Lessons Learned
While On The Beat
By Eric L. Adams, Jennifer Gunter, and Dr. David L. Katz
When It Comes to the Health
Dangers of Processed Meats,
the Science is Settled
Nutrition: why does it confuse
us when the truth is simple and
straightforward?
We are living in an age of
information overload, where the
become increasingly blurry. The
whirlwind of trendy nutrition claims
can make us believe we don’t know
anything about health-except, we do.
The most recent entry in the socalled
debate around nutrition is the
series of systematic reviews and metaanalyses
on red meat consumption,
just published in Annals of Internal
Medicine. These papers conclude
that there is “no need to reduce red
and processed meat consumption for
improved health outcomes.”
We believe the inaccurate
will set back many of the gains we
have made in public health.
The researchers have not
performed any new studies.
Despite the fanfare, there is no new
information, and no new-found
incongruences. These red meat
reports simply re-evaluated studies
that have already been peer-reviewed
and published. But critically, they
evaluated these studies using
tools designed for pharmaceutical
trials, which typically prioritize
randomized control trials that tend
to be very difficult and unethical
as lifestyle medicine interventions.
Observational, cohort and
longitudinal studies better measure
lifestyle interventions, because
they can study longer time periods,
adherence and patterns.
As one of us has personally
as medicine, we understand the risks
that come from reports designed to
confound us. In the end, we are made
to believe that the science is unsteady
and the experts disagree.
This is simply not true. True
Health Initiative, a global coalition
of world-leading health specialists,
includes experts from paleo to vegan
who all agree on the fundamentals of
healthy eating. There is pretty much
unanimous agreement amongst the
The recommendations put
forth by these reports are in direct
contradiction to the data reported
by the reports themselves. These
studies provide no compelling reason
to update guidelines, and they do
not address the health detriments
associated with eating red and
processed meat in large quantities.
The problem isn’t that we don’t
know what to eat. The problem is
that we are constantly being fed
a narrative that the jury is still
deliberating on a number of health
matters, when in many cases the
verdict has already been rendered.
And this is a very, very big problem.
And let’s be clear: we have made
a lot of progress. In New York, there
has been a sea change in our approach
to healthy eating. Responding to
Eric L. Adams
the Borough President’s advocacy
on meat reduction, New York City
announced their visionary document,
OneNYC this past April, committing
to move away from processed meats
and towards healthier options. In that
document, branded as NYC’s Green
New Deal, the City committed to a
50% decrease in beef purchasing via
city contracts.
Meatless Mondays began in
school cafeterias as a first step
towards meat reduction and quickly
expanded beyond schools, expanding
to hospitals; other City agencies are
considering implementing this policy
as well.
These decisions were not made
haphazardly; they were made because
supporting them. Reports like the
Annals’ meta-analyses on red meat
irresponsibly undermine nutrition
science.
We often hear that shifting away
from processed meats would be
unpalatable to the broader public.
But there is a clear appetite for
plant-based eating. The borough
president recently took the lead on
creating a plant-based nutrition clinic
at Bellevue Hospital. In January
2018, the CEO of New York Health
+ Hospitals announced a $400,000
investment into this clinic. There is
now a wait list of 650 people. We need
more plant-based options, not fewer.
The Annals of Internal
Medicine red meat meta-analyses
and systematic reviews are not a
revolution in dietary guidelines, they
are simply a series of papers using
claims the papers make threaten to
delay change with confusion. We are
standing at a crossroads. Let us rely on
sense before nonsense, and continue
to evolve our communities towards
better nutrition, sustainability and
a culture that makes health the norm
and not the exception.
Eric Adams is Brooklyn borough
president.
Dr. David L. Katz and Jennifer
Lutz are Founder and Director of True
Health Initiative.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 22 OVEMBER 1-7, 2019 BTR
‘Little Italy in the
Bronx’ brand expands
product offerings
The Belmont Business Improvement
District and Summer Garden
Food announce two new additions including
imported Italian gnocchi and
bronze die pasta made from Tuscan
wheat to the portfolio of the ‘Little Italy
in the Bronx’ products, which already
includes seven sauce varieties from
cherry tomato to arrabbiata. Sourced
from Tuscany, the new pasta and traditional
Italian gnocchi will be available
at stores nationwide beginning in
early 2020, including spaghetti, angel
hair, linguine, rigatoni, rotini and farfalle.
“Our mission at the Belmont Business
Improvement District is to promote
and expand the economic wellbeing
of our local business community
and the iconic Arthur Avenue neighborhood,
by promoting our ‘Little Italy
in the Bronx’ brand, our strong ethnic
heritage and traditions. Our community
has been deeply rooted in our
Italian heritage for over a century,”
said Peter Madonia, chairman of the
Belmont BID. “When Summer Garden
Food fi rst approached us about a partnership
about the sauce line, it seemed
like a natural fi t.”
Headquartered in Youngstown,
OH and operated by Zidian Group,
Summer Garden Food was originally
founded as a family-owned and operated
business in 1948 by the late John
Zidian who fi rst immigrated from Italy.
“As a company, we are always looking
to expand our footprint and launch
a premium pasta sauce. After searching
for the right partner, we found that
the Arthur Avenue neighborhood was
a perfect fi t not only due to its history,
but also because the amount of artisan
shops and restaurants that are all
concentrated in this unique neighborhood.
We simply couldn’t fi nd another
area like this outside of Italy,” said
Mike Audi, national vice president of
Sales for Summer Garden Foods.
Originally launched in January
2018, the Little Italy Bronx pasta
sauces are now in over 6,000 stores in
the U.S., including ACME, Meijer, Publix,
Safeway, ShopRite, Stop and Shop,
Jewel and more.
In addition to the Tuscan pasta,
the Belmont BID and Summer Garden
Food are currently working on introducing
Little Italy in the Bronx Gnocchi.
While the Tuscan pasta features
100% wheat from the Tuscan countryside
and water from the springs of Valdichiana,
the Gnocchi will consist of
80% potato and 20% wheat fl our made
in the Calabria region.
Unlike most pasta sauce plants
in the U.S. that utilize large kettles
and silos of tomato paste, all Little Italy
in the Bronx Sauce are crafted in
small-batch production, which avoids
overcooking tomatoes. Summer Garden
Foods produces Little Italy in the
Bronx sauce in small kettles creating
more of a sauce that consumers would
fi nd in Italy using ingredients from
the garden and simply cooked for a
short time.
A portion of proceeds of the Little
Italy Bronx pasta sauces and products
go towards the Belmont BID to help
preserve the Arthur Avenue neighborhood
and traditions for generations to
come. As an economic and cultural engine,
the Belmont neighborhood hosts
thousands of regional and local shoppers,
as well as domestic and international
tourists each year, making
it one of the busiest and well-known
communities in New York City.