Sampler Platter: pork recalls, fruitcakes and purple potatoes

Sampler Platter: now with actual news...

• Used oil from electricity transformers may have caused the dioxin contamination in animal feed that has led to an international recall of Irish pork products. Irish Times
• Selenium, vitamin E and vitamin C won't prevent prostate cancer, according to the results of two large clinical trials. U.S. News & World Report
• The O.C. Board of Supervisors backs away from a health department recommendation that restaurants be required to post red/yellow/green rating cards, saying that it might hurt business. OC Register
• The small convenience store Marty Café opens to the public, continuing the Cecil Hotel's "journey toward a boutique destination for tourists and out-of-town guests." Angelenic
• Pierre Girard of Golden Valley, Minn., has a 97-year-old fruitcake. Can anyone tell it apart from this season's fruitcake? Belleville News-Democrat
• More consumers are "trading down" to private label and generic food brands. CNNMoney.com
• Organic food sales wither as economy suffers. AP
• Chex mix + bacon fat = the ultimate party snack. SFGate
• Latest fast food scandal: Three KFC employees bathe in sink. Redding.com
• Dispute stalls U.S. food aid to North Korea. In the same story: "Despite a better-than-usual harvest, more than a third of North Korea's population will need food aid in the coming year." Washington Post
• Wandering Chopsticks makes mashed Okinawan purple sweet potatoes.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times