FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 27, 2002

CONTACT:
Ms. Simon Chaitowitz, Communications Director
tel: 202-686-2210, ext. 309; simonc@pcrm.org

Doctors Dish It Out on Celebrity Cookbooks
Sopranos, Martha Stewart, Ted Nugent All Panned; Only Marilu Henner Gets High Marks

Celebrity cookbooks—including the best-selling Sopranos collection—are unhealthy gift ideas this holiday season, according to a new review by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM).

Despite a few bright spots, the overall results were grim. Martha Stewart’s latest book is as unhealthy as her credit rating. Musician Ted Nugent’s Kill It & Grill It has shock value but little else. Even Emeril needs a nutrition makeover. The only book to win PCRM’s seal of approval was Healthy Holidays by actress Marilu Henner.

“Our prescription is to not look to celebrity cookbooks for healthy foods,” says PCRM dietitian Jen Keller, RD. "The Sopranos Family Cookbook is packed with so much fat and cholesterol, it’s a crime. And Al Roker’s signature dish, Steaks as Big as Your Head, is a recipe for heart disease. Other than Marilu Henner’s latest, shoppers are better off with the non-celebrity cookbooks. The Enlightened Kitchen by Marie Oser and The Voluptuous Vegan by Myra Kornfeld are two healthful, vegetarian books that will help keep your loved ones around until next holiday season.”

The doctors analyzed ten top books for their percentages of healthful recipes, amount of nutrition information, and overall presentation. (A healthful recipe is low-fat, cholesterol-free and fiber-rich.) Here’s how each book rated:

Ten Celebrity Cookbooks	Scores
Healthy Holidays: Total Health Entertaining All Year Round by Marilu Henner and Lorin Henner	83%
Martha Stewart Living Annual Recipes, 2003 by Martha Stewart	42%
Live, Love, Eat! The Best of Wolfgang Puck by Wolfgang Puck	39%
Happy Days with the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver	39%
Nigella Bites: From Family Meals to Elegant Dinners—Easy, Delectable Recipes for Any Occasion by Nigella Lawson	38%
The Sopranos Family Cookbook: As Compiled by Artie Bucco by Allen Rucker and Michele Scicolone	36%
Al Roker’s Big Bad Book of Barbecue: 100 Easy Recipes for Backyard Barbecue by Al Roker	36%
The Wiseguy Cookbook: My Favorite Recipes from My Life As a Goodfella to Cooking on the Run by Henry Hill	34%
Prime Time Emeril: More TV Dinners from America’s Favorite Chef by Emeril Lagasse	8%
Kill It & Grill It: A Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish by Ted Nugent and Shermane Nugent	3%

The full review is posted at www.pcrm.org/news/health021127report.html.

Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit health organization that promotes preventive medicine, especially good nutrition. PCRM also conducts clinical research studies, opposes unethical human experimentation, and promotes alternatives to animal research.

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