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Chew On This: The FDA - eggs on its face - 1 Sep 2010
Around 550 million eggs have been recalled because of a nationwide outbreak of salmonella enteriditis. That's about the population of Denmark. Or the official tally of goats there are in the entire world. 380 million of these eggs came from Iowa-based company Wright County Egg alone.
Water used to wash eggs has been found to be contaminated with a salmonella DNA fingerprint isolate matching the outbreak strain. Oh, and at Hillandale Farms, “Outside access doors to manure pits were pushed out with the weight of manure, which was piled in some cases four to eight feet high”, “live and dead maggots too numerous to count” and “unsealed rodent holes”, according to the FDA. read more...
Chew On This: The water diet! - 26 Aug 2010
Drink two glasses of water three times a day before meals and you could lose around 5 pounds, says a US study. That was our cheap dieting trick in high school and it didn't take a study to discover it. Still, I suppose it's nice to know it's official.
It's more sensible than the conclusion in The American Journal of Cardiology that if you were served a statin with your cheeseburger and fries, you'd neutralize the detrimental effects of the junk food. read more...
Chew On This: Eat dark chocolate twice a week! - 18 Aug 2010
Latest on the chocolate-is-good-for-you story: a US study of women between 48 and 83 has found that those eating two 19 to 30 gram servings of dark chocolate once or twice a week cut the risk of developing heart failure by a third. But those who ate it every day didn't benefit.
Don't get too excited - 19 to 30 grams is 3/4 of an ounce to 1 ounce. Still... read more...
Cabbages & Condoms - no, not naughty. - 11 Aug 2010
Traveling in Bangkok, I found this restaurant whose name gives you a whole lot more to talk about when you get home than just the food. Read all about it in my latest story for Dine and Cook. read more...
Chew On This: Fight flab with beer, says, er, beer group - 11 Aug 2010
Britain's Campaign for Real Ale claims that switching from wine to a pint of beer for one week will save as many calories as going for a 30-minute jog. Or, as the press reported it, "Beer can help you lose weight, says, er, beer group." (Don't you love British tabloid headlines.)
Don't let this be an excuse to rush off to a brew pub for a washboard stomach, though. It only works with moderate drinking. read more...
Chew On This: Will they tell us about nanotechnology? - 28 Jul 2010
Remember the broohaha over Genetically Modified food and consumer reaction to it? Perhaps you don't. In the US few seemed to bat their eyelids. But in Europe GM food is still fighting public rejection caused in large part by a belief that in its introduction to the market people weren't being properly explained the nature and implication of the genetic modification of plants.
Well, now we have the food industry wondering how to introduce us to nanotechlogy in food. At a conference last week, some players thought it might be better to introduce this science of the teeny weeny without mentioning it to anyone. read more...
Chew On This: Chicken can make you fatter than red meat - 21 Jul 2010
People who eat meat gain more weight over 5 years than those who don't, a new study finds. And the meat that will make you gain the most is not red meat, not processed meat, but chicken! read more...
Chew On This: Which 4 of 5 weight loss pills don't work? - 14 Jul 2010
It can't come as a surprise that in a BBC survey of over-the-counter slimming pills, four out of five didn't work. Surprised? read more...
Chew On This: Diet products making makers a fortune. Really? - 24 Jun 2010
Fat burning and other weight management products made $7.5 billion globally last year. Yet a study has found that those people buying them haven't much of an idea about the benefits of the specific ingredient they put their faith in. And some of these seem very dubious.
Been scammed by acai berry diet claims? What do you feel about Hoodia gordonni, Citrus aurantium, Caralluma fimbriata and more. No, I can't tell you what they are - I'm not a good enough gardener. read more...
Chew on This: No guaranteed buzz from coffee - 2 Jun 2010
Need a pick me up? If you drink too much coffee, you'll stop getting a buzz from caffeine. read more...
Chew on This: Forgetful? Drinking too much beer - 20 May 2010
Can't remember much about last night? Carrying a beer belly? You could be a subject for dementia. read more...
Chew On This: Light Acai juice for a 'lite' diet? Coconut free Coconut M & Ms? - 12 May 2010
Zola Light Acai Juice has just arrived on the market. Buy it if you like that tart taste and the fact that it only contains 11grams of sugar because most of the sweetness comes from stevia. Do NOT buy it believing you'll suddenly lose weight. Read what happened to so many eatWashingtonians scammed for money over claims by unscrupulous vendors that the so-called Acai Diet can shed pounds.
M & M have succeeded in launching Coconut M & Ms without using any coconut in the flavoring. What will they think of next? read more...
More super-sizing tidbits - 28 Apr 2010
A couple of researchers have turned up more gloomy facts about our eating habits:
Reviewing all seven editions since 1936 of The Joy of Cooking, Brian Wansink of Cornell University and Collin Payne of New Mexico State University found the calorie counts for one serving of 17 of the 18 recipes that have appeared in each edition, including macaroni and cheese, beef stroganoff and apple pie, have increased by 63 percent. read more...
Chew On This: Chilis - kill or cure? - 28 Apr 2010
I get blinding migraines. I can't take pills till past a certain point in the migraine's progress - I just throw up. But I can sometimes shunt a migraine into its final stretch with a glug of Sriracha sauce. That's the fiery chili garlic Asian condiment. Swallowed undiluted, it causes more pain than the migraine which limps off towards oblivion.
According to scientists at the University of Texas who've been studying chili peppers, that has to be pure hokum. All I can say is it's a good thing I'm not a mouse in their study or they'd have had to think again. read more...
Chew On This: Volcano turns global into local - 23 Apr 2010
Iceland's volcano stranded millions of flyers around the world. But it also kept exotic fruits, vegetables and produce imported from the other side of the globe out of our markets.
It's a tragedy for the farmers and particularly those in countries like Kenya that depend heavily on their fresh flower exports. But the disaster showed us that we've become so globally dependent we don't have any plan in place to keep us in food should a disaster strike long term. read more...
Chew on This: Kids need cake - 15 Apr 2010
Just when we think we've begun to get the healthy eating message swallowed, so to speak, a new British study has found children at kindergartens should be eating more cake and less fruit. read more...
Chew On This: Glee at cancer study's low results? - 8 Apr 2010
OK. So the latest study into the effect of eating your recommended five portions a day of fruit and veg has found that, contrary to the previous study, it has only 'a modest' impact on protecting against cancer. Big disappointment. But...
First of all, 'modest' covers a number of real people who having followed those guidelines have survived cancer. A small number, yes. But one which translates into individual human beings, some of who might share your first name, with likes and dislikes that may match yours. Maybe you know one of them. read more...
Chew On This: The disciples' supper has been supersized. - 25 Mar 2010
The food portions in paintings of Jesus and The Last Supper have got super-sized. This is true. A Cornell University team have been spending their research funds proving this important discovery. read more...
Chew On This: How the food industry makes you fat - 17 Mar 2010
A former commissioner of the FDA who wondered why he couldn't keep weight off talked to food designers and discovered the carefully manipulated reason. Now David Kessler has written a book that demonstrates how the food industry deliberately designs foods to make us want more, more often read more...
Chew On This: Not sleeping makes you fat - 10 Mar 2010
If you're under 21, your brain is still developing. Only 5 percent of high school seniors are getting eight hours' sleep a night. Less than that, grades suffer. Not enough sleep is one of the causes of young driver car crashes. That fact might not convince teenagers who believe in their own invincibility to get to bed in good time.
So tell them, sleep loss also means weight gain. read more...
It may be sacrilege to say so, but I did have a moment's wonder at Julie Powell dedicating a whole year to cooking out Julia Childs. Life is surely too short. But I admired her staying power. Most cookbooks contain only a handful of recipes you actually want to tackle - though heaven forfend that I should level this criticism towards Mastering the Art of French Cookery.Anyway, here's someone who really slackened my jaw. Meet Todd Wilbur, who spends his time to trying to recreate food made by the industrial giants. He wants to cook Krispy Kremes just like the factory. He wants to clone Big Macs, Yoo Hoo chocolate drinks, and dozens more junk foods, to taste just like the real (or unreal) McKoy.
Papaya and lime - natural partners
Chew On This: The FDA - eggs on its face
Hey, mixologists! An organic whisky's coming!
Two women to watch
Monster ice cubes
Jelly - the jewel-like vogue dessert
Jelly - the new old dessert
My favorite markets - Wagshal's Delicatessen
Supermarkets bring the farm in
Chew On This: The water diet!
Gluten - what is it?
Chestnut flour products for the gluten intolerant
Chew On This: Eat dark chocolate twice a week!
Pea Vichyssoise
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