Who's the largest toy distributor in the world?

You'll never guess.
According to Frugal Dad, McDonald's is the world's largest toy distributor, giving out more toys annually than Toys R Us!

Here are a few more interesting stats on the fast food chain.

"(The) infographic lays out some of the details of the recent San Francisco Healthy Food Ordinance, and it also explores some of the facts behind how McDonald’s has become such a popular chain with children".

Source: http://frugaldad.com

Thanks Beth!

Does your pee stink after eating asparagus?

This is a re-post... I thought I'd occasionally re-post some older entries because... it's Friday and I'm lazy!!
Hope you're having a great Friday!

After eating asparagus, some people's urine has a very distinct, stinky smell.

Asparagus contains a compound called mercaptan.
The smelly pee is a result of this compound being broken down in your digestive system.
However, not everyone has the gene for the enzyme that breaks down mercaptan. If your body doesn't break it down, your pee won't be stinky after eating asaragus.

One British study, published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, found that 46% of British people tested had stinky pee after eating asparagus while 100% of French people did .
Another study of a random sample of 115 people showed that 40% had stinky pee.

Interestingly, another study found that we can't all smell stinky pee- regardless of whether we're stinkers or non-stinkers!

So... some people don't break down mercaptan (are non-stinkers) but can smell it in other people's urine (I fall in this category), while other non-stinkers can't smell anything. Some break down the compound and therefore are stinkers, and can smell it, but other stinkers are unable to detect the smell in in their urine or in urine that others had identified as "outright putrid".

The authors suggested that the ability to smell stinky urine is also genetically determined.

Don't be embarrassed if your urine smells after eating asparagus, you're definitely not alone and it's not a reason why you should avoid asparagus. Asparagus is great source of folic acid, B vitamins, fibre, and one of the richest sources of rutin, a compound that strengthens capillary walls.

So... are you a stinker?

Tip: Asparagus won't last very long. To increase its storage time and keep it crisp, treat it like a bouquet of flowers: Trim the bottom of the stalks, place in a tall glass with a little water at the bottom, cover loosely with a plastic bag, keep in fridge.

Broccoli: The Miracle Food

I saw this commercial a few weeks ago and have been trying to find it to post for you- and I finally did! I can't embed it, but you must watch:

Click Here.

There's a series of these commercial in which Broccoli guy is oddly present in different "miraculous" situations, then chastises the people for using the word "miraculous", since nothing is more miraculous than "12 essential vitamins and minerals, all lovingly packed into these tiny little green trees".

I don't know who sponsors these ads- the website (Canadian), The Miracle Food, simply provides information about broccoli: a history of broccoli, nutritional information, recipes, and a list of health benefits.

I think these ads are great...

The food industry plays an important role in what we eat: "We're besieged, encouraged, to eat junk food", states Michael Jacobson, co-founder of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
Not only is processed junk food cheaper per calorie (thanks to government subsidizing corn and soybeans instead of fruits and vegetables), but it is heavily marketed, which leads people to buy it.

I just heard a stat that the average American child sees 10,000 food ads a year- the vast majority for these for high calorie, processed foods.

In her book What to Eat, professor of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health, Dr. Marion Nestle explains that $36 Billion a year are spent on food and beverage marketing...
And how many fruits and vegetable commercials have you seen? Almost none.

Nestle partly attributes the fact that we're not eating enough fruits and vegetables to this lack of marketing. Did you know that one-third of all veggies consumed (in the States) come from just 3 sources: french fries, potato chips, and iceberg lettuce? Sad, eh?

And why is it we don't see fruit and vegetable ads?

Nestle explains that the fruit and vegetable industry is not a high profit one. You can't add value to fresh produce, the produce is perishable so it's more expensive to handle and store, companies are mainly small and independent.
So, there's not much money left for marketing.

So, I think it's great to see these commercials on TV, and I think that if there were more of them, we might start to see a difference in what we ate, and in our waist size.

What do you think?

I came across this great blog in which the author, and some of her readers, have differing opinions... check it out if you get a chance.

It's my Blogiversary: Celebrating with cottonseed oil and some refelction!

My blog turns 2 today... I can't believe it... they grow up so fast!
I looked it up, and the traditional 2-year anniversary gift is cotton. So....

Did you know that Cottonseed oil accounts for only 5-6% of the American fat and oil market?
It's very low in the omega 3 fatty acid, making it a very stable frying oil at high temperatures. For this reason, and because it has a bland flavour, it's used often as a frying oil by the food industry.
Who knew?

In the last two years, what I've learned is that, both in the field of nutrition, and in my own life, there will always be surprises. There's a line from the movie the Truman Show when, in response to why Truman hadn't figured out he was an actor on a set, his "creator" responds:
"Because we always accept the reality of our surroundings, without question".

Well, this blog has allowed me to question... and what I learned has surprised me:

Caffeinated beverages, including coffee, can be used to meet your fluid requirements. It's not a major diuretic as we once thought.

Whole wheat is NOT a whole grain (in Canada).

A low carb, high fat diet may be what we should be recommending: it can control blood sugar and improve cholesterol level.

A grapefruit a day isn't as healthy as it sounds.

That cool, hip coffee shop in your neighbourhood may actually be a Starbucks, in disguise!

Exercise may not be the answer to weight loss.

Just because my dad is a runner, thin, and a vegetarian, doesn't mean he won't have a heart attack.

So... I continue to question and not just accept, I continue to try to keep an open-mind, and continue to share what I learn...

Thanks for learning with me, and teaching me, over these last 2 years!

Insects dye our food?!

Well... this is a shocker:

Turns out that it's legal, and common, for food manufacturers to use insects as food dye, and they don't have to let us know!!

More specifically, carminic acid is extracted from the cochineal beetle's body and eggs and used to make carmine dye, a red dye commonly used as food colouring as well as in cosmetics, fabrics, oil paints and watercolours.

Although many foods, including yogourt, ice cream, cheese, butter, fruit-flavoured and alcoholic drinks, meats, pie fillings, jams, baked goods, sauces and candies, use carmine and cochineal extracts as dye, they only have to indicate "artificial colour" or "artificial colour added" to their ingredient lists. Only man-made dyes have to be listed (ie. FD&C No. 40)). As such, we have no idea if we're eating insect extracts or not.

In 2006, the consumer advocacy group the Center for Science in the Public Interest called the FDA to ban insect-based dyes and provided 32 adverse reation reports it had received. According to the CSPI, "Why tolerate food coloring that sends a couple hundred people to emergency rooms each year...?"

Symptoms reported after eating carmine-containing foods like Yoplait and Danone yogurt, Ocean Spay and Fruitopia juice and Good & Plenty candy included itching, swelling of the eyes and tongue, difficulty breathing, hives and headaches. Moreover, hidden beetle extracts are problematic for vegetarians and vegans, those with specific allergies and people who keep kosher.

In January 2009, the FDA finally ammended the colour additive regulation; foods containing cochineal extract or carmine must declare the presence of the colour additive with either "cochineal extract" or "carmine" in the ingredient list by January 5 2011.

At least it's a start but, according to the CSPI, why not require the ingredient to be listed as "insect-based colouring" rather than using words most people won't understand?
Why the sneakiness?

Thanks Heather for letting me know about this!

Are you a Gastrosexual?

" I made grilled portobello burgers with homemade whole wheat buns, pesto, provolone and roasted red peppers. Hope you don't mind".







A Gastrosexual: A person that cooks as a hobby and uses his/her culinary skills to impress friends and potential love interests. The British Daily Mail looked at a report, the 'Emergence of the Gastrosexual', published by the food company PurAsia. Here are the highlights:

• Gastrosexuals are typically: Male, aged 25-44 and upwardly-mobile.

• The tension between cooking and masculinity has been resolved- it is now perfectly acceptable for men to show a passion for food.

• Key motivations for the Gastrosexual: Self-actualization (cooking as a passion), cooking for praise and cooking to impress and even seduce potential partners.

• 23% of 18-24 year old men say they cook to potentially seduce a partner

• 48% of people say being able to cook makes a person more attractive to them

• In 1961, women spent 10 times as much time in the kitchen as men did. By 2005, although women remained the primary cooks, men started helping out a bit more- women spent only 2 times more time in the kitchen as men did.

• The increase in the number of women working full time post-war has contributed to the rise of the Gastrosexual male.

• 50% of the men surveyed prepared meals using separate ingredients everyday, spending an average of 41 minutes in the kitchen a day.

Looks like the Gastrosexual may be the next Foodie!

Supersized USA

Population: 293,027,571
Percent of population overweight, male/female: 72/70%
Percent of population obese, male/female: 32/38%
Percent of population over the age of 20 with diabetes: 8.8%
Percent of dieting men/women on any given day: 25/45%
Percent of all dieters who will regain their lost weight within 1-5 years: 95%
Caloric intake available daily per person: 3,774 calories
Annual alcohol consumption per person (alcohol content only): 9.6 quarts (~9 liters)
Cigarette consumption per person per year: 2,255
Sugar and sweetener available per person per year: 158 lbs
Soft drink consumption per person per year: 54.8 gallons (~207 liters)
Meat consumption per person per year: 275 lbs
McDonald's restaurants: 13,491
Liposuction surgeries per year: 400,000
Gastric bypass surgeries per year: 150,000
Percent paid by taxpayers for obesity-related medical costs: 50%
Annual spending on dieting and diet-related products: $40 billion

Taken directly from Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel

Diet Myth #1: Fat makes you fat

It's almost summer, time to get bikini-ready, and the perfect time to debunk some of those diet myths!

Nope. Dietary fat does not make you fat.

- Randomized weight loss studies show little net weight change after a year of following a low fat diet- although people on the low fat diets generally lost 2-4 lbs after a few weeks, they also tended to regain that weight while continuing with the diet.

- In European country-to-country surveys , women eating the least amount of fat were the most likely to be obese while those with the higher fat intake were least likely to be so. (For European men, there was no relation between fat intake and obesity).

- In the United States, the gradual reduction of the fat content of the average diet from 40% of total calories to about 33% has been accompanied by a gradual increase in the average weight and a dramatic increase in obesity rates.

Bottom line:

The fat in your diet doesn't make you fat. You gain weight when you eat more calories (whether coming from carbs, protein or fat) than you burn off.
The goal is to cut back on bad fats (saturated and trans fats) and increase good fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats).

If you're already on a low fat diet, think about replacing some of those carbs with unsaturated fats.

An added benefit of replacing saturated fats and carbs in your diet with unsaturated fats is that your risk of coronary heart disease and stroke will decrease by :

- Lowering your "lousy" LDL cholesterol, - Preventing the increase of your triglycerides (fat in your blood),
- Reducing development of erratic heartbeats, the main cause of sudden cardiac death,
- Reducing the tendency for arterial blood clots to form.

Kitchen Wisdom & Tips

I haven't tried any of the following kitchen tips... if you have, or if you have any other good ones to share... let me know!

The following tips are presumably from Martha Stewart herself...

• Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of an ice cream cone to prevent ice cream drips.
• To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.
• If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it'll absorb the excess salt for an instant 'fix-me-up'.
• If you have a problem opening a jar, try using latex dish washing gloves- they provide a non-slip grip.
• Freeze leftover wine into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

Here are some other good ones. Click here for the entire list:

• To soften hardened brown sugar, place a slice of bread or a few apple slices with the sugar in an airtight container. The sugar will soften overnight.(I actually tried this... it works!)
• Grate orange and lemon peel before peeling. Dry and add to spice cake or any cookies or puddings. The dried grated peel will keep well in a covered jar.
• If you scorch milk by accident, put the pan in cold water and add a pinch of salt to the milk. Takes away the burned taste.
• When measuring sticky ingredients (molasses, honey, peanut butter), try spraying the measuring cups with non-stick spray first (just lightly). The ingredients will come out easier.
• Stir natural peanut butter well and store in the fridge. It won't separate.
• Place stuffed peppers and tomatoes in a muffin tin before sticking them in the oven. They’ll stay upright and keep their shape perfectly!
• Toast oatmeal in the oven before adding to other ingredients when making oatmeal cookies-–delicious!
• To pare pineapple easily cut into rings and peel each slice separately.
• Canned fruit is much better if opened and removed from the can an hour or two before using to restore the oxygen.
• Fill a large salt shaker with flour and use that when needing to dust surfaces with flour- this is handy way to keep a bit of flour on hand instead of digging in the flour bin.

Eggs: From Hen Eggs to Easter Eggs

Hen Eggs















Hens are busy in the US: 240 million laying hens produce 66 billion eggs a year. There are white eggs and brown eggs (difference is only in the hen's breed), free-range eggs, omega 3- rich eggs (laid by hens fed a diet rich in flax seeds... note that it's the "wrong" type of omega 3 for heart health). One hen egg has about 75 calories but more cholesterol than any other single food, all of it in the yolk: 210mg cholesterol. The American Heart Association and The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada recommend limiting cholesterol to less than 300mg/day, less than 200mg if you’ve had a heart attack or stroke, if you have diabetes and if you have high LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Ostrich Eggs

Of all the world’s bird species, the ostrich produces the largest egg: one egg weighs about 3lbs and yields the equivalent of two-dozen chicken eggs! An egg can also be refrigerated for up to a full year thanks to its substantial shell (roughly 1/8-inch thick). Supposedly, ostrich eggs taste very similar to hen eggs but contain a day's worth of calories (2000!) and take a bit longer to cook: start-to-finish time for hard-boiling an ostrich egg is roughly an hour and a half. One ostrich egg white can make 100 meringues or 32 souffles.

Turkey Eggs














Turkey eggs are not very popular, largely due to the expense of producing them: an average turkey weighs 5 times more than a chicken, taking up more space in the coop, and whereas the average chicken lays 300 eggs a year, turkeys lay only 100.

Seagull Eggs















Who knew?! You can eat the eggs of what are often referred to as 'urban pests'... although you shouldn't eat too many as they contain high levels of PCBs (environmental pollutants). Supposedly, their strong nutty, slightly fishy, flavour make them quite the delicacy: in Norway they're served hard-boiled in the shell alongside a glass of beer, in the UK- where around 40 000 eggs are sold yearly- they are often served hard-boiled with celery salt. Just recently, the UK's Telegraph reported that the highly sought after delicacy of black-headed seagull eggs may disappear from the nation's top restaurants. There are 25 people licensed to collect seagull eggs but sources say that only about 1/3 of them, all over retirement age, are still actively involved and there is reluctance in issuing new licenses. Conservationists are also concerned over the impact the practice may be having on the black-headed seagull population which is in long-term decline.

Emu Eggs
















The emu is the national bird of Australia but emu meat and eggs are starting to make an appearance in the States. Artists known as “eggers” carve intricate designs in the emu shells or use them in jewelry making. Slightly smaller than an ostrich egg, an emu egg provides the equivalent of 10 chicken eggs. The eggs can be refrigerated for up to two months.

Duck Eggs














Duck eggs are richer and fattier than chicken eggs. In parts of Asia, fertilized duck eggs with small developing ducks inside (known as balut) are served boiled and are thought to be an aphrodisiac.

Quail Eggs















Gourmets report that quail eggs are among the most delicious in the world. The eggs are small and fine, about 1/5 the weight of a chicken’s egg and contain about 1/5 of the calories of a chicken egg (15 calories) and 1/5 of the protein (1.2g). In Asia, raw quail yolks are used in sushi; Colombians dress hot dogs with hard-boiled quail eggs along with pineapple jam and potato chips; In some Latin American countries, quail eggs are considered an aphrodisiac; Brazilians eat more than half a million quail eggs a day.

Fish eggs

Some people insist that only properly processed eggs from Caspian or Black Sea sturgeon (sieved to remove the egg sacs, leaving only the eggs) merit being called caviar (it is the most expensive) whereas others will include salted and sieved eggs from salmon, trout, flying fish, and paddlefish, and even land animals—French snail farmers introduced escargot caviar in 2007. Dwindling fishing yields, overfishing and pollution have resulted in certain restrictions, ie. the US Fish and Wildlife Service banned the import of Black and Caspian Sea Beluga caviar. In general, the lighter the colour of the fish eggs, the more expensive it is. The most expensive caviar comes from the Beluga Sturgeon of the Caspian sea. The only known outlet of this "Almas" caviar is the Caviar House & Prunier in London’s Picadilly that sells a kilo in a 24-karat gold tin for £16,000. It also sells a £800 tin for those on a smaller budget.

Easter (Painted) Eggs

The egg was a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in Pagan celebrations of Spring and was adopted by early Christians as a symbol of rebirth. Painting eggs dates back some 2500 years to the ancient Persians who did so to celebrate Nawrooz, their New Year that falls on the Spring Equinox. These eggs are not meant to be eaten!

Chocolate Eggs
















Chocolate eggs appeared in the early 1800s in France and Germany after manufacturers developed a way to make solid eating chocolate. Today, chocolate eggs account for roughly 8% of all annual chocolate sales, and people buy more chocolate candy for Easter than for any other holiday except Valentine’s Day- 90% of adults buy chocolate on Easter in North America.

Source: Gourmet

What the world eats & spends on food

Did you know that Americans spend less than any other nation on food- 9.5% of their annual income. Interestingly, they spend the most on health care- 16% of their annual income.
Seems like the cheap processed foods are making us fat and unhealthy.

Below is a fascinating look at what people from around the world eat and what they spend on food weekly (taken from the book 'A Hungry Planet' by Peter Menzel). Unfortunately, the amounts spent (all included below in USD dollars) were not calculated as a % of the annual income... but still very interesting!


Germany:
$500.07 a week
Family's favourite foods: Fried potatoes with onions, bacon & herring, fried noodles with eggs & cheese, pizza.

















North Carolina, USA
$341.98 a week
Family's favourite foods: Spaghetti, potatoes, sesame chicken.

















Japan:
$317.25 a week
Family's favourite foods: Sashimi, fruit, potato chips.
















Italy:
$260.11 a week
Family's favourite foods: Fish, pasta with ragu, hot dogs, frozen fish sticks.
















Great Britain:
$253.15 a week
Family's favourite foods: Avocado, mayonnaise sandwiches, prawn cocktail, chocolate fudge cream with cream.
















Kuwait:
$221.45 a week
Family's favourite foods: Chicken biryani with basmati rice.
















Mexico:
$189.09 a week
Family's favourite foods: Pizza, crab, chicken.
















California, USA:
$159.18 a week
Family's favourite foods: Beef stew, clam chowder, ice cream.
















Beijing, China:
$155.06 a week
Family's favourite foods: Fried shredded pork with sweet & sour sauce.
















Poland:
$151.27 a week
Family's favourite foods: Pig's knuckles with carrots, celery & parsnips.
















Egypt:
$68.53 a week
Family's favourite foods: Okra and mutton.
















Ecuador:
$31.55 a week
Family's favourite foods: Potato soup with cabbage.
















Bhutan:
$5.03 a week
Family's favourite foods: Pork, mushrooms, cheese.
















Sudanese refugee camp in Chad:
$1.23 a week
Family's favourite foods: Soup with fresh sheep meat.

The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest: Earliest Example of Farm to Table

In 1957, the BBC reported on Switzerland’s spaghetti crop. According to the report, spaghetti cultivation wasn’t carried out in Switzerland to the same scale as it was in Italy... it was more of a family affair.

It turns out that the last 2 weeks of March are an anxious time for the spaghetti farmer as there’s always the chance for a late frost, something that would impair the flavour of the pasta.

The report is also the first time that the now popular `farm to table` concept was mentioned!

Nonetheless, some things never change... there really is ``nothing like homegrown spaghetti! “

Happy April Fool`s Day!!