Fruit salad. Photo: TiffanyWashko/Flickr

• When bright summer fruit is in season, make desserts like shortcake and cobbler without fuss.
• The three rules for succulent summer cocktails, plus a few recipes.
• Probiotics might seem great, but experts say the term is misused and misunderstood.
• Starbucks gets a new store that is both environmentally sound and modern.
• Nicaraguan coffee farmers will ease picking pains via new ergonomic baskets.
• Strawberries get a new mode of transport by sailing to Seattle.
• Four steps to a tasty homemade iced tea.
• Anthony's Fish Bar offers fish and chips in the summer sun, and GreenGo Food loves local nibbles.
• Recipes: Leftover Bread and Tomato Salad, Pucker Up P'Sghetti, Crunchy Peanut Butter Ice Cream, Chili Spice Rub with Orange, Caramelized Little Tomatoes with Linguine, Summer Salad with Blue Cheese and Dill, Roasted Eggplant Salsa, Grilled Strip Steak with Olives and Feta, and Pasta Salad with Smoked Chicken and Oven-Dried Tomatoes.

Food manufacturers love bacteria, especially probiotic bacteria. The market for products that contain probiotics has really taken off in the past year in the US, after Dannon launched a line of yogurt, Activa, that included them as an aid to digestive regularity. The company's sales soared to over $100 million dollars and other producers quickly scrambled to work probiotics into their own lines, appealing to health-conscious consumers who are interested in improving their diets and lifestyle with food that is good for them, rather than by taking pills as supplements. In other words, probiotics appeal to the American consumer's growing interest in functional foods.

Probiotics are being called "this decade's oat bran," by trendspotters, who are referring to the fact that that grain rose quickly to popularity in the 1980s - and stayed there - when "it was shown to lower cholesterol levels." Oat bran ended up in everything for a very long period and it seems likely that probiotics will, too, provided that the companies that use them can get the same results from the live cultures than Dannon has. Known benefits include relief from irritable bowel syndrome, yeast infections, and diarrhea, but more claims are being made every day, suggesting "probiotics may help ward off everything from allergies to colon cancer."

For now, most probiotic products are dairy-based, including a TCBY frozen yogurt, StonyField Farm's upcoming dairy-based energy drink and Dannon's Activa and DanActive. There are soy milk products that contain probiotics and Kashi has put it into cereal.

 Thanks you all for your recent comments on your experiences with Activia, the new yogurt product from Dannon. The yogurt contains a proprietary probiotic bacteria, Bifidus Regularis, which is supposed to help keep people "regular."  

Probiotics are getting a lot of attention these days for their health benefits. Dannon has been doing a lot of research into probiotics and their benefits, and are introducing another new yogurt product along the same vein as Activia. DanActive, which is a drink, contains the L. Casei Defensis bacteria, which is supposed to help with human beings' immunity.

I haven't tried the product yet, but if I see it in the markets, I'll be sure to pick one up to give it a taste test.