Food Science Commons^™

Obesity And Food Choices Among Faculty And Staff At A Large Urban University, Marjorie Freedman, Rebecca Rubinstein

Faculty Publications

Objective: In order to address increasing health care costs associated with obesity, this study sought to determine prevalence of overweight and obesity and examine eating behaviors, food choices, health beliefs, and attitudes of university employees. Participants and Methods: An online survey was distributed to > 3,800 faculty and staff at a large public metropolitan university in Winter 2008. Results: Almost half (48%) of 806 respondents were classified as overweight or obese. Compared to those with normal weights, overweight and obese respondents consumed fewer fruits and vegetables (p < .05), were less confident in making healthful food choices (p < .001), and were more influenced by food choices available in on-campus dining facilities (p < .05). Conclusions: Obesity among university employees warrants attention. Because these employees have less self-efficacy and consume less healthful diets than their normal weight colleagues, universities need to improve on-campus access to healthful foods.

Development, Evaluation, And Validation Of Environmental Assessment Tools To Evaluate The College Nutrition Environment, Marjorie Freedman

Faculty Publications

Objective: To develop, evaluate, and validate 2 nutrition environment assessment tools (surveys), for specific use in combating overweight on college/university campuses.Participants and Methods: Invitations to complete surveys were e-mailed to food service and health center directors at 47 universities, Winter 2008. Overall response rate was 48%. Responses from the 39 individuals who completed tool evaluations at the end of each survey were analyzed. Follow-up interviews and site visits performed through Summer 2008 validated responses. Results: The majority of respondents (64%) indicated tools were effective at assessing their nutrition environments; 78% believed these types of assessment tools to be important to …

Sodexo Leading Environmental Change At Lehigh Valley Health Network, Andrew Barsky Cdm, Cfpp

Clinical Nutrition Service

No abstract provided.

Development Of New Functional Food Applications Of Edible Irish Seaweed, Sabrina Cox

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

Postharvest Hardness And Color Evolution Of White Button Mushrooms (Agaricus Bisporus)., Debabandya Mohapatra, Zuberi M. Bira, Joseph Kerry, Jesus Maria Frias, Fernanda A.R. Oliveira

Articles

The quality evaluation of mushrooms was studied by storing fresh white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) for 6-8 days, at various controlled temperature conditions (3.5 -15°C) and measuring the instrumental textural hardness and color of the mushroom cap for different product batches. A non linear mixed effect weibull model was used to describe mushroom cap texture and color kinetics during storage considering the batch variability into account. Storage temperature was found to play a significant role in controlling texture and colour degradation. On lowering storage temperature i) the extent of the final browning extent in the mushroom after storage …

Substrate Profiling And Aldehyde Dismutase Activity Of The Kvβ2 Subunit Of The Mammalian Kv1 Potassium Channel, A. Kumari, Barry Ryan, J. Dolly, Gary Henehan

Articles

Voltage-dependent potassium channels (Kv) are involved in various cellular signalling processes by governing the membrane potential of excitable cells. The cytosolic face of these α subunit-containing channels is associated with β subunits that can modulate channel responses. Surprisingly, the β subunit of the mammalian Kv1 channels, Kvβ2, has a high level of sequence homology with the aldo-keto reductase (AKR) superfamily of proteins. Recent studies have shown that Kvβ2 can catalyze the reduction of aldehydes and, most significantly, that channel function is modulated when Kvβ2-bound NADPH is concomitantly oxidized. As a result, the redox chemistry of this subunit is crucial to …

High Crimes, Not Misdemeanors: Deterring The Production Of Unsafe Food, Rena I. Steinzor

Faculty Scholarship

In the fall of 2008, Minnesota public health officials became alarmed by an unusually high number of illnesses and deaths caused by salmonella poisoning. Federal and state regulators and the news media eventually traced the outbreak back to products supplied by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). Employees shipped batches that tested positive for salmonella from a plant with a leaking roof, mold growing on ceilings and walls, rodent infestation, filthy processing receptacles, and feathers and feces in the air filtration system. Under an agreement with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Georgia state inspectors visited the PCA plant nine …

Family Members' Influence On Family Meal Vegetable Choices, Tionni R. Wenrich, J. Lynne Brown, Michelle Miller-Day, Kevin J. Kelley, Eugene J. Lengerich

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Objective—Characterize the process of family vegetable selection (especially cruciferous, deep orange, and dark green leafy vegetables); demonstrate the usefulness of Exchange Theory (how family norms and past experiences interact with rewards and costs) for interpreting the data.

Design—Eight focus groups, two with each segment (men/women vegetable-likers/dislikers based on a screening form). Participants completed a vegetable intake form.

Setting—Rural Appalachian Pennsylvania.

Participants—61 low-income, married/cohabiting men (n=28) and women (n=33).

Analysis—Thematic analysis within Exchange Theory framework for qualitative data. Descriptive analysis, t-tests and chi-square tests for quantitative data.

Results—Exchange Theory proved useful for understanding that regardless …