reconditioned food

Under the what's-in-your-food catgory...an article caught my attention at the beginning of the week about reconditioned food.  I'll be totally honest with you and share that this idea never ever crossed my mind.  I assumed that if food was in any way spoiled it needed to be discarded.  This article, however, made it abundantly clear that this is not the case.  The fact that the company in question only received a "sharp censure" from the FDA is truly wrong.

In Home Ec (as we used to call it) I remember being taught in the sixth grade that soft foods with any hint of mold, discoloration, or odor should be immediately destroyed as bacteria travelled quickly through them, whereas in hard foods they are more localized.  I don't know about you but in my book applesauce is a soft food.

The FDA has a manual that talks about food reconditioning.  But just because you can doesn't mean you should.  With the increasing rates of food recalls due to bacterial infections, poor sanitary conditions and massive outbreaks of illness why is our government willing to allow corporations to knowingly serve bad food for profit?  Silly question...we all know the answer is money.

As a consumer the answer boils down to what is one of my top catch phrases...eat real food.  Do I buy some packaged foods, yes I do.  But I try to buy as little as possible, purchasing most of our groceries as whole food and then making the items myself.   We have already severely reduced our canned goods (most of what we have on hand is in our emergency preparedness closet), and are weaning ourselves off of most snack foods.  This last is not so popular with our teens but we certainly don't have nearly as much as we used to.  I also get more and more products from local sources that I trust.

The more I learn, the more I am motivated to make things myself.  For example learning that "an average of 225 insect fragments or 4.5 rodent hairs per 8 ounces of macaroni or noodle products." is okay is motivating me to get out the pasta maker again.  I still, and always will, throw out whatever is contaminated in my house.  When we have had a moth infestation everything they got into was destroyed. That's why my dry goods are stored in glass or plastic, to keep them out.  Hard food products can be washed, and cleaned so although I don't like it I understand how it can be allowed in a case like the one in Illinois.  But it's motivated me to double check the pantry seals on things.

The FDA has set up a Reportable Food Registry which is a first step.  But I believe they need to know that this practice is unacceptable.  What are your thoughts on the matter?

do you know what's in your food?

image from: gmo-journal.com

I've been writing more about Genetically Modified (GM - also referred to as GMO or GE) foods lately.  Part of it is because the problem seems to be getting worse.  I am concerned that there is still no labeling required in this country.  According to this article from the San Francisco Chronicle 93 percent of Americans polled want their food labeled.  They want the right to know.  But it's still not happening.  Why?  Because it's bad for business.

I'm reminded of the fight over Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) when the dairy industry fought like mad to stop farmers from labeling their milk as free of this harmful additive hormone which is not healthy for cows or humans.  The farmers prevailed in that they were allowed to label their products as being rBGH-free but were forced to put a statement on their product that there was no difference between dairy from cows treated with or without rBGH.  Science has since proved them wrong and we now know that rBGH increases Insulin Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), decreases nutrition in the milk, increases mastitis in the cows (requiring antibiotics which we ingest because they don't stop milking the cows while they are giving them antibiotics), and decreased fertility in cows.  That's obviously a problem for the cows, if they can't be bred, or "freshened" in dairy parlance, they can't be milked and therefore are no longer useful.  If  rBGH causes infertility in cows (apparently studies have showed a reduction of as much as 40%), what does it do to the people who drink the milk?

We are the only industrialized nation, to my knowledge, that still allows this harmful chemical in our food.  Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan, among others, have all banned it's use.  Purchasing dairy products labeled rBGH-free or organic is the only way to avoid this chemical.

But with GM foods it's a completely different thing.  Yes, purchasing organic is one way to avoid it, but no GM foods are labeled, not everything is available organic, and it's not financially feasible to purchase everything organic (at least not in our house).  You would be amazed at how far GM products have crept into our food supply.  We deserve the right to know what is in our food.  I believe that corporate interests and profits should not supersede the right to choose clean food.

I also wonder what it says when the employees of the company that makes most of the GM foods, Monsanto, won't eat it, demanding GM free foods in their cafeteria?  If they won't eat it why should you?

California is, potentially, about to become the first state to require mandatory GM labeling.  With 80 percent of those polled in California supporting this initiative I am hopeful that they will win.  Striking a blow against these modified foods and their manufacturers.  I'm also hopeful that this will be the first of a steamroller effect across the country.

To stay informed about this issue you can follow along on the blog as well as at Organic Consumers.

coconut

coconut | photo: Robert Wetzlmayr

This Thanksgiving we had coconut cream instead of whipped cream.  It was a delicious substitute for those at the table who could not have dairy and it paired very well with the pumpkin custard.

Coconut is a great food item to have in your pantry.  A source of phosphorus which is beneficial for strong teeth and bones as well as supporting kidney function, there are many different ways in which coconut can be added to the diet.

Let's start, though, by addressing the allergy issue.  According to the FDA coconuts must be labeled as a tree nut.  And there does appear to be a potential for cross-reaction for anyone who is allergic, or sensitive, to either walnuts or hazelnuts.  This means that if you have a sensitivity to either walnuts or hazelnuts and consume coconut products, you may want to discuss this with your allergist or to try an elimination diet and see if you should not eat coconut.

Ways to use coconut include:

• Coconut meat - a tasty treat which can be eaten fresh or dried.  
• Coconut flour - the dried ground meat can be used in baking and is especially popular for gluten free baking.  It's also a good source of protein with 100 g of coconut flour containing just over 19 g of protein.
• Coconut water - sometimes called coconut juice, this is the liquid from the center of the coconut.  It is a fairly balanced electrolyte fluid; far tastier, and certainly far healthier, than sports drinks.
• Coconut milk - made from the ground meat this is a tasty dairy substitute that many people enjoy.
• Coconut cream - the solid section of the coconut milk which rises to the top; this can be skimmed off and used the same as whipping cream.
• Coconut oil - made from the meat, this is a healthy source of medium chain fatty acids and can be used in baking and cooking.  It even makes a great facial moisturizer. 

Coconut flour, milk and water all substitute fairly well at a one-for-one ratio for their conventional counterparts.  Coconut oil substitutes one-for-one although I have found that because it melts differently it sometimes gives a different texture to baked goods.  We have added this versatile range of products to the pantry and are enjoying the tasty variety that they add to our diet.  I'm sure you will too.