"Guest acknowledges and understands that no warranty, either expressed or implied, is made by Host as to the nutritional content of the meal. This document is offered in order to duly warn Guest that dangerous conditions, risks, and hazards may lurk in the turkey, stuffing, vegetables, cranberry sauce, fixings, drinks, desserts, appetizers, and any or all other comestibles that may be served."
So begins the Thanksgiving Guest Liability and Indemnification Agreement helpfully offered by the Center for Consumer Freedom.
The waiver, a tongue-in-cheek counterpoint to the obesity-related lawsuits popping up across the nation, is the latest salvo from the center, which represents restaurants and food companies and takes stands on issues it deems to be ones of consumer choice. The organization routinely pits itself against "a growing cabal of activists" intent on meddling in American lives with food labels and smoking bans and the like. This time, the target appears to be the litigation-minded.
Of course, no one would actually suggest that failure to provide a Tofurky would be a reason to sue, as the waiver implies. (But it might be a nice gesture to those vegetarian guests who gamely make do with cranberry sauce and green beans year after year.)
The skirmish is between a group called Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine and seven national restaurant chains, including Burger King, McDonald's and TGI Fridays. PCRM, an animal-rights group with links to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, filed a lawsuit in L.A. against all seven for knowingly exposing customers to a cancer-causing chemical in ... nope, not fries.
Not cheeseburgers.
Drumroll...
... grilled chicken sandwiches. You know, the healthy alternative.
Grilling chicken causes formation of a chemical called PhIP, of a class of chemicals called heterocyclic amines that form when meats are cooked at high heat. PCRM claims that warnings should be placed in eateries to warn consumers of this risk under Proposition 65. That's the law that's responsible for those often-quite-perplexing signs on the sides of buildings, etc., that say "This area contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, or birth defects or other reproductive harm."
(And then you look around and wonder what and where the risk lies. Or you just go, "Eh. Another of those signs.")
You might not think PCRM is going to win this one, since last week California Supervising Deputy Atty. Gen. Edward Weil argued -- as PCRM and Burger King tried to hash out a settlement -- that “provision of the warning would not be in the public interest” because the levels of the chemical in chicken weren't high enough to constitute risk and also because “warnings need not be provided where the chemical in question is created by a process [cooking] that actually has the net effect of making the food safer to eat, i.e., killing bacteria.”
In other words, it's actually quite a good idea to cook meat rather than eat it raw. (That is -- if you eat meat at all.)
Yet in an e-mail, PCRM says Burger King has settled and begun placing signs in its restaurants -- but Burger King hasn't returned our calls yet so we don't know if it's true. (Have you seen any?)
UPDATE: Burger King e-mailed a statement:
"A private plaintiff sued a large number of restaurants in California that serve grilled chicken, claiming that California law requires warnings because of the presence of PhIP, a natural by-product of cooking chicken. Although the California Attorney General concluded that this PhIP in grilled chicken poses no significant risk and would not require a warning, the plaintiff proceeded with the lawsuit. Rather than expend resources on litigation, Burger King Corp. settled the lawsuit in July of 2008, by including information on PhIP in its nutritional posters."
"Health-conscious Americans have long steered away from fried chicken, but they have no idea that grilled chicken may be as bad or worse," says PCRM President Neal Barnard in a news release. Meanwhile, David Martosko, director of research for the Center for Consumer Freedom, a restaurant trade group, had this to say in a statement: "The animal rights movement will stop at nothing to scare Americans into adopting a PETA-approved diet." And in an e-mail: "A cancer warning on chicken? That's practically the Holy Grail for the animal rights movement."
Preventing peanut allergies, overcoming milk allergies, the rise of food allergies in general ... The reports about reactions to food have been relatively heavy of late:
Other countries include sesame on their lists of common allergies, says the author, but not the U.S. She urges folks concerned about sesame to push the FDA for advisory labeling.
Hey, moms, dads and everyone else — looking for an innovative way to get all that Halloween candy out of the house before it causes tooth decay and unwanted pounds?
Look no further than the office of Dr. Peter Sinclair, a Torrance orthodontist. He realized there’s a better place for all that candy than in our stomachs, and is offering to buy it from you for $2 a pound through next week. You’ll get $1 of that, and the other $1 will go to the Torrance Memorial Medical Center. And where will the candy go? Not in the trash, but to the troops in Iraq. He’ll even ship it there.
"This helps in several ways," says Sinclair, who gives credit to Kimberly Bustos, his treatment coordinator, for finding out about the idea and convincing him to implement it. "We don’t have kids eating lots of candy and getting cavities and breaking their braces. But beyond that, we’re also putting it to good use."
(Broken braces are not uncommon at this time of year, Sinclair says, with candy sometimes the culprit.)
We asked if any parents had brought in candy, trailed by wailing youngsters not yet willing to give up their prized loot.
"No, the parents said this was a great idea, and I haven’t heard the kids complain," he says. Judging from what our friends say about their kids not even missing the candy after a few days, we’re not that surprised. OK, maybe a little surprised.
We also wondered if Sinclair worried about the troops getting cavities from the sweet stuff, but he didn’t seem too concerned. "In a stressful situation, it’s nice to have candy," he says. And hopefully our troops are practicing good dental hygiene when they can.
The candy buyback program, which the American Assn. of Orthodontists says has been around since the late 1990s, has inspired more than 50 orthodontists around the country to adopt the idea, with each office tailoring the donations as they choose. Sinclair hopes to inspire even more. "If they all would do it, it would probably be a good thing. ... It’s a win-win for everybody."
How time flies. It seems only yesterday that the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released, followed by the revamped Food Pyramid with its exciting vertical stripes and cute little steps up the side to remind us that we need to exercise in addition to not eating like hogs.
Now the heat is on again for the government to come up with a new set of tips and advice that most Americans will likely ignore -- the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A panel of scientists has been chosen to wade through all the science on food and health and see what needs amending.
As usual, the public has its chance to weigh in with its own thoughts and tips on what best constitutes a healthful diet. The comments are trickling in. (Read 'em here.) The National Dairy Council is going nuts, with 10 comments posted so far, stating how important milk is for a healthy diet, how stuffed with vitamin D, calcium and other nutrients. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group allied with the animal rights organization PETA, has written calling for a careful consideration of the health benefits of vegetarian and vegan diets.
The Salt Institute wants the committee to look at the issue of salt -- it says that health recommendations on salt are not based on firm science but on opinion, plus studies use "intermediate endpoints" such as high blood pressure to gauge salt's effects, instead of death.
And, valiantly defending its favorite sweetener, the Corn Refiners Assn. sent 172 pages of scientific data on high fructose corn syrup for the committee to review.
Now the American Beverage Assn. wants to weigh in as well. Today's guidelines, it says, do not sufficiently emphasize the importance of water. According to Maureen Storey, senior vice president for science policy at the American Beverage Assn.: “Water is an essential nutrient which is vital for life and which the body cannot make itself. Sources of water -- including drinking water, beverages and food -- are the ‘nutritional glue’ for all metabolic functions in the body.... Therefore, meeting total fluid and water requirements for proper hydration is critical for overall health and wellness -- and all beverages provide hydration.”
Figuring out the guidelines is a very exhaustive process, involving long, detailed discussions on optimal servings of fish for the heart or fiber for the bowels, and squabbles over items such as sugar -- every word closely watched by reps from food and agricultural trade groups. You can get a taste of the scene here in a 2004 L.A. Times story.
Last time, people flooded the government with ideas for the guidelines and stayed up late drawing graphics to replace the old food pyramid -- food totem poles, food balloons, food trees, food dartboards, food steering wheels.
This time -- just like last time -- the consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest released a statement saying that several dietary guidelines committee-members have close ties to the food industry that were not adequately revealed to the public.
The seasons they go round and round ... but Americans, for some reason, don't seem to eat any better.
With all that's been going on -- elections, tanking economy, layoffs -- it's possible that some of you may have missed the riveting "Soup Wars." Yep -- as soup season comes in, the gloves are coming off.
You might say it started in September, when the Campbell Soup Co. decided the world should know that its Select Harvest soups don't contain MSG but Progresso soups do.
So Campbell's ran an ad in the New York Times that featured a can of Progresso soup with "MSG" as its headline and a can of Campbell's soup with "TLC" as its headline.
In TV ads, a blindfolded woman tastes Progresso soup and guesses, "Hydrolized vegetable protein. And MSG." Then she samples Campbell's soup and guesses, "Chicken! One hundred percent natural ... white meat." (Campbell to Progresso: "Pttthhh!")
General Mills, which makes Progresso, took umbrage with the ads and put out its own, noting that 95 of Campbell's soups still contain MSG and that quite a number of Progresso soups did not. It also announced in October that it was removing MSG from all 80 of its Progresso soups and challenged Campbell, in ads, to do the same with all its soups. (Progresso to Campbell: "Oh yeah? Take that!")
Campbell shot back with more ads noting that it had 124 soups without MSG. ("I know you are, but what am I?")
Now it seems the Glutamate Assn., which manufactures monosodium glutamate, has had just about enough and released a statement of its own. ("Go to your rooms.") In it, Brendan Naulty, president of the Glutamate Assn., says: "It is a disservice to consumers to imply that the inclusion of MSG in canned soup is a detriment, when in fact, the use of MSG in canned soups has long been recognized as a safe, effective way to provide consumers with exactly what they want -- a soup that tastes good."
-- Rosie Mestel
P.S. Here, culled from a past Booster Shots blog item on MSG, are a few links to articles on the issue of MSG and safety, should you be interested:
A New York Times article -- it goes into all kinds of MSG trivia and history, including periodic safety controversies and scientific reviews. (It notes that most scientific reviews have judged MSG to be safe.)
Got a milk allergy? Normally, kids with the condition have to avoid milk, treat the reactions that do occur -- or wait to outgrow the allergy. A new study offers the possibility of another approach.
On the heels of a CDC report earlier this month establishing that food allergies are on the rise in children -- up 18% from 1997 to 2007 -- comes some good news from Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore.
Researchers there were able to desensitize children to milk allergens by giving them progressively higher doses of milk protein, an approach more technically called oral immunotherapy.
Over four months, 19 kids who could tolerate an average of only 40 milligrams (a quarter of a teaspoon) of milk were given either progressively higher doses of milk powder or a placebo. By study's end, the 12 kids who had been given the increasing amounts of milk could tolerate 2,540 milligrams to 8,140 milligrams (2.5 ounces to 8 ounces) of milk without any allergic reaction or with only mild symptoms.
The seven who had been given a placebo could still tolerate only 40 milligrams of milk powder.
Said senior investigator Dr. Robert Wood in a news release:
"Our findings suggest that oral immunotherapy gradually retrains the immune system to completely disregard or to better tolerate the allergens in milk that previously caused allergic reactions. ... Albeit preliminary and requiring further study, these results suggest that oral immunotherapy may be the closest thing yet to a 'true' treatment for food allergy."
The researchers are studying the approach in kids with egg allergies as well. And if you're thinking maybe you could try this on your own ... that's probably not a good idea. Doctors seem to agree on that point.
Here's a WebMD report on oral immunotherapy for peanut allergies.
The new study was published online Tuesday in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Common, if largely overwrought, wisdom holds that parents should rifle through their kids' Halloween haul before the little darlings consume even the first bite -- tossing out fruit, homemade treats, candy that isn't individually packaged, items with damaged wrapping, anything that might possibly suggest danger within ... Now apparently, they're supposed to check the type of candy, too.
Among the alarmist Halloween e-mails making the rounds is one that states: "Don't eat the chocolate coin candies! The little chocolate coins are not safe for kids to eat this Halloween. They are made in China and contain the Melamine that childrens deaths were related to recently. !!!!!!!"
The e-mail specifically names a product called Sherwood's milk chocolate Pirate's Gold Coins, made in China.
Myself, I'm always loathe to trust e-mails with multiple exclamation points and errant capitalization (I've given up on expecting appropriate apostrophe use), but the list of products contaminated with melamine does seem to be growing. And this health gig suggests to some people that I'm interested in such things, so ...
Here's the deal:
It's true -- you shouldn't eat the Pirate's Gold coins. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said so.
The FDA has not issued a similar warning. It's outrageous when you think about it -- unless of course, you do think about it and realize that the product was distributed in Canada, not the United States. It's possible that a few of those coins were brought into the U.S. by Americans shopping at Costco stores to our north (when will those Canadians do something about their border?), but there hardly seems reason to panic. Not when there are potentially hazard-filled baked goods and apples to toss.
Here's the take from the website Truthorfiction.com. And here's a rather thorough look from the Akron Beacon Journal at current candy offerings.
The list of possibly-melamine-contaminated candy that Americans should toss includes:
White Rabbit candy.
That's it. The FDA has warned against eating those and Koala's March Creme filled cookies -- the only two items that might conceivably become a Halloween treat. Melamine might also be found in YILI Brand Sour Milk Drink. But if you find that stuff in the Halloween haul, you should probably be more alarmed at how out of touch your neighbors are -- not the potential risk to the typical American kid.
For a full list of products available to American consumers that might be contaminated with melamine, check the FDA website. (The page also contains a link to questions and answers about melamine.)
If you're going to sort through your kids' candy, use the melamine excuse if you want. But stay focused on the true goal -- claiming dibs on the Butterfinger bars and Reese's cups.
-- Tami Dennis
Photo: The FDA has advised against eating White Rabbit candy.
For kids in the United States, eating is an increasingly risky business. Food allergies among children -- defined as people under 18 -- rose 18% from 1997 to 2007, a new federal report shows.
The report, released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that about 3 million children -- approximately four out of every 100 -- suffered from a food or digestive allergy in the previous 12 months.
The findings, culled from the National Health Interview Survey and the National Hospital Discharge Survey, also included these nuggets:
-- Hispanic kids appear less likely to suffer from food allergies. In the last 12 months, 3.9% of the nation's kids overall reported a food allergy, compared with 3.1% of Hispanic kids.
-- Prevalence shifts with age. In the last 12 months, 4.7% of kids younger than 5 reported a food allergy, compared with 3.7% of those 5 to 17.
-- Allergy-related hospitalizations among children are on the rise, from 2,615 for the 1998-2000 reporting period to 9,537 for the 2004-2006 reporting period.
-- The risk of asthma or other allergies increases dramatically for children with food allergies. They're two to four times more likely to suffer from these conditions than are kids without such allergies. For example, 8% of children without a food allergy suffered eczema or skin allergy, compared with 27% of children with a food allergy. Such statistics suggest hypervigilance on the part of kids and their parents is not unwarranted.
The most common food sources of allergic reactions are milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat. The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network offers information on hidden sources of these foods and on how to manage food allergies.
Let's be careful out there.
-- Tami Dennis
Photo: Adding whole grain wheat bread to your diet may be a great idea for many people, but not those with wheat allergies. Credit: Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times
The upcoming food-heavy holidays don’t have to crash and burn your fitness and weight loss goals. Indulging in a little turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie won’t seem so devastating if you balance those calories by taking part in a traditional event with an old-fashioned name: The Turkey Trot.
Turkey Trots are fun, low-stress running events (usually a 5K or 10K run, and sometimes a mini-triathlon) geared for individuals and families that usually take place on Thanksgiving Day. Costume contests, prizes, vendors, charity drives, entertainment — all may be part of the experience. Separate events are often offered for children, too. (Active.com features a list of races around the country.).
"It’s a perfect way to burn off calories before you get into the holiday," says Jonathan Pauley, managing partner of Irvine-based Renegade Racing, which puts on the San Dimas Turkey Trot and the Turkey Tri, both on Nov. 30.
"This is the time of year when someone will grab their family members or friends and say, ‘You’ve got to do this Turkey Trot,’ " Pauley says. "It seems to be less intimidating than doing a more competitive 5K or 10K because you have the whole holiday atmosphere." Though it's a good idea to sign up ahead of time, most races offer same-day registration.
Veterans of competitive runs enjoy the events because of their low-key atmosphere, Pauley says, while newbies "can sort of test the waters a little bit. With New Year’s resolutions coming along and the holiday eating season bearing down on us, it’s a great way to get your training program together and give yourself a little bit of focus as you enter the late part of November."
Setting goals isn’t a bad idea, he adds, like finishing a 5K — even if you walk it. There’s no shame in walking. Walking for an hour (a reasonable 20-minute pace for a 5K) burns about 225 calories for a 150-pound person. That’s a decent pile of sweet potaotes right there.
We're a nation of spoiled coffee drinkers. Whereas our forebears boiled old grounds over camp stoves and our parents percolated Folgers, we're driving five miles to suck down triple mocha lattes like beer at a NASCAR event.
Now it’s gotten even headier: Coffee with benefits. Cashing in on our insatiable thirst for coffee and our willingness to embark on new frontiers, java makers are adding a dazzling array of extras to coffee, including soy protein, guarana, garcinia cambogia, matcha green tea, white willow, yerba mate and echinacea.
The ingredients are intended to have actual benefits, such as boosting metabolism or energy, improving the immune system or increasing mental focus.
We put four infused, pre-ground coffees to a taste test and were surprised at how much they tasted like regular pre-ground coffee.
That was the good news.
The bad news is that ingredients such as guarana and yerba mate, which contain caffeine, can leave you with enough supplemental energy to take down a tiger in the jungle. We suggest that before snapping up a bag of infused coffee, consider what you want the coffee to do and then do some research on the supplemental ingredients.
Here’s what we found:
* Spava: Organically grown (fair trade) arabica beans, fortified with green tea (20 milligrams per 6-ounce serving) and guarana extract (15 milligrams per 6 ounces). The coffee purports to stimulate metabolism and burn fat.
Taste: More acidic, bolder, stronger and earthier than the other coffees tested, with a slightly grassy undertone.
* Kosmo Protein Coffee: Organically grown (fair trade) arabica beans roasted with organic whole soy beans. The soy adds 2 grams of protein per 6-ounce serving. Low in acid, the coffee contains half the caffeine of regular coffee, due to the diluting effects of soy beans.
Taste: This was the smoothest and mildest of the coffees.
* JavaFit Energy Plus: Arabica beans with garcinia cambogia, green tea extract, niacin and extra caffeine (150 milligrams extra per serving).
Notes: Unlike the other coffees sampled here, which recommend 2 tablespoons of coffee for 6 ounces of water, JavaFit recommends 1 tablespoon. We soon found out why. To make a direct comparison with the other three coffees, we used a ratio of 2 tablespoons of coffee per 6 ounces of water. Big mistake. After one cup, our body was buzzing like a tuning fork -- and the effect lasted all day. Next, we brewed it according to the package directions. Much better.
Taste: Fortissimo. The aroma was strong, almost pungent. The flavor was very robust, and almost bitter at first, but the bitterness mellowed after a few sips.
* Fusion, Diet FX: Organically grown (fair trade) arabica beans, fortified with hoodia, green tea and yerba matte. Amounts of the added ingredients are not included in the packaging.
Notes: Available in the U.S. in 11 varieties at 7-Eleven stores by the cup and in “portion pillow packs” that make one pot of coffee.
Taste: Noteably smooth and non-acidic, with a nice aroma. Tastes surprisingly similar to upper end, generic coffee served on airplanes, which isn’t a bad thing overall.
-- Janet Cromley
Top photo credit: Iris Schneider / Los Angeles Times
The next time you hit a buffet, you may want to take some copious notes about your behavior — where you sit, your strategy about approaching said buffet, and how much food you leave on your plate. Because researchers have been doing that, and they’ve found a few interesting things.
Yes, you’ve been watched.
In a study published in the August issue of the journal Obesity, 22 trained observers examined the habits of 213 randomly selected people at 11 all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet restaurants in five states across the country. The observers estimated the diners’ age, height and weight (using established parameters), and coded their behaviors, which included serving, seating and eating.
Marked differences were found among people in the highest BMI category (scores of 29.5-51.5) compared with the lowest BMI category (13.5-24.4). When it came to browsing the buffet, only 33% of the high BMI group surveyed the goods before diving in, compared with 71% of the low BMI group. Almost 16% of the high BMI group chose to sit in booths instead of tables, compared with about 38% of the low BMI group. When deciding where to sit, almost 42% of the high BMI group sat facing the food, while only 27% of the low BMI group sat that way. The high BMI group also left less food on their plate compared with the low BMI group — 6% versus 10.6%.
How might these findings relate to being overweight? Let’s look at the table versus booth seating. Sitting in a booth, the researchers suggest, may make it harder to make another trip to the buffet, since someone’s going to have to move to let someone else out. And by facing the food, diners are reminded of its proximity. (Researchers note, however, that the findings suggest association, not causation.)
Anything that makes the food more convenient will likely make consuming it that much easier, says lead author Brian Wansink, author of "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think." Consider that candy bowl at the office. Near you = many handfuls throughout the day. Across the room = fewer handfuls.
Wansink, who did the study while at Cornell University and the University of Illinois, says that most people aren’t even aware of what they’re doing. "If you ask them why they decided to sit closer, people will go, ‘Huh. I didn’t even realize I did that,’ and it’s very genuine."
Ergo, making food less convenient might result in eating less. "If you say, hey, I need to be more aware of where I sit when I go to a restaurant, you’ll forget that in two days," says Wansink. "Come up with a rule to sit as far away as you can and don’t face the food. That can become a mindless habit very quickly."
It's that time of year. The haul of Halloween candy kicks it off, and close on its heels are Thanksgiving pies and Christmas cookies. Here's some surprising advice from a pediatric dentist: Let them stuff their little mouths.
"The frequency of eating candy and other refined carbohydrates, and their stickiness, are big factors in creating the risk of" cavities, says Dr. Mark Helpin in a press release. "Parents can let kids eat a bunch (of candy) now and a bunch later. But don't let them have one piece now, then an hour later let them have another piece."
That's because eating carbohydrates makes the mouth more acidic, which makes it more vulnerable to cavities. And each separate time candy is eaten, it can take an hour for the acidic environment to dissipate. So it may not be a bad idea to let them gorge from that Halloween plastic pumpkin and get it over with. It can be better than doling out a piece now, then another piece an hour later.
But Helpin, acting chairman of pediatric dentistry at Temple University's Maurcie H. Kornberg's School of Dentistry, says there are things parents can do to reduce the risk of cavities. Dessert after a meal is a good time for sweets because eating meals increases the production of saliva, which helps wash away acidity in the mouth.
And, of course, they should brush after eating candy. If that's not possible, have them rinse their mouths with water three or four times after eating sweets -- or pretzels or potato chips, for that matter.
“It's not realistic to think you can tell your child you can't have candy, cookies, cakes, or other treats,” says Helpin. “Those are the things most people enjoy — and we want our kids to enjoy life.”
Drinking buckets of coffee a day — up to six cups — may reduce your risk of death from heart disease, if ever so slightly, according to a new report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Or not.
Women who consumed two to three cups of caffeinated coffee a day had a 25% lower risk of death from heart disease.
Women who consumed two to three cups of caffeinated coffee a day had an 18% lower risk of death caused by something other than heart disease or cancer.
Men who consumed two to three cups of caffeinated coffee a day had no change in risk.
There was no association between coffee and cancer deaths.
Interestingly, people who drank decaffeinated coffee had death rates similar to those who drank caffeinated coffee. This suggests that there may be some other factor at work — something unrelated to coffee that coffee drinkers share. [*Note, readers rightly pointed out that other constituents in the coffee could be responsible for the results.]
This comes as a shock, because my parents (who live in England) are convinced I have become a food safety zealot, what with my admonishments not to leave fried fish out at room temperature overnight and a meddlesome habit of going through their refrigerator and tossing foods that are weeks past their sell-by dates.
"Darling, that's only the sell-by date," my dad protests.
"She lives in California -- you know how fanatical they are about health over there -- and, of course, in the summer it's so much hotter in California," says my mother, indulgently making excuses for her child.
Then there was the infamous eggplant incident of 2005, involving the inexplicable (and wasteful) disappearance of half an eggplant that had slime all over the cut end. My mother asked if I knew what had happened to it. I lied.
Yet by the yardsticks of the International Food Information Council Foundation, a group funded by food, beverage and agricultural industries, I am a slattern. Do I use a meat thermometer when using the microwave? (No. Wouldn't the metal create those alarming electrical flashes and zapping noises?) Have I ever checked my microwave's wattage? (No. People do this?)
The council's food safety survey involved interviews with 1,000 U.S. residents over a 2.5-week period during February and March. "More than three-quarters of Americans (82%) say they are confident in their ability to safely prepare food, yet many report not following simple procedures to reduce the spread of bacteria in their kitchen or ensure safe cooking temperatures," says a news release about the findings.
The stats:
92% say they wash their hands with soap and water when preparing food. (Good!)
79% store leftovers within two hours of serving. (Pretty good!)
48% report using separate cutting boards for raw meat or poultry and produce. (Do they mean dedicated separate cutting boards?)
29% use a meat thermometer.
15% check the wattage on their microwaves. (Sorry, but this sounds remarkably high.)
7% say they use a meat thermometer when using their microwaves.
What about you? Have you checked the wattage of your microwave lately? Do you eat off the floor -- or hose down the kitchen with bleach at the end of each day?
And please, come to dinner any time. (No -- really? You're busy?)
--Rosie Mestel
P.S. For food safety tips from the government, go here.
That was my reaction recently when I saw the sell-by date on some juice I had grabbed from a mini-refrigerator perched on a cabinet near my desk. The expiration date was March 2005. Weâre not meticulous housekeepers.
The juice tasted OK, but it looked a little brown, especially toward the bottom, where it was really brown, which is what prompted me to look at the label. As I contemplated the grisly possibilities of what might await me, I wondered what the sell-by date on food really means. At what point is something too old to eat? And more to the point, can a person die from drinking really, really old orange juice?
Turns out, the shelf life of Tree Top products is determined by the level of vitamin C in the product that persists over time, says Kevin Rackham, director of quality assurance/food safety at Tree Top. Over time, the level of vitamin C in the product will change, and the nutritional labeling on the product will no longer be accurate.
"We've determined this to be 12 months," he reports in an email forwarded by Laura Prisc, Tree Top's corporate communications manager. "So the shelf life on our juices and sauces is 12 months. However, there is no safety concern with eating apple sauce or drinking any of our juices after that 'best by' or 'sell by' date, but the level of vitamin C in the product will be lower."
Also, he says, the color may change over time, due to temperature and light exposure, but, again, the product is safe. The exception to this is if the packaging has been breached or there is visible "bloating" of the container. In those cases, it's best to steer clear of the product.
This got me thinking about other food items, and how long they last, which brought me to the U.S. Department of Agriculture web site, where there's all sorts of helpful information about food storage.
For example, did you know that you can keep canned ham in your pantry for two years, or that canned meat and poultry will last two to five years?
Click here for more information about how long you can keep food.
This was NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams' reaction to the news yesterday that New York City chain restaurants would be required to post calories on menus beginning Monday.
"If the food and dietary police haven't done enough already, today they moved a step closer to ruining the experience of going to a restaurant for a meal."
New York City was the first U.S. city to enact a regulation requiring chain restaurants to list nutritional information on menus. The law was challenged by the New York State Restaurant Assn. But, yesterday, a federal judge said the action is reasonable in its goal of trying to reduce obesity. Williams wasn't the only person who is unimpressed. The National Restaurant Assn. said:
"Its flawed approach won't ultimately help consumers receive nutritional information that is useful to them."
But dietitian Keith Ayoob noted on his USA Today blog that other states are considering similar laws. There is no scientific data to show such laws make a difference in consumer choices. But, Ayoob said:
"At any rate, if you're watching your weight, you need to be informed about what you're eating in any restaurant. Unfortunately, these proposed laws only apply to major chains, not the local single establishment places that even more people patronize."
People like Brian Williams, who, I doubt, eats too often at Burger King. But he obviously worries about the rest of us.
"Enjoy your meal," he signed off, dourly, to viewers.
Tami Dennis, who takes the word "skeptic" to previously uncharted territory, is editor of The Times' Health section. She's adamant that pitches promoting awareness days, weeks or months are, by their nature, non-stories. And, because she's an adult, she refuses to use words like "veggies," "tummy" and "yummy."
Rosie Mestel, Health section deputy editor, studied genetics before abandoning flies, fungi and DNA for health/medical writing. Her hero is the biologist Ernst Haeckel, whose jellyfish paintings inspired snazzy chandeliers. Her favorite toast-spread is Marmite, a British delicacy made of yeast extract. Her least-favorite word is "millenniums."
Melissa Healy is a staff writer for the Health section reporting from Washington D.C. Healy's a veteran of The Times' National staff, having covered the Pentagon, Congress, poverty and social welfare, the environment, and the White House before shifting to Health in 2003. She writes frequently about mental health and human behavior, about federal health policy, prescription medication and ethics in medicine. More wonk than wellness freak, Healy chooses to believe in the health benefits of coffee and wine, and considers water a better work-out medium than beverage.
After a brief stint as a sports writer, Shari Roan turned to health journalism and has covered the topic for The Times for 18 years. She is the author of three books and the mother of two daughters, both teenagers who refer to her as a "health freak." She likes to jog, watch baseball and is very happy that dark chocolate contains some health benefit.
Jeannine Stein writes about fitness, sports medicine and obesity for the Health section. She’s a gym rat from way back and never met an elliptical trainer she didn’t like. Well, maybe one or two. She tempers exercise with a steady diet of reality television because she believes it’s all about balance.
"Guest acknowledges and understands that no warranty, either expressed or implied, is made by Host as to the nutritional content of the meal. This document is offered in order to duly warn Guest that dangerous conditions, risks, and hazards may lurk in the turkey, stuffing, vegetables, cranberry sauce, fixings, drinks, desserts, appetizers, and any or all other comestibles that may be served."
There's jostling going on in the world of food! 
Look no further than the office of Dr. Peter Sinclair, a Torrance orthodontist. He realized there’s a better place for all that candy than in our stomachs, and is offering to buy it from you for $2 a pound through next week. You’ll get $1 of that, and the other $1 will go to the 
Turkey Trots are fun, low-stress running events (usually a 5K or 10K run, and sometimes a mini-triathlon) geared for individuals and families that usually take place on Thanksgiving Day. Costume contests, prizes, vendors, charity drives, entertainment — all may be part of the experience. Separate events are often offered for children, too. (Active.com features a 
* Spava: Organically grown (fair trade) arabica beans, fortified with green tea (20 milligrams per 6-ounce serving) and guarana extract (15 milligrams per 6 ounces). The coffee purports to stimulate metabolism and burn fat.
In a study published in the August issue of the journal 
Analyzing data culled from 84,214 women enrolled in the 
