The Unappreciated Awesomeness at Schiff Nutrition International

It takes money to make money. Most investors know that, but with business media so focused on the "how much," very few investors bother to ask, "How fast?"

When judging a company's prospects, how quickly it turns cash outflows into cash inflows can be just as important as how much profit it's booking in the accounting fantasy world we call "earnings." This is one of the first metrics I check when I'm hunting for the market's best stocks. Today, we'll see how it applies to Schiff Nutrition International (NYSE: SHF) .

Let's break this downIn this series, we measure how swiftly a company turns cash into goods or services and back into cash. We'll use a quick, relatively foolproof tool known as the cash conversion cycle, or CCC for short.

Why does the CCC matter? The less time it takes a firm to convert outgoing cash into incoming cash, the more powerful and flexible its profit engine is. The less money tied up in inventory and accounts receivable, the more available to grow the company, pay investors, or both.

To calculate the cash conversion cycle, add days inventory outstanding to days sales outstanding, then subtract days payable outstanding. Like golf, the lower your score here, the better. The CCC figure for Schiff Nutrition International for the trailing 12 months is 91.4.

For younger, fast-growth companies, the CCC can give you valuable insight into the sustainability of that growth. A company that's taking longer to make cash may need to tap financing to keep its momentum. For older, mature companies, the CCC can tell you how well the company is managed. Firms that begin to lose control of the CCC may be losing their clout with their suppliers (who might be demanding stricter payment terms) and customers (who might be demanding more generous terms). This can sometimes be an important signal of future distress -- one most investors are likely to miss.

In this series, I'm most interested in comparing a company's CCC to its prior performance. Here's where I believe all investors need to become trend-watchers. Sure, there may be legitimate reasons for an increase in the CCC, but all things being equal, I want to see this number stay steady or move downward over time.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Dollar amounts in millions. FY = fiscal year. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Because of the seasonality in some businesses, the CCC for the TTM period may not be strictly comparable to the fiscal-year periods shown in the chart. Even the steadiest-looking businesses on an annual basis will experience some quarterly fluctuations in the CCC. To get an understanding of the usual ebb and flow at Schiff Nutrition International, consult the quarterly-period chart below.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Dollar amounts in millions. FQ = fiscal quarter.

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The Unappreciated Awesomeness at Schiff Nutrition International

How to Read Nutrition Labels

Many people turn to counting calories when they want to lose weight. But how many of us really know what theyre reading when they scroll through a nutrition label? Here are a few things you should know before tossing any item into your grocery cart.

Serving size is the first line of the nutrition label and the single most important thing to understand. A product that is being marketed as a low calorie snack is only talking about one serving. So if you are eating the whole box, rest assured you are getting more calories than you bargained for.

Frequently, when buying a bag of chips or a drink many consumers think, this looks like one serving. But cute, individually wrapped items can be deceiving. Many snack-sized items often have 2.5 servings. That means that you can take the calories per serving, lets say they are 150, and multiply them by the amount of servings. Eat that cute, individual bag of personal chips and voila, those personal chips just gave your body 375 calories. Doesnt sound like such a healthy snack anymore, does it? Before you pick up an item that you plan on devouring solo, make sure that its just meant just for one.

The same advice applies when considering what bread to buy in the grocery store. When you look at the nutrition label, youll see that most brands consider just one slice of bread to be one serving. But its not easy to make a sandwich with just one slice! Look for bread that offers two slices for less than 150 calories with a good helping of fiber (more on that later).

Fat Matters

Immediately under calories on the nutrition label youll find that foods sometimes offer calories from fat. Generally, you should try to keep fat in your food at an absolute minimum unless the product contains healthy fats from nuts, grains, seeds or avocado. And before you even go there, let me I assure you, Oreos and Doritos do not.

Most people know by now that not all fats are created equal. Companies in the US are now required to list trans fat since they have been directly linked to clogged arteries (which can lead to heart attacks and strokes). In general, make sure you see a big fat zero next to the words trans fat on the nutrition label. Polyunsaturated fats are the healthy fats, while saturated fats should be consumed in limited quantities. The combination of saturated fat and cholesterol is actually what leads to higher levels of cholesterol in the blood. So its not just cholesterol (which is the next item on the label) that you should be looking at.

Watch Out for Sodium

Sodium is another hot ticket item since it is essential for proper cell function, but overwhelmingly, Americans are consuming way too much of this mineral since it is over-used as a preservative for packaged products. This is where knowing how much is okay is important. The RDA suggests that healthy individuals under the age of 51 limit sodium intake to 2,300 mg per day. Check out the label of your favorite frozen meal, most have close to 1,000 mg, while some even surpass 2,000 mg -- and thats just for one meal.

Carbs Are NOT the Enemy

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Nutrition Push May Be a Little Better for Kids, Great for Disney

Disney is pushing healthier food options. But will kids bite?

"With this new initiative, Disney is doing what no major media company has ever done before in the U.S.--and what I hope every company will do going forward."

That is Michelle Obama's view on Disney's new guidelines to curb junk food advertising. It's publicity that money can't buythe First Lady simultaneously heralding your company as a leader in its field and inviting other companies to follow suit. The decision clearly comes with political heft behind it, but how meaningful of a change the company is making remains in question.

[Read about the CBO's latest dismal debt projections.]

Under the new guidelines, all food and beverages advertised, sponsored, or promoted on outlets including the Disney Channel, Radio Disney, and Disney websites will have to conform to limits on areas like caloric, sodium, and sugar content.

"We've been looking at the Disney criteria they're using, and they're a little bit better than the criteria that the food industry already uses, but they're not great. So by no means will this limit children's exposure to junk food," says Jennifer Harris, director of marketing initiatives at Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

She points to the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a program in which some of the nation's largest food companies have come together to self-regulate the products advertised to children. Harris notes that the Disney guidelines differ little from the CFBAI guidelines already in place.

For example, Disney's new guidelines allow meals marketed to children to have no more than 600 caloriesthe same limit established by the CFBAI. Disney and CFBAI also both allow a six-ounce yogurt to have a maximum of 170 calories. Likewise, both allow 350 calories for a main dish or entree.

To be fair, cutting calories is still cutting calories; the company allows slightly lower counts of calories for several other foods, like cereals (130 per ounce versus CFBAI's 150 per serving for most children's cereals) and juice (140 for eight ounces versus CFBAI's 160 per serving), as well as "mini-meals" (400 versus CFBAI's 450 for "small meals").

[Read about the latest jobs numbers.]

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Barangay Nutrition Scholars: Davao’s Food Revolution Warriors

Written By: Patmei Bello Ruivivar Tuesday, 31 July 2012 Category: Lifestyle

As part of Davao Citys Nutrition Month celebration, a summit of Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) from the 182 barangays in the city was held last Friday, July 27, 2012 at the DMMA gym in Tigatto.

With the summit theme of BNS Katambayayong sa Syudad sa Dabaw, the BNS was tasked to be the partners of the city in implementing the Davao Food Revolution in all barangays. A joint program of the City Government of Davao and the Mindanao Commission on Women (MCW), the Davao Food Revolution is an advocacy campaign for access to affordable healthy food in public schools and low-income communities.

To feed their children healthy food at home, parents must have ready access to stores that sell affordable healthy food. Unfortunately, neighborhood stores in low income communities tend to sell a lot of processed food and junk food. Even the street food available are not really nutritious or even prepared safely and hygienically.

According to the BNS volunteers at the summit, children will choose healthy food over junk food if it is readily available, affordable, and convenient to eat. So they all got excited when the MCW Mothers for Peace Organic Food Cart came to the summit to let the BNS volunteers taste the healthy food made of organic ingredients. The food samples served were camote binangkal, malunggay pulvoron, camote tops juice, and ginger with lemongrass juice made of fresh, local and organic ingredients from healthy recipes developed by the City Agriculture Office.

Healthy food need not be expensive if people grow their own food in their home gardens and community gardens. The Food Revolution encourages people to have control over how their food is produced, prepared, sold, and consumed. It discourages dependence on big corporations that mass produce food that may not necessarily be healthy. With the rising cost of health care, it is wise for the city to invest in nutrition by providing funds to child nutrition programs, making fruits and vegetables available in school canteens, implement wellness policies and expand nutrition education.

The healthy food carts can also be a social enterprise for women in low-income communities. MCW has set up a Mothers for Peace Fund to support women micro-entrepreneurs who want to engage in the production and retail of healthy food in schools and communities.

Join the Food Revolution now!

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Barangay Nutrition Scholars: Davao’s Food Revolution Warriors

Good nutrition should start at home, but new school lunch rules probably a good thing

I read this week that new nutrition rules go into effect this fall for school cafeterias. For the most part, this is probably a good thing, given the fact that a lot of kids these days are carrying way too much weight for their age.

However, it is my humble opinion that proper nutrition for children should probably start at home long before they enroll in school. Given what I saw at the ballpark this summer, it's no surprise that some children have developed a bit of a weight problem by the time they hit first grade.

I watched in amazement a few weeks ago as a "portly" mother pushed her "husky" child in a stroller into the ballpark. The first thing Mom did was pop open a Mountain Dew and poured it into her son's sippy cup. The next thing to come out of the diaper bag was a bag of Oreos. Mom went to the concession stand and bought a big mess of chips and cheese and what looked to me like a foot-long Snicker bar. Of course, they shared.

Inning three It was back to the concession stand for another foot-long candy bar and a bag of popcorn with triple-extra butter and a 24 ounce bottle of fully-leaded Mountain Dew. Is it any wonder this child might develop a weight problem by the time he hits the public school system?

When I attended grade school in Carmi, Ill., we had a wonderful cook. Jo Colson and her staff paid close attention to the kids that came through the cafeteria line. She knew exactly who needed better nutrition and more calories, and who needed to watch their waistline.

I don't remember having free or reduced price meals back then. If you didn't have lunch money, you were given an opportunity to work in the cafeteria to get your meals free. If I had a nickel for every meal tray I scraped and every table I helped clear when I was in grade school, I'd probably be a millionaire today. But I had plenty to eat.

Unlike today, I was quite skinny back then. Some people said I was so skinny, I didn't cast a shadow. Mrs. Colson saw to it that I had plenty to eat, and never went home from school hungry.

It's certainly not my place to tell the Mountain Dew and Oreo packin' mama that she's turning her son into a porker. She will have to figure that out for herself.

But, here's why I think the new school cafeteria nutrition rules that go into effect this year are a good thing. It is a fact that for many children, the meals they get at school will be the best and most nutritional food they'll get all day long. If they get good food in school, and we can teach them good eating habits at a very young age, perhaps their children will be even healthier.

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Good nutrition should start at home, but new school lunch rules probably a good thing

Obesity, nutrition may up kidney stones

Published: Sept. 5, 2012 at 9:50 PM

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Increased obesity and poor nutrition may be fueling the increase in kidney stones in U.S. adults, a food expert says.

"It is possible that better reporting and treatment options for kidney stones may have contributed to the numbers, there are other factors that might lend themselves to the development of kidney stones in children and adults -- the increase in obesity and poor nutrition," Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst, trend watcher and creator of supermarketguru.com, said in a statement. "Low fluid intake and high intakes of sodium as well as animal fat and proteins can contribute to kidney stones as well."

A study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Rand Corp. found the number of U.S. adults getting kidney stones nearly doubled since 1994.

"Hydration and a proper diet are the best ways to prevent stone formation. Drinking fresh lemon in water may help reduce the risk of kidney stone formation," Lempert said in a statement. "Lemon juice increases the level of citrate in the urine, which in turn may prevent the formation of kidney stones."

For some, avoiding certain high-oxalate foods may aid in preventing kidney stones including: Swiss chard, rhubarb, spinach, beets, wheat germ, soybean crackers, peanuts, okra, chocolate and sweet potatoes. Medium-oxalate foods include grits, grapes, celery, green pepper, red raspberries, fruitcake, strawberries, marmalade and liver, the Oxalosis and Hyperoxaluria Foundation said.

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Nutrition: Nine questions every athlete should ask before taking a supplement

Elite sport dietitian examines the benefits of nutritional supplements

Windsor, ON--Nutritional supplements claim to improve athletic performance, but not all supplements are created equal. According to Nutrition Australia life member Glenn Cardwell, athletes vary greatly in their response to training, environmental conditions, psychological barriers, and nutritional supplements, which makes it difficult to assess the value of proposed ergogenic aids. "Improvement is not proof that a supplement works. It may be just a convenient coincidence," says Cardwell, author of the forthcoming new edition of Gold Medal Nutrition (Human Kinetics, May 2012). "Proof only comes when the same result can be repeated time and time again."

Before taking a nutritional supplement Cardwell advises assessing its potential value by asking nine vital questions.

"Based on current knowledge, the best regimen for achieving optimal performance is to avoid excess body fat, drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration, eat enough carbohydrate to fuel your training program, eat adequate protein for muscle growth and repair, and eat for good health," Cardwell says. "Most nutritional supplements do not enhance sports performance in well-nourished athletes."

For more information on Gold Medal Nutrition, 5E or other nutrition resources, visit http://www.HumanKinetics.com or call 800-465-7301.

Product Description Gold Medal Nutrition is a comprehensive manual covering the areas that most concern athletes, including what and when to eat and drinkand why. The book explains how to use nutrition to maximize sport performance. It includes information on determining the best supplements to use as well as athlete-specific eating tips.

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Need a Job? Check out the Nutrition Field

A dark cloud has been hovering over the labor market since the financial collapse, but there has been one consistent bright spot for job seekers: health care. Add to that rising obesity rates and soaring health-care costs, and the industry shows no signs of slowing. Over the next eight years, employment of dieticians and nutritionists is expected to grow 20% faster than the average for all other occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Experts say that such rapid growth in the field will lead to more demand and higher salaries for workers in the nutrition space.

The perfect storm has been brewing for a while, says Ann Kulze, nutrition expert, family physician, and author of Dr. Anns Eat Right for Life. There has been this flood of dazzling science telling us that diet and great health and diet and disease are inextricably linked.

In addition to increased interest on the clinical level, theres also more demand from consumers interested in improving their health, she says. Record numbers of people now have diet-related diseases, and we know that one of the most powerful triggers to change eating behavior is getting a diagnosis. If your doctor tells you that you had a heart attack or have diabetes as a result of your diet, its a very powerful motivator.

But motivation is one thing, execution is another, and many consumers are unsure of how to maintain a healthy diet. It doesnt help that the foods and products that are heavily marketed tend to be heavily processed and not the healthiest option, making it difficult for consumers to separate food commercialism from healthy eating.

According to the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundations2012Food & Health Survey, 52% of Americans say that doing their own income taxes would be easier than knowing how to eat healthy. Of those surveyed, 76% report changing nutritional guidelines have made it harder to know how to eat right.

Ten years ago, we were told to eat margarine. Today, we are told its horrible for us, says Kulze. The food pyramid used to tell us we needed 11 servings of grains a day. Are you kidding me? Were looking at a situation where most people want to eat better, but they simply dont know how to do it.

The increase in jobs in the nutrition and dietetics space is a direct result of more schools, corporations and health insurance companies hiring health professionals to educate students, employees and clients, says Chad Oakley, president and chief operating officer at human resources consultancy Charles Aris.

The demand for nutrition talent is growing dramatically on a global scale, he says. Nutrition has not been an oversubscribed career path so you have a low supply base of professionals for something that is suddenly experiencing a high demand.

Today, nutritionists are becoming a very regular part of most health care companies portfolios, according to Oakley. They are hired to design menus for people with dietary restrictions and help manage diets for people who have certain chronic conditions.

Some health care companies have a huge team of nutritionists that do nothing besides think of menus for people and breakdown the ingredients in every product you can think of, Oakley says.

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Adia Nutrition, Inc. (ADIA.PK) Announces the Launch of Adia Slim, Which Is Believed to Be the First Probiotic With an …

NEWPORT BEACH, CA--(Marketwire -06/27/12)- Adia Nutrition, Inc. (ADIA) is proud to announce the launch of a revolutionary new product called Adia Slim. It is believed to be the first probiotic beverage with an appetite suppressant in the $61 billion diet and weight loss industry.

Adia Slim is a raspberry lemonade flavored beverage powder which contains LuraLean. LuraLean is a fiber from the root of a Japanese plant called Konjac. The fiber expands in your stomach shortly after you drink it, and gives you a feeling of fullness so you eat less.

This fiber is then combined with probiotics to make sure the food you eat is then digested more efficiently.

"Adia Slim is a revolutionary step in weight management," said Adia CEO Wen Peng. "We believe that Adia Slim gives dieters a tool to help control the quantity of food people consume. This tool, combined with diet and exercise should show results. As with any health program, please speak to your doctor in connection with any lifestyle change. Like all our Adia products, Adia Slim contains convenient and shelf stable 'On the Go' probiotics that require no refrigeration together with essential vitamins and minerals. Adia Nutrition are the perfect products for the busy 'on the go' family, from mom and dad to the kids."

Adia Slim can be ordered by calling 1-877-207-6321 or by visiting http://www.adianutrition.com to order online or find the local retailer near you.

About Adia Nutrition, Inc.

About Adia Nutrition, Inc. (ADIA) is a company specializing in shelf stable probiotics. Currently, Adia offers five flavors of probiotic powder and two flavors of probiotic chews. Adia sells their products across the country in independent pharmacies, health food stores, fitness centers and grocery store chains. In states and countries where Adia does not yet have retail distribution partners you can find Adia online. According to a market research report titled 'Probiotics Market,' published by Markets and Markets (www.marketsandmarkets.com), the global probiotics market is expected to be worth US$ 32.6 billion by 2014. Moreover, the global market is expected to record a CAGR of 12.6%.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "expect," "should," "intend," "estimate," and "projects," variations of such words and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that a statement is not a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements are based upon the Company's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's filings, which are on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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Adia Nutrition, Inc. (ADIA.PK) Announces the Launch of Adia Slim, Which Is Believed to Be the First Probiotic With an ...

F3 Nutrition Appoints Mark Post As President

More Topics: Choose a Sector Accounting Firms Advertising/Media/Communications Capital CEO/Board General Business Health/Biotech Internet/Technology Investment Firms Law Firms Mergers & Acquisitions Money Managers People Private Companies Public Companies Venture Capital

Posted April 27, 2012

Mark Post

Company to Launch Comprehensive Nutrition Product Line in June 2012

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla., -- F3 Nutrition, LLC, the company that was created to meet the absolute Fit , Form and Function of athletes' needs, today announced Mark Post as its new President and that the nutrition industry veteran and leading expert will direct all aspects of the organization starting with the F3 Nutrition product launch in June 2012.

"I am honored to join F3 Nutrition and look forward to making it known as one of the most prominent brands in sports nutrition," said Post. "It is our goal at F3 Nutrition to provide a complete line of exceptional sports nutritional performance products that are both safe and effective. F3 Nutrition supplements will enable athletes as well anyone committed to an active healthy lifestyle to achieve their individual fitness and performance goals."

With over 16 years of experience in the nutritional supplement industry, Post previously served as President for legendary Champion Nutrition where he supervised sports nutrition sales, marketing and product development. While at Champion, Mark developed, launched and the licensed TapouT Sports Nutrition, one of the first brands to market in the sport of mixed martial arts. Prior to joining Champion, Mark held management positions with supplement companies Rainbow Light, Garden of Life and Rexall Sundown.

Fortified through science and with ingredients proven in university studies to improve athletes' performance and their bodies, F3 Nutrition will unveil a full line of products to address individual athletic and fitness needs from start to finish.

F3 Nutrition focuses on the three critical elements in building a successful high-performance sports nutrition product: Fit for the specific purpose; deliver through the best Form available; Function for the specific goal of the individual.

The F3 Nutrition portfolio will consist of pre-training and post-training products and also protein and health wellness category products. Each of the company's products will contain unique to market formulations to assist in endurance, strength and recovery. One of the first brands to launch this summer will be Air-SpeedTM Endurance, which will give much needed support to endurance athletes via a pre-training drink mix.

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F3 Nutrition Appoints Mark Post As President

Cojuangco: Filipinos need proper nutrition to excel

MANILA, Philippines - Not until the Filipino athletes are given the proper nutrition, one that suits the needs for their respective sports, will they be able to compete to their full potential.

"I still maintain that our athletes could have been better prepared," said Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco who is bound for the London Olympics.

The POC chief will join the 11 Filipino athletes in London on Thursday together with POC chairman Monico Puentevella and secretary-general Steve Hontiveros.

Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia will join the group of Filipino officials travelling to London for the Games scheduled from July 27 to Aug. 12.

Cojuangco is not giving up on the Filipino athletes in London, saying hes hoping for the best, and that he wouldnt be surprised if they manage to bring home a medal.

But he said with proper strength and conditioning, and proper nutrition, Filipino athletes will only be more prepared for international competitions.

Carlos Sumulong, a Filipino physical fitness expert now based in the United States, was in the country recently and together with his wife conducted a seminar for Filipino athletes, coaches and trainers.

They stressed the importance of nutrition and conditioning, and finding the best fighting weight for those competing in subjective and combat sports like boxing, taekwondo or judo.

"Athletes are often confused between strength and conditioning, and bodybuilding," said Sumulong.

For the ordinary athlete, building muscles mean building on strength, but the Filipino expert said its not always true, saying with added muscles, an athlete sometimes gives up a lot in strength and agility.

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Cojuangco: Filipinos need proper nutrition to excel

Mead Johnson to Present at 19th CLSA Investors Forum 2012

GLENVIEW, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (MJN) announced today that it will present at the 19th CLSA Investors Forum 2012 in Hong Kong on September 11, 2012. The presentation by Peter Kasper Jakobsen, executive vice president and COO and Peter G. Leemputte, executive vice president and CFO will begin at 10:30 a.m. HKT and will be webcast live on the Internet. To access the webcast go to meadjohnson.com and click first on the Investors tab, then the Events and Presentations tab. A replay will be available for one month after the presentation at meadjohnson.com under the Investors tab, Events and Presentations.

About Mead Johnson

Mead Johnson, a global leader in pediatric nutrition, develops, manufactures, markets and distributes more than 70 products in over 50 countries worldwide. The company's mission is to nourish the worlds children for the best start in life. The Mead Johnson name has been associated with science-based pediatric nutrition products for over 100 years. The company's "Enfa" family of brands, including Enfamil infant formula, is the world's leading brand franchise in pediatric nutrition. For more information, go to http://www.meadjohnson.com.

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Mead Johnson to Present at 19th CLSA Investors Forum 2012

Budget Cuts Force Local Nutrition Office to Close

A nutrition program that helps provide healthy food for families who cant afford it is forced to close its doors due to budget cuts.

The WIC program stands for Women Infants and children. It is designed to help families at the poverty level buy healthy foods at the grocery store. WIC also offers personalized nutrition consultations and breast feeding information. The WIC location in Pueblo West is shutting down due to federal budget cuts. They serve over 500 clients. Some staff positions will also be cut. Organizers say clients can still remain in the program, they just have to go to the health department office in the city of Pueblo.

For our Pueblo West Clients we have been telling them its very sad because there is no other free transportation route to Pueblo, so theyll have to rely on a vehicle or friends or family to get them here to Pueblo. So that can be pretty tough, said Kim Whittington, WIC Program Manager.

The Pueblo West location will close this Thursday. The Pueblo West clients, as well as other community members who qualify for WIC will be transferred to the WIC office located at 101 West 9th Street inside the Pueblo City-County Health Department.

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Budget Cuts Force Local Nutrition Office to Close

Public school nutrition forum Sept. 15

San Marcos With the beginning of school in the San Marcos CISD, its time to talk about healthy food choices again.

School nutrition will be the subject of at public forum hosted by the San Marcos Area League of Women Voters at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 15 at San Marcos High School.

The free event will be held in the cafeteria right inside the front entrance. Parents of school-aged children and other interested community residents are invited to attend.

School nutrition was adopted as a study topic by the local league at its annual meeting in May of 2010.

The School Nutrition Study Committee, chaired by Jeannie Lewis, has met monthly for about a year and a half, and, according to Lewis, has learned much in the course of its research.

Lewis says the School Nutrition Study Committee has not yet completed its study so it has taken no public position regarding school nutrition.

She said the purpose of the Sept. 15 meeting is to introduce league members and the public to the new regulations and practices that have been put in place in the local school district.

Local league members will hold a formal consensus meeting on school nutrition next spring.

At the Sept. 15 meeting, Mike Boone, associate director of child nutrition for the SMCISD, will talk about the new nutrition regulations handed down by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last year and on the district's efforts to meet those guidelines.

At the end of his presentation, there will be a question and answer session, followed by samples of school breakfast and lunch items.

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Public school nutrition forum Sept. 15

RSP Nutrition is Nominated for 2012 New Brand of the Year by Bodybuilding.com. Vote for RSP Nutrition Now!

MIAMI BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

RSP Nutrition, the creators of Sports Performance Nutrition, was recently nominated for New Brand of the Year for 2012 by Bodybuilding.com. Bodybuilding.com is the Internets most-visited bodybuilding and fitness site and largest online retailer of nutritional supplements. Nominees were determined based on 2012 sales volume.

According to Victor Davanzo, RSP Nutritions Managing Director, We are honored to receive this nomination as it is a testament to the quality of our brand, products and team. Every day we strive to add value to the lives of our customers and help them lead healthier, more active lifestyles. Nominations such as this reinforce our efforts and continue to grow our presence on an international level.

The Bodybuilding.com Supplement Awards have set the standard for recognition of the best products and brands in the fitness and supplement industry. Last year, over one million votes from across the world helped decide what products would become instant top-sellers out of the 8,000+ products Bodybuilding.com carries. Being nominated for a Bodybuilding.com Supplement Award is quite an accomplishment! Since the public chooses the final winners, winning this award positions a company to be one of the most trustworthy out there, explains Bodybuilding.com CEO Ryan DeLuca.

Winners will be decided by customer vote via an online voting system running July 13, 2012 to August 31, 2012 on Bodybuilding.com and from a top health and nutrition industry panel. Winners will be announced live on the Olympia Main Stage as part of Joe Weiders Olympia Weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 28-29, 2012. Please cast your vote for RSP Nutrition as New Brand of the Year at: http://www.bodybuilding.com/awards

Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FastFuel Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/FastFuelOnline

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Keller, TX Middle-Schooler Combines Creativity and Good Nutrition to Conquer Sodexo's Future Chefs: Healthy Breakfast …

GAITHERSBURG, Md., May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Lorenzo Laohoo, 13, a seventh-grader from the Keller Independent School District in Texas, won the 2012 edition of Sodexo's Future Chefs: Healthy Breakfast Challenge, a nationwide program that teaches students about good nutrition and encourages them to make healthy choices by creating their own nutritious breakfast recipes. Laohoo won the national challenge when the video for his Saturday Asian Breakfast received the most votes on the program's YouTube page.

Students from 228 Sodexo-served schools across the country submitted more than 2,600 healthy breakfast recipes for the program. Laohoo and four others were selected to participate in the finals and all five students made videos of their award-winning recipes which were posted on http://www.youtube.com/user/SodexoFutureChefs.

Online voting was open for 10 days before Laohoo emerged as the winner. The videos were viewed more than 6,200 times over the 10-day period, bringing these amazing students and their fun, healthy and delicious breakfast recipes to a much broader audience.

"I'm proud to be the 2012 Future Chefs champion and I want to thank everyone who voted for my video," said Lorenzo Laohoo. "I also thank God, my family, and the entire Keller community for supporting me."

The four other students joining Laohoo in the national finals were:

"Congratulations to Lorenzo and the other finalists on a job well done throughout the Sodexo Future Chefs: Healthy Breakfast Challenge," said Steve Dunmore, president of Sodexo Education-Schools. "I continue to be amazed by the students' creativity and commitment to healthy eating, especially since good nutrition is a key contributor to achievement in both school and life."

SodexoFuture Chefs was recently recognized by the National Restaurant Association as the winner of its Innovator of the Year Award in the Menu Development category at the 2012 NRA Show in Chicago.Theprogram was selected for the award because Sodexo features student-developed recipes fromthe challenge inK-12 nutrition programs across the country.

Sodexo, a partner in First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative, is committed to take measurable sustainable actions that ensure a brighter future in the areas of health and wellness, environmental stewardship and community development. Sodexo focuses on nutrition, achievement, environment, community and activity to promote student well-being.

Sodexo in North America

Sodexo Inc. (www.sodexoUSA.com), leading Quality of Daily Life Solutions company in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, delivers On-site Service Solutions in Corporate, Education, Health Care, Government and Remote Site segments, and Motivation Solutions such as Esteem Pass. Sodexo Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md., funds all administrative costs for the Sodexo Foundation (www.SodexoFoundation.org), an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $17 million in grants to end childhood hunger in America. Visit the corporate blog at http://www.sodexoUSA.com/blog.

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Keller, TX Middle-Schooler Combines Creativity and Good Nutrition to Conquer Sodexo's Future Chefs: Healthy Breakfast ...

SOUTHERN COOKIN’: Nutrition class sets up camp on the Bayou

Hallah Bakari, Jayion Fields and Kennedi Green prepare fruit during the Cook Like a Chef! at SU cooking camp for children at Southern University in Baton Rogue.

Photo for the CDT/Anne Quinn Corr

Nutrition class sets up camp on the Bayou

American Chef: Road Trip camp at Penn State will be authentic this year. I did my homework, and lived in Louisiana for the month of June, delivering a cooking camp program at Southern University in Baton Rouge. Bam! Did I learn a lot!

The camp teaches middle school-aged children basic cooking techniques while introducing the Choose My Plate nutritional guidelines.

Slicing and dicing lots of fruits and vegetables increases familiarity, and making recipes that are healthy and tasty has proved to be a sound defense in the battle against childhood obesity. Studies on the program since 2005 have reinforced the premise.

The chance to take it on the road and see if it could also work in Southern Louisiana, where the obesity rate increased by more than 80 percent in the past 15 years, was compelling.

Glenda Johnson, a nutrition professor at Southern University, was the investigator who arranged the 6-week program that included my separate cooking component.

The campers, from local families in the area, were weighed and measured at the start of the program and again at the conclusion.

After mornings of healthy cooking lessons, campers engaged in vigorous physical activity each afternoon, often outdoors in blistering heat. Various facilitators gave lessons on other aspects of healthy living.

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SOUTHERN COOKIN’: Nutrition class sets up camp on the Bayou

Research and Markets: Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition, Four-Volume Set. Edition No. 2

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/tvq5w5/encyclopedia_of_hu) has announced the addition of Elsevier Science and Technology's new report "Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition, Four-Volume Set. Edition No. 2" to their offering.

This Second Edition is a thorough revision and 20% expansion of the 1998 release, reflecting the continuing scientific advances in the field of human nutrition. Now a four-volume set, nearly 300 articles with concise, up-to-date information are complemented by an award-winning indexing system. Included is expanded coverage of epidemiology of diet-related diseases, functional foods, food safety, clinical nutrition and gastrointestinal disorders. Virtually everyone will find the Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition an easy-to-use resource making it an ideal reference choice for both the professional and the non-professional alike.

Also available online via ScienceDirect - featuring extensive browsing, searching, and internal cross-referencing between articles in the work, plus dynamic linking to journal articles and abstract databases, making navigation flexible and easy. For more information, pricing options and availability visit http://www.info.sciencedirect.com.

FEATURES OF SECOND PRINT EDITION

- Now a four-volume set with over 250 articles

- Expanded coverage of epidemiology of diet-related diseases, functional foods, food safety, and gastrointestinal disorders, among other topics

ONLINE FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITIES

- Browse the whole work by volume, authors or article titles

- Full and extensive subject index can be searched or browsed online, and takes you directly to the indexed paragraph, section, figure or table

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Research and Markets: Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition, Four-Volume Set. Edition No. 2

New Tools Will Assist School Child Nutrition Programs in Complying with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Horizon Software International, the innovative leader in K-12 food service technology and online school payments, is launching new system features that will help school districts ensure their menus comply with the new meal patterns and nutrient standard regulations imposed by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

With additional reimbursement money riding on compliance with the new regulations, its critical that school nutrition programs ensure their menus meet the new requirements and that students take the food items needed to qualify for a reimbursable meal, says Amy Huff, SNS, vice president of Marketing at Horizon. Our software now makes it easy for them to do so.

Horizons menu planning and nutrition analysis software will allow child nutrition programs to build menus based on the meal pattern components to ensure that the proper amounts of meats/meat alternates, fruits, vegetable subgroupings, grains, and milk are being offered. With the click of a button, Horizons system will compare the schools planned menus against the USDAs new daily and weekly standards for meal pattern and nutrition to identify any missing components or nutrients that are out of compliance.

The software also allows for a cost-per-plate goal to be identified, and then compares the cost of the planned menus against the cost-perplate goal as the menus are being built.

Offering nutritious meals to students is imperative, and keeping the cost of these meals as low as possible is also important, says Randy Eckels, president of Horizon. Our goal is to help foodservice directors successfully manage their operation while serving the needs of their students.

Horizons POS system will allow cashiers to quickly ring up each meal component to ensure the student is taking the required components, eliminating cashier error in identifying a reimbursable meal. For experienced cashiers, the system provides the flexibility to allow the cashier to identify that a meal is reimbursable by pressing a meal key rather than ringing up each component.

Horizons Menu Planner/Nutrition Analysis and POS systems are integrated with its other tools that help districts increase participation, manage cost, and communicate to parents, such as Healthy Reimbursable Meal Vending , SourceBoard digital signage, MyPaymentsPlus online payment system, Inventory Management, and more.

Horizon is always a step ahead in the industry, says Ed Wilkins, director of Student Nutrition Services at San Francisco Unified School District.The functionality they have provided to us will make it much easier to plan our menus and prove compliance with the new regulations.

The new system features are currently being beta tested in thirteen districts across the country, from a one-site private school to a 700+ school district. The new software will be available to all districts in June.

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New Tools Will Assist School Child Nutrition Programs in Complying with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act

Elk and nutrition

Lack of good, summer nutrition may be one reason elk are spending more time on private Wallowa Valley and Zumwalt Prairie land and not in the national forest. KATY NESBITT / The Observer

Researchers John and Rachel Cook conduct ground-breaking work

Decreases in elk herd numbers have prompted agencies and biologists alike to look to their habitat for clues.

A series of studies, started in 1995, reveal a new piece to the puzzle: the importance of nutritionto elk health, reproduction and survival.

While working with a large herd of tame elk in the early 90s,La Grande researchers John and Rachel Cook of the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement started questioning the importance of nutrition.

Nutrition is an important mechanism of the animals performance that was understudied at the time we started our research, said John Cook.

Cook said recruitment of calves until adult age classes has declined by about half since the 1950s across the Blue Mountains. With this in mind, the Cooks set out to discover if nutrition is indeed a factor, if so, whats causing the problems, and to come up with solutions.

Elk are one the most studied wildlife species in the western United States, but the Cooks nutrition research was ground-breaking. The fact that elk herds were declining across the Northwest, said Cook, tended to shift the focus away from habitat quality, thermal cover, and roads, to understanding what it is about habitat thatdrives population dynamics and performance.

The Cooks have used both wild and tame elk for nearly two decades to learn about their nutritional needs. What they discovered is that a small difference in nutrition has a big effect on performance.

The tame elk study started with 60 elk, all around the age of 4 or 5 years old. They were divided into three groups to determine the effects of nutrition on reproduction.

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Elk and nutrition