As we expand Food Frontiers and garner more attention, we have received a variety of good questions. One person (thanks, Greg Laden) asked about our process and how our posts are written. Food Frontiers was started at the specific request of Mehmood Khan, our chief scientific officer. We have been putting an increased focus on R&D, and Mehmood has built what we think is a rather formidable team. One of the team’s requests was more communications support – they really wanted to share what they are working on. So he thought, why not a blog? Food Frontiers is an outlet for the R&D team to talk about the work they are doing. They know that not everyone will agree with everything they write and, as we have seen, they will get some criticism. They tell me that it’s all part of the scientific process and they are... Read more

We are seeing some good questions in the comments section and I’ve shared some with our R&D team. Commenter @Passerby asked the following question: “We could start with a simple issue first: the exceptional acidity, maintained by phosphoric and citric acids, in carbonated beverages. If you drop the sugar content, can you raise the pH without incurring microbial contamination issues? We should talk about the consequences of chronic phosphate acidity exposure in the oral cavity, GI tract and in particular, in stomach. It has consequences in bone mineral maintenance, ion channel transport that may affect the CNS.” To respond, I’d like to introduce Danielle Greenberg, Senior Nutrition Fellow at PepsiCo and Loretta Chappell, VP, R&D Strategy, Global Sparkling and Energy Platform at Pepsi who co-authored the post below: “The simple answer is no….dropping the sugar content will not allow you to raise the pH without incurring microbial contamination.  A great... Read more

(Beijing, China, June 17, 2010) The latest scientific research into cardiovascular disease and the role the food industry can play in promoting heart health is the focus of a symposium series that the Quaker Oats Company and PepsiCo are hosting at the World Congress of Cardiology 2010 in Beijing on June 16-19.  Quaker is a division of PepsiCo. This is the first time the World Heart Federation is holding the WCC in China, working in partnership with the Chinese Society of Cardiology and the Chinese Medical Association.  A recent article in a journal of the American Heart Association points to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) as an urgent global public health problem that claimed more than 17 million lives in 2004. More then 230 million Chinese have some form of CVD, resulting in an annual toll of 2 million heart attacks, 7 million strokes, and 3 million deaths. The... Read more

PepsiCo touches the lives of tens of millions of people every day. We are driven by the belief that by joining forces with partners across many sectors, we can make a far greater impact in the fight to reduce obesity and address other global nutrition needs than by working alone. As part of our efforts to help reduce obesity in the U.S., we are a founding member of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF). The Foundation is a CEO-led organization and a national, multi-year effort designed to help reduce obesity – especially childhood obesity – by 2015. On Monday, the HWCF joined First Lady Michelle Obama and the Partnership for a Healthier America to announce its new pledge to reduce 1.5 trillion calories by the end of 2015. “Solving the obesity epidemic requires far more than anything government can do alone and today’s announcement represents an important... Read more

April is Minority Health Month and this year’s theme is “Man Up for Health: Healthy Men Move Our Communities Forward.” PepsiCo applauds the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services for highlighting the need to help men, especially minority men, realize that they have much more control over their health than they may think. Men, particularly African-American and Hispanic men, are at higher risk for serious health conditions like heart disease, stroke and diabetes. However, many of the conditions that increase their health risk are preventable through lifestyle changes like diet and exercise. Of the 10 leading causes of death in men, six (eating less fat, eating more fruits and vegetables, lowering sodium, etc) are directly influenced by diet and exercise choices. PepsiCo can help make it easier than expected to improve diets via our expanding global portfolio of healthier products. Many of our products can make... Read more

In this brief, 5 minute podcast, PepsiCo nutritionists Danielle Greenberg, PhD, and Joy Dubost, PhD, RD discuss what research shows about the differences between High Fructose Corn Syrup, natural sweeteners and table sugar, and the relationship between diet beverages and weight gain. Read more

In order to highlight the importance of World Health Day, we asked Derek Yach, PepsiCo’s Senior Vice President for Global Health Policy, a few questions. What is World Health Day? World Health Day 2010 is today, April 7. The theme this year is ‘1000 cities, 1000 lives’ and the focus is on opening up public spaces to health – via things like activities in parks, town hall meetings, clean-up campaigns, or closing off portions of streets to motorized vehicles. The World Health Organization aims to collect 1000 stories of urban health champions who have taken action and had a significant impact on health in their cities. Events are being held this week in cities all over the world in order to promote health in urban areas. Why the focus on urbanization and health? Currently over 3 billion people live in cities and over the next 30 years virtually all... Read more

Many of us have been told how important whole grains are to our diet, but do you know why they are so beneficial?  In this 2-part Sound Bites podcast, two PepsiCo nutritionists – Heather Nelson Cortes, who holds a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry, and Michelle Slimko, a registered dietitian and doctoral candidate in Public Health – discuss whole grains including insights into: What constitutes a whole grain and how to identify whole grains while shopping The difference between high fiber products and those that contain whole grains Tips on how to include whole grains in your daily diet Thanks to Heather and Michelle for their insights on whole grains. Please be sure to return the Food Frontiers blog on the Health and Wellness section of PepsiCo.com for other updates, information and podcasts in the future – and please leave us comments and feedback! Thanks again. — Heather Nelson Cortes, Ph.D. is a... Read more

Welcome back to part 2 of our discussion with Heather Nelson Cortes and Michelle Slimko. Thanks for listening. Read more

Many of us have heard of antioxidants, but not everyone knows what they are or how they fit into a well-balanced diet. In this brief, 2-part podcast, PepsiCo nutritionist Joy Dubost, a registered dietitian with a PhD in food science and nutrition, dives into the research around antioxidants, including: Why antioxidants are so good for you – and what are the best sources in the diet How consuming a variety of antioxidants benefit your overall health If processed foods contain antioxidants Thanks to Joy for her insights and facts about this important topic.  Please be sure to return the Food Frontiers blog on the Health and Wellness section of PepsiCo.com for other updates, information and podcasts in the future – and please leave us comments and feedback! Thanks again. Dr. Dubost is a Principal Nutritionist for PepsiCo’s Nutrition Communication team and a professional member of the Institute of Food Technologists. In... Read more