Food safety concerns are up and front in the country again, with recent recalls hitting the retail shelves of organically grown carrots, slivered onions, and liverwurst sold by brands that include Boar's Head and McDonald's. Some question whether these high-profile incidents herald deeper challenges for the U.S. food safety system. But experts caution not to panic-and they point to improvements in detection and response as reasons why recall news is so prominent.

While the increase in recalls may alarm, it could be a sign that foodborne illnesses are increasingly being found and handled faster rather than a sign of a failing system. Rutgers University food science department chair Don Schaffner said the tools of whole genome sequencing now allow health officials to pinpoint and track an outbreak with precision in a way that simply wasn't possible before. That quick identification allows public health officials to move fast-to interview victims, trace sources of contamination-when a problem surfaces.

Public health expert Craig Hedberg at the University of Minnesota comments that many of these outbreaks would have otherwise gone undetected. Advanced surveillance and laboratory analysis allow small clusters of illness to be linked directly to a source, so recalls can be issued and public advisories can be released on time.

"When these outbreaks are identified and investigated, steps can be taken to protect public health," Hedberg says. "That's why there's a strong interest in keeping the public informed." Food Recalls Are on the Rise, but is it Necessarily Bad News?

Outbreaks of foodborne illnesses are by nature hard to predict. According to Schaffner, the recent clustering of high-profile incidents could simply be coincidental and not indicative of a systemic problem.

The eating habits and food production also make their contribution to the changes in food safety. Food safety expert Darin Detwiler from Northeastern University points out that the more people choose ready meals and restaurant meals, the greater the complexity of food supply chains becomes. Ingredients travel further, go through multiple processing steps, and change hands several times before consumers get them, and the possibilities of contamination increase.

Is the patchwork approach to blame for food safety regulation?

The U.S. food safety system operates on an intricate network of agencies, each covering different aspects of regulation; the USDA focuses on meat and poultry, while the FDA monitors most other food items, including overseeing recalls. In outbreak situations, the CDC works in conjunction with local health departments to investigate and contain the spread of illnesses.

Despite this overall framework, gaps in food safety can occur. Civil litigation serves as a safety net when food-borne diseases slip through regulatory cracks. According to Timothy Lytton, a professor at Georgia State College of Law, liability suits compel food producers to adhere to strict safety standards. Insurance companies, which cover potential risks, will also help through counseling and the promotion of incentives to minimize the risk involved.

Protecting Yourself from Foodborne Illness

As regulatory agencies and companies continue to work on the safety of food, it also remains crucially important for consumers to be proactive at home. Here are some steps:

1. Monitoring Food Recalls: Stay on top of recalls through FDA updates and remove affected products from your kitchen.

2. Hygiene and Its Practices: Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching and after handling food.

3. Wash Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: Even those that are pre-washed should still be washed under running water to remove unseen bacteria, especially from crevices or wounded areas.

4. Prevent Cross-Contamination: Separate cutting boards and utensils must be used for raw meat and fresh fruits and vegetables.

5. Cook Food Properly: Meat, Poultry, and Seafood must be cooked to a safe internal temperature to kill harmful microorganisms.

While food recalls can be scary, they are also a reflection of advances in monitoring and responding to food safety. For instance, due to advances in technology and surveillance, outbreaks may now be detected and contained faster than ever before, thus mitigating the potential risks to public health.

Meanwhile, the increased complexity of the food industry underscores that vigilance needs to be taken at every step of the supply chain. With knowledge, safe food-handling practices, consumers can participate actively in protecting themselves and their families from foodborne diseases.

In the end, the increasing profile of food recalls is as much a story of solutions as of problems — reminding one and all that protecting our food supply is a shared responsibility that involves regulators, producers, and consumers.

From sugary mithai such as jalebi, gulab jamun, laddoo and barfi to fried foods such as puris and pakoras, Diwali is a time for gastronomic delight. While occasional indulgence is unlikely to cause lasting harm, overeating can strain the digestive system, health experts warn.

It can trigger acidity, bloating and indigestion. Excessive consumption of sugary foods can also affect blood sugar levels, particularly in people with diabetes.

Speaking to HealthandMe, two experts explain how festive overeating affects your body and how to ease digestive discomfort.

How Does Overeating Affect Your Digestive System?

Also read: Just Four Days Of High-Fat Diet May Increase Inflammation, Study Finds

Overeating stretches the stomach and may slow gastric emptying, particularly after fatty meals. This can cause heaviness, nausea and abdominal discomfort.

"Excessive consumption of samosas, kachoris, puris and rich gravies can cause heaviness, nausea, belching and abdominal discomfort," said Dr Parmeet Kaur, Chief Dietician, AIIMS.

Dr Ayush Dhingra, Chairman – Gastroenterology, Manipal Hospital, Gurugram, said large portions, eating too quickly and consuming excessive fried, fatty, spicy or sugary foods can trigger digestive discomfort.

Can Festive Binge Eating Trigger Acidity And Acid Reflux?

Large meals distend the stomach, while fatty foods can delay gastric emptying and worsen reflux. Excessive consumption of chole bhature, pakoras, spicy curries and late-night snacks can trigger heartburn, a sour taste in the mouth and the sensation of food coming back into the throat.

Dr Dhingra said an excessively full stomach can aggravate acid reflux. Recurring symptoms may indicate gastroesophageal reflux disease (GORD) and require medical evaluation.

How Do Sweets And Fried Foods Affect Blood Sugar?

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Festive sweets such as jalebi, gulab jamun, laddoo and barfi can rapidly raise blood glucose levels, stimulating insulin secretion. Fried foods, including puris and pakoras, may prolong glucose elevations. Excessive fat intake can also temporarily reduce insulin sensitivity.

Dr Kaur cited a controlled human study in which one day of high-fat overfeeding increased glucose and insulin responses and reduced insulin sensitivity by 28%.

Sugary foods and beverages can also cause blood sugar spikes, making portion control particularly important for people with diabetes, Dr Dhingra told HealthandMe.

Can A Few Days Of Overeating Cause Weight Gain?

Excess calories from sweets, namkeen, fried snacks, rich gravies and sugary beverages can increase body weight.

However, initial weight gain may partly reflect water retention and increased glycogen stores rather than fat accumulation.

A systematic review of 39 studies found an average festive-period weight gain of approximately 0.7 kg, although individual outcomes varied. Repeated overeating can contribute to fat accumulation and affect metabolic health.

When Should You Worry About Digestive Discomfort?

Mild bloating and indigestion may settle on their own, but persistent or severe symptoms should not be dismissed as ordinary indigestion.

Dr Dhingra cautioned that severe upper abdominal pain, particularly when it radiates to the back and is accompanied by nausea, vomiting or fever, could indicate pancreatitis.

Recurring acidity and indigestion also warrant medical evaluation rather than repeated self-medication.

How To Ease Digestive Discomfort After Festive Overeating

Returning to regular eating habits rather than following restrictive diets can help your digestive system settle.

Dr Kaur recommends balanced meals comprising dal, roti, vegetable sabzi, curd and khichdi. Adequate hydration and fibre intake can also support digestion.

Dr Dhingra suggests the following measures:

• Eat smaller meals: Choose lighter, home-cooked food for the next few days.
• Stay hydrated: Drink adequate water throughout the day.
• Take a walk: A gentle 20–30-minute walk after meals can help you avoid remaining inactive.
• Avoid lying down immediately: This is particularly important if you experience acidity or reflux.
• Limit trigger foods: Cut back temporarily on fried, oily, very spicy and sugary foods if they worsen symptoms.
• Monitor blood sugar: People with diabetes should monitor glucose levels as advised and resume their regular meal and medication routines.

Avoid crash diets or skipping meals to compensate for festive overeating. Return to balanced meals and regular eating habits instead.

Do you ever feel energetic in the morning only to feel sluggish in the afternoon? Unable to stifle the yawn at meetings or fighting to keep your eyes open in classrooms? And you find yourself inevitably reaching for that cup of coffee? You are not alone! This is called ‘post-prandial somnolence’. Medical jargon aside, let’s decode why it happens and how to beat it.

What Drives the Post-meal Drowsiness?

The body has a natural clock, called the Circadian rhythm, which drives sleep – wake cycles. This clock brings about a slight dip in alertness in the early afternoon, between 1PM to 4PM and hence the afternoon sleepiness.

But circadian rhythm isn’t the only one driving this slump. The status of digestive power and food plays an important role.

A weak digestive capacity or a weak Agni, as Ayurveda puts it, makes one sluggish after a meal. Also, the quantity and quality of the meal, that is, Matra and Guna of food, help make the distinction between being active or feeling sluggish in the afternoons. A diet rich in refined carbohydrates and fats like maida parotta, Poori, curd, buns/ breads, desserts, etc in large quantities drives this slump. These foods increase Kapha in the body, which makes a person sleepy.

Hydration plays an equally important role. Poor hydration, poor nighttime sleep, and a sedentary lifestyle can worsen the phenomenon.

How Do We Overcome It?

The trick to overcome this slump is to combine food wisely, rather than skipping food. Instead of a large bowl of polished rice with rasam and papad, one can go with a moderate amount of brown rice, a bowl of sambar, vegetable fry, sprouts, or nuts. Maida-based rotis can be replaced with barley-based chapathis with a bowl of moong dal, chana, green leafy vegetables, etc. One can also opt for millet-based khichdi, millet rotis for the same. Foods that are not heavy for digestion and in the right quantity help avoid mid- day sleepiness.

Maintaining hydration by adequate water intake is recommended. One can also opt for fresh fruit juices, water-rich fruits like melons, or water-rich vegetables. Buttermilk is another healthy option for the same.

Physical activity, or Vyayama as Ayurveda describes, is another important aspect to keep in mind. Prolonged sitting often leads to an increase in Kapha in the body, which results in sluggishness. It is especially true after meals. A short walk of 100 steps after lunch helps beat the sluggishness. Light shoulder and neck stretches in between work too shall keep one active.

However, persistent or excessive daytime sleepiness could be because of underlying medical conditions like thyroid disorders, diabetes mellitus, etc. Hence, it is important to consult the physician if one feels excessive sleepiness or an energy slump during the day.

One need not let the post–meal drowsiness define the rest of the day. A combination of the right food, hydration, and exercise can go a long way in restoring energy without the caffeine!

(By Dr Meghana K A, Assistant Professor, SDM College of Ayurveda, Hospital & Research Center, Udupi)

In today’s times, the consumers are becoming more health conscious and whenever they buy a new product, they tend to check the nutrition labels that helps them in making a better choice between multiple brands. However, making that choice can be a huge task since there is a surge in nutrition and health claims such as high protein, no added sugar, low fat, multigrain, etc., which usually confuse and often mislead them.

So now the question is: how do they make the right choice? The answer is by understanding how to read food labels. This understanding will help them in making informed decisions and choosing what is better suited for their health and needs. All packaged foods have a nutrition information label either at the back of the package or on the side.

Now let us look at a sample label and understand how to read it effectively.

1. Start with the serving size information:

While looking at the nutrition label, the first thing to notice should be the total number of servings in the package and the recommended serving size. The serving size equates to the quantity people usually consume, not how much should be consumed. So, all the nutrients that are shown on the label refer to the serving size. If we consider this label,

1 serving = 25 grams, so if 50 grams of supplement is consumed, the calorie and other nutrient values will also double.

2. Calories:

Calories refer to the amount of energy that is yielded from 1 serving of that particular product. So, in this scenario, there are 90 kcal in 1 serving of the supplement. If the entire container is consumed, it would equate to 10 servings or 361 kcal. So, one important point to remember is that the number of servings will determine the number of calories consumed. It is always advised to be mindful of the portion size to avoid excess calorie consumption.

3. Nutrients

The next thing to focus on is the list of nutrients. This list can be used to understand what would be suitable for individual dietary needs. The choice can be made based on which nutrients are required in larger quantities and the nutrients that have to be limited. Ideally, the nutrients that should be limited or consumed in lesser quantities should be saturated fats, sodium, and added sugars. These nutrients are associated with adverse health effects such as increased cholesterol, obesity, and high blood pressure.

One very common confusion is what is the difference between added sugars and total sugars? Total sugars refer to the sugars naturally present in many foods, such as milk and fruits, along with any added sugars present in the product. On the other hand, added sugars refer to the sugars that have been added during food processing, such as dextrose, sucrose, sweeteners like table sugar, etc. So, in this product, the total sugar is 10 grams per serving, and added sugar is 7.6 grams per serving.

Coming to fats, the different types of fats that are mentioned on the package are total fat, trans fat, unsaturated fat, and saturated fat. Out of these, trans and saturated fats increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. On the other hand, unsaturated fats reduce the risk of heart diseases and are healthier. Ideally, foods with total fat less than 5 grams, saturated fats less than 2 grams, and trans fats at 0 grams should be chosen. Another way to understand the trans fat content is to check the ingredient list and see if ‘partially hydrogenated oils’ is mentioned.

Sodium is another important nutrient whose content must be definitely checked. The daily limit of sodium intake for an adult is limited to 2000 mg/day. Per serving, the amount of sodium may be categorised as:

· Low sodium: <140 mg

· Very low sodium: <35 mg

· No sodium foods: <5 mg

Another nutrient that can usually be misleading is protein. A lot of foods claim to be ‘high protein,’ but the reality can be otherwise. Look for foods that have at least 10-30 grams of protein per serving.

In conclusion, it is important to learn and understand how to spot marketing gimmicks such as low fat, low sodium, natural, etc., and read the labels properly to see whether the health claim is actually right or wrong. Ensure to read these on the label to make an informed purchase: the serving size, ingredients, sugar, fat and sodium content, calories per serve.

Remember: don’t let the label confuse you; let it inform you.

(By Asmita Jotshi, Nutritionist at Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Pune)