May 20, 2010 – homtownlife.com – by Sharon Dargay – Gail Posner guarantees that even the savviest, most nutrition-conscious
shopper will learn something new during her guided tour of supermarket
shelves.
“And boy, am I going to fool you,” said Posner, a registered dietician who scrutinizes product nutritional claims and ingredient labels during her one-hour classes at Hiller's markets. She gave the Observer & Eccentric a preview this week of her upcoming tours in Hiller's Plymouth and Bloomfield Hills stores.
“This one just cracks me up,” she said, taking a Peaches & Cream Quaker Instant Oatmeal off the shelf. “You'll get far better nutrition out of regular oatmeal, but what I found humorous on this is, what kind of oatmeal is this? Peaches & Cream. But let's read the ingredients...whole grain rolled oats, sugar....corn syrup, whey...ah, here it is, flavored with colored fruit pieces, dehydrated apples and artificial peach flavor. So, the funny thing is, this is this is apple with peach flavor — don't think you're getting peaches.”
And so it went, up one aisle and down the next, with Posner pointing out nutritional red flags on product packaging, recommending healthful brands and pointing out new products.
In the bread aisle, she found “white fluffy bread” masquerading as rye. It looked like rye and its packaging included the word rye, but a quick scan of the ingredient list showed otherwise.
“It doesn't say whole rye flour. You want to get three servings of whole grain in,” she said. “So many of my clients eat out so much I say buy the 100 percent while wheat to eat at home because you're not going to get it in a restaurant.”
BOX VERSUS CANNED
The soup shelves offered a dizzying variety of canned products, but Posner ignored them all in favor of Kitchen Basics and other brands in a box.
“A lot of people know there is a chemical to avoid in plastic baby bottles, but it also is in our canned goods, except for Eden brand beans.”
The Michigan-based company cooks its line of organic beans in cans that are free of bisphenol-A, (BPA) a chemical that has been linked to developmental changes in studies conducted on animals. The National Toxicology Program, which coordinates toxicological research across the U.S. government, expressed “some concern” for bisphenol-A's effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and children, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Web site. It suggests reducing the use of canned foods and opting for glass, porcelain or stainless steel containers, especially for hot foods and liquids.
“It leaches into the food. The ones leached into the most would be meat and tomato — acidic products,” Posner noted. “Tuna in a pouch is better than tuna in a can. Buy tomato juice in a bottle versus in a can.”
And although white albacore tuna generally costs a few cents more than chunk light, Posner avoids it, favoring the less expensive, darker meat.
“You want to go with the chunk light. Chunk light tuna are little fishes that are younger and swim higher in the ocean, so they swallow less mercury. The white albacore tuna and tuna steak come from big tuna that have been polluted with mercury.”
PRIVATE COUNSELING
Posner, a dietician for 30 years, said the supermarket tours grew out of her private West Bloomfield practice, where she counsels clients one-on-one and creates healthful eating plans to match their nutritional needs.
“My office is unique. When people come in their chin drops. I have bookshelves full of empty food boxes. I make practical, sensible recommendations. I show people what the box looks like, so when they get to the grocery store it's quick and easy to find.”
With both clients and tour participants, Posner stresses the importance of enjoying food and of eating “mindfully.” She points out new products and offers tips on healthful, quick “grab and go” foods.
Her tour runs 7-8 p.m., May 24 at Hiller's West Bloomfield store, 6433 Orchard Lake Road, in the Orchard Mall, and 7-8 p.m. May 27, at the Plymouth store, 15455 Haggerty, at 5 Mile. Cost is $25. Call (248) 855-4558 to register.
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