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trekkyandyThe US Department of Agriculture has been using the food pyramid diagram to promote healthy food portions for decades, but that is set to change in the near future when the pyramid will be retired and replaced with a simple plate diagram. The new plate feature should be more user-friendly then the pyramid. It will be split up into wedges, with one-half of the plate designated for fruits and vegetables, while the other half will be split between grains and proteins.
Dairy will be characterized by a small circular pattern near the plate, symbolizing milk products. The plate shape is designed to be a visual cue that will make it easy for people to mimic the food ratios on their own plates. In addition to the new plate feature, the USDA will be showcasing a redesigned website for consumers as part of its year-long promotional campaign on healthy eating.
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Dplanet::PepsiCo UK and Ireland has admitted to making really slow progress on its healthy food targets. Earlier they had pledged to deliver more healthy food as well as drink products.
This campaign pushing for healthy food products was a part of a plan comprising of 27 targets which aimed at making PepsiCo a business whose profits were driven by healthy food.
PepsiCo had planned on marketing the healthy food lunchboxes and breakfast ranges for children which would meet all the nutritional standards but the target was not achieved in the year 2010 which had been set as the deadline. The efforts are on and the sales have since increased by 50%. The presence of Walkers baked crisps has actually decreased in the time frame from 25% by around 10%. In a positive trend the endeavor to increase the availability of drinks containing no sugar in cinemas, pubs and other places has paid off as the number has increased by 14%. They have also achieved considerable success in making fruit juices available at various food joints.
The management of PepsiCo has chosen to be transparent about the progress on the healthy food products since they believe that certain goals have been met and some targets that had been long term will be addressed soon.
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FotoosVanRobinA Thai salad recipe from the new cook book "Seductions of Rice" features a traditional dressing that is made with a heavy dose of fish sauce. This ingredient can be varied up or down in the recipe based on your desired sodium level, but it is certainly the ingredient that makes this salad most hard to resist.
To prepare the salad you need 4 cups cooked sprouted brown rice, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, 1 ½ cups watercress, 1 ½ cups edamame, 1 sweet red bell pepper, 2 tablespoons finely chopped mint, ¼ cup basil leaves, 1 cup chopped cilantro, 1 shallot cut in thin rings, 1 teaspoon finely minced lemon grass, 1 serrano chili, minced, and leaf lettuce for serving. The dressing is a mix of 2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce, 1/3 cup water, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, ½ teaspoon minced lemon grass, 1 minced garlic clove, ½ teaspoon crumbled dried red chili, 2 tablespoons canola oil, and 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice.