Foods in the news.

You never hear much about most foods. When was the last time you read an article, saw an ad, or got wind of the celebrities study on, say, green peas? Or winter squash? Or peaches?

In contrast, some foods are downright celebrities. If it's not the latest study on chocolate, it's an ad campaign for lean beef. Judging by their manufacturers' Web sites (we checked them all in early September), foods like grape juice and tomatoes don't prevent just a single disease--cancer, for example. They've branched out to thwart heart disease, too.

Some foods get all the attention because their public relations arms keep stirring the pot and, in some cases, because their manufacturers can afford to fund (usually small, preliminary) scientific studies. Here's how to read past some of the hottest headlines.

BEEF BITS

"Only one more gram of saturated fat than a skinless chicken breast?" asks the Cattlemen's Beef Board's ad. "It's like finding out that chocolate brownies are as healthy as carrots."

The ads, which ran in September in 16 popular magazines, are funded by a "checkoff" promotion program that's overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (Part of the USDA's mission is to promote beef consumption, don't forget.) Beef producers contribute a dollar for each head of cattle they sell.

A three-ounce serving of chicken breast has only one gram of saturated fat. How could beef have only two grams?

The fine print: Most beef doesn't. As the ad's small print notes, the claim is "based on USDA data using the average of 3 oz. cooked servings of eye round roast, top round steak, top sirloin steak, boneless shoulder pot roast, round tip roast, and shoulder steak." What about ground beef, roast beef, tenderloin, porterhouse, T-bone, flank, ribs, and other cuts? They're all rattier.

Three ounces of porterhouse or T-bone (trimmed of all fat around the outside of the steak), for example, dispatches five or six grams of saturated fat to your coronary arteries. That's a quarter of a day's worth.

But let's say you stick with the few cuts named in the ad's tiny print (and leave the rest of the animal for everyone else). You'll still get more than two grams of sat fat that is, unless you surgically remove every hit of fat, even if it means cutting the meat into tiny pieces of what the USDA calls "separable lean." What if you cut off all but a quarter-inch of fat on the outside of the steak (like many restaurants do)? Expect about fore or five grams of sat fat in every three ounces.

And don't forget: A three-ounce serving is only the size of a deck of cards. Restaurants typically serve at least Six to nine ounces of sirloin, for example. So you'll need to multiply those five grams of sat fat by two or three.

ALL JUICED UP

"Welch's has funded--and will continue to fund medical research on the health benefits of grape juice," says the corporation's Web site (www.welchsintertnational.com). "We then publicize the results with assertive, carefully orchestrated public relations efforts." And those efforts pay off. "We have repeatedly observed a direct correlation between the publication of meaningful health news and increased grape juice consumption," Welch's adds.

The fine print: The site's "Recent Welch's Health & Nutrition News" oversells preliminary research. For example:

* "Study Shows Drinking Concord Grape Juice Slowed LDL. Oxidation; Inhibiting One Mechanism Which 'Bad' Cholesterol May Contribute To Cardiovascular Disease," the company notes. Grape juice slowed LDL, oxidation as much as vitamin E, says Welch's. It doesn't mention that vitamin E has tailed to prevent heart disease in several major trials.

* "Drinking Purple Grape juice Inhibits Breast Cancer Cell Growth In Animal Study," claims the company. "Purple grape juice fed to laboratory rats led to significant reductions in both mammary tumor mass and the number of tumor per animal." But the research--which is far from convincing human evidence--hasn't been published, despite the April 2002 press release.

* "Drinking Purple Grape Juice May Also Help With Urinary Tract Health." The company claims that "In laboratory test tubes, compounds in purple grape juice were as effective as those in cranberry juice in reducing bacterial adhesion associated with urinary tract infections." The press release was dated November 2001, but the study was never published.

Why bother with published research when you Call get SO much mileage out of your press releases?

LITTLE WHITE LIE-COPENES

"Tomatoes are great for you!" crows Hunt's Web site (www.hunts.com). Tomato sauce is indeed a rich source of lycopene, the pigment that gives some fruits and vegetables their red color. But Hunt's doesn't stop there.

Research suggests that lycopene is the most potent antioxidant, explains the Web site. And antioxidants "are believed to help lower the risk of many types of cancels, heart attack and other diseases."

The fine print: The evidence that lycopene may lower the risk of prostate cancer is impressive, though nowhere near conclusive. But "many" cancers? Heart disease? So far, the research is thin. For example, two recent studies of more than 70,000 nurses found no link between lycopene and heart disease or breast cancer risk.

And don't believe all that fluff about antioxidants. Beta carotene was supposed to prevent lung cancer (instead, it raised the risk in smokers). Vitamin E was supposed to prevent heart disease (virtually every study flopped).

It's reasonable for men to eat tomato sauce two or three times a week, to (maybe) reduce their risk of prostate cancer, as long as they don't use it as an excuse to eat pizza and other cheese-laden dishes. But antioxidants aren't magic, and Hunt's knows it.

MILKING CHOCOLATE

Is there any major (or minor) media outlet that hasn't reported the surprising news that chocolate may be good for you? Web sites for the chocolate industry reveal how some of that news gets generated.

"Chocolate contains healthy antioxidants," announces the Chocolate Manufacturers Association's Web site (www.candyusa.org). Indeed, it features a chart that ranks chocolate as richer in antioxidants than any fruit or vegetable.

"Antioxidants in the bloodstream essentially mop up substances called free radicals," which "may be the triggers for serious diseases such as cancer and heel disease," notes the CMA. Its research branch, the American Cocoa Research Institute, sponsors some of the studies that hit the news.

The fine print: The CMA's antioxidant ranking makes chocolate look impressive because it compares 100 grams (about 3 1/2 ounces) of each food. If you compare amounts that people typically eat, however, chocolate doesn't look like such a star. Dark chocolate still leads, but blueberries and blackberries beat milk chocolate, and prunes aren't far behind. What's more, you'll pay 230 calories for a (1 1/2 oz.) chocolate bar, vs 100 calories for five prunes or about a cup of berries.

Other fruits (like strawberries, oranges, and plums and vegetables (like broccoli, kale, and spinach) are also rich in antioxidants (not to mention vitamins, minerals, and fiber), and you can safely venture beyond a single serving without breaking your calorie budget.

More importantly, the evidence mat antioxidants actually prevent disease is inconsistent. Antioxidants like vitamin E and beta-carotene for example, tailed to prevent heart disease or cancel in clinical trials.

Some recent news that was not sponsored by the industry may not snow up on its Web site. Italian researchers found that only dark chocolate boosted blood antioxidant levels. Levels didn't rise significantly when people ate milk chocolate or drank a small glass of milk with their dark chocolate. That's bad news for candy makers who sell milk chocolate.

And a German study recently found a modest drop in blood pressure when 13 people ale three ounces of dark (but not white) chocolate every day for two weeks. (The researchers didn't test milk chocolate.) That's 480 calories that most people with high blood pressure can't afford.