- With Mayo Clinic nutritionists
Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
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Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
Katherine Zeratsky and Jennifer Nelson
Jennifer K. Nelson, M.S., R.D., L.D., C.N.S.D.
Jennifer Nelson is your link to a better diet. As specialty editor of the Food & Nutrition Center, she plays a vital role in bringing you healthy recipes and meal planning."Nutrition is one way people have direct control over the quality of their lives," she says. "I hope to translate the science of nutrition into ways that people can select and prepare great-tasting foods that help maintain health and treat disease."
A St. Paul, Minn., native, she is certified by the National Board of Nutrition Support Certification, has been with Mayo Clinic since 1978, and is director of clinical dietetics and an associate professor of nutrition at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
She leads clinical nutrition efforts for a staff of more than 50 clinical dietitians and nine dietetic technicians and oversees staffing, strategic and financial planning, and quality improvement. Nelson was co-editor of the James Beard Foundation Award-winning "The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook." She has been a contributing author to and reviewer of many Mayo Clinic books, including "Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for EveryBody," "The Mayo Clinic Family Health Book" and "The Mayo Clinic/Williams Sonoma Cookbook." She contributes to the strategic direction of the Food & Nutrition Center, which includes creating recipes and menus, reviewing nutrition content of various articles, and answering nutrition questions posed to Ask a Specialist.
Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
As a specialty editor for the Food & Nutrition Center, Katherine Zeratsky helps you sort through the facts and figures, the fads and the hype to learn more about nutrition and diet.A Marinette, Wis., native, she is certified in dietetics by the state of Minnesota and the American Dietetic Association. She has been with Mayo Clinic since 1999.
She is active in nutrition-related curriculum and course development in pediatrics at Mayo Clinic Rochester and nutrition education related to the physiology and recommended intakes for premature infants.
Other areas of interest include breast milk and formula safety, neonatal feeding, and nutrition for breast-feeding mothers.
She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, served a dietetic internship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and worked as a registered dietitian and health risk counselor at ThedaCare of Appleton, Wis., before joining the Mayo Clinic staff.
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Nutrition-wise blog
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June 27, 2009
Blog: Fortifying junk food
By Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
Goiter. Rickets. Pellagra. Anemia. Neural tube defects. All were rampant health problems that afflicted — even killed — people less than 100 years ago. Today these have been mostly eradicated by the deliberate addition of vitamins and minerals to foods — either through enrichment or fortification.
Enrichment means adding back nutrients that are lost during processing. For instance, adding B vitamins to milled flour. Fortification means adding nutrients beyond what a food naturally contains — either adding more of a nutrient or adding a nutrient that wasn't in the food originally. Examples include adding iodine to salt, and adding vitamins A and D to milk.
No one is arguing much about enrichment — after all nutrients are just being replaced. However, fortification is another story.
For example, in late 2008 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter to the Coca-Cola Company about Diet Coke Plus, which is fortified with vitamins and minerals, stating that it's inappropriate to fortify snack foods such as carbonated beverages. The letter went on to say that the product's label did not provide the required information to justify the use of the health claim "plus." And concerns about allowing manufacturers to fortify junk food lead the Canadian government earlier this year to postpone proposed changes that would loosen regulations governing food fortification.
What are the concerns? Some nutritionists fear that consumers will prefer fortified junk food over naturally healthier options — like whole grains, fresh fruit, low-fat milk or even water. Others worry that allowing discretionary fortification of foods could result in over- or under-fortification in consumers' diets and create nutrient imbalances in the food supply.
On the surface adding nutrients to foods seems simple, but look a little deeper and complex questions arise. What's your opinion? Do you favor fortified foods? Should there be limits on which foods can be fortified?
7 comments posted
- Coca-Cola Company 10-Dec-08 warning letter. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2008/ucm1048050.htm. Accessed June 26, 2009.
- Beauchesne E, Kondro W. Health Canada comtemplates providing food industry with 'discretionary' authority to fortify junk foods. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2009;180(12):1196. http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/180/12/1196. Accessed June 26, 2009.
- Nutritional quality guidelines for foods: Fortification policy. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=c4b717c60ad0e7a29cc183105b179da4&rgn=div8&view=text&node=21:2.0.1.1.4.2.1.1&idno=21. Accessed June 26, 2009.
7 comments posted