Do you like hard plastic on your hamburgers? I'm a mustard guy myself, so I wouldn't want these.
Price Chopper is recalling packages of hamburgers and ground meat because they might contain small pieces of plastic. The meat being recalled is in various forms, so take note: four packs and eight packs of 80% lean ground chuck, 85% lean ground round patties, and four packs of 90% lean ground sirloin. The packages have a date of May 13 on them.
It's already happened in Canada. It's in the process of happening in Great Britain. I wonder if it will ever happen in the U.S.? I am referring to changing the packaging for milk containers. In Canada and England (anywhere else?), milk can now be purchased in more environmentally friendly bags rather than plastic bottles.
San Francisco is considering making a change that will affect most shoppers in the city: they're talking about instituting a ban on the use of plastic grocery bags. Lawmakers are blaming the bags for everything from "littering streets and choking wildlife" to playing a major part in global warming. The expect that such a change will save the city millions of dollars, although taxpayers may have an increased out-of-pocket expense for reusable canvas (or other materials) shopping bags and alternative plastic bags that would serve the functions that reused grocery bags often do now (lining small trash bins, picking up after dogs, etc.).
San Francisco is not the first city to consider such legislation. Plastic bags are either taxed or not used in parts of South Africa, Ireland and Taiwan. Bangladesh has banned them and Zanzibar, Rwanda and Paris are also considering a ban. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will vote on the measure next week and, if passed, it will take effect in six months.
We all know that a certain fast food restaurant carries a line of salads in shakers. The premise is that you fill the container with all your salad ingredients, pour in a separate container of dressing, close the lid and shake. After a minute, you salad is completely dressed and ready to eat out of the same container.
The Salad Blaster is a reusable, dishwasher safe way to take advantage of this technique in your own home - or better yet, in your lunch at school or at the office. The Blaster has a reservoir in the lid that holds the dressing, while the base contains all your salad fixings. Simply press the top bottom to dispense the dressing into the salad, shake and your lunch is ready to eat, though you will have to provide your own fork.
When the spork was first invented, there is little doubt that its creators thought that they had created the ultimate fusion of eating utensils. The spork soon spread to school cafeterias and even into those little plastic baggies they pass out with the meal on airplanes. But the spork wasn't as useful as it could be because you couldn't cut anything with it. To compensate, airplanes included knives with their sporks and schools prepare lunches with no discernable texture. The spork, however, has finally evolved to take cutting abilities into account. The Spork/Knife, coined as the sporknif by Bea of La Tartine Gourmande, has a fork/knife on one end and a paddle-like spoon on the other. It is made from durable, heat-resistant PC material, comes in a variety of colors and only costs a few dollars.
You may never need another utensil again.
Biobags are storage bags made from completely natural and
biodegradable materials. Although they resemble plastic bags, they are made from cornstarch - and even the corn is
certified as non-GMO. The material used to make them is actually a "bioplastic" called Mater-Bi, which is made by an Italian company that specializes in
finding alternatives to petroleum-based plastics.
Biobags allow the produce (or anything else) placed inside them to “breathe”, so heat and moisture will be wicked away, reducing the chance of bacterial buildup and even keeping produce fresh longer. It will also reduce the odors from trash and other waste products. The bags, if placed in a compost pile, will break down completely within 10-45 days, and will achieve the same result, albeit at a somewhat slower rate, in a natural setting. This means that they're great for taking along as storage on picnics and camping trips in addition to home use, just in case you lose track of any bags while you're out in the woods.
The bags are available online and come in a variety of sizes, including everything from grocery bags (pictured) to trash can liners to doggie bags.
Pieces of hard plastic in Canadian Cadbury eggs have already resulted in one injury, prompting a recall of several
varieties of the little chocolate eggs. A press release from the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency and Cadbury Adams Canada, Inc. warns that the Caramilk, Caramilk Maple and Caramilk Cafe eggs
are all affected by the recall. A similar
release says that the eggs have been distributed nationally. The FDA has yet to issue any such recall in the U.S. We
have our own Cadbury egg problems here.
Starbucks is in the process of replacing their current cups with cups made of 10% recycled paper and their
heat-insulating cup sleeves are already made of recycled paper, but the company may soon have a new,
environmentally-friendly option. A new company based in the Seattle Area, MicroGreen Polymers, says that it has
developed a way to make insulated coffee cups out of recycled plastic bottles. Not only does the company
believe that their cups, which are less than a year away from full commercial production, will be cheaper than the more
traditional paper cups, but the production process creates no harmful gasses. The cups are created
by infusing plastic with tiny air bubbles, creating an air cushion within the material of the cup to protect your
hand from the heat. Because there is less physical material in the cups, the plastic from one bottle can be used to
make five to seven 12-ounce coffee cups. MicroGreen Polymers has signed a development agreement with Reynolds Food
Packaging, so it may not be long before a new wave of eco-friendly materials hit the stores.
Roughly 54,000 pounds of Lean Cuisine Asian-Style Pot Stickers were recently recalled by Nestle Prepared Foods
company for fear that the chicken and vegetable dumplings may contain pieces of plastic. The package code 5262595512,
the words "Best before Oct. 2006" and the establishment number P-7991 are printed on the right side of the
boxes. A Food Safety and Inspection service release is available here.
When
I was out in Colorado last September, I noticed that most of the stores carried a brand of bottled water called BIOTA (I
later learned that it stands for Blame It On The Altitude). I also learned that the plastic-like bottles are actually
made of corn and will supposedly mulch itself in a few months' time if composted. 
Fosfor gadgets has the top 10
weirdest USB drives, which include many food shaped entries. From sushi to shu mai dim sum to shrimp, you'll
be able to express your favorite foods--USB style. A lot of this reminds me of the plastic food items usually seen on
the window displays of Japanese restaurants. So plastic-y, yet so tasty. Mmm.
We can change the way we make eggs -- scrambled, poached, fried -- but what about changing the eggs themselves? Mix up your scrambling routine with quail eggs.
Second Helping of Slashfood - June 19
Competitive-Eating Contest to Pit Humans Against Elephants
The Backyard Boom - The Hungry Bride
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