Food makers face health experts on obesity

As a senior vice president for food giant ConAgra, Pat Verduin yesterday entered a potential lion's den -- a Harvard obesity symposium filled with health experts alarmed by Americans' eating habits.

During the rare encounter between corporate food makers and some of their most stringent critics, she flashed a slide showing her firm's healthier brands, like Healthy Choice and Egg Beaters, but then sought to soften the crowd: ''We make Slim Jims. I'm going to be honest with you," said Verduin, to laughter.

The Harvard Medical School two-day symposium, attended by about 140 people yesterday, took place against a backdrop of considerable alarm over childhood obesity. The concern is particularly felt in the halls of Harvard and its affiliated hospitals, whose researchers have played a central role studying and publicizing the obesity problem.

Yesterday, a study led by a Children's Hospital Boston researcher predicted obesity-related deaths would reverse the century-long upward climb of US life expectancy, a controversial claim that generated international headlines. Many of the most publicized obesity studies in the last two years have come from Harvard scientists. Some Harvard researchers have been openly scathing about food companies' products and commercials.

But many have also come to the conclusion that widespread change in the American diet can only occur with the cooperation of food companies, and that industry-academia collaboration on designing and promulgating healthy foods could be crucial to that effort.

The symposium was funded through grants from McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Nestle, Dannon, and a number of other food makers.

Speaking near the end of the program, Verduin offered cautionary advice, drawn from ConAgra's experience, to health experts seeking to prompt societal change.

''Consumers will reject it if you do it too fast," she said, adding that healthy foods ''are not easy products to develop and make delicious."

Nearly 15 percent of US kids are obese, triple the rate of three decades ago. These kids will face considerably elevated risks as adults for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other diseases. Many obesity experts blame food companies for exacerbating the problem by marketing unhealthy products to children. Yesterday, officials from two of the companies most scorned by many obesity experts -- McDonald's and Coca-Cola -- sought to make the case that their firms were interested in joining the anti-obesity fight.

Cathy Kapica, director of global nutrition for McDonald's, said that her company, with more than 30,000 restaurants globally, now only makes its popular Chicken McNuggets with white meat chicken and has sold more than 300 million salads in the last two years.

She also defended the Happy Meal, a frequent target of critics, who say the meals lure young kids into eating poorly.

A six-piece McNuggets box has 250 calories and 15 grams of fat, about a quarter of the daily amount recommended by the federal government, according to nutritional data supplied by McDonald's. Salads, meanwhile, vary: The California cobb salad with crispy chicken has 360 calories and 18 grams of fat, while the plain Caesar salad has 90 calories and 4 grams of fat. Happy Meals' nutritional content also varies, with chicken and fruit meals considerably healthier than burger and fries meals.

''Happy Meals are an appropriate portion size for children," said Kapica. ''Parents shouldn't feel guilty when they take their kid out for an occasional treat."

Dr. Maxime Buyckx, Coke's director of nutrition and health sciences, told the crowd that the soft drink maker refrains from advertising during kids' television programs and had introduced more informative nutritional labels on some of its products.

Many obesity experts consider soft drinks singularly bad: sugar-saturated water that wreaks havoc with kids' bodies. Some studies have linked soft drink consumption with obesity.

''Does your company feel any responsibity for creating this situation?" said Northeastern University law professor and public health advocate Richard Daynard.

Buyckx replied, ''I didn't want to start a debate."

Afterward, Harvard obesity expert Dr. Matthew Gillman wondered if food companies would ever truly support anti-obesity efforts: ''There is a potential built-in conflict. If you're a food company, your goal is to sell food."

But he said that collaboration between the two often-conflicting sides was necessary.

''Many of these industries are very knowledgeable about consumers and marketing . . . and academics are good at studies," said Gillman. ''It seems as if it could be a good partnership, and I think there is room for that to happen."

Raja Mishra can be reached at rmishra@globe.com.