Subject: Food and Drug Administration

• Breakfast Buffet: Tuesday, 7/15

  July 15, 2008

• Breakfast Buffet: Thursday, 8/7

  August 7, 2008

• FDA about to get "smack-down" power

  After the peanut recall, the spinach recall and the swine flu, it looks as if members of Congress are finally serious about overhauling the FDA. The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, introduced by powerful Congressmen Henry Waxman and John Dingell, would fix many of the problems that have plagued the agency for the past eight years. Among other things, the bill would give the FDA more quarantine power to prevent food from traveling across geographic areas, a problem in the peanut butter salm

  June 1, 2009

• Trippin' on Miracle Fruit: A Testing Party

  August 28, 2008

• The Bad-For-You Black Licorice

  September 16, 2008

• Breakfast Buffet: Wednesday, 10/01

  October 1, 2008

• Breakfast Buffet: Friday, 7/17

  October 17, 2008

• Breakfast Buffet: Tuesday, 10/21

  October 21, 2008

• Stevia coming: Nutrasweet and Splenda, you've been warned

  I don't want to boast, but a couple of times I've noted the upcoming domination of non-caloric stevia. Stevia is a naturally occurring (at least in Paraguay) herb that's incredibly sweet and may or may not be slightly mutagenic at high doses. The FDA has been stalling on releasing a report on whether stevia is safe. Yesterday, though, Coca-Cola announced it was releasing a stevia-based drink this week, before the FDA ruling.Coke is using stevia in its Odwalla line of drinks and fruit smoothies.

  December 17, 2008

• Well that didn't take long. FDA clears stevia.

  If it seems like only yesterday that I wrote about the forthcoming FDA ruling on stevia, and today the FDA made its decision.Ladies and gentleman, stevia is safe.Not that it mattered much for Coke -- which released its stevia-based drinks think week -- but the ruling did have an impact on Pepsi, which was holding off on shipping stevia-flavored Sobe.Pepsi says it will release the Sobe next week. Pepsi's stevia-based sweetener is called PureVia, while Coke uses Truvia.Now the only thing holding s

  December 18, 2008

• Breakfast Buffet: Friday, 12/26

  I'm looking forward more to inauguration than New Years and the new food policy Obama might bring. [NYT]Speaking of the FDA, it currently has several problems with Diet Coke's label. [WSJ]So now that Christmas is over will the real deals finally begin. [WSJ]Arnold Schwarzenegger is not cooking in the back of a Planet Hollywood and Emeril Lagasse isn't in the back of his umpteenth restaurant. Here who is. [Forbes]-- Owen Morris

  December 26, 2008

• Best Wings

  January 27, 2000

• FDA assures public it's almost, nearly, pretty sure salmonella caused by peanut butter

  The FDA botched the last big outbreak of salmonella when it issued a huge warning to avoid tomatoes based on the fact that people who'd eaten salsa were getting sick. Turns out salsa was indeed making people sick -- but that's because the jalapenos in it were alive with the salmonella bacteria, not tomatoes. The tomato industry was nearly crippled and people continued to get sick off of jalapenos. The FDA is well on its way to messing up another food supply with this latest salmonella outbreak i

  January 16, 2009

• Don't touch that peanut butter cracker!

    Until yesterday, I had never even thought of calling the Kellogg Consumer Response Center (but in case you do, it's 888-314-2060). But two days ago, that Michigan-based Kellogg's announced it was "taking the precautionary measure" of putting a hold on some of its best-selling snack crackers: those cellophane-wrapped Austin brand and Keebler brand Toasted Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, Peanut Butter and Jelly Crackers, Cheese and Peanut Butter Crackers, and Peanut Butter-Chocola

  January 16, 2009

• Breakfast Buffet: Monday, 01/19

  The importance of a "go-to chili recipe" cannot be overstated. [Pomegranate Pretty]A sad story that shows just how far some people will go for beer. A California man sold his 14-year-old daughter for $16,000, 100 cases of beer and several cases of meat. [AP] Now the FDA is advising people to stay away from all peanut butter products while they try to figure out this pesky salmonella outbreak. [WebMD]I dream about one day being able to afford steakhouses but even I know to avoid the overpriced wi

  January 19, 2009

• Girl Scouts cookies still good to eat

  I bought my first box of Girl Scout cookies very young (thank you Jill Eastwood, classmate and most likely top seller of whatever troop she was in) and so learned my lesson about Girl Scout cookies: They must be protected at all costs!

  January 21, 2009

• Barf and then feel better

  As much as peanut butter and salmonella and the FDA and food poisoning have been in the news, you would think I'd have known that the eminent food-safety blog in the country is based about an hour from Kansas City in Manhattan, Kansas. Barf Blog is run by a Kansas State associate professor of food safety named Dr. Douglas Powell. Of course, it makes sense that Kansas State has an excellent food safety blog, because it is home to the equally excellent and influential International Food Safety Net

  January 27, 2009

• Predicting the next food that will cause an epidemic in America

  The Peanut Butter Panic of 09 has caused the recall of many packaged products, not to mention several deaths. The FDA believes it has the one and only cause in Peanut Corporation of America (I'm not so sure) and they're working on containing products.That leaves the question, after the peanut butter panic passes, what potential foods might lead to illnesses the way tomatoes jalapenos and peanut butter has this year?Here's my five choices along with my personal odds that they'll be the FDA's next

  January 29, 2009

• Say goodbye to health claims

  You know that small type on nearly every bottle of vitamins and weight-loss pills and health food. Buy enough of them and you can say it from memory: "This statements has not been evaluated by the FDA." What if the FDA did evaluate these claims? Every last one of them, from the outrageous "lose 30 pounds in two days!" pills to the more reasonable "helps lower cholesterol" claims on the sides of cereal boxes. If the FDA looked at all these claims, how many would be false?The European Union passed

  February 4, 2009

• FDA lurves new media

  Unless I still get salmonella from a Clif bar or there's another outbreak, I promise this will be my last post on the peanut butter panic of 2009. Partly because I'm thinking about switching off of peanut butter to Vegemite (oh wait!) and partly because the FDA and CDC are releasing enough gadgets to make Q of the James Bond films happy. First there are the CDC's badges seen below. You place the code for these badges on your social Web sites like Facebook and MySpace to "let your friends know th

  February 5, 2009

• Not trying to say we warned you about sprouts...

  Flickr: Vigilant20...but we did. Just over a month ago, predicting the next food epidemic, I put the odds of a salmonella outbreak coming from sprouts at 3-1. Only the strawberry odds were higher. (Really any berry is a danger and give them time -- most don't come into season for another two months.) What makes sprouts the plant equivalent of a time bomb is their high moisture content and quick spoilage.Sprouts have been the cause of salmonella before, and this time it's hitting close to home. F

  March 9, 2009

• Extra!

  December 4, 2003

• Maybe FDA ain't so bad compared to our neighbors

  Flickr: Sifu RenkaThe Peanut Corporation of America messed up big time when it sent out salmonella-contaminated peanut butter. To its credit, the FDA was quicker in identifying the source than it had been for the tomato jalapeno scare, but lots of people still became sick and nine have died. While the peanut butter scare has captured the attention of the media and Washington, Maple Leaf Foods in Canada has found itself in just as much trouble. But so far, attention in the States has been virtual

  February 26, 2009

• Got artificial-hormone milk? Kansas sure does

  Flickr: LauraEver since recombinant bovine-growth hormone was approved by the FDA, there's been so much backlash that the nation's top retail stores -- Wal-Mart, Costco, Kroger's, Safeway -- refuse to carry milk from cows on rBGH. The public has spoken -- people don't like the idea of steroid cows -- and normally the public gets its way. Just not in Kansas. Last Friday, the Kansas House approved bill 2295 (PDF) which includes the following:Each milk, milk product or dairy product label that h

  March 23, 2009

• Daily Briefs: Macroeconomic implications of topless football games

  We are all hippies now: Look, the simple fact is that when actual U.S. suburbs, as seen in the horrible embarrassment to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,American Beauty, begin experiencing drug-related violence by Mexican gangs, you are totally allowed to say that U.S. drug policy is broken without being this guy: I tried to find a picture of what you do look like when you criticize the current reactionary U.S. drug enforcement regime, but apparently nobody is selling a "Bo

  March 25, 2009

• Tracking food? What law?

  Flickr: Joanna PoeSomewhere in health class I learned that the key to prevention is education. Food manufacturers did not take the same health class, or else 25 percent of them would have known that there's a federal law (and not even a new one!) that requires them to keep track of suppliers.A report prepared by the Department of Health and Human Services says it surveyed numerous food merchants about its sources and the results are scary. As the New York Times reports:Of those 118 firms, 70 fai

  March 27, 2009

• The newest nut crisis: pistachio panic?

  Flickr: Lolo_ Many radio and TV broadcasts this morning led with this story: a major recall of roasted pistachios because of fears of potential salmonella contimation. The good news: No illnesses have been reported, thus far, due to a reported salmonella strain discovered during routine tests by Kraft at a California food processing plant. But the peanut crisis, earlier this year, has food manufacturers going nuts over the possibility of potential lawsuits. The tainted peanut problem that

  March 31, 2009

• Pistachios recalled

  Flickr: Molly AliAnother day. Another nut recalled by the FDA. Yesterday the FDA said it was recalling pistachio products from the California-based Setton Pistachio. The company has issued what is so far a voluntary recall but it could get ugly quick. From the FDA: "Because the pistachios were used as ingredients in a variety of foods, it is likely this recall will impact many products. In addition, the investigation at the company is ongoing and may lead to additional pistachio product recalls.

  April 1, 2009

• Consumers Union, 29 groups ask Sebelius to veto hormone milk bill

  Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports and Consumerist, has sent a long letter to Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius regarding Kansas House Bill 2121. Twenty-nine groups involved in agricultural and food production added their signatures to a copy and sent it as well. Flickr: LauraThe letters have to do with milk labeling. HB 2121 would require producers who say their cows were not treated with rBGT, rBST or other hormones to add this disclaimer: "The Food and Drug Administration has deter

  April 14, 2009

• Missouri biologist Frederick vom Saal and his team exposed the dangers of bisphenol A — and earned the wrath of the plastic industry.

  April 24, 2008

• This Weeks Day-By-Day Picks

  August 28, 2003

• You know what today is don't you?

  Aww dudes, you're never going to guess what time today I originally planned to put up this post. Wait for it -- 4:20!!!Yes, today you can be certain that the smell wafting from your neighbor's apartment is what you think it is as stoners celebrate the second most annoying made-up holiday. (Valentine's still first.) To anyone busted for pot today, I have no sympathy. But I do have news.

  April 20, 2009

• Pork OK, alfalfa sprouts are not

  What a crazy weekend. We're in the middle of the swine-flu "Panico 09!" My grandmother called me last night to ask what I knew, and then said that she and my grandfather don't plan to leave their home "until we know how bad this is." Russia has stopped all meat imports from Mexico and several U.S. states including Kansas. The National Pork Board released a statement yesterday wishing "to reassure the public that pork is safe and will continue to be safe to consume." Considering The National Pork

  April 27, 2009

• Breakfast Buffet: Monday, 5/04

  If there were an award for Mexican restaurants and strangely colored sauces, this place would win by a mile. [KC Lunch Spots]Please, for your sake, click on this link about the Virgin Mary being seen on a griddle in California. If that picture doesn't sum up Virgin Mary sightings, I don't know what does. [MSNBC]Turns out that Hydroxycut might do more than help you lose a few pounds. According to the FDA, it can cause liver failure and death. [WSJ] A feel-good story about a bartender who turns wi

  May 4, 2009

• How to celebrate Food Allergy Awareness Week (hint: not with peanuts)

  According to a study done by Newsweek, food allergies affect more than 11 million Americans. The number of children who suffer from one of the most severe food allergies -- peanuts -- has more than doubled in the past 10 years. When I was in grade school, people made fun of the kid who couldn't have peanuts and that was that. Now school officials are so afraid of something bad happening that kids with severe allergies sit at their own special lunch tables.The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network

  May 11, 2009

• Think he's smoking something other than lettuce

  This past Friday, Congress smacked down the cigarette industry. Having raised taxes on tobacco earlier this year, a new bill allows the FDA to regulate tobacco advertising, banning terms such as "lite" and "low tar" along with ads that may "suggest" that certain cigarettes are not as bad as other ones. It bans sponsorship of sporting and entertaining events and makes the warning labels even bigger than they were. (But still short of the European-style fire and brimstone warnings.) The bill passe

  June 15, 2009

• Artificial sweeteners are leaking into the water supply

  New research shows that artificial sweeteners are not fully removed by waste-water treatment centers and linger in ground water, potentially affecting the water supply. German researchers examined seven common sweeteners and found the "incomplete elimination" of four -- acesulfame, cyclamate, saccharin and sucralose -- in water that had already been treated.Where they survive treatment, the sweeteners can build up in groundwater, which can then be turned into drinking water and the entire proces

  June 19, 2009

• The curious case of the cookie dough recall

  By now, most people have heard that Nestle has "voluntarily" recalled its Toll House cookie dough. (A full list of the recalled Toll House products is available on the FDA's Web site.) So far 65 people has suffered illness, 70 percent of them under 19 years old and two in Missouri. The strain of E. coli the CDC believes is in the cookie dough is a particularly bad one called 0157:H7. It especially affects the very young and elderly and can cause "acute bloody diarrhea" for 5 to 10 days and in ra

  June 22, 2009

• FDA recall your pistachios? No problem -- just repackage them and sell them again

  Setton Pistachio was the second-largest pistachio producer in the U.S. when, in the beginning of April, it had to issue a "voluntary" recall of its entire 2008 crop of roasted shelled pistachios and roasted in-shell pistachios.The company was caught off-guard, with one of its chief officers admitting that, before the recall, they hadn't known salmonella was in raw pistachios. Still, Setton insisted that the recall represented a brief bump and that no bad pistachios reached the public,When all of

  June 25, 2009

• Is IBM the future of food safety and management?

  We've heard a lot of debate about free markets in this country lately. And while we're likely to be saturated with government-vs.-market arguments about health-care reform, IBM is quietly starting another free market battle of its own.The company has been running "smarter planet" advertisements for several months, talking about smarter cities, smarter retail, smarter this and smarter that. The oversimplified gist is that IBM has the ability and technology to solve (or help solve) problems normal

  June 29, 2009

• Breakfast Buffet: Wednesday, 7/08

  Apparently meatless Mondays are catching on -- as are the vegetarian-yet-appealing-to-carnivores recipes popular on that day. [Blog Well Done]Any homebrewers looking to party? Here's just the ticket this Saturday. [A Beer Sortof Blog]Some of the most expensive restaurants in the world are being forced to close by this recession. London is getting hit especially hard. [WSJ]The facts about what is and isn't allowed under the FDA's new rules on acetaminophen-combination painkillers. [Time]

  July 8, 2009

• Tonight: Music Showcase Pre-party featuring SeedLove, Reach and Howard Iceberg, Chad Rex and Tommy Donoho at the Czar Bar

  Can't wait for the music showcase on August 6? Neither can we, and that's why we're throwing a little pre-party tonight that'll give everyone a small but potent taste of the eclectic awesomeness that is the Pitch Music Awards (and, by extension, our town's music scene). Actually, I'm not sure whether this party was planned by our savvy marketing people or the folks at Czar Bar -- but either way, I'm grateful to both parties that it's happening, because it's basically turning CZBZ's (get it? lik

  July 16, 2009

• Pepsi with a hint of mouse?

  ​It sounds like something out of a movie, but a Florida couple is claiming to have found a mouse in their Diet Pepsi. Amy and Fred Denegri were grilling at their home in Ormond Beach last week when they reportedly found the nasty surprise in the second-to-last can of Diet Pepsi in a 36-pack purchased from Sam's Club. Amy talked to WFTV Orlando about her husband's reaction:  "He made a face. I was sitting there and he said it tasted awful and something wasn't right." The couple has filed a

  July 30, 2009

• Giving penicillin to Bessie?

  ​The debate over whether to give livestock certain classes of antibiotics has returned to the floor of the House of Representatives. A bill proposed back in March by U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-New York) is attempting to restrict the use of antibiotics to prevent illness in farm animals. She's responding to concerns that the drugs are losing their potency because they're being used too often. Farm advocacy groups argue that the measure would lead to reduced yields, in turn resulting in highe

  August 3, 2009

• Breakfast Buffet: Thursday, August 20

  In light of news that the FDA will now oversee the labeling of gluten-free beer, a few recommendations on what to drink if you're trying (or need) to avoid gluten. [The Wort Hog]KC Beer Blog notes that the next beer tasting is the 4th annual Black Clover Beerfest -- a mix of hip-hop acts and beer tasting at the Riot Room in Westport. [KC Beer Blog]Could rutabagas be the next big biofuel? It doesn't seem like they're doing much else these days. [Associated Press]Like a bad movie villain, bispheno

  August 20, 2009

• Foods that are like roulette

  ​We rank everything else, so why not the riskiest foods? The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has ranked the top 10 foods that carry food-borne illnesses, as reported by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The list focuses on seafood, eggs, dairy and produce -- the four categories of food regulated by the FDA. Meat, monitored by the United States Department of Agriculture, is not included among the riskiest foods. CSPI stressed the study was not designed to condemn

  October 8, 2009

• The downlow on Fro-Yo

  ​You can't escape the frozen yogurt trend, so you just have to join it. As long as you're giving in, you might as well really sell out. And TCBY -- the forgotten ancestor that gave birth to this nationwide movement with the first swirl cone -- wants to help you make a change. The Country's Best Yogurt is sponsoring a contest to give away a store -- an entire store. All it takes to be eligible is a two-minute video explaining why you should be the one to win. According to Franchise Gator, which

  October 13, 2009

• When lasers meet breakfast cereals

  ​How much authenticity do you need from your breakfast cereal? Well, if you answered that you wanted it to be laser-etched with the manufacturer's logo, it's time to start eating corn flakes in Britain. The Guardian looked at a press release from Kellogg's in Britain that shows a digitally altered picture of individual corn flakes labeled with the Kellogg's logo. The laser-etching would apparently be used to differentiate various Kellogg's products from knockoffs. But the Guardian isn't sold t

  October 19, 2009

• Smart decision to shelve 'Smart Choices'

  ​Score a victory for the Food and Drug Administration, as the food industry group behind those "Smart Choices" labels has decided to voluntarily halt promotions while the FDA seeks to better define nutritional claims in the marketplace.In August, the FDA sent an open letter to the Smart Choices program -- a rebranding/marketing campaign underwritten by nine major corporations including Kellogg's and Kraft -- explaining that the agency would be monitoring the nutrition label campaign. One of th

  October 26, 2009

• Breakfast Buffet: Monday, November 16

  A great round-up of beers on tap around Kansas City, including a few coffee-inspired brews. [The Wort Hog Beer Blog]A long list of exactly what to do after you buy the great pumpkin and want to use something besides the seeds. [Everything Begins With an E]The FDA might decide that you should stop sending your body mixed messages; it's considering a ban on caffeinated alcoholic drinks. [The Business Journal of Milwaukee]A how-to on the process for turning your cheap vodka into drinkable (and som

  November 16, 2009