Can you guess where people buy most of their junk food? Chances are that fast-food restaurants like McDonald's and Burger King come to mind. A new study described in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition , however, reveals that U.S. adults buy the bulk of their empty-calorie foods and sugar-sweetened beverages at grocery stores and supermarkets. The new findings challenge the "food desert" hypothesis, which states that a lack of access to supermarkets and grocery stores in some underserved communities worsens the obesity crisis by restricting people's access to healthy foods. In other words, contrary to popular belief, access to healthy foods in a supermarket does not hinder Americans' consumption of empty calories. The study looked at data from 4,204 adults who reported their daily food intake in two nonconsecutive 24-hour periods in 2011 and 2012. The analysis determined that nearly half (46.3 percent) of U.S. adults consume sugar-sweetened b...

Here's some food for thought: To my dismay, when I go to the grocery store, I often see people grab products nearest them -- the ones placed at the very front of each shelf -- without thinking twice about it. Whether due to laziness or just plain ignorance, they are putting in their carts items that are potentially nearing expiration. Grocery chains follow the "first in, first out rule." They obviously want to get rid of older inventory first, so they make those more prominent so that consumers are more likely to get them. Newer goods, on the other hand, are placed toward the back of the shelf. Many people arrange their items similarly at home so that they lessen the chances of items going bad. You can probably guess where I'm going with this. As consumers, we want the most bang for our buck, and that means buying the freshest items with the longest shelf lives. Whether you're buying milk, bread, or other perishable foods, you'll want to reach for it...