The Danish government apparently believes they can and should decide which foods are healthy and levy taxes on foods they deem unhealthy. While most of the world is realizing science does not back up the claim that high quality, organic, grass-fed sources of saturated fats are unhealthy (e.g., Siri-Torino et al, 2010), Denmark is moving in the opposite direction and proposing legislation to discourage people from eating saturated fats. Perhaps someone should remind Lars Løkke Rasmussen that human breast milk has one of the highest concentrations of saturated fat (including lauric acid found in virgin coconut oil) and is essential to human health and infant development. Is the Danish government proposing that nursing mothers should discontinue breast feeding?

An excellent resource for understanding healthy fats is Dr Mary Enig's book, Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol (2001). 

Below is an interesting rebuttal written by Stanley A Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meats. Organic, unrefined, plant-based sources of saturated fat, like virgin coconut oil, are critical to health for all of the same reasons provided below for grass-fed sources of animal fat. Furthermore, high-quality, organic, plant-based sources of saturated fats, like virgin coconut oil, are more readily available in the American marketplace over raw milk, raw butter, and animal food products from grass-fed animals.

“Denmark is a nation that is famous for its high-quality butter, cheese, and pork, which all contain large amounts of health-giving saturated animal fat. Now Denmark has decided to place a heavy tax on all foods containing saturated animal fats. The tax is scaled to the amount of saturated animal fat in the food, so lard would have a 35% tax on its consumption.

Saturated animal fat from healthy animals is a key part of the traditional Danish diet, but that was ignored.

Most of the Danish people oppose this tax, but that did not seem to matter to the Danish legislators, ninety percent of whom voted for the tax.

The legislators claim that taxing foods based on the amount of saturated fat they contain will force people to eat “healthier” foods, increase lifespan, and avoid disease. None of these things are true.

The basic human right of the Danish people to choose their own food was ignored.

Now, Finland, Britain, and Romania are all considering imposing a tax on saturated fat consumption. The goal is to force everybody to eat a “plant-based” diet.

Aside from the fact that no government has the right to control what we eat, this is a very bad policy. Saturated animal fat has been demonized, but is actually a vital nutrient needed by human beings. Since crucial vitamins such as Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and Vitamin K are fat-soluble, our bodies need this fat to properly absorb the vitamins. Saturated animal fats contain substances that keep the mind sharp and functioning, and help the immune system. Saturated animal fats provide many other nutrients that our bodies need and expect, and modern vegetable oils just do not contain these nutrients. A detailed article explaining the truth about fats is The Skinny on Fats.

For most of human existence, humans ate a Paleo-style diet that was animal based, getting most of their nutrients from wild animals, fish, and shellfish, though many roots, fruits, nuts, and vegetables were also eaten. The whole animal was eaten, including all the organ meats, and the bones were chewed on and often made into broth. We and our bodies have evolved to thrive upon animal foods. All animal foods contain saturated animal fat, and that is what our bodies have evolved to use. By making it harder for us to afford the very food that our bodies need to stay healthy and thrive, the government will make people sicker and weaker.

The fossil record shows what moving to a plant-based diet can do. The skeletons of humans before the invention of agriculture showed tall, strong people with dense, healthy bones, often with no sign of disease. The skeletons of people after the spread of agriculture were often a foot shorter, with thin, fragile bones, and showed the mark of many diseases.

History shows that the ruling classes in agriculture-based societies often reserved meat and other animal foods for themselves, forcing the peasants to eat mainly grains and vegetables. Medieval Europe is a great example of this practice, where only nobles were allowed to hunt wild game, and most of the meat produced by agriculture was taken by the nobles, their soldiers, and the upper classes. The term “meat eater,” meant someone of importance. The meat- and fat-eating classes were taller, stronger, more intelligent, healthier, and lived much longer than the peasant classes, whose access to meat and fat were strictly limited. A common person who hunted wild game was considered a “poacher,” and would be hanged if caught.

The meat shortage in Europe persisted well into the nineteenth century, when the high cost of meat made it too expensive for most people. In contrast, meat was cheap and plentiful in early America, with plenty of wild game, no poaching laws, and many domestic animals who thrived in the new land. Many people immigrated to the United States because they heard that even poor people could afford meat there. Of course, the meat was high-quality wild game, wild fish, wild shellfish, and grassfed and pastured animals. The curse of factory meat had not yet been invented.

Writers at the time of the American Revolution noted that the Americans were much taller, stronger, and healthier than the poor classes in Europe. Americans, eating a diet full of animal fats and meat, were noted for their intelligence, inventiveness, and ability to innovate and get things done. “Yankee ingenuity” became a common phrase because of these qualities.

History shows us that eating animal foods, in the form of grassfed and pastured meat and fat, is very beneficial to human beings. It is the food that is most natural to us. Dairy-based fats such as butter, unprocessed milk and cheese, yogurt, kefir, and others, have also been shown to be very nutritious, especially when eaten in their traditional forms, and made from pastured dairy animals.

Bad laws such as the Danish fat tax are actually moving us back to the Middle Ages, making it harder for us to afford the foods we need to support the natural functions of our bodies, and pushing us towards a plant-based diet that may be fine for herbivores with four stomachs, but not for human beings.

This tax will benefit large industries, and nobody else.

The food industry will benefit because it makes much more money on plant-based refined foods, such as dry cereal, which are very cheap to produce.

The medical industry will benefit because more people will be sick because of inadequate nutrition, which will mean more profit from medical services and drugs.

If the call for a fat tax reaches your nation, it is important to fight it and preserve our rights to eat the foods our bodies need.”

Hi Everyone! The Phil Lempert Report recently aired an interesting story on the increasing awareness and rising demand for functional foods. Functional foods are defined as food and components of foods that are believed to improve overall health, reduce the risk of specific diseases, and minimize the effects of other health concerns. To summarize, Americans want functional foods in their diets and feel they make a meaningful impact on their lives, but feel stymied by expense, unappealing taste, and lack of widespread availability.  In addition, almost half of all Americans do not feel they have enough information to understand which foods provide added benefit. In other words, Americans do not have complete information on how to choose, balance, and incorporate functional foods in their diet and need more guidance. This is understandable considering the widespread influence large, multi-national corporations have on availability of food products and the dominance of industry-driven marketing. I have included the story below for reference.

It is interesting to note that fruits and vegetables ranked the highest in perceived “healthiness” (70%) even though a well rounded, healthy diet includes other functional foods besides fruits and vegetables. In particular, fish oil is the only dietary oil that is mentioned as a functional food by survey participants. Thanks to the ground breaking work of Dr. Mary Enig and other lipids chemists, we know virgin coconut oil has great potential as a functional food. Virgin coconut oil does not just enhance the absorption and utilization of the DHA and EPA omega 3s in the aforementioned fish oil, but also provides a rich source of lauric acid and medium chain fatty acids. I have personally benefitted from virgin coconut oil on my journey recovering from a collection of digestive disorders and cannot be a bigger proponent of virgin coconut oil as a functional food.

IFIC Functional Foods 2011 Survey (available at: http://www.foodnutritionscience.com/index.cfm/do/monsanto.article/articleId/559.cfm)

Americans want to take advantage of the health benefits of foods, according to the2011 Functional Foods/Foods for Health Consumer Trending Survey. The survey asked questions from a random sample of 1,000 U.S. adults about various attitudes toward health and consumer awareness of 34 different diet and health relationships.

The majority of those surveyed (73%) say that food and nutrition are responsible for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, with exercise (63%) following close behind. Eighty-seven percent of participants believe that certain foods have health benefits that go beyond basic nutrition. An overwhelming 90% of those surveyed can name a food and its associated benefit (compared to 77% in 1998).

The top ten functional foods named by participants in this study are fruits and vegetables (70%), fish and fish oil (18%), dairy (16%), herbs and spices (10%), whole grains (10%), fiber (7%), meat and poultry (7%), tea and green tea (5%), nuts (4%) and vitamins and supplements (2%). Fruits and veggies are overwhelmingly number one in terms of what consumers perceive as functional foods, but Elizabeth Rahavi, RD, Associate Director, Health and Wellness for International Food Information Council and Foundation, says we can broaden Americans' perspective about functional foods.

"When we communicate about health benefits, it's helpful to remember that the functional foods that aren't necessarily top of mind for consumers, like nuts, tea, fiber, whole grains and dairy, are also nutritious food choices. While important, it's not just fruits and vegetables. There are lots of healthful components in a variety of great tasting foods and beverages that can make a difference in our health," says Rahavi.

Functional foods are defined as food and components of foods that are believed to improve overall health, reduce the risk of specific diseases, and minimize the effects of other health concerns. The survey found that 87% (vs. 85% in 2009) are interested in learning more about foods with benefits, which makes sense when almost one in five Americans (19%) cite healthy aging as a top health concern, 46% cite cardiovascular disease, 32% cite weight and 22% cite cancer.

Consumers said calcium (92%) and vitamin D (90%) were the top benefits derived from functional foods for bone health; protein (87%) and B vitamins (86%) were mentioned as good for overall health; omega-3 fatty acids (85%) took the reigns for heart health; probiotics (81%) and fiber (79%) were identified as good for digestive health.

Still, even with all this knowledge out there – and the fact that consumer awareness of functional foods has significantly increased since 1998 – consumption levels of these key food components have generally not changed since 2005. The struggle to further incorporate functional foods, consumers say, has to do with expense, taste and availability. Also, only slightly more than half (57%) feel they have enough information to understand which foods provide an added benefit.

"The bottom line is that the solution to overcoming these barriers will have to be tailored to the individual and for each functional component. We can further motivate people by creating greater awareness about the functional foods that they may already be consuming, whether it's whole grain cereal for breakfast or yogurt as a snack. Let people know what they are doing well, and then work within a framework to identify their next step on their path toward better health,” says Rahavi.

Most consumers (78%) agree that functional foods can make a meaningful impact on their health when they consume them, and knowing that these foods are good for their health is a good reason (76%) for consumers to eat them more often.

"We still have a big mountain to climb in terms of changing consumers' purchasing behaviors. Providing practical and positive messages that connect taste with health will go a long way in helping consumers move toward better health,” adds Rahavi.

Please feel free to share your thoughts here or on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/meltbutteryspread.

-Cygnia, Founder of Prosperity Organic Foods