From Denny: First Lady Michelle Obama is pushing hard on America's food manufacturers to speed up the effort to lose the excess fat, salt and sugar in foods. "We need you not to just tweak around the edges but entirely rethink the products you are offering," she said.
She's also calling on the nation's grocery store chains to start posting calorie counts and fat levels on all the shelves and deli self-serve areas.
Michelle Obama is committed to conquering childhood obesity in less than a generation. She has talked to schools and nutrition groups, going after junk food and snacks that pack school vending machines and grocery store aisles.
Food manufacturers are on notice from more than the First Lady. There is a child nutrition bill moving through Congress that would throw out junk food from the public school system across the nation. That sure would dig into those companies' profits.
And there is more: The Food and Drug Administration might have been asleep at the switch or held on a short choke chain during the Bush-Cheney years. Not so now. The agency is now cracking down on misleading labeling on food packages.
The First Lady has also called for less confusing food labeling, better portion sizing and increased marketing for healthy foods prepared in healthy ways. Like she said to the manufacturers, "While decreasing fat is good, don't replace it with sugar. This needs to be a serious industry wide commitment to provide healthier foods."
This new Obama campaign is aimed at school vending machines, school lunches and pushing children to exercise more.
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