I’ve been wanting to get to this topic for a while, but it has languished in the in-box, as too many other things do:

The headline is, “The Food Industry Fights Back,” and it’s written by Dave Fusaro, editor in chief of foodprocessing.com (“Home Page for the Food & Beverage Industry”). The subhed is just as good: “On obesity, food safety, 'questionable' ingredients, the industry can do a better job of tactfully defending itself; the key is transparency.” Read more »

Dateline Doha: Drs. Robert Lustig and Robert Lefever are interviewed in this Aljazeera report on the toxicity, the addictiveness, and the dangers of refined sugar.

I’ve said many times that the causes of disordered eating are extremely complicated, a condition that muddles any conversation about overcoming the personal and societal ills that result. Obesity is a very noticeable outcome, and there are others, of course.

One such muddler is the phenomenon of craving, which is well known to addicts of every stripe. It’s the biochemically driven desire to ingest more of the addictive substance or engage again in the addictive experience, because the body has become habituated to the addictive action. Read more »

Just connected, if only in Twitter-ese, with Cameron Hay, 34, of Melbourne, Australia, a former personal trainer now working back from 315 pounds and blogging about it at fitnessandthefatguy.com.

After brief perusing, I thought enough of what I saw to bring him to your attention. Read more »

One of the patently dishonest threads of the healthy food/processed food debate has been Big Food’s complaint that they can put healthy options on their menus, but they can’t make people buy them.

It’s a variant of its explanation of why kids’ menus only have hot dogs, fries, and other crap. “It’s all they’ll eat,” they complain. One defect of this strain is that it’s just not true — and besides, “I’m the daddy.”. Read more »

Tweets the deserve a longer moment in the sun:

Surrendering just may save your life  [RT from @wtpicketfence]

Worst marketing practice of the week: Crayons functional kids’ drinks  [RT from @YaleRuddCenter]

Oh dear...!!! 8% of Brits think strawberry ice cream counts towards your "five a day" - Mirror Online  [RT from @NutritionRocks1] Read more »

In April 2009, I attended an invitation-only conference on obesity in Bainbridge Island, Wash., and it was one of the best strokes of good fortune I’ve yet encountered, not only for the knowledge that was shared but for the relationships I got to form. Read more »

   If your doctor wants to address the excess weight you’re carrying, she’s being advised not to use loaded words such as “obesity” – even if it’s the proper medical term.
    According to a new study of 390 obese patients, certain phrases can lead people to clam up and stop talking about the issue with their physician.

When I maybe 12 years old, I talked Donald, the sometimes-shaven caretaker at the synagogue my family attended, to let me take home the leftover challah after Saturday services. It was just a few slices, but they was free, and I wouldn’t have to share them with anyone.

Are you sure it’s OK with your folks, Donald would ask, and of course, I’d assure him it was, just as assuredly that it was not.

I don’t remember how many times he gave me the leftovers, but I remember why he stopped: My mother found a crumb-filled bag under my bed, and the jig was up. Read more »

Though I've been invited, I haven't experienced the COR Retreat in suburban Minneapolis, but I'm very interested in what they're doing. Cofounder Burt Nordstrand, whom I met when our similar-themed books were released about the same time, sent me this video to share: