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Archive for September, 2009

Hofbrauhaus, Here I Come

Sep 20

Posted by admin in beer, lifestyle, news

OK, maybe not a physical trip to a genuine Hofbrauhaus, but the memories of beer in Germany will have to start the holiday. I won’t be joining the millions of participants in the 16-day Oktoberfest celebration (September 19-October 4)  in Munich, but there are no shortage of opportunities stateside to indulge in the true amber colored Fall beer. Even though German beer sales are down, and many Belgian beers are part of big beverage conglomerates, there are numerous microbreweries and craft beers happily (maybe I should say hoppily) ready to celebrate.

It’s as if everything is in response to our new beer budget society as high-end wine sales continue to decline.  You’ll see plenty of beers in the US aisles proudly touting the name “marzen,” as if they are the official Oktoberfest selections.

If you’ve been waiting to party and looking for a September celebration, then Oktoberfest should be an easy solution: start this month and celebrate into the next. Grab your lederhosen– try the newest style: one that handles beer spills , (ledershosen-style swimming shorts), hold on to your stein, and be ready for some beer hall singing.

At least celebrate at a brewery marzen.newor grab a six-pak and enjoy the season.

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A Billion Here, A Billion There: Health Care

Sep 19

Posted by admin in beverages, health, lifestyle

“A Billion here, A Billion there, Pretty soon you have real money”–that’s a take on an old quote, probably from US Senator Everett Dirksen of Illinois. That adage is about to get tested if some health commissioners and scientists and other anti-sweet, sugary drink proponents get their way. A tax on soda has been bandied about before, but now it is being mentioned as a way to bring down health care costs.

You’ve heard plenty about the billions of dollars necessary for  implementation of a health care bill, now there’s a proposal that has the inherent concept of taxing sweet beverages (pops/sodas, energy, and sports beverages, for starters) and stuffing almost $14 billion a year into the health care coffers. Not a bad strategy since so many health problems (obesity and diabetes, for example) are related to the sweet, sugary beverages. BTW, the tax would not be on diet beverages–that’ll be another whole health discussion when somebody figures out the harmful effect from those ingredients!big_gulp

The scientific paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine had another interesting belief: As soda prices increase, more consumers decide against that purchase. So if a consumer is taxed a penny an ounce on a sugary drink, that cost would go into the price of the product–watch out Big Gulp. The parallel, of course, is in the tobacco industry, which passed the taxes on to the consumer and drove the price of a pack of cigarettes into the stratosphere–but there are still smokers.

Here’s a chance to see who holds the power rings in Washington: The soft drink industry, the sugar lobby, health care advocates, or those who conduct scientific research? Maybe the power force will be from a newly minted organization, (which may or may not be part of a larger beverage association with a significant amount at stake), that plans to fight food taxes.

We’ll have to wait on the sidelines and opt for reverse osmosis tap water.

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Sweet Tooth Saves Lives

Sep 18

Posted by admin in chocolate, health, news

Yes, it’s time to talk about chocolate again. Why not? The research (“A Heart Benefit for Chocolate”) just gets more appetizing. These results come after an 8-year study. Another New York Timesleonidas-chocolate_2072_4679606 reporter chimed in and wrote, “Chocolate as Health Food.” Now we’re talking. It doesn’t take too much searching in my blog to uncover my sweet tooth and my special area of expertise: Dark Chocolate!

Sure there are numerous obesity studies that want to slam into the chocolate debate and turn it into a debacle, but I stand firm in my belief that the healing powers of chocolate, whether after a heart attack or in general, are worth further research. This study spells it out simply: “The more chocolate consumed, the lower the risk for death.” That’s an impressive piece of information.

Of course, other factors play a significant role, but the flavonoid discussion is far from over. We’re not talking about overindulgence; rather a simple pleasure. Eating a box of anything or consuming a bag of scooped sweets will not stop additional factors that could be in play and create a less heart-healthy situation.

In the meantime, exercise, watch your cholesterol, and enjoy the continuing chocolate research.

Go for the gold.

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Great American Dine Out

Sep 17

Posted by admin in dining out, Economy

Let’s help Share Our Strength (SOS) share its strength, its mission to end childhood hunger. Here’s an opportunity to support restaurants participating in the nationwide “Great American Dine Out.” The one-week promotion begins Sunday, September 20 and concludes Saturday evening, the 26th. Restaurants give back either through selected menu items, a percentage of overall sales, or special promotions that help SOS on its drive to end childhood hunger by 2015. Not an easy task especially in these tumultuous times!

There are a few ways to find the restaurants in your area, or your travel spot, that are participants. Two obvious directions are the SOS site itself where you can enter a zip code or city/state combo or with an online reservation service, such as Open Table–here’s a sample list for LA.dineout

Restaurants that give back are important destinations we should remember year-round. In this one special Dine Out week, they provide a winning solution to a critical nationwide problem.

Dine Out with SOS.

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A Spicy Solution for Food Safety

Sep 16

Posted by admin in health, news

Everyone wants to be in the know about food safety and food recalls, but the words most commonly associated with the problem: Listeria, E. coli, and Salmonella create fear and havoc with the entire food supply. Now we can take a step back and encourage manufacturers to go inside the spice rack and do some preventative preparation.

According to The Institute of Food Technologies: Oregano, allspice, and garlic essential oils are effective natural barriers against the food demons. The Journal of Food Science article found that oregano oil proved the most effective antimicrobial, inhibiting the growth of all three bacteria. Garlic oil worked best against Listeria, but not E. coli or Salmonella, but oregano and allspice oils proved effective against those two bacteria.

In another “oil” study, cinnamon oil outperformed allspice and clove bud oils against the three common bacteria.

Now it’s up to manufacturers to figure out how to incorporate these essential oils and provide safe products we canoregano all enjoy.

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No Longer a Foreign Word: Organic

Sep 15

Posted by admin in food, lifestyle

It seems that consumers are no longer terrified of this word ORGANIC, and that many have even ventured over to the Organics aisle. This may be partially true since many of the organics have dropped in price or partially because we’ve been inundated with enough articles proclaiming the healthy benefits of going organic.

Not every product needs to be an organic. It’s a complex balancing act which sometimes gets ruled merely by a good judgment call. There is a major difference between organic and regular eggs, but questionable why we need organic bananas. Some stores such as Whole Foods (which has spent several years convincing consumers they have both organic and natural foods and are not the most expensive store in the world) have great pricing on organic milk and eggs because of their volume of sales. You’ll just need to decide which of the other organics are priced to meet your budget needs.

Now the USDA has gone so far as to remove the “specialness” of Organics by calling these purchases “mainstream.” They found an impressive growth in organic purchasing and find that consumers consider organics part of their regular shopping experience. Fruit and vegetables still lead the organic purchase list with dairy being the next largest sector.

Somehow we feel safer, more protected, comfortably free of chemicals and hormones, when we say, organic yogurt“organic.”

It’s understandable.

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Being a Good Egg

Sep 14

Posted by admin in food, health, news

eggsWe are mildly obsessed about where our food comes from and have spent the summer trying to bond more with our local producers. Grocers and restaurants have been busy defining “local.” No group or industry wants to be left behind and miss the Buy the Freshest foods bandwagon. The latest contestant in the “do not overlook” our business is America’s Egg Farmers who today introduced The Good Egg Project. Now we can join their efforts and learn about the benefits from eggs and, at the same time, donate to the less fortunate.

The Project identifies the egg farmers and uses as its tagline, “Eat good. Do good everyday.” Sounds like a winning combination! That message is strengthened by the egg farmers who currently donate millions (last year over 12 million) of eggs annually to food banks and recognize that even more needs to be donated. As part of their mission, they strive to educate individuals and families about the egg’s journey from the farm to the table and about the nutritional value of eggs.

We’re talking about a food that plays an important role in our diets: A food with 13 essential nutrients including a high-quality protein, iron, and even lutein; all this for 75 calories. These numbers are before we mention how important eggs are in terms of muscle strength, vision, and brain function. Eggs have clearly been maligned by the cholesterol anxiety folks, but the facts tell a different story. This is an important food group that now deserves our attention.

We can all be good eggs.

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Food Safety Needs All the Help It Can Get

Sep 13

Posted by admin in Administration, food recalls, health

foodthebasicsWith the National Restaurant Association declaring September as the month to concentrate on food safety, it is critical that this becomes a better managed, ongoing effort on everyone’s part. For the 15th annual National Food Safety Education Month, the slogan is  for operators of foodservice establishments to do proper training for all employees. They are encouraged to offer mini-sessions daily to make certain every staff member understands the importance of his mission.

Safety starts with hands, clean hands, and most often, gloved hands. Yet those same employees cannot handle money one minute and with the same gloves, cut the next guy’s sandwich. It’s all about training and diligence. Stopping infection remains a primary goal. All surfaces need to be clean, spotlessly clean, and all food handlers need to remain vigilant about their own personal hygiene.

If you want to understand a restaurant or foodservice’s commitment to food safety, then visit the establishment’s rest room. If it is a mess, sure, tell someone who is supposed to be monitoring it, but recognize that this may be an indication of the business’s overall commitment to sanitation.

Just this past week, the USDA with HHS consolidated its efforts to inform consumers about food recalls and food safety issues. The Administration has been determined to streamline and make information easily accessible while having agencies concentrate on how they can make food safety a primary concern. This site enables the consumer to sign up for alerts as they happen. The slogan that needs to be followed in a restaurant and at home is to “Clean, Separate (don’t cross-contaminate), Cook (to proper temperature), and Chill (refrigerate properly).” No food group appears immune from safety concerns as this has been a terrifying year in terms of basic, so-called ordinary recalls, peanut butter , for example. The crisis in food safety has gone far beyond farm fields and restaurants, and has impacted all our food safety concerns.

It is time to recognize National Food Safety Education Month as an important process that cannot be ignored the other 11 months of the year.

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Are High-End Wines Passé?

Sep 12

Posted by admin in alcohol, beverages, Economy

winebeauA lot has changed since the dreaded Recession/near Depression and economic slide of 2009. We are definitely different shoppers, consumers, diners, cooks, and lest we forget, different drinkers. The specialty wine industry of high-priced labels may be truly limited to the top 1% of the population. They may not even know that there’s been a slowdown, a change in purchasing power. They may not have been affected, but they have to be making purchases or nothing will change.

It’s the 99% pf the Universe that has felt each bump in the road, each change and bit of negative news. Restaurants have clearly felt the impact–the naked eye shows more empty tables at once crowded hot spots (Search the blog under “restaurant,” and you’ll see a history of change). Grocery stores (a similar search) are tripping over each other to show how low their prices are. The wine industry has not been immune to these shopping trends. Not that everyone is drinking Two Buck Chuck which is often closer to three bucks, but the Under $10 bin is getting more competitive.

We could have always supported that bin if we had just focused on our neighbors to the South: Chile and Argentina. They both offer many fine, wonderfully drinkable wines that have been consistently affordable: Think Casa LaPostolle Sauvignon Blanc and Alamos Malbec. Likewise, many wines from Australia and New Zealand (Think Wolf Blass Shiraz or a Yalumba Riesling) have always offered top value add wonderful flavor profiles. Wines to pour.

The question is: Will the high-end winemakers be able to win back customers? Are we better educated now in our drinking habits and quicker to abandon the Big Labels in favor of our new finds?

The Champagne industry has long struggled with a marketing perception problem: They want to be all-round beverage rather than just a special occasion pour. Now its price point receives significant competition from sparkling wines such as Cava (Spain’s traditional Champagne Methode sparkler) and Italy’s contribution, Prosecco, both in the more affordable category.

Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Wegman’s have figured out how to capture the new wine drinker. Expensive wines are still available, but the crowds gather around the more drinkable, affordable, wines to go with their scaled-down price-sensitive shopping list.

Just serve my red a little chilled.

Salud!

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A Safer Hand Sanitizer: Ask the Thieves

Sep 11

Posted by admin in health, New York Times, news

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It’s not embarrassing to admit that we are a little fearful of the affect of swine flu, H1N1 or whatever name it eventually assumes. By all indications, we have a right to worry. Judging by the 40 oz. containers of liquid hand sanitizers appearing on store shelves, we are the perfect audience for businesses to make a significant sum of money. They barely have to market the products as the expectation is by mid-October, those 61-62% alcohol products will be hard to find. That’s how panicked we are, and schools seem to have begun the semester with a liquid sanitizing mantra: A quick pump push and you’ll be OK.

For those who want to avoid the commercial approach, there are a few holistic strategies that seem to have a history of protecting from infection. One such is Cinnamon Oil. The claims seem supported by the research the article mentions, but maybe a more fascinating aspect is the link to Old World Safety and the ingredients of Thieves Oil. Studies indicate that the combination of aromatic herbs protects against antibacterial transmissions. Those of us who worry about killing the immune system from overuse of commercial hand sanitizers, should take note. The doctor mentioned in the article has his own home brew of lemon oil, eucalyptus, and cinnamon bark.

If you’re not allergic to the oils and herbs of the various home brews, you may be happier creating a mix that has some historical prominence in warding off infection.  As for simple hand-washing, it is not that simple, nor is protecting yourself and others after a cough or a sneeze. If you follow Elmo’s advice, you may stand a chance.

Holistic approaches; commercial products: It is a worrisome issue.

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