. And now food. A national soda-pop tax has been proposed, the Urban Institute wants to go after food producers and family budgets the way it went after tobacco companies and smokers, and food is about to be called a hazard to your health. Ostensibly, because you’re fat. Actually, because the government wants...

Can there be a way to help Americans fend off those junk-food induced cankles while simultaneously reducing the cost of Obama's trillion-dollar health care overhaul? Some researchers are saying yes, and they're calling this panacea of a proposal the "fat tax". A new non-partisan study done by the Urban Institute and the University of Virginia, claims that a "fat tax"—adding a tax to fattening, unhealthy foods—would not only curb obesity by discouraging people from buying and consuming these types of foods, but would also generate a good amount of revenue for the government. According to the study, implementing a 10%...

...Freiden said he was not endorsing the tax as a member of the administration but was "just presenting the science," according to Ambinder..... .... The Congressional Budget Office estimates that a three-cent tax would generate $24 billion over the next four years, and proponents of the tax argued before the committee that it would lower consumption of sugary drinks and improve Americans' overall health. ...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Health care costs keep growing fatter in part because Americans are, too. More than 25% of the increase in medical costs between 1987 and 2001 is attributable to obesity and obesity-related conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, according to a new report from the non-partisan Urban Institute. Come 2015, it is estimated that 40% of American adults will be obese, which is more than double the rate 40 years ago. And today, close to 20% of children are obese, up from 4% four decades ago. "What does that mean for health care costs years from now?"...

In aisle six there’s a man wheeling a grocery cart filled with prepackaged and ready-to-make food: TV dinners, frozen breakfasts, macaroni and cheese, and similar items. The cart is also overflowing with sugary cereals and a variety of soda. The man weighs about 400 pounds. With him is his son. The boy is about 12-years-old and weighs close to 200 pounds. He’s pointing to things he wants — Pop-Tarts, Oreos, Rice Krispies Treats — and the father is throwing everything the kid asks for into the cart. “That’s child abuse,” I think to myself. “That man is endangering the welfare...

Three New Jersey residents plan to file a lawsuit today that could put the staple of the great American backyard cookout -- the hot dog -- on the same path as the once romanticized puff on a cigarette. Pointing to "landmark" research showing a heightened risk of colon cancer in people who consume processed meat, the class-action lawsuit in state Superior Court in Newark will target the makers of Nathan's, Oscar Mayer, Ball Park, Hebrew National and Sabrett franks as if they were Big Tobacco. The plaintiffs want labels on hot dogs to read, "WARNING: CONSUMING HOT DOGS AND OTHER...

S.F. mayor orders healthy food in cityPosted on: Thursday, 9 July 2009, 19:48 CDT All San Francisco city departments must audit unused land in the city to see if it can be turned into community gardens or farms, the mayor said. In addition, food vendors contracting with the city must offer healthful and sustainable food, all vending machines on city property must offer healthful food options and farmers' markets must begin accepting food stamps, Mayor Gavin Newsom said, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. There also will be no more doughnut shop runs before meetings and conferences held by city workers,...

SAN FRANCISCO—Doughnuts could be a distant memory for San Francisco city workers. They must now follow "healthy meeting" guidelines under a sweeping initiative unveiled by Mayor Gavin Newsom Thursday to encourage better eating. That means less junk food and smaller portions at staff meetings. The mayor is also ordering all city departments to help locate vacant or unused city-owned land that could be used to grow food. Vendors that offer healthy food will get preference for city contracts and permits. All vending machines on city property additionally will have to meet new nutrition standards.

* HR 2749 would empower FDA to regulate how crops are raised and harvested. It puts the federal government right on the farm, dictating to our farmers. * HR 2749 would give FDA the power to order a quarantine of a geographic area, including "prohibiting or restricting the movement of food or of any vehicle being used or that has been used to transport or hold such food within the geographic area." Under this provision, farmers markets and local food sources could be shut down, even if they are not the source of the contamination. The agency can halt all...

The Washington Times ran an editorial about the Food and Drug Administration's recent warning to General Mills, Inc. about two claims the company has placed on its Cheerios boxes. The marketing copy for Cheerios Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal says that "Cheerios is clinically proven to reduce cholesterol 4 percent in 6 weeks" and that, "Cheerios can help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, by lowering the 'bad' cholesterol." So what's wrong with that? Well, according to the FDA, that means Cheerios will now be categorized as drugs, and regulated as such. Susan Cruzan of the FDA's press...

Last week, there was a fairly obscure story that was treated mostly with amusement. President Obama isn't just rewriting rules regulating the environment and the financial markets -- he is also going after the food industry. Target and example No. 1: Cheerios. "Based on claims made on your product's label," the FDA said in a letter to manufacturer General Mills, "we have determined (Cheerios) is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug because the product is intended for use in the prevention, mitigation and treatment of disease." If the government's enforcement action against Cheerios were to hold...

AUGUSTA -- Maine has the highest rate of obesity in New England, a statistic lawmakers and health advocates say they want to address with a three-pronged approach. "It's estimated that 30 percent of our youth are overweight or obese," said Gov. John Baldacci. "This is a critical public health issue, especially when it comes to our children's health." Baldacci, House Speaker Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven, and public health advocates met Wednesday to highlight three new state laws aimed at curbing obesity. Pingree sponsored the most controversial measure, which requires chain restaurants to post calorie information on their menus and menu...

One Manhattan mom's battle to prevent her children from getting junk food has turned into a food war between parent and school. MeMe Roth, a 40-year-old mother of two, objects to children getting sweets like popsicles, cupcakes and cookies even during special occasions in public schools like the one her children attend. "You don't want to create an environment at school that promotes junk food," Roth told "Good Morning America" today. "Just because... you send your child to school and they're in someone else's care, that does not mean you're forfeiting your rights as a parent." Her campaign against Girl...

In its effort to overhaul health care, Congress is planning to give employers sweeping new authority to reward employees for healthy behavior, including better diet, more exercise, weight loss and smoking cessation. A web of federal rules limits what employers and insurers can do now. Congress is seriously considering proposals to provide tax credits or other subsidies to employers who offer wellness programs that meet federal criteria. In addition, lawmakers said they would make it easier for employers to use financial rewards or penalties to promote healthy behavior among employees. Two Democratic senators working on comprehensive health legislation, Max Baucus...

THE rising number of fat people was yesterday blamed for global warming. Scientists warned that the increase in big-eaters means more food production — a major cause of CO2 gas emissions warming the planet. Overweight people are also more likely to drive, adding to environmental damage. Lard help us ... overweight must eat less for planet Dr Phil Edwards, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “Moving about in a heavy body is like driving in a gas guzzler.” Each fat person is said to be responsible for emitting a tonne more of climate-warming carbon dioxide per...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- A 4,800-calorie burger offered by a minor league baseball team this season has been branded a "dietary disaster." The 4-pound, $20 burger features five beef patties, five slices of cheese, nearly a cup of chili and liberal doses of salsa and corn chips -- all on an 8-inch bun. Staff dietitian Susan Levin of the Washington-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine sent a letter to the West Michigan Whitecaps on Tuesday. She's asking that the monster burger be labeled a "dietary disaster" that increases the risk of cancer and heart disease. Whitecaps spokesman Mickey Graham says...

ROCHESTER TWP. — Louis Slima looked over the apple, cherry and blueberry pies lining the dessert table at St. Cecilia’s Friday fish fry, trying to pick the best one. The trouble was, Slima, 60, of New Sewickley Township, wanted homemade raisin pie, which for years has been one of his favorites at the event. “This is the only time of year that I get them, during the Lenten season,” Slima said. Not anymore. On Feb. 27, a Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture inspector stopped for an annual inspection at St. Cecilia’s kitchen in Rochester Township. The kitchen was spotless. But across...

HR 875 The food police, criminalizing organic farming and the backyard gardener, and violation of the 10th amendment This bill is sitting in committee and I am not sure when it is going to hit the floor. One thing I do know is that very few of the Representatives have read it. As usual they will vote on this based on what someone else is saying. Urge your members to read the legislation and ask for opposition to this devastating legislation. Devastating for everyday folks but great for factory farming ops like Monsanto, ADM, Sodexo and Tyson to name a...

<p>At least 70 people in southern China fell ill after eating pig organs contaminated by a banned animal feed additive, state media said Monday.</p> <p>The cases underscore a continuing battle with food safety in a country where supply chains are murky and the rising cost of labor, land and fuel sometimes force producers to cut corners in order to make a profit.</p>

The ABC News medical unit wants to warn you about a stunning new risk to your health: fast food. Amazingly, it "ups your stroke risk" ABC tells us. Of course, we all know that eating too much fast food is bad for us, right? Well ABC has even more startling news. It isn't necessarily only eating the stuff that'll kill you. You see, ABC wants us to believe that just living near fast food places will kill you, too. Now stop laughing. I think ABC is serious with this stuff. ABC unleashed this "news" piece on February 19 with a...

Clinton, insurers announce anti-obesity effortAssociated Press February 19, 2009 Former President Bill Clinton announced a new anti-obesity program for children on Thursday that will extend health care coverage for visits to dietitians to focus on healthy eating and lifestyle changes. The program is the latest initiative from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a partnership between the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association. Martin Yadrick, president of the American Dietitic Association, said dietitian visits have not usually been covered by insurers, except for specific conditions like diabetes or kidney disease. "This is really opening the door for...

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The return of peanuts to the snack menu at Northwest Airlines this month has prompted a spasm of protests from travelers with allergies.. The change comes four months after Northwest merged with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and in the midst of a national salmonella outbreak involving Peanut Corporation of America. Georgia, where the company has a plant, is the top peanut-producing state in the country. Northwest began handing out the goobers as snacks on February 1, as Delta has been doing for years. In Minneapolis, where Northwest is based, news of the change has resulted in...

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Five Oregon state lawmakers want to impose a hefty tax on beer and have introduced a bill that brewers say would cripple them. Four Portland legislators joined a Springfield senator to introduce Oregon House Bill 2461, which would impose a $49.61 tax on each barrel of beer produced by Oregon brewers. The tax would raise revenue for the state at a time when budgets are running in the red. Specifically, the bill says it would fund prevention, treatment and recovery programs for those addicted to alcohol and other substances. It also defends the tax by claiming alcoholism...

When it comes to global warming, hamburgers are the Hummers of food, scientists say. Simply switching from steak to salad could cut as much carbon as leaving the car at home a couple days a week. That's because beef is such an incredibly inefficient food to produce and cows release so much harmful methane into the atmosphere, said Nathan Pelletier of Dalhousie University in Canada. Pelletier is one of a growing number of scientists studying the environmental costs of food from field to plate. By looking at everything from how much grain a cow eats before it is ready for...

Sixty one percent of the kids at Watsoville High (Watsonville, California) are eligible for free breakfast or lunch provided by the taxpayers but instead head off for the local convenience store or fast food joint. Still it's all our fault that they are fat. Watsonville faces a growing number of overweight children By JONDI GUMZ Posted: 02/08/2009 01:30:41 AM PST WATSONVILLE -- Too often, children in Watsonville are eating food that is not good for them, and it shows. About 31 percent of Watsonville's children are obese by age 8, and another 23 percent are overweight, a study for the...

When Governor Deval Patrick proposed a 5 percent premium on sugary treats this week, his administration presented it as a sin tax with a bonus: Imposing such a levy, a briefing paper pledged, "is a critical first step in discouraging the consumption of these empty calories." But there is little evidence that an extra nickel or two for a bottle of soda or a bar of chocolate would significantly dampen demand for products blamed for fueling the nation's obesity epidemic. -snip- States big and small, from California to Rhode Island, tack a surcharge onto soft drinks and candy. In all,...

DR. THOMAS R. FRIEDEN invited some of the biggest names in food processing to lunch last October. Grilled salmon and green salad were on the menu, but the subject was salt. After a string of victories over smoking, trans fats and calories, Dr. Frieden, the commissioner of New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, is waging a new campaign: to lower the amount of sodium America eats. But don’t go hiding your saltshakers. The city isn’t going after the seasoning people add at the table or in the kitchen. That makes up only about 11 percent of the...

Junk food advertisements which target children should be completely banned, an obesity expert has warned. Professor Philip James says that drastic action is needed against food firms which he says exploit consumers in the same way as tobacco companies. The nutritionist from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told a conference in London: "We have a catastrophic obesity epidemic and the food industry has had a vast impact on society. The food industry is represented by companies like PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Cadbury which are damaging the health of people across the world. "We want to reform [the food...

The ostensible subject was Caroline Kennedy. But in the course of, you know, discussing Kennedy's foundering effort to, you know, be anointed senator, Mika Brzezinski said something of more enduring interest. The Morning Joe co-host provided a telling glimpse into the liberal mindset, as Brzezinski cast her vote for Big Mommy government. Host Joe Scarborough observed that New York Gov. David Paterson was letting Kennedy twist in the wind. Rather than spending his time taxing everything in sight, the guv would be better off appointing Caroline or someone else, so the new senator could hit the ground running once Hillary...

Targeting Obesity Alongside Hunger Obama Administration May Look to Tie Food Assistance to Improved Nutrition In many areas where lots of people receive aid, good, nutritious food can be scarce. The District's Ward 8 went nine years without a full-service grocer. By Jane Black Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 24, 2008; Page A02 The worsening economic crunch is causing the tab for food assistance programs to balloon, and with the rising costs has come an intensifying debate over whether -- and how -- the U.S. government can tackle simultaneously the paradoxically linked problems of hunger and obesity. The statistics...

Tax Millionaires, Not Sodas, Poll Concludes By Sewell Chan New York State voters oppose the so-called “obesity tax” on nondiet soft drinks by a resounding margin of 60 percent to 37 percent, but support, by an even more overwhelming margin of 84 percent to 13 percent, raising the state income tax on people who make more than $1 million per year, according to results of a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday. Even those who prefer diet sodas — which would be exempt from the proposed 18 percent sales tax — said they opposed the measure (58 percent to 39...

Whether you love it, hate it, or have never thought about it, chances are some politician wants to ban it. "Welcome to the Nanny State Nation," says reason.tv host Drew Carey. "Where the government minds your own business." Saggy pants, fire places, plastic bags, light bulbs, poker—it's all been banned somewhere. Same with owning swine or fowl, feeding pigeons, owning pit bulls, and chomping on trans fats, a naughty little substance that makes food taste better. Of course, smoking's been banned in all sorts of places—indoors, outdoors, near doors, beaches, casinos, even private homes. America's smoking ban craze began in...