"false" news and stories

A papaya facial scrub. Photo: Jennifer Iserloh

Papayas are large, luscious tropical fruits that I prefer to buy whole. After I make my smoothies and a fresh papaya cooler (that can also be spiked with rum for an impromptu party cocktail), I still find that there are plenty leftovers.

My friend Chad shares the leftovers with his cat, who adores papaya. He swears it's the reason for kitty's incredibly shiny coat. Since I don't have a cat and hate the idea of waste, I created a papaya facial that I can use when my budget for beauty products runs low.

Papaya makes an excellent facial, because it smells lovely, is naturally high in vitamin C, A, E -- an antioxidant-rich choice for the body inside and out. Get the recipe after the jump.

The Partnership for a Drug Free America is famous for using a fried egg analogy in their public service announcements in the 80s and 90s. Those eggs didn't fare too well in the ads, but eggs are actually quite good for you. Test your egg knowledge in this quick and easy true/false quiz from the Detroit Free Press:

1. One egg supplies 10% of the protein you need in one day.
2. Eggs are a good source of vitamins A and D.
3. When a recipe calls for eggs, you should use extra large.
4. If you are trying to cut down on cholesterol, in most recipes you can substitute the whites of two eggs for one whole egg.
5. Grading, such as AA, A and B, indicates quality rather than size.
6. Eggs as old as five weeks that have been stored in the refrigerator are safe to use.
7. Free-range eggs are more nutritious than other eggs.
8. Fertilized eggs have a longer shelf life than unfertilized eggs.

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Most of the individually packaged cookies sold in supermarkets and cafes are the size of CDs and at least 1/4 inch thick. These cookies often have 2-4 servings per package, making the nutritional information on the label seem deceptively low. Nana's all-natural cookies, sold primarily at natural foods markets such as Whole Foods, are one of the few cookies that are that large and still have only one serving. With a calorie count below 300 for each cookie, Good Housekeeping magazine got a little suspicious that these cookies might be too good to be true. They had the cookies tested at an independent lab and discovered that the Oatmeal Raisin had 460 calories, not the 264 listed on the label, and almost twice as much fat as claimed. The results were just as bad for their sunflower cookies.

To be sure, there are probably worse cookies - nutritionally speaking - on the market, but since all we have to go on is what the companies put on the packaging, it might be safe to keep in mind that if something really seems too good to be true, it could just be.

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