Food News Today transcripts for the week of June 25th, 2012

Women decide what's for dinner... leading men astray, what shoppers think of hidden cameras, and some foods for better memory, for June 27th 2012, this is Food News Today.

 What's for dinner?  African-American women make most of the dining decisions especially if they are the ones cooking and trying to improve the family’s diet. No surprise, but get a load of this research finding - their men often disliked the healthy changes, but didn’t object to avoid conflict! The research study, “She looks out for the meals, period. African-American men's perceptions of how their wives influence their eating behavior and dietary health,” found that the majority of men said their wives didn't consult them when helping them to adopt a healthier, physician ordered diet. The key to married men, of all ethnic groups, adopting a healthier diet is for the couples to discuss and negotiate the new, healthier menu changes as a team, according to the study – but in the case of the men surveyed, they focused more on maintaining a happy home than having a say in what they ate.  The results may lead to a healthier dinner at home, but these surveyed men often made not so healthy choices throughout the day – some men even reported visiting the all-you-can-eat buffet for “a landslide of food.” to compensate.

>Who's watching who? Next let’s head to the supermarket aisles. It is no surprise that retailers are trying to maximize every buying influence in-store—promotions, signs, scents, samplings, even ads on the floors, and  now it seems that more retailers are keeping a close eye on the physical movements (even eye movements) and reactions of shoppers to these stimuli . Some even use signs with embedded cameras that can determine gender and approximate age, and help stores target their efforts to individual customers—all in the quest for bigger baskets. If shoppers knew that hidden cameras are watching, would they mind?  We surveyed the SupermarketGuru consumer panel to find out.

Here’s what adults across America told us: 40% of survey respondents were “not at all” aware of these marketing tactics. A large majority three out of four shoppers said they would want their primary supermarket to tell them and the same amount of shoppers said they would expect some benefit from the retailer in exchange - most said in terms of discounts. Over half feel these practices invade their privacy.

>Want to think fast and stay sharp long into old age? Well, new research from the Women's Health Study found that the healthy fats for your body are also healthy for brain function. The research published in the journal Annals of Neurology, analyzed data from a subset of 6,000 women, all over the age of 65. When looking at changes in cognitive function, they found that the total amount of fat intake did not really matter, but it is the type of fat did. In particular, saturated fat was associated with worse overall cognitive function and memory in women over time. On a more positive note, mono-unsaturated fat was associated with better overall cognitive function and memory.  Healthier fats to focus on include the fats in salmon, sardines, herring, olives, extra virgin olive oil, flax seeds, hemp seeds, avocados and various nuts and seeds. Retail dietitians unite - get the word out to your shoppers and be sure your store's merchandisers take note and add displays and information about these findings.

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