Jeanie Wyatt: Dieting is a fun business

San Antonio Express-News

Web Posted : 02/02/2004 12:00 AM

http://news.mysanantonio.com/story....110&xlc=1122829

It seems that everyone is on the Atkins diet these days and focusing on what it includes, high protein, and forgetting that the real key to being successful on this diet is what you avoid: carbohydrates, sugars and alcohol.

This diet may be the first “fun” diet in that your morning can start with bacon and eggs. Dieters are thrilled to have permission to eat steaks, and not even mad cow disease can shake their resolve.

The restaurant business is doing very well these days, helped by an improved economy but also probably by this enormously popular diet that's giving diners permission to eat what they typically went out to order anyway. The higher the price of beef soared, the more in demand it seemed.

If it weren't for Japan's continued ban on U.S. beef imports due to the mad cow scare, cattle ranchers would be even happier cowpokes.

The media have not been the only ones to run with the mad-cow-scare herd. More than 30 countries quickly banned U.S. beef exports, which accounts for 10 percent of our beef industry. Japan, which seems to lead the herd, has publicly stated that, compared with the Japanese approach, testing measures taken in the United States are fairly weak and inadequate.

And Japan's opinion does matter. That country accounts for 30 percent of all U.S. beef exports. Additionally, other Asian countries may be reluctant to lift their bans on U.S. exports until Japan declares its intent to do so.

While the U.S. beef industry may scoff and call the move unfair, the fact is that we imposed the same types of bans on Canadian beef when a single Canadian cow was found to be infected in May last year.

Never mind the fact that there hasn't been a single case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), the human version of mad cow disease, in North America. People see the 139-person death toll in the U.K. and fear an epidemic is on the way.

According to San Antonio's own Dr. Abraham Verghese writing in the Wall Street Journal, they don't stop to think about the 60 million people in Great Britain, some of whom might have eaten the same beef, or the fact that Europeans generally eat more dishes involving brains or other nerve tissues thought to be the source for spreading mad cow disease.

Granted, the disease is terrible and its effects are tragic, but the chance of contracting the disease is almost zero. In fact, consumers should worry more about three more common types of food-borne bacteria: salmonella, listeria and toxoplasm. Combined, these bacteria kill 1,500 Americans a year.

As food processing and food handling has become a huge industry, “food poisoning” always has been a risk, and there has been more than one example. The risks have been minimized through regulation, inspection and education.

Cleanliness and proper temperatures are the best methods of prevention.

However, new risks from food sources seem to pop up every day. Mad cow disease caused Chick-fil-A to change its advertising campaign to “eat more chicken” just in time for the Asian bird flu, a disease thought to be carried by chickens. What is someone in the food business to do? Claim to be Atkins-friendly at a minimum!

There are examples of food-poisoning concern for foods from farm-grown salmon to green-top onions, and there are sure to be others to follow. Also, we can't lose sight of the fact that obesity and diabetes could be the primary symptom of America's worst case of food poisoning: high saturated fat.

When my stepson suggested to me a few years ago that one day fast food or soft drink companies could be liable for not disclosing their product risks, it gave me serious pause.

Food technology has much promise in the future in terms of making food sources safer, healthier and more interesting.

You may not be aware that there's even a lot of science that goes into some foods, particularly snack food, called “more-ishness,” where they have perfected the snack's appeal to your palette.

You cannot eat just one. Fresh popped popcorn is a wimp compared to what can be done with “more-ishness.”

Consumers need to think for themselves and realize that they may have a better chance of wining the lottery or getting struck by lightning than getting mad cow disease from a public food source. However, food poisoning does and can happen and can present a serious risk to health and business.

Go out and have a steak for me, maybe even at the rodeo, and tell yourself that only in America could dieting be such fun.

jwyatt~express-news.net; Jeanie Wyatt is a CFA and CEO of South Texas Money Management.