Charles Krupa, AP
The revamped product is now using red beet juice, purple cabbage, cocoa powder, paprika and turmeric to replace the artificial ingredients that had been flavoring and coloring the wafers for years.
But not every wafer made the cut.
Necco Wafers Go All Natural
The revamped product is now using red beet juice, purple cabbage, cocoa powder, paprika and turmeric to replace the artificial ingredients that had been flavoring and coloring the wafers for years.
But not every wafer made the cut.
Continue reading Necco Wafers Go All Natural
Comments [58]
Splendid Life.com Offers Sweet Deals on Splenda
Splenda is a somewhat controversial topic among food lovers, with some gourmands hailing it as the best thing since sugar and others arguing that it is only a matter of hours before some scientist discovers that the stuff drives monkeys insane, induces scabies, or makes your earlobes turn green. With that in mind, I'm going to state the following: IF you use Splenda, and
IF you find yourself paying too much for the stuff, then
You might try visiting Splendid Life. The retail site for all things Splenda offers products that I haven't been able to find in stores at prices that are far below the prevailing rates in my neighborhood. Even with shipping, in fact, my recent Splenda purchase cost about half the price that my local supermarket charges. The only downside is that they tend to be a little slow about delivery; my order ended up taking about a month. Still, with savings like these, I'm willing to plan ahead.
Incidentally, the site also carries various Splenda-themed consumer goods, like t-shirts, baseball caps, and yoga mats. Personally, I'm avoiding the Splenda advertisements, largely because I don't want to encourage strangers to harangue me about Splenda-induced earlobe disease.
Comments [0]
Coke Products Sweetened With Stevia?
Coca-Cola will begin selling products made with Stevia, a zero-calorie sweetener derived from an herb that's gained a following in the heath food community despite not yet being approved by the FDA. Three flavors of Odwalla juice sweetened with a Stevia product called Rebiana are expected to hit the market this week.
Pepsi also has two Stevia-sweetened drinks ready for the market, but they say they won't start selling them until FDA gives Stevia the official OK. The FDA is expected to approve Stevia as "generally regarded as safe" any time now.
Coke hopes that Stevia, which is often described as "all natural" (whatever that means), will help reverse the decline in sales of soft drinks.
I've had Stevia sweetener before, and it didn't taste a whole lot different to me than other artificial sweeteners. But then, I'm a die-hard Diet Coke drinker, so I may not be the target audience.
Has anyone else tasted Stevia? Thoughts?
Comments [17]
The impossible pairing: Wine and Halloween candy
If you're anything like me come October, you buy a big bag of Halloween candy, oh, three weeks before the actual holiday with the idea of "getting ahead"--only to have the entire bag mysteriously disappear, leaving you to explain to your significant other that it must have fallen into the cracks in the pantry. Or you're good, good, good until the day itself arrives, and ten minutes before the city's official trick-or-treating time starts, you're tearing over to the grocery to pick through the leftover bags because you've "accidentally" gorged on your own.
Or, (worst case scenario) you are really, really good until your kids have come home with their stash and collapsed into sugar comas in bed. And then you raid theirs and take out all the good stuff, and tell them the next day you went through the pile for "safety reasons."
This year, in order to distract myself from the actual candy, I decided to put together a little Halloween candy and wine-pairing guide. This way I'll have something to sip while I hand out candy and wait for my kids to come home with full buckets (insert evil grin here).
Candy and wine pairings after the jump.
Continue reading The impossible pairing: Wine and Halloween candy
Comments [2]
Diet Coke prevents pregnancy
So. Diet Coke kills sperm on contact. We thought you should know.We feel sort of shocked, and also sort of remarkably unshocked.
Scientist Deborah Anderson and her team have been awarded one of this year's Ig Nobel Awards from Improbable Research for their work on both Coca Cola Classic and Diet Coke's contraceptive qualities.
Will this knowledge ever come in handy? Well, with a desperate situation and a little yoga, anything is possible. Never say never, right? Okay, yeah, maybe this once.
Other things we bet kill sperm: Jagermeister, Ramen Noodle broth, Tang, and everything at Taco Bell.
Comments [6]
Could Splenda contribute to weight gain?
There's a new study out that has some bad news for Splenda users. According to the research, the sugar substitute may "suppress beneficial bacteria in the gut, and cause weight gain." It may also block absorbtion of nutrients.
The study was performed on rats and conducted at Duke University in North Carolina. However, it was co-sponsored by the Sugar Association, and the makers of Splenda were quick to respond. This could be a new, real health concern, or it could be a new battle in the sugar/Splenda war, or both.
While I'm not personally a fan of Splenda (just don't like artificial sweeteners), but I know that lots of people depend on it for sweets. I think this may be a wait and see situation, but may also be something to keep in mind next time you open a packet.
Comments [1]
The Taste of Sweet
Journalist Joanne Chen, an unabashed, lifelong lover of sweets, had a hard time understanding why that's not the universal reaction. In The Taste of Sweet, she examines the physical, psychological and historical relationship between sweet flavors and humans, and discovers some pretty extraordinary things about our tongues, brains, societal perceptions, and why some folks will always have room for dessert. Read her 10 Surprising Facts About Our Relationship with Sweets, take her Are You A Supertaster Quiz and come back here to share your scores and pose your questions to Joanne Chen in the comments thread. She'll answer them in an upcoming blog post. How sweet is that?
Buy The Taste Of Sweet
And for those who would enjoy further insight into the questions/results of the Are You A Supertaster?, quiz, the author offers the following, "Researchers have detected a link between overweight subjects and non-tasting tendencies. Severe ear infections may also cause less intense taste experiences.
Of course, biology isn't destiny, and much of what we eat results from culture and learning. So while the quiz offers a good idea of your taste profile, sensory specialists can provide a better assessment by running taste tests, analyzing your tongue, and counting your taste buds."
Comments [29]
EU won't ban additives from food
Despite urges from various British food organizations, the European Food Safety Authority decided against banning additives in food. Their reasoning? A recent £750,000 study, which found a link between eating food loaded with additives and colorants and impulsive/hyperactive behavior in kids, was not a substantial enough reason to ban the additives entirely. In the study, eight and nine year olds who had ingested food with additives could not sit still long enough to complet simple tasks, like a 15-minute computer exercise. (Yeah, but neither could most of the eight year olds I know, with or without stimulants. Heck, most 25 year-olds I know don't have the patience to finish a 15-minute computer task).
But the study did prompt some retailers to change their ways: Marks and Spencer, a British department store that sells everything from shirts to iPods to gourmet foods, vowed to stop selling food and drink that contain additives by the end of the month.
The study results should not be ignored, but I don't blame the EU for not jumping to conclusions. Banning food with additives falls along the same lines as banning food with trans-fats, and I have the same opinion in each case: use your own good judgment and discretion. If packaged foods make your kid hyperactive, don't buy the foods, or at least limit their intake. Simple as that.
[via] Times Online
Comments [1]
The best in offensive, stereotypical Irish food products
It's that time of year - a week of green-tinted beer, green-tinged bagels, and an overabundance of green streamers and shamrock-shaped accessories and five dollar Old Navy shirts with clovers prominently displayed on the chest.What would St. Patrick's Day be without our bizarre, Americanized version of a culture we apparently know very little about? It is our job, as Americans, to mock and exploit the Irish culture by upholding commonly-held stereotypes. And the best way to do this? Through these five products.
Oh: and as a person with a good amount of Irish heritage in her blood, I'm proud to say that I've never ingested that green goo-like substance that McDonald's sells every year around this time. And now I'll brace myself for the inevitable barrage of hate comments from Shamrock Shake devotees...
Gallery: Wacky "Irish" Products
Comments [11]
Aspartame may be sweet but it isn't good
There's a lot of research coming out about artificial sweeteners and how they are not good for you. I had heard unsubstantiated claims about aspartame a long time ago, but I did not know this. Did you know that aspartame was at one time listed as a biochemical warfare agent by the pentagon? What?!I guess that's why it took eight years for the FDA to approve it's use, and only then though political pressure (or so I was informed). And no wonder the FDA didn't want to approve it. Research, both new and old, show the sweetener causes all kinds of medical side effects like "headaches, memory loss, mood swings, seizures, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's-like symptoms, tumors and even death."
On top of that, aspartame is hard to avoid. It's in everything, from diet soda to prescription drugs. It's sold under the commercial names of Nutra-sweet and Canderel. I don't know about you, but I will drop anything like it's hot if I see those words on the label. I try not to ingest artificial sweeteners anyway, but now I'll really be on the lookout!
Comments [31]
Taste Test: Thomas Kemper Low Calorie Root Beer
I have always been a fan of root beer. When my sister and I were kids, our intake of sugary drinks was actively monitored by our mom and so there wasn't much in the way of soda in our house. When we'd go out to eat, my dad would often get a root beer while we had to content ourselves with milk. We'd beg for sips from his glass on those occasions and so I associate root beer with comfortable family outings and special treats. When I heard that Thomas Kemper, craft brewer of quality sodas (out of my hometown of Portland, OR) had developed a low calorie root beer that was sweetened with Splenda and honey, I was really excited to taste it. The box arrived last week with three artfully arranged bottles of soda and I popped the whole thing into the fridge to chill.
A couple of hours later it was cool and ready to taste (I must say that drinking soda out of a glass bottle is far more satisfying than out of a can). Twisting off the cap, I took a long pull and swallowed. It was nice and fizzy, but sadly didn't live up to the flavor profile of Thomas Kemper's sugar version of root beer. It is missing the sharpness that root beer typically delivers. This product is totally drinkable and for those folks who are watching their calorie and sugar intake, I would say that it's a terrific option. But personally, I would rather have a single, sugar-based root beer once a month than drink this version on a more frequent basis.
This root beer is available starting this month, and they will be following it up with low calorie versions of their ginger ale and black cherry soda in April.
Comments [2]
Diet soda no better for you than regular
For years, people have thought that diet soda was the way to go if you wanted to cut down on the sugar and calories that come with regular soda. Apparently, they are now finding that it might not be such a safe choice after all. Researchers have now determined that drinking one soda a day, whether it's diet or regular, is associated with a much higher rates of heart disease and diabetes.
They've associated regular, sugar-sweetened soda, with those health concerns for years, but this is the first study that finds that diet soda is also an indicator of future health issues. They don't think that it is the ingredients in the diet soda that lead to health problems, but that drinking soda (of any variety) is an indicator of other questionable eating patterns. Which just confirms what we've all known for years. You can not redeem a quarter pounder with cheese and large fries with the addition of a diet soda.
They've associated regular, sugar-sweetened soda, with those health concerns for years, but this is the first study that finds that diet soda is also an indicator of future health issues. They don't think that it is the ingredients in the diet soda that lead to health problems, but that drinking soda (of any variety) is an indicator of other questionable eating patterns. Which just confirms what we've all known for years. You can not redeem a quarter pounder with cheese and large fries with the addition of a diet soda.
Comments [14]
Mexico creates Guinness-worthy cake for Mother's Day
A team of Mexican bakers made a massive, sweet gesture toward madres and abuelitas across that country last Thursday. But the only thing sweet about the 2.2 metric ton celebration of Mother's Day is the fact that it was a cake. The gigantic dessert was made entirely with zero-calorie sweetener rather than sugar.
Comments [3]
Is Splenda causing side effects?
Citizens for Health, a national consumer group, is concerned that the artificial sweetener Splenda is causing side effects and making consumers ill. Though it isn't stated which specific side effects people are experiencing, the group is lobbying for additional research to be conducted on sucralose, the sweetening component of Splenda. Merisant, the makers of Equal and NutraSweet, believe that the company which makes Splenda, McNeil Nutritionals, is misleading the public with their tagline "made from sugar so it tastes like sugar."
The Chairman of Citizens for Health, Jim Turner, has stated, "I encourage consumers to contact us if they have suffered any side effects from the use of the chlorinated artificial sweetener Splenda and to join us in demanding that FDA immediately conduct case studies on possible side effects from its use."
Continue reading Is Splenda causing side effects?
Comments [85]
Sugar free Peeps?
Peeps are soft, fluffy little mounds of sugary goodness that are absolutely the best around Easter, although Just Born is continuously expanding their line in an effort to include all major holidays. Usually, this expansion manifests itself in the form of new colors, like the bright green Peeps that are popping into stores for St. Patrick's Day, but sometimes they try to do something a little different, as they did when they release the cocoa-flavored bunny peeps a few weeks ago. Their latest release, however, omits what has traditionally been the most important part of the Peep: the sugar. Sugar-Free Peeps are the newest Just Born product. They are made with Splenda and come in packages of three yellow chicks.
Despite the plethora of Peeps in the candy aisles these days, I have yet to encounter the sugar-free version in person. Call me a traditionalist, but I have a hard time believing that the Splenda version could be anywhere near as good as the regular ones - especially when you consider that sugar, corn syrup and gelatin make up 98% of a regular Peep!
Comments [16]
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