Earlier this week, a large study out of Europe made headlines for finding just one can of soda or a sugary beverage a day increased the risk of developing diabetes by more than one fifth.

According to Reuters, the study found every extra 12 fluid ounce serving of sugar-sweetened drink raised the risk of diabetes by 22 percent compared with drinking just one can a month or less.

“The study shows that there is an association between the intake of sugar beverages and a risk of developing diabetes,” Simone French, Ph.D., an obesity prevention researcher in the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health and director of the University’s Obesity Prevention Center.

According to French, there have been many studies and reviews that show a link between sugar-sweetened beverages and obesity and diabetes, including data from U.S. population-based cohort studies. Now you can add this study from Europe. She wonders whether the link this study found between sugar-sweetened beverages and diabetes risk is through the higher body weight.

“Do sugar beverages cause people to gain more weight and become overweight, and thereby this increases risk of developing diabetes?”

Studies such as the recent examination by European researchers help us inch closer to the answer. Read more about the study from Reuters here.

When most consumers hear the words salmonella outbreak, they try to avoid the potentially tainted food products like the plague.

But unfortunately, by the time the public hears about an outbreak the questions become: how long has the bacteria been spreading? What steps have been taken to stop it?

These are reasonable concerns; concerns Pew Charitable Trust addressed in its recent response to the 2011 salmonella outbreak from Cargill Meat Solutions ground turkey.

The Pew report, which was reviewed by Craig Hedberg, Ph.D., Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, made three general recommendations for improving salmonella outbreak detection and response.

Diets can be confusing. Should you juice your food? Do you eat carbs? Avoid fat? Scrap gluten? What about the so-called Mediterranean diet?  Does that work?

Actually, it just might.

The Mediterranean diet is more than a “diet-to-lose-10-lbs-by-summer kind of a diet;” it’s actually a way of living centered around prudent and sensible food choices.

In fact, the diet itself has been around for a long time, first getting recognition through the Seven Countries Study, conducted by Ancel Keys, Ph.D., University of Minnesota in the 1950′s. Long believed to be healthful; a more recent study actually proved its benefits, giving the diet the scientific stamp of approval.

Yesterday, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Under Secretary Kevin Concannon said food assistance programs are not only in place to fight hunger; they need to promote healthy eating, too.

USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon and Senator Al Franken joined School of Public Health researchers and community members for a roundtable discussion on healthy eating and consumer services programs.

Throughout the discussion, conversation bounced across a number of topics around healthy eating but gravitated naturally towards the needs of programs for children. The bottom line: ensuring children eat enough healthy, nutritious food is imperative.

Concern around the table originated with one simple fact: in Minnesota – as seen nationwide – the summer months often leave some children without meals that would otherwise be given to them at schools.

Even though we all know consuming mass quantities of calorie-laden foods and beverages are bad for us, Americans still can’t seem to stay away from those big sugary drinks.

Last May, in an effort to combat sugar-sweeted beverages (SSBs), New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced one of the most ambitious and controversial initiatives to be seen in the war on obesity: a ban on big sugary drinks, otherwise referred to as the “soda ban.”

On the surface, banning SSBs may seem a logical direction to take in fighting obesity. If people aren’t choosing to drop the bubbly habit themselves, policy changes could simply force people to adopt healthy habits, right?  After all, it’s already been attempted with tobacco products.

When it comes to SSBs it might not be so simple.

First, we’re told it’s unhealthy to have high body mass index (BMI). Now, researchers at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics find that being overweight may actually be associated with a lower all-cause mortality.

I’m stumped. Which is it?

BMI is a formula that calculates a person’s weight to their height, and categorizes him or her as underweight, normal, overweight or obese.

But is the measure a good indicator for measuring a person’s health? Can it really be true that having a higher BMI means longevity or better health?