All sorts of safety issue plague parents and children these days. Playground equipment and activities are carefully monitored and toys are painstakingly screened, especially if, unlike video games, they involve movable parts that the kids might play with too vigorously, thus injuring themselves, or eat, injuring themselves further. When it comes to food, most safety issues have to do with concerns about food allergies, but perhaps in light of the burns allegedly caused by Starbucks hot chocolate in the hands of a very small child, some groups are looking to ban hot drinks altogether, rather than supervise their consumption.

The Pat-a-Cake Playgroup, which meets at a library in Rawmarsh, South Yorkshire in England, has been "banned from serving tea and toast on health and safety grounds." The risk for burns is, apparently, far to high for the city council's liking, so the parents running the group have been told that they cannot boil water in the room where children are present, and that adults must drink their hot drinks in a separate area, far from the children, if not a separate room entirely.

As you can imagine, the parents are considering disbanding the group to escape from the oversight of the council before they demand that children be outfitted in protective gear at all times to avoid papercuts.

About a week ago, I posted a little guide on how to grill corn on the cob, which is my favorite way to cook corn. It is not, however, the only way to cook corn. The website How to Cook Corn on the Cob has photo guides to grilling, steaming, boiling and microwaving corn. It might not be headline news, since you have probably used at least one of the methods before, but all four are great guides for those who are new to corn cookery or simply want to give another method a try.

One other useful tip -although not necessarily for the health conscious - is to roll the hot corn along the long side of a stick of butter, which is the easiest and most thorough way to cover the corn before sprinkling it with salt, pepper and whatever other spices you like to use. Compound butter is also a great way to dress up corn.

Whole Foods markets will no longer sell live lobsters and soft-shelled crabs on the grounds that it is an inhumane practice. The company spent months studying the conditions that lobsters experienced en route from the sea to the shopper. They tried to make the lobsters as comfortable as possible, but ultimately concluded that "they could not ensure the creatures [were] treated with respect and compassion."

Whole Foods pointed to a European study that said lobsters can feel pain like humans and animals, but the scientific community is divided over to what degree a lobster's fairly primitive nervous systems actually feel.

The lobster industry isn't concerned with this decision. 25% of all lobsters are sold live and they feel strongly that consumers who want live lobsters will still seek them out.

PETA and other animal rights groups are thrilled with the decision, but seem to have missed the fact that the market will still carry frozen raw and cooked lobster products. The lobsters are still being killed, but they won't be boiled by Whole Foods shoppers.

According to some recently updated info on Snopes.com, the answer may be yes. Putting a jar of water and tea bags in the sun will get the water hot, up to about 130° F, but not nearly hot enough to kill any bacteria in the water or the tea itself (that happens at around 195° F). Apparently the caffeine in black tea may help to stave off bacteria for a little while, but it isn't a guarantee. Some suggestions for you sun tea brewing daredevils include: start with a scrubbed, bleached vessel for brewing; don't leave the tea in the sun for more than four hours; don't make more than you can use in a day; refrigerate it immediately; and toss it if it gets "thick or syrupy." Also, don't use any excessively cheery jars that would make getting sick all the more ironic.

Do you have a container of liquid nitrogen laying around your house and are not sure what to do with it? Probably not. Liquid nitrogen is a clear liquid that has some unique properties and many uses, though its primary property is its extreme cold. Its boiling temperature is -196C, so it will evaporate immediately if you simply place a drop on your hand. It will also evaporate when exposed to just about anything, which means that it is safe to use with food because no nitrogen will be left by the time you go to eat it. You can still suffer some serious freezer burns from liquid nitrogen if you are not careful, so make sure to handle it safely.

It is very inexpensive to purchase at medical and laboratory supply stores, but you do need a special container to store it. Fortunately, you can often rent one from the supply store. The most popular culinary use for liquid nitrogen is ice cream because it freezes the base so fast the ice crystals are very tiny, making the ice cream very smooth. Heidi, of 101 Cookbooks, recently tried an ice cream made in this way, but she isn't the first nor the last, as this is a reasonably popular (and tasty) experiment in science classrooms. If ice cream isn't enough, there are many more fun things to do with the stuff once you have it.

[Photo 101 Cookbooks]