Fruitcake - Will It Last Forever?

In "A Christmas Memory," Truman Capote writes about how, as they have done each year, Buddy and his favorite cousin inaugurate the Christmas season with a late November fruitcake baking. This entails gathering wind-fallen pecans and a visit to the dilapidated shack of Mr. Haha Jones to buy whiskey, using the money that they have accumulated through the year in their Fruitcake Fund. After four days of baking, their fruitcakes are ready for delivery to friends, "persons we’ve met maybe once, perhaps not at all."

Is it the fruitcake that lasts a long time, or the memory of the fruitcake?  I don't need a physical reminder to conjure up the sounds, sights and smells of a bakery filled to capacity with fruitcakes in various forms of completion. The fruitcake may not last forever, but those memories will.

This week, a look at long lasting fruitcake.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas." - Dale Evans  (American writer, film star, singer-songwriter and wife of singing cowboy Roy Rogers, 1912 - 2001)

   Fruitcake - Will It Last Forever

History of Food Safety in the U.S. - Part 2

In 1862, President Lincoln appoints a chemist, Charles M. Wetherill, to serve in the new Department of Agriculture. This was the beginning of the Bureau of Chemistry, the predecessor of the Food and Drug Administration.

This week, Part 2 of 3 on the History of Food Safety in the U.S.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "The highest courage is to dare to appear to be what one is." - John Lancaster Spalding (American author, poet, advocate for higher education, the first bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria from 1877 to 1908 and a co-founder of The Catholic University of America, 1840 - 1916).

   History of Food Safety in the U.S. Part 2

History of Food Safety in the U.S. - Part 1

In the winter of 1924, oysters grown in polluted waters near Long Island, NY, caused an outbreak of typhoid fever from Salmonella Typhi that killed 150 people and sickened at least 1,500. To this day, it holds the record for the highest body count of any foodborne illness outbreak in U.S. history.

This week, Part 1 of 3 on the History of Food Safety in the U.S.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it." - Ralph Waldo Emerson (US essayist & poet, 1803 - 1882)

   History of Food Safety in the U.S. Part 1

Traceback Investigations

In the spring of 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began to hear from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health partners about cases of salmonellosis. The case count grew quickly. In the first week of April, 93 illnesses were reported. The next week there were 116, and a week later there were 139. By early May, the number of cases had nearly doubled. The final count: 425 people had been reported ill by the end of the outbreak. But by using traceback analysis, FDA was able to follow a trail of tuna shipments to its source, leading to the recall 58,000 pounds of frozen tuna and helping prevent additional illnesses.

This week, a look at traceback investigations.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." - Edgar Allan Poe in the short story "Eleonora" (American author, poet, editor, and literary critic, 1809 - 1849)

   Traceback Investigations

Fist bumps are less germy than handshakes

Like it or not, our hands are in constant contact with all types of microbes. When we touch a doorknob, answer the phone, or get on the bus, our hands are bound to get full of germs. And if we can’t wash them immediately after or forgot our hand sanitizers, we will spread germs to other surfaces, including someone else.

This week, a look at what we can do to avoid contact with germy hands.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "What's done cannot be undone." - William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, sc. 1 (English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, 1564 - 1616)

   Fist Bumps Are Less Germy Than Handshakes

Vladimir Putin employs a full-time food taster to faithfully ensure his meals arent poisoned

A food taster?  Really?

This week, a look at, well, the title says it all.

TTFN, Fred,

Quote of the week: "Hell, there are no rules here-- we're trying to accomplish something." - Thomas A. Edison (US inventor, 1847 - 1931)

   Junk Science Vladimir Putin Employs a Full-time Food Taster to Faithfully Ensure His Meals Aren't Pois...

Why Most Americans Refrigerate Raw Shell Eggs and Europeans Often Don't

Any world traveler has probably noticed that in most countries outside of the US and Canada, eggs aren't stored under refrigeration. Whether you are wandering in an outdoor market, shopping in a grocery store or visiting a home, you will find eggs sitting on the counter, at room temperature.

This week, a look at refrigerating eggs (or not).

TTFN, Fred,

Quote of the week: "Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." -  Robert Frost (US poet, 1874 - 1963)

   Why Most Americans Refrigerate Raw Shell Eggs and Europeans Often Dont

Chicken ABCs

Still worried because of Risky Food Safety Practices in Home Kitchens?  Never fear, the brains at UC Davis (Go Aggies!) have made it easier.

This week, a look at Chicken Always Be Careful (ABCs).

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook." - William James (US Pragmatist philosopher & psychologist, 1842 - 1910)

   Chicken ABCs

Risky Food Safety Practices in Home Kitchens

While most consumers are very aware of food safety issues, including salmonella, and the risk of foodborne illness, many do not follow recommended food safety practices in preparing their own meals at home, according to new research from the University of California, Davis (Go Aggies!).

This week, a look at risky food safety practices in home kitchens.

TTFN, Fred,

Quote of the week: "God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try." - Mother Teresa (Indian (Albanian-born) humanitarian & missionary, 1910 - 1997)

   Risky Food Safety Practices in Home Kitchens

High Pressure Processing Can Make Ready-to-Eat Meats and Other Foods Safer

High Pressure Processing (HPP) is a method of food processing where food is subjected to elevated pressures (up to 87,000 pounds per square inch or approximately 6,000 atmospheres), with or without the addition of heat, to achieve microbial inactivation or to alter the food attributes in order to achieve consumer-desired qualities. Pressure inactivates most vegetative bacteria at pressures above 60,000 pounds per square inch. HPP retains food quality, maintains natural freshness, and extends microbiological shelf life. The process is also known as high hydrostatic pressure processing (HHP) and ultra high-pressure processing (UHP).

High pressure processing causes minimal changes in the fresh characteristics of foods by eliminating thermal degradation. Compared to thermal processing, HPP results in foods with fresher taste, and better appearance, texture and nutrition. High pressure processing can be conducted at ambient or refrigerated temperatures, thereby eliminating thermally induced cooked off-flavors. The technology is especially beneficial for heat-sensitive products.

This week, a look at how HPP can make ready-to-eat foods safer.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition." - Indira Gandhi (Indian politician, 1917 - 1984)

High Pressure Processing Can Make Ready to Eat Foods Safer

Should you really stop using your phone in the bathroom?

I think the title says it all, don't you? 

This week, a look at, well, you know.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough." -  Mario Andretti (Italian-born US automobile racer, 1940 - )

 
Telephone in the Bathroom by fredwine

Making risk decisions: the case of raw eggs in cookie dough

Last time it was why licking that spoon with raw cake batter may be an okay thing to do.  This time around, the counter position as to why it is a matter of risk assessment and that the decision needs to be yours.

This week, a look at why licking that spoon may not be a good idea.

TTFN, Fred. 

Quote of the week: "In summer, the song sings itself." - William Carlos Williams (US poet, 1883 - 1963) 

Lick That Spoon 2 by fredwine

Go Ahead, Lick That Spoon

Cookie dough, cake batter left in the bowl, eggnog made the traditional way.  All three involve raw eggs and were a way of life at one point that no one worried too much about.  Fast forward a few decades and, well, what was good for the goose may not be good for the goslings.

This week, a look at why it may be okay to lick that spoon.  Fair warning: the next installment provides the counter argument.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Whatever you are, be a good one." - Abraham Lincoln (16th president of the US, 1809 - 1865)

Lick That Spoon 1 by fredwine

The Science of Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect

"Without the sense of fellowship with men of like mind," Einstein wrote, "life would have seemed to me empty." It is perhaps unsurprising that the iconic physicist, celebrated as "the quintessential modern genius," intuited something fundamental about the inner workings of the human mind and soul long before science itself had attempted to concertize it with empirical evidence. Now, it has.

This week, a look at why our brains are wired to connect.

TTFN, Fred. 

Quote of the week: "You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it." - Robin Williams (US actor & comedian, 1951 -) 

The Science of Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect by fredwine

Buffaloberry - The Next Superfruit?

The term "superfruit" has been applied to acai berries, maqui berries, yumberries, chokeberries, goji berries, lingonberries, lychee berries - a lot of berries, in other words, but also baobabs, mangosteens, sea buckthorn, jujube fruit, cupuacus, pitayas, pomegranates ... the list keeps growing.

You may wonder what is it about these fruits that lifts them out of the ranks of the ordinary into exalted superfruit status.  The answer?  Super promotion.  Superfruit is a marketing term first used in the food and beverage industry in 2005. Superfruit has no official U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) endorsement.  The designation of a fruit as a superfruit is entirely up to the product manufacturer.

Be that as it may, another fruit is vying for the title.  This week, a look at the buffaloberry.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "I look to the future because that's where I'm going to spend the rest of my life." - George Burns (US actor & comedian, 1896 - 1996) 

   Buffaloberry - The Next Superfruit by fredwine

Experts Dispel Myths About Foodborne Illness

The statistics are enough to make people lose their appetites: There are 48 million cases of foodborne illness in the USA every year, with one in six Americans getting sick because of something they ate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While some of these outbreaks cause temporary misery, food poisoning also causes 3,000 deaths and 125,000 hospitalizations each year at a cost of $14.1 billion, according to the CDC.  People have adopted a number of strategies to try to protect themselves from food poisoning, from "eating local" to giving up meat entirely. Yet food-safety experts say that many of these practices aren't grounded in science, and they may offer little to no protection.

This week, food safety experts to try to separate food-safety fact from fiction.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers." - James Thurber (US author, cartoonist, humorist, & satirist, 1894 - 1961) 

   Experts Dispel Myths About Foodborne Illness by fredwine

Pasteurization: How Heat Keeps Pathogens at Bay

When Louis Pasteur developed and patented the process of pasteurization in the 1860s, it had nothing to do with milk. He was more concerned with keeping beer from spoiling.

Another of the many benefits that beer brings to a civilized world.

This week, a look at how heat keeps pathogens at bay

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "For the sense of smell, almost more than any other, has the power to recall memories and it is a pity that you use it so little." – Rachel Carson (US ecologist, 1907 - 1964)

Pasteurization by fredwine