Today is Pancake Day, another made up holiday created to increase our consumption of pancakes. While in and of themselves, pancakes are not necessarily an unhealthy food, it’s the huge servings and added “dressings” that have turned pancakes into unhealthy calorie bombs.

So if you are celebrating today, or any day – take it easy with the butter and maple syrup. If you can, go for whole wheat to get some fiber.

Here’s a recipe for Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes:

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 very ripe banana
1 tbsp sugar
3 tsp  baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 cups low fat milk
2 tablespoons oil

Instructions:

lightly oil a griddle and heat it up over a medium flame. Mix all the dry ingredients. Mash the banana. Mix the eggs, milk, oil and mashed banana. Add the dry mix. It’s OK if there is a bit of lumping, the lumps will disappear when heated. Once the griddle is hot enough pour a test-pancake on, wait for it to bubble and flip it over. The first pancake usually comes out a bit funky and goes to the dog, but after that you’re all set. If your griddle is large enough you can make several pancakes at the same time. A 2-3 inch diameter will allow you to eat several pancakes without overdoing the portion size.

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The Journal of Pediatrics published a report on Monday showing an increase of 18% in food allergies in a 10 year period starting in 1997. This brings the total percentage of kids with allergies to 3.9% or 1 in 25 children under the age of 18. That’s about 2.88 million children across the country, or one in every classroom!

90% of food allergies are from 8 basic foods (soy, wheat, egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish), whose presence must be labeled on food products.

What is causing this increase?

“Nobody knows for certain” is the party line, if you ask government health organizations and others.

One explanation is that parents are now more aware of allergies than they were a decade ago. In their calculations, the study’s researchers took into account the heightening awareness to allergies, but even that does not explain the additional 450,000 kids with allergies over a decade.

Another option, named the “hygiene hypothesis”, purports that the relatively sterile environments of kids today don’t allow young bodies to develop strong immune systems, simply because there are no disease causing substances for them to fight. But then, for some reason, the underdeveloped immune systems overreacts to allergens.

Yet a third possibility, not investigated enough, is genetically modified foods. The modified proteins in GM soy or corn, whose byproducts are found in well over 50% of supermarket items, could possibly be causing new allergic reactions.

For most parents, luckily, allergies are a non-issue. But almost everyone has a friend or extended family member with a story about a child who has been diagnosed as allergic. That’s a curve ball that catches many folks totally unprepared. It means totally rethinking about how a family buys, stores, prepares, and serves food. Every meal, every day, home and out.

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Happy Easter!

In case you were wondering about all those eggs:

1. They are a cheap and reliable source of protein, especially for vegetarians.

2. Eggs are one of few foods naturally containing vitamin D.

3. They are also a good source of vitamin A, riboflavin, folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, choline, iron, calcium, phosphorus and potassium.

4. The yolk is about one third of the weight of the egg, but accounts for 80% of its 75 calories.

5. The currently popular omega-3 eggs are created by feeding hens with kelp meal (more seaweed, anyone?).

6. Eggs have seesawed in popularity over the years due to their high cholesterol count (over 65% of the recommended daily intake). Current studies are pointing favorably to the egg, claiming most of the cholesterol formed in the human body results from saturated and trans-fats, and not the cholesterol in the egg. Eggs have no trans-fat and only 8% of the daily value for saturated fat.

7. There are many foods created with raw eggs. Mayonnaise and chocolate mousse are two very popular examples.

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Two spring holidays that usually fall within days of each other are Easter and the Jewish Passover. As with almost all holidays, food is an important dimension of the festivities.

Easter highlights, courtesy of A.C. Nielsen:

1. America are buying over 120 million pounds, or $500 million, in candy this week.

2. 70% of the candy purchased is chocolate based, or approximately 71 million lbs.

3. That’s higher than the number for Valentine’s Day (48 million lbs.) but lower than Halloween’s tally (90 million lbs.)

4. Over 61 million eggs will be sold this week, 45% higher than on an average week.

5. On the Passover side, spending on unleavened matzo bread will reach $3.5 million dollars and $6.5 million on kosher passover wine (about 1.5 million bottles).

What you need to know:

The egg is a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in pre-Christian celebrations of spring. It was adopted by early Christians as a symbol of the resurrection. The oldest tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs. In the early 19th century, egg shaped chocolates became all the rage in France and Germany, spreading to the rest of the world faster than a rabbit being chased by a hound.

The Passover matzoh is unleavend bread made from just flour and water. According to tradition, Jewish slaves, in their haste to flee ancient Egypt to freedom, did not have time to fully bake bread for the road. The matzo, unleavened flat bread, is what resulted.

Happy Festivities!

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We have recently covered two of the three “condiment triumvirate” – Ketchup and Mustard.

Today, a look at mayo.

1. The three building blocks of mayonnaise are raw egg yolks, vegetable oil, and vinegar. Seasoning, mustard, and lemon juice may be added for flavor.

2. The source of the word “mayonnaise” is unknown, but one guess is that it is derived from moyeu, Old French for egg yolk.

3. Mayonnaise is made by slowly adding oil to an egg yolk, while whisking vigorously to disperse the oil. The resulting emulsion is what we spread on sandwiches and burgers.

4. Mayonnaise is mostly fat. a serving of one tablespoon (13 grams) contains 90 calories! No wonder “Hold the mayo” has become such a popular expression by weight watchers at fast food joints.

5. homemade mayonnaise will spoil after 3-4 days.

6. Contrary to popular belief , industrial mayo does not spoil if not refrigerated. Commercial mayonnaise is filled with acid and preservatives that can actually extend the life of salads by killing bacteria. The eggs used in prepared mayonnaise are pasteurized as well.

7. Hellmann’s (known as Best Foods west of the Rockies) is the leading US mayonnaise brand. It became part of multinational food conglomerate Unilever a few years ago. According to Unilever, it has over 50% market share.

8. Tartar sauce is mayonnaise spiced with pickled cucumbers and onion.

9. Thousand Island dressing is ketchup, pickle relish, assorted herbs and spices mixed into a mayonnaise base.

10. Ranch dressing is made of buttermilk, mayonnaise, and minced green onion.

11. In the Netherlands, mayonnaise, not ketchup, is the condiment of choice for french fries.

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From the FDA: Mom’s Food Products, Inc. of Ft Worth, TX is recalling its Pimento Spread sandwiches with a expiration date of December 15th through the 18th due to the label not declaring an allergen egg yolks. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to eggs run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.

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From the FDA:

General Mills is voluntarily recalling a single day’s production of Progresso Hearty Tomato soup because of a product labeling issue. Product produced on this date may have been mislabeled, and may contain allergens not listed on the ingredient label, specifically egg, milk, and soy.

There have been no reports of allergic reactions or illnesses associated with this product, however, the possibility of unlabeled allergens makes this a Class One recall.

This voluntary recall includes only 19-ounce Progresso Hearty Tomato soup with the following code date printed on the bottom of the can:

19May10 NV VN-3

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