How Much Sugar Do Americans Consume Daily? (Hint: Way Too Much)
Filed under: Health & Medical, Food News
In a country where candy displays are perched next to cash registers at every retail outlet imaginable and drinking soda is a birthright, it can hardly be surprising that Americans consume a large amount of sugar. But 22 teaspoons a day? That's hard to swallow.
Yet the statistic is true. U.S. adults consume 22.2 teaspoons of sugar daily -- or 355 calories, reports UPI. That wildly exceeds the daily recommended amount, says Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst. He says average-sized women should be consuming no more than 6.25 teaspoons; men 9.4.
Not only is the sugar bad for your waistline, but diets high in the sweet stuff have been shown to contribute to high blood pressure, increased triglycerides and cardiovascular disease, the American Heart Association says.
As is usually the case with dietary matters, a little moderation goes a long way. Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
Behold: The Royal Wedding Cake [PHOTOS]
Photo: John Stillwell, AFP / Getty Images
You've probably seen some breathtaking wedding cakes in your lifetime, but we doubt you've encountered anything like this.
The cake for Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, was an eight-tiered ivory showpiece decorated with 900 delicate sugar-paste flowers. The cake was showcased at this afternoon's Buckingham Palace reception, reports The Daily Mail.
How long does it take to make a cake like this? Think weeks, not days. Five weeks, to be exact.The palace contacted baker Fiona Cairns and her team in Febraury to request the cake, and it turns out the bride had some specific requests.
"Catherine did not want it to be seven feet tall, she didn't want it to be towering and thin, and I think we succeeded," says Cairns.
The bride also wanted elements from the Joseph Lambeth technique of cake decoration, so the cake features a lot of intricate piping work, as you can see from the photos.
A hidden treat for architecuture buffs? Cairns used some of the details of the reception room in the design. 'We reflected some of the architectural details in the room so the garlands on the walls were reproduced loosely on the fourth tier - we've used roses, acorns, ivy leaves, apple blossom and bridal rose," she says.Continue reading Behold: The Royal Wedding Cake [PHOTOS] Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
Starbucks To Help Pinkberry Achieve Global Frozen Yogurt Domination
Filed under: Business, Chain Stores / Restaurants
If you have plans to vacation in Britain, Turkey, Morocco, and the Philippines this year, you might just find a tart, cold reminder of home. By the end of 2011, Pinkberry is planning to to be in 17 different international markets, according to Nation's Restaurant News.
The chain currently has 122 outposts in eight countries, and hopes to gain 30 more international locations (this in addition to more U.S. outposts). Part of the success of Pinkberry's growth is attributed to Starbucks, as many of its international franchisees also operate Starbucks locations. Moreover, Starbucks' president and CEO Howard Schultz sits on Pinkberry's board.
"Consumer brands have to look at the landscape through a global lens, as opposed to the domestic lens that Starbucks started from 40 years ago," Schultz told Business Week. Although Pinkberry has plenty of competition in the U.S. market--Cold Stone Creamery is adding froyo to its line this spring and Red Mango has plans to nearly double its domestic stores--there is less competition in the worldwide arena, explains Business Week. In fact, Pinkberry's highest-volume store is in Kuwait. Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
Why Jewish Food Disappoints
Filed under: Magazines, Food News
We'd be too afraid to knock Grandma's matzoh ball soup (and, seriously, it is delicious), but Josh Ozersky has no such qualms. He argues in his TIME magazine piece that Eastern European Jewish food just isn't that tasty.
Dissing on kugel? He should probably watch out for all those bubbes out there--they're fierce when wielding wooden spoons. Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
Thieves Prey on Starbucks Customers
Filed under: Coffee Shops, Chain Stores / Restaurants
Starbucks has done just about everything it can to make you as comfortable as possible and to turn its ubiquitous coffee shops into your home away from home--but maybe it's made you too comfortable.
One important difference between your living room and your local Starbucks is (presumably) you don't have an army of strangers traipsing through your living room as your kick back with your iPad and your morning cup of coffee. It seems obvious enough, but apparently, according to the New York Times, it's a distinction that's increasingly lost on a number of people -- and they're losing their purses, wallets and laptops, too.Continue reading Thieves Prey on Starbucks Customers Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
Which Food is Most Likely to Make You Sick?
Anyone who has ever tangled with food poisoning knows it's nothing to fool around with. But it's often difficult to nail down what, exactly, made you sick.
A new report from the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute points the finger in one clear direction: poultry. Birds contaminated with Campylobacter bacteria is the food-pathogen combination that causes the highest number of illnesses in the U.S. Just how many people fall victim? More than 600,000 people a year.
The top five illness-causing pathogens -- Campylobacter, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Toxoplasma gondii and norovirus -- cause $12.7 billion in economic losses each year, with the top 10 pathogen-food combinations accounting for more than $8 billion a year, according to the report. (Lost productivity, medical care and serious complications or chronic disabilities associated with the illness are all factored together to come up with these figures.)
So enjoy your grilled chicken this summer -- just invest in a meat thermometer and make sure you see 165 degrees on it before you begin your feast. Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
KFC Wants Green-Energy Certification
The newest corporation riding the green wave might surprise environmentalists. A new Kentucky Fried Chicken outpost in Indianapolis is gunning for LEED certification (short for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) from the U.S. Green Building Council. Before you give the Colonel a pat on the back, we feel compelled to mention that this is different from green certification from the Green Restaurant Association, which evaluates sustainability efforts in both food and waste control. LEED is purely design-oriented -- think energy-efficient lighting and building materials.
So what's special about this KFC? Well, they're using "reusable containers," meaning plastic instead of styrofoam, plus paper boxes (weren't those infamous buckets already paper?). To this we say, "about time." But on its website, the company touts the reduction of styrofoam by 62 percent -- not 100 -- and plastic by 17 percent. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff.
The building itself is well-designed, however. It's got long-life LED lighting, locally sourced building materials and fixtures that reduce water use -- all of which is estimated to reduce energy waste by 25 percent, according to the company press release.
It might not be earth-shattering change, but we'll take it. Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
Triple-Decker Avocado and Tomato Panini with Mozzerella and Pesto: Recipe of the Day
Taco Bell May Countersue Group That Sued Over Beef
Filed under: Chain Stores / Restaurants
Taco Bell is really not letting this whole beef lawsuit controversy go.
Here is the rough sequence of events: Taco Bell was sued for allegedly not using real beef, and Taco Bell fired back claiming that the charges were bogus. It launched an aggressive campaign to de-bunk the claims. The suit was dropped. Taco Bell demanded an apology.
Now, as it awaits said apology, Taco Bell thinks it deserves even more, and is considering countersuing, reports FoxNews.com. Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed tells Fox News that the company started of the year very strong but the consequences of the beef lawsuit resulted in a slower quarter, and that Taco Bell is suffering from the bad publicity.
We get what they're trying to do here, but frankly, it feels a little like beating a dead horse at this point. How about making tastier tacos instead? Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
'Top Chef' to Become a Broadway Musical?
Filed under: Television/Film, Chefs
Photo: Valerie Macon / Getty Images
"Cats." "The Lion King." "Top Chef?"
While you might not be able to picture the Bravo reality show in marquee lights, restaurateur (and Top Chef judge) Tom Colicchio reportedly thinks the program is a natural fit for the Great White Way.
Bravo's program director, Andy Cohen, told New York magazine, "He thinks he has a great idea about doing something like that." Perhaps thinking about the hazards involved with fire and sharp knives onstage, Cohen wasn't initially sold. "I told him, 'I'm not so sure,' but he's trying to convince me!"
The magazine rounded up some reactions from former cast members, who were largely game for the idea of a Broadway production.
Marcel Vigneron had our favorite response: "Totally, of course, I'd love to do it. I'm a pretty decent dancer, I'm not gonna lie. Actually, I was cutting a rug for six hours last night. Yeah, I could definitely handle the freestyle hip-hop scenes." Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
Will Starbucks Kill the Cake Pop?
Filed under: Coffee Shops, Chain Stores / Restaurants
Please say this isn't the beginning of the end for cake pops.
Starbucks, America's largest coffee retailer, has begun serving cake pops -- and it's got the baking community up in arms. The pops are made by crumbling fresh cake and mixing the crumbs with frosting, then forming them into a ball and placing them on a stick. To make them pretty (and keep them fresh), they're dipped into a colorful candy coating.
The little pops have caught on like wildfire. (Cake that's portable, adorable, and has fewer calories than a whole slice? Sweet!) They're quickly overtaking cupcakes as the "must-have" item for baby showers, weddings, and birthday celebrations. And that's what has the folks over at Honest Cooking are worried. They know that anything that shows up at Starbucks is likely to experience backlash (and the pops they're serving up are no great shakes), and they don't want their favorite treat to meet that fate.
In an attempt to keep the pops in good favor, they've posted a killer recipe for Lemon Cream Cheese Cake Pops. Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
This Omelet Recipe Is Written On the Egg Itself
Filed under: Food News, Online
Yes, it's a gimmick. But it's a pretty cool one. Who wouldn't like an omelet recipe printed right on their egg? (Never mind that almost everyone knows how to make an omelet.) What's cool here is that artist Dnewman came up with a clever use for the Egg-Bot, a 3D printer that can "draw on spherical or egg-shaped objects from the size of a ping pong ball to that of a small grapefruit." But as one commenter over at Boing Boing points out: "Why print the recipe for two servings on one egg?" Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
Starbucks Responds To Video Showing Rat On Store's Counter
Sugar Industry to Sue Over "Corn Sugar" Label
The battle over sweeteners just got a whole lot more bitter.
As the Associated Press reports, a group of sugar farmers and refiners, including big names like C&H Sugar, have filed suit against the makers of high-fructose corn syrup. Their beef? They want the corn industry to stop trying to hawk their souped-up sweetener as "corn sugar."
As the country has watched its collective waistline get bigger and a generation of kids turn into outsized roly-polys, perhaps no product has come to be as maligned as high-fructose corn syrup. Indeed, among certain members of the Bugaboo-stroller set, feeding your kids anything that contains the super sweetener might as well be the equivalent of letting them snack on crack.
Faced with an image crisis (American consumption of high-fructose corn syrup fell to a 20-year low last year), the corn industry went on the offense, running golden-hued ads of bucolic American farmscapes that essentially touted high-fructose corn syrup as nutritionally the same as sugar and asking the federal government for permission to market the stuff accordingly as "corn sugar."Continue reading Sugar Industry to Sue Over "Corn Sugar" Label Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
Government Wants Companies to Limit Marketing to Kids
Filed under: Business, Food News
Photo: Paul Sakuma / AP Photo
Is the federal government about to put Tony the Tiger out of a job?
In the face of a national epidemic of childhood obesity, a collection of federal agencies has been working for two years now to come up with a set of voluntary guidelines that would restrict what foods can be marketed to kids. Food companies and marketing groups rejected a set of proposed guidelines last year, and the government has repeatedly postponed releasing new ones.
But as the Associated Press reports, the feds may finally pull the trigger as soon as today. Apparently, the AP reporter got a sneak peek at the new guidelines and writes that "companies would be urged to only market foods to children ages 2 through 17 if they are low in fats, sugars and sodium and contain specified healthy ingredients."Continue reading Government Wants Companies to Limit Marketing to Kids Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
Tabloid: Paula Deen Hiding Diabetes
Filed under: Celebrities, Chefs
Photo: Jason Merritt / Getty Images
Is it time for Paula Deen to lay off the fried butter? The Daily Mail has picked up on a National Enquirer report that Paula Deen was diagnosed with diabetes several years ago, yet still "continues to tout exactly the type of butter or sugar rich high-fat recipes that bring on diabetes."
A friend of Deen's told the Enquirer, "Ironically, the very thing that made her rich and famous turned her into a poster child for what could happen if you follow in her footsteps." But source says that Deen has modified her diet and eating habits, which has supposedly resulted in weight loss as well.
Interestingly enough, on PaulaDeen.com, there is a discussion board thread relating to diabetic-friendly Paula Deen recipes. Our guess? They're giving Deen's Donut Bread Pudding a wide berth. (The recipe calls for two cans of sugary fruit cocktail, a can of sweetened condensed milk, an entire stick of butter, a whole pound of powdered sugar and -- ready? -- 24 Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.) Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
FDA Still Struggling to Define "Gluten-Free"
Filed under: Health & Medical, Food News
In 2004, Congress gave the FDA until 2008 to create a definition for what a gluten-free product actually means. Three years after that deadline, we're still waiting.
The Washington Post reports that as celiac disease rates are rising, the government still has no set definition for gluten-free products.
Although the U.S. gluten-free product industry is booming (revenues were $2.6 billion last year, up from $100 million in 2003), they still have quite a bit of wiggle room. The Washington Post explains that some companies "might fail to test their products or might allow small amounts of gluten but still label their foods as gluten-free."
Other countries including Canada, Brazil and Australia have defined gluten-free foods as containing no more than 0.0007 of an ounce of gluten for every 2.2 pounds of food. Though the FDA has no set definition, it does offer a FAQ page about gluten-free labeling.
On May 4, the world's largest gluten-free cake will be brought to Capitol Hill to call attention to the issue. Currently, at least three million Americans have celiac disease, and 18 million have gluten sensitivity. Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
Delivery Man Publicly Shames Bad Tippers On Blog
Filed under: On the Blogs, Food News
Perhaps to prove that what's goes around really does come around, a Williamsburg, Brooklyn delivery man has taken to the blogosphere to broadcast all the bad tippers he comes in contact with. His blog, 15%, chronicles the tight purse strings tendencies of certain customers, in an effort to publicly shame their stinginess. Customer addresses have now been removed, due to Tumblr's request, reports Gawker.com.
The mastermind behind the blog is Larry Fox, a 20-year-old designer and developer. He told Gothamist that the reason for starting his blog was that he "just got tired of all these big companies, these TV shows and movie sets giving us two or three dollar tips on a $90 order." Fox is not only broadcasting bad tippers, but also answering readers' questions. Some highlights (also submitted by other delivery men):
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"Went out into a Level Two Snow Emergency (We are not even supposed to be delivering, but dedication wins out over common sense) And got a whopping 0.50 tip from the guy."
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"Lorimer St. tipped me one dollar to bring him a sandwich during a hail/rain/thunder storm....I hate you."
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"Manhattan Ave. greenpoint took you 8 minutes exactly to come downstairs after two phonecalls (14 stairs in a standard american stairwell) because you don't have a functional buzzer like everyone else in brooklyn."
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"corner of meserole ave. end of delivery zone - about 23 blocks from my restaurant for 4 slices of pie during prime dinnertime. two bucks for well over a mile. thanks for the two bucks to bust my ass because you didn't specify your cross-street as meserole ave from street bro. not on deck. i dropped your food a few times. whoops."
Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
Alien Invasion Cupcakes: Recipe of the Day
Filed under: Recipes
Whether your house is full of sci-fi lovers or you want to bake out-of-this-world desserts for a kids' birthday party, these Alien Invasion cupcakes are sure to be a hit. Encased in a 'spaceship' made out of cups, these aliens are ever ready for transport.
Get the recipe for Alien Invasion Cupcakes. Permalink | Email this | Comments |  |
