Archive for the ‘Food News’ Category

December 8th, 2007 | No Comments

New USDA Pyramid Emphasis on Whole Grains

USDA Pyramid

Since obesity has become such a prevalent problem, the USDA has revamped its Food Requirements Pyramid.

The orange section is the Grain Group. It suggests that you eat at least 3 ounces of this group daily, with fifty percent of that being whole grains.

The green section is the Vegetable Group. It suggests eating more dark green and orange vegetables, as well as more dry beans and peas.

The red section is the Fruit Group. It suggests eating a wide variety of fruits (fresh, dried, frozen or canned) and take it easy on the fruit juices.

The yellow section is the Oil Group. It suggests getting your fat content from fish, nuts and vegetable oils. Take it easy on butter, stick margarine, shortening and lard.

The blue section is the Dairy Group. Try to choose low-fat or fat-free, and if you can’t consume dairy, use lactose-free products or other calcium rich foods.

The purple section is the Meats & Beans Group. It suggests using lean meats and poultry and to either bake, broil or grill the meat. Also try to supplementing other lean protein sources such as fish, beans, nuts and seeds.

If you would like more information on how this pyramid can work for you, go to MyPyramidPlan and you can customize the pyramid just for you.

Posted in Food News, Healthy Foods

November 10th, 2007 | No Comments

Try Some Ham-Flavored Soda

Okay, this ranks close to the top of the “YUK!” meter for me: Christmas Ham Soda. There is a beverage company based in Seattle called Jones Pure Cane Soda that is offering the “Christmas Pack” and the “Chanukah Pack.” To be honest, the Chanukah Pack (Latke Soda, Apple Sauce Soda, Chocolate Coins Soda and Jelly Doughnut Soda) sounds alot more appealing that the Christmas Pack (Christmas Ham Soda, Christmas Tree Soda, Egg Nog Soda and Sugar Plum Soda).

You should check out Jones because they only use pure cane sugar instead of refined sugar, which is much for your health. Everything ingredient is pure and organic, so have a drink to your health!

Relevant pics from Flickr

By boodoo

By Samuel Fine

By carabino

By boodoo

Yahoo Answers
What’s the difference between High Fructose corn syrup and Inverted Cane Sugar?

Posted in Food News, Other Healthy Eating Info

November 6th, 2007 | No Comments

What’s Wrong with Our Food Supply?

Totinos Pizza

It seems that every week there is some food supplier recalling their food. On November 1, General Mills had to recall many of its frozen meat pizzas because of an E. coli O157:H7 contamination; November 3 saw Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. recalling ground beef with Century Farm, Giant, Shop Rite, Stop & Shop, Wegmans, Weis Premium Meats and Price Rite labels due to a possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination.

This is a second recall in just a month and a half for Cargill. And really, it’s not just meat products that are recalled. Everything that we consume has the possibility of being recalled because most of what we eat is processed.

So, why all the recalls? Well, for one thing, food safety issues are handled by a number of agencies. The FDA is in charge of Seafood, Fruits, Vegetables, Shell Eggs, and all other Non-Meat Foods; the USDA is in charge of meats and poultry. For example, if a frozen pizza has cheese and pepperoni on it, then both the FDA and USDA has jurisdiction. How confusing! Who has the authority to call a recall?

According to a report from the Associated Press, our food safety programs are too fragmented and divided.

Critics of the nation’s food safety system say that it is too fragmented and marked by overlapping authority, and they say that may help explain why dangerous foods keep slipping through and why contamination scares are handled in sometimes inconsistent ways.

“One of the underlying problems is the bifurcation of the regulatory system,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s food safety division.

Critics also complain that the food safety system suffers from a shortage of money and inspectors and inadequate enforcement powers.

All I can say is we might as well get used to the recalls; they maybe happening for a while. What Americans should be doing is growing some of their own vegetables or buying from a local farmers’ market. That way they can wash the food themselves and know that it is safe.

Posted in Food News, Healthy Foods, Meats

October 30th, 2007 | No Comments

From the Garden to the OR

Hot peppers; most people have tried at least one and burned everything in their mouth. I admit I am one of those people and have loved peppers ever since the first one.

According to a report on CNN.com, scientists are now experimenting with an ultra-purified version of Capsaicin ([methyl vanillyl nonenamide], a lipophilic chemical that can produce a strong burning sensation in the mouth) on open wounds during certain types of painful surgery. What they believe is that the numbness you feel after biting into a pepper can be useful for painful surgeries such as knee replacement. The hope is that if they use a large enough dose of Capsaicin on exposed nerves during surgery, then the patient will not have to take some highly addictive narcotics for pain during the healing process.

Tags
chili pepper, capsaicin
Relevant pics from Flickr

By Farl

By 45street

By David Reeves

By Naseer Ommer

Yahoo Answers
Is it possibly true that capsaicin from hot chili peppers cured diabetes 1 in diabetic mice?
What makes chili peppers hot and i’m not talking about the capsaicin.?
Exctractin Capsaicin?

Posted in Food News, Healthy Foods, Vegetables

October 11th, 2007 | No Comments

Yet Another Contaminated Food…….

Today, CNN reports that ConAgra has voluntarily ceased making chicken and turkey pot pies due to salmonella. The company claims that the pies in question had been under cooked. They say that it clearly reads on the package that the pies are not ready-to-eat and have to be cooked thoroughly.

It makes you wonder what is going on? As previously posted on this site in February, the FDA has been struggling to keep us safe from contaminated foods.

JTK sez: it’s always better to make your own food than to eat some processed food anyway, and that is just what the recipe maven did: Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pie

And then when I was congratulating myself on making my very first from-scratch Chicken Pot Pie, my husband says “It’s not all ‘from-scratch’, is it? I mean, you didn’t make the puff pastry, did you?”

And don’t forget that ConAgra was also the conglomerate that was responsible for the earlier recall of the Sam’s Burgers.

Relevant pics from Flickr