This is a guest vlog by Chef Rob Endelman.

Now you know what to do with kale! Do you think it will work with Guinness beer?

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Dannon, the yogurt maker, has reached a settlement in a class action suit brought against it for falsely representing the health benefits of its products. The company will pay up to $100 to individual consumers who have been misled by its “health claims”. Check if you are eligible here.

According to a report on ABC news:

Dannon must remove the words “clinically” and “scientifically proven” from product labels and advertisements of Activia yogurt in reference to claims the product helps to regulate the digestive system.

Dannon also must note that Activia and DanActive yogurts are food, not treatments or cures for any medical disorder or disease.

Also, Dannon must remove the word “immunity” from DanActive labels and ads, as well as include a qualifier to the claim the yogurt “helps strengthen your body’s defenses” or “helps support the immune system.” read more…

This is a perfect example why NOT to trust what you read on front of package labels.

What you need to know:

Yogurt is very healthy, and was even selected as food of the decade last month. All yogurts have healthy probiotics, it’s just that some get better marketed than others. Since scientists have yet to show how one strain is significantly healthier than another, there is strong reason to believe Dannon was misleading consumers into paying 30% more for its products.

According to the terms of the settlement, Dannon does not have to admit to any wrongdoing. In fact, the company

stands by its advertising and denies it did anything wrong. However, Dannon has settled to avoid the cost and distraction of litigation.

Hmmm, if Dannon truly stood behind its product, it would not have opted to pay $45,000,000 in settlement. It would have gone to court to clear its name. But the company did not want to get distracted….or get too much bad press over the lengthy duration of the trial. Faster to pay up and move on. Especially if you know there are slim chances you’ll win.

Too bad, now we won’t have the opportunity to dig down deep into the science and know once and for all what led the company to behave the way that it did.

Wait. Maybe we do know – more money.

Incidentally, the main issue with most yogurts today is not their bacteria type, but rather their high sugar count and additives that make them more appealing to sweet craving taste buds. Plain yogurt naturally contains 12 grams of sugar in the form of lactose. But on top of that you’ll find 1-4 added teaspoons of sugar depending on the brand and specific flavor. See here and here for an ingredient analysis of popular products.

What to do at the supermarket:

You can do better than buying expensive sugar filled yogurt. Buy plain yogurt, and if you can, choose a large bulk container which is much cheaper. Hardcore yogurt lovers prepare their own at home.

With minimal effort you can upgrade the plain  yogurt into a a truly healthy breakfast or snack. Choose either one or all of the ideas below:

1. toss in diced bananas, strawberries, raisins, nuts, or whatever.

2. stir in a teaspoon of honey, agave nectar, or maple syrup.

3. sprinkle flax seeds into the mix.

Enjoy!

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We’ve gotten a question from one of our Facebook friends, who is confused about agave nectar, a sweetener that has gotten itself a health halo in some circles over the past few years. Below you’ll find the facts. Bottom line – the health halo is not justified, but that does not mean agave nectar is bad for you. But then again, neither is sugar. It’s all a matter of limiting intake, something we have trouble doing, what with all the processed foods “fortified” with sweeteners out there.

What you need to know:

1. Agave nectar is derived from Agave plants grown in Mexico. There are several processing methods used to obtain the syrupy sweetener, but you can’t just tap into the plant like you would with maple syrup.

2. Agave nectar is composed mostly of fructose, and also glucose.

3. It has a slightly lower glycemic index than table sugar, due to the fact that glycemic index measures only glucose levels, and agave nectar has less glucose than sugar.

4. Agave nectar has the same number of calories as sugar, 4 calories per gram. that works out  to 16 calories per teaspoon.

5. Agave nectar is about one and a half times sweeter than table sugar, which means you need to use less to reach the same sweet point. That works out to slightly less calories for the same level of sweet.

6. Many vegans prefer to use agave nectar in recipes calling for honey as no animals are involved in its processing.

7. Agave dissolves quickly in water and is sometimes used as a sweetener for cold drinks.

8. Tequila (yes, the alcoholic drink) is a cousin of agave nectar. Blue agave (Agave tequilana) is the source for both. Agave nectar can also be made from other types of agave plants.

What to do at the supermarket:

Agave is a sweetener thats neither bad nor good for you. Like all sweeteners, it is best consumed sparingly.

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“POM Wonderful” is a juice that we enjoy on occasion because it tastes great. The tart and sweet flavor mix is an acquired taste, but served very cold it is just lovely. Perhaps, even wonderful. And you’ve got to love the original bottle shape, not to mention the overall amazing marketing this company does.

But what about all those superfruit health claims? Will it really make us healthier?

We decided to take a deeper look inside the label. Read more…

Campbell’s has announced that it will be reducing the sodium content in its SpaghettiOs line of products by 35%. The change will take place by the upcoming spring.

“Offering healthier versions of our products for kids is a major priority for Campbell,” said Sean Connolly, President, Campbell’s US soups, sauces and beverages. “Changing the recipe of SpaghettiOs comes on the heels of reducing sodium in our condensed kids soups to healthy levels. It’s also consistent with our commitment to advertise only sound food choices to children.”

Indeed?

We decided to take a look inside the label at SpaghettiOs Original, a minute before the sodium reduction. Read more…

Good Morning. Our pop quiz for today is before you. What is this Vegetable?

Hint: This is not an alien. It actually grows on earth, and even in the US. Read more…

Consumer interest in omega-3 is not as high this year as it was in the 2005-2007 time frame. Perhaps it’s because we’ve been inundated by so many omega-3 messages on the news, web, and supermarket that most of us have simply come to accept the easy to remember association:  “omega-3 = good”.  In the same time period we also learned that “trans-fat = evil”.

It’s a bit like Star Wars , what with the dark and light side of the force. The “force” here is fatty acids, or what dietary fats (animal fat and vegetable oils) are composed of.

While the trans-fat message is quite simple at the practical level – just avoid products containing it – with omega 3 things are a bit more complicated. And when something is not as simple as good/bad, you can be sure there’s lots of money to be made off of the public’s ignorance. Enter the thousands of processed products now marked with “omega-3″ in large font type on the front of the package.

The analogy to Star Wars ends here because not all omega-3’s are created equal. Which means you may be buying a product fortified with omega-3 that has almost no health benefits for you. Yet you will likely be paying more than you would have for the standard, un-enriched version. In order to better understand what’s going on, here’s a quick primer on omega-3, in 10 bullet points. Read more…

You’re off to a meeting, flying to a conference, or simply got a hectic day to get through. You need an energy boost and don’t want a candy bar full of crazy ingredients. What do you do?

One healthy option is dried fruit, which, unlike their fresh cousins, can wait patiently in the pantry for over a year. We took a look at Dried Blueberries by Amport Foods, to see how good a (nutritious) deal we’re getting. Read more…

Dried fruit are a tasty snack. They are supposedly as good as fresh fruit nutritionally, and have the added benefit of being available throughout the year, easy to store, durable, and versatile.

We decided to take a look at a well known brand, Sunsweet, which has been selling an Antioxidant Blend for the past few years. While the main ingredients are dried fruit, we were also surprised to find added sugar and oils in the list.

Read on for a full review of Sunsweet Antioxidant Blend.

Read more…

This week Florida became the first state to define “Pure Honey” in the letter of the law:

Under terms of the new regulation, honey containing anything other than the ”natural food product resulting from the harvest of nectar by honeybees” is considered an adulterated or mislabeled product. Manufacturers, processors or sellers of these products face ‘’stop sale” orders, and repeat offenders would face fines of up to $500 per violation.

read more from the Miami Herald…

Impure honey, or in professional jargon adulterated honey is mixed with cheaper ingredients. These can be cheap sugars such as sucrose, invert sugar, and commercial glucose, as well as starch, chalk, gelatine, water and other substances.

Turns out that adulterated honey is a big problem in Florida, the country’s 4th largest honey producer. Cheap imports are undercutting local producers, mostly because they are using cheap ingredients instead of 100% honey.

What you need to know:

Honey is probably the first sweetener known to man. Archaeological evidence shows we began harvesting honey around 10,000 BC, around 4000 years earlier than the use of sugarcane.

Bees manufacture honey as a food store for themselves. Humans decided this was too good to keep just for the bees.

Nutritionally, honey is composed of around 15% water and 85% carbs. each gram of honey has 4 calories, just like table sugar.  A single teaspoon will set you back about 64 calories.

There are also small amounts of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants present in honey. Their amount varies based on the floral sources of nectar.

Honey also has been used to heal wounds, due to its antibacterial and anti inflammatory properties.

What to do at the supermarket:

When buying honey, look at the label to make sure it’s 100% honey, not a “honey product” or “honey flavored sweetener”.

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