–National Ice Cream Month. You have President Reagan to thank for this luxury of edible delights. In 1984 he decided the country needed a sweet focus. Don’t worry if you can’t celebrate the whole month, there’s even a special day, the third Sunday of the month, is National Ice Cream Day or what true aficionados would call a double scoop: A Month and a Day! Can’t go wrong with this sundae! OK, this year July 17th is the day. Here’s a few factoids: Vanilla is the most popular flavor, and chocolate syrup is the favorite topping.

–National Hot Dog Month. With all the effort we are making to keep the kitchen cool, the grill is in overtime mode. So many dog choices and different city traditions (Chicago, Coney Island), it’s no wonder that the hot dog is the summer cause cé·lè·bre. Now you can find turkey dogs, tofu dogs, and just about any other kind if you are trying to talk about a healthier food. Just think what would baseball stadiums do without the hot dog stand! Here’s your dog factoids: LA residents eat more hot dogs than any other city, but Chicago’s O’Hare Airport wins the airport battle. Big time win with 6 times more hot dogs consumed there than LA and La Guardia combined! They know their red hots!

–National Blueberry Month. If you’re missing the grocery or farm market cues about the blueberry, it just means you haven’t been out of the house! Those little blues have met their big city cousins as the local crop has finally arrived and has plenty to demonstrate. Sure Maine takes credit for the wild, little pearls, but North Carolina and New Jersey do a mid-coast dance demonstrating their size and juiciness. They’re here. No better time to consider freezing a few as fresh frozen from your stash tastes fabulous on cereals during those less fortunate winter months. Factoids: The blueberry muffin is the most popular choice (also the official muffin of Minnesota) and the blueberry is the state fruit of New Jersey, easy one to guess! If you follow the fruit/pesticide list, blueberries rank near the top (or at the bottom, depending on how you list a list), and should convince you to consider the organic path!

That’s probably enough to digest after a rollicking Independence Day celebration that continues for many into today. Know I’ve whet your whistle!

How about a one-calorie chocolate you inhale. Yes, merely inhale: Make that Le Whif, a small tube that lets you literally breathe chocolate into your mouth. You even have a choice of flavors: pure chocolate, raspberry, and mint. OK, now the really big news. Yes, chocolate is of special interest, but what about coffee: Le Whif Coffee, a breathable coffee powder with the equivalent caffeine as from an espresso or closer to a double may solve those times when you want a spot of coffee but don’t have time to make one!

Is either product as tasty as having a piece of chocolate or holding a cup of espresso? No, of course not. It’s more like a party trick. Something fun to savor without worrying about a messy cup clean-up or chocolate bar stickiness.

These lipstick-like inhalers do the trick and demonstrate what happens when you combine the talents of David Edwards, a professor of biomedical engineering at Harvard, with design engineers:  You get a good-looking product that uses particle engineering. This product is part of his artscience labs where creativity has taken on an exciting definition. Pick a flavor, choose a tube, and enjoy.

Take a breather has a wonderful new meaning!

This time the beneficial focus rests with the eyes in preserving vision (even in instances where there has already been some deterioration). This made sense to the researchers who cited the anti-aging properties of the compound so eye degeneration issues formed a natural fit. Let’s see if I have this right: Eat and drink some of these special foods and beverages and your heart and eyes benefit from the consumption. Nothing too difficult about this concept.

Wait, there’s more. Another study also just released addressed the obesity-fighting properties of resveratrol. This quickly brings to mind the French Paradox: A phrase employed with the earliest resveratrol studies that questioned how the French can remain so thin while they consume such large quantities of wine. As Yogi would say, deja vu all over again.

Nothing wrong with either of these studies. They point us in the right nutritional direction, and they have the seasonal advantage of information. Peanuts for the baseball game; grapes and blueberries as new seasonally ripe fruits, and wine anytime.

This makes sense to me!

Instead, we are looking at the latest reports that indicate consumers are not yet believing they are out of the woods on their finances. They exercise caution in their grocery shopping and their restaurant expenses.

Meal planning, according to the NPD Group study, will remain on the thrifty side. Consumers have learned how to make better meals with less and are not ready to jump from the calm ship and break out the foie gras. The study reports that consumers do not see their situation improving over the next 12 months and plan to continue strategies they employed during the earliest days of the Recession. This information is almost in direct contrast to several economic market indicators pointing in a more positive, upward trajectory.

Examples of thriftier behavior from the report include decreasing spending on groceries, using coupons for food and beverage items, and stocking up on foods when they are on sale. The list also includes shopping for less expensive brands and making use of online coupons.

These are all consumer behavioral strategies that grocers can address to make shopping a better, more positive experience. Matching coupons, doubling or tripling those from circulars, and offering good, solid sale prices on a large variety of products will keep customers loyal returnees. It sounds as if little has changed for the consumer no matter how hopeful everyone wants to remain.

Restaurants have a lot to learn from this report and from the Nielsen Company’s latest research. Some of these findings could spell doom for a number of restaurants that have been hanging on and waiting for customers to increase their dining out events and cash outlays. After surveying 7,500 alcohol beverage consumers, they found almost 60% reducing their trips to casual restaurants and a similar number reported they were going less frequently to more expensive restaurants (fine-dining). An additional find was that 47% said they frequent bars and clubs less often. This translates into changed behavior patterns across the age demographics. The report underlies the belief that consumers learned new ways of entertaining and continue to exhibit uncertainty about the extent of the recovery.

Another interesting tell-all concerns alcoholic beverage purchases. More than 75% of those interviewed said they have not changed their beverage purchases because of price, but 25% of those say they are making fewer purchases. So even in this category, consumers have adjusted their behavior, and they are more conscious of their decisions.

Yes, these reports do NOT put a smile on the face of anyone in the food and beverage universe. They give great pause and increase the likelihood of more promotions rather than assuming that the diner of yore, as in 2-3 years ago, is lining up to get in the door.

Free-wheeling dining and shopping has not returned, and it appears to be stuck in fear. Hopefully, someone is listening.

Whole Foods decided they needed companies to certify the organic claims for their personal care products. Such changes do not come overnight so the company is giving them until August to submit their compliance plans and until next June for full compliance. This should be interesting to watch! Wonder how many companies will just disappear from the shelves since they cannot meet the claims they advertise! Hmm. They are asking manufacturers that claim a product is organic to verify that it meets the USDA’s National Organic Standards.

We should applaud this move as well as salute the companies that are focusing us on our food verification. A final quick note (for today) in the anxiety column: Sunscreens.

We have been told to protect ourselves from the harmful rays of the sun. That damage and increased skin cancer rates are making us vulnerable to future problems. We lather our children and ourselves with 15-30-45 SPFs and higher so they will not be victims of future skin problems. Wait: The news may not be what it seems. Some sunscreens have ingredients that subject us to future problems; not protect, but enhance the dilemma. Now the Environmental Working Group has a list we need to check and cross-check against the products we regularly use.

As they say, it’s complicated: Protecting our food supply, making certain claims are authentic, and finding the safest, best products. We need to stay ever vigilant!

Trust….

NOAA began fishery area closures over a month ago and continues to make adjustments as the spill trajectory changes. The current federal closure entails 32% of areas known to be affected by oil either on or below the surface as well as areas projected to be affected within the next 48-72 hours. As a further precaution, they created a 5-nautical mile buffer around the known locations of oil. They are working to protect the seafood at the docks and at the processors to help prevent tainted products from ever reaching the marketplace.

As of this time they have taken over 600 samples, of which 400 were sent to NOAA’s Seattle testing laboratory for chemical analysis. Meanwhile the FDA has set up a hotline for fisherman and consumers to report and stay updated on the ever-growing fish and seafood matter. Some states have instituted temporary closures for saltwater fish, crabs, and shrimp. Most of these actions are considered precautionary and everyone at this point concurs that the fish we find in restaurants and markets is perfectly safe for consumption. The industry has been hard-hit by fear so we should not abandon its efforts.

As consumers we need to keep abreast of these posts and trust the vendors from whom we purchase our fish and seafood. Now is not the time for anyone to get sloppy with this issue. Honesty and appropriate analysis must be the only routes for those who want to maintain a diet of fish.

It is our world.

An interesting side-note is that women seemed to fare better with this beverage link than their male counterparts. Just a few weeks ago we found that women are increasingly the largest purchasers of wine in this country but still are often ignored when a wine list is presented at a restaurant. Maybe someone will start to note that women are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about wines and are not afraid to walk into a wine store or order wine in a restaurant. Have you noticed that wine stores are hiring more women! Pay attention, restaurants!

A beverage at a totally different part of the spectrum has demonstrated positive results as well. Not that long ago we discovered that coffee drinking counted as part of our daily hydration endeavor. Now a study demonstrates that tea which had been considered a dehydrating beverage actually rehydrates better than plain water as it provides the positive, heart-healthy antioxidant effects.

Just one more bit of health news to ponder today. Again we look at the heart-health link and this time we toss out much of what we previously considered about the dangerous factors in dairy food contributing to higher cholesterol and possible weight gain. A new Swedish study demonstrates the opposite result between dairy foods and cholesterol. Again, women fared better than men; this time with improved heart-cholesterol numbers. Women who consumed the most milk products had an improved cholesterol profile.

If one study says go to the right, an author awaits to disprove the notion. That’s a possible end result of the dairy-cholesterol link. Call me a skeptic!

As with all studies, these are beginning pieces of welcome news for lifestyle changes and improved health benefits.

Stay tuned.

As for consumers who favor fish and seafood as mainstays of their diets, then there are several additional issues. First of all, concern for the fishermen and concern about food safety. Alot has been written on both subjects and how perilous the existence for many fishermen was already. Some have become Internet savvy and figured out how to sell directly to the consumer. Smart move and logical strategy.

Yet, when one studies the numbers of fish and seafood that start life in the Gulf, then the problem takes on an even more pervasive tone; one with greater impact for legions more individuals. Take a basic example, tuna, as a fish few people would even associate with these Gulf waters, but in reality, almost all species of tuna spawn from this region. Think about that and recognize how little we really know. How massive this problem is to our food supply and its direct impact on many of the foods we take for granted.

Surely, we expect pricing changes. Hopefully these will be market-based spikes, not those set by gougers looking for a quick profit. In many states, there is already a limited supply of certain fish and seafood. For shrimpers, it is a casualty almost immeasurable. The watermen, a dwindling profession nationwide, are feeling more than a pinch; more like a tidal wave of continual bad news.

As shoppers we can ask at the market where the fish comes from, but the easiest way to allay our potential anxiety is to stay in touch with the daily updates from the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board. Yes, I see the word promotion in its title but this is the good kind of effort; the one that focuses on information dispersal. We need to know and they have a lot to report.

Yes, prices will rise, and numerous chefs will hold fundraisers for their industry, but as consumers we can show our support by not abandoning an industry and a part of the country that needs our support.

Read the daily updates, talk to your fishmonger, and stay with an industry that needs us now more than ever.

Costco is one of those companies that exudes trust. When they make a change, consumers often just nod and go along. When a product is not to one’s liking, then the return line welcomes the customer and the product back. It’s that type of company, a consumer-friendly atmosphere, so when they say they plan to expand their food offerings, we say, bring them on. Consumer Reports just added to Costco’s accolades with positive remarks for multiple departments. The Kirkland label has been an impressive solution to deals that were harder for them to cut. Remember they had to play tough guy with Coca-Cola not too long ago and who wanted their products back on the shelves and bowed to pressure: Coke.

BTW, the July issue of Consumer Reports offers multiple shopping strategies. Saving money is still the preferred route.

As an aside to all this attention, food wars are kicking up. Wal-Mart decided it could get more play at the registers by increasing its price cuts (Rollbacks) on name brands to get more customers in the door. A few competitors responded immediately by matching Wal-Mart’s actions. No one wants to be left with high prices as consumers are still scrambling to find the best deals and prices.

Either approach: One winner–the consumer.

Smart shopping’s the buyword!

Before the enumeration, here are a few special days to note–they come with goodies:

–June 4, National Doughnut Day, a holiday established initially by the Salvation Army to help those in need. Check out Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ Donuts for their free offers. (Note that the offers are not identical). Get in line for a sweet Friday.

–June 5, Friendly’s is giving away free ice cream cones.

More of these special freebies as the month progresses.

Combine these single events with month-long celebrations:

–National Candy Month. The 16th is Fudge Day! This is from an association that has figured out how to celebrate different candies for each month of the year! They know about our collective sweet tooth!

–National Dairy Month. Easy to celebrate milk and all the other dairy foods as prices have remained fairly constant making dairy a consistently important, good purchase. FYI, vanilla is still the most requested ice cream flavor!

–National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month. Seriously, this needs little introduction. We know what we are supposed to eat and how many helpings. Slice up that organic celery now!

–National Iced Tea Month. It’s hot and as many people get into the iced cube part of life, tea does not want to be ignored. A vendor at The World’s Fair in St. Louis (1904) took credit for starting this beverage sensation. Why not have it on ice!

–National Turkey Lovers’ Month. This concept appeals to those looking for protein substitutes and the Association has been trying to get consumers to consider the product a year-round food, not just one celebrated in November. Lots of recipes and nutritional information on the site including a meal update calculator that helps us be more creative in our menu-planning.

Put them all together and what do you get: Many foods that we enjoy every month of the year!

Way more than just the start of the summer season.

Yet, if you make circle fries out of your potatoes, you’ll shorten the cooking time, i.e. reduce the oil you’ll need and still come up with a similar tasting product, albeit healthier.

This all rests on the premise if you believe potatoes are healthy to start with! I confess: I’m a potato person and like the nutritional benefits from this food!

My prediction: More circle potato products with fun-sounding recipe names!

Basically, Whole Foods learned how to offer sizable price reductions in each of the major departments. For the consumer, the translation is quite simple: Buy strawberries when they are on sale; not when they are back to their old prices. A basic example. You can plan your menus easily around the sales. This week you’ll buy one type of fish and next week it may be a whole different flavor profile. This type of  shopping’s much easier: You buy the freshest foods with the biggest reductions and you leave the store a much wiser, healthier individual. Those are the products you want to plan your meals around. Nothing foreign about this concept. This is how chefs shop for restaurants. What looks good, what just came in, and what about the price point are considerations when they tour the markets.

At this new store, there was a product innovation that is sure to interest the curious and captivate the regulars. Some shoppers will continue to create their own salad/main course meal from the cold and hot selections which are sold by the pound, and then there are the newbies. Individuals who will want the $7.99 box with 3 compartments of items stuffed to the gilder-sterns as long as the lid closes: One price, one huge possibility!

The healthy focus has certainly helped drive their business as more consumers are focused on purchasing healthy foods for their families. Combine that strategy with the emphasis on finding producers of local foods, and you have a pretty good understanding of how the company has made such major strides across the grocery aisle.

Innovations are great as long as the price point stays in the center of the radar. Competition will remain strong, as at the other end of the spectrum is major competition in the form of Wal-Mart. Here’s a company that has made significant strides in its food line this year and just announced plans to continue to increase the depth of possibilities–they call it the aggressive Rollbacks program. We are talking about a major retailer that has reworked its aisles and departments to limit some selections in favor of increasing the overall breadth of food selections. This is where to shop for the basics that every household needs: It’s a win-win situation: You fill your house with great price-point savings on pantry essentials.

Everybody else in between plans to continue its coupon-driven enticements. The consumer has become a more savvy shopper after this past year of economic upheaval and has learned how to save shopping dollars. Markets cannot return to their old ways.

Shopping need not be Guerrilla warfare. I am more a believer than ever.

Just a few helpful reminders. We need to be properly hydrated. That phrase gets mired in complexity. Does everyone, regardless of size, health condition, or physical activity, need the same amount of water a day? Can the sport dictate the rules? How about the length of the activity? The time of day? All relevant questions, but hydration is not a single-focused, exclusive phenomena. If you plan to start running today, grabbing a couple water bottles will not do the trick. Sure, they won’t hurt but that is not considered proper hydrating.

Let’s look at a few factors. Jimmy Connors one of tennis’s great athletes used to get leg cramps if he didn’t prepare for a match with an intensive amount of water for several days prior to the matches. He could feel them coming on and knew his lack of (water) diligence was going to cause pain. Research also indicates you can overdose on water and that can have a debilitating effect. Getting the balance can be accomplished by a daily intake of water which matches your daily physical commitment. Many recommend a sports drink to supplement water as you’ll be losing too much water through perspiration. Or, just give your water an energy boost with powder packs to turn it into a more powerful beverage. Over or under-doing liquids has severe negative consequences from leg cramps and extreme nausea to heat-related medical problems.

No one needs to remind you about sunscreen and time of day. OK, I just did, but application of the SPF’s and reapplication may be a long-term critical commitment. There are numerous products that reduce the sweating off (as in dripping into your eyes) during physical activity. Until you find the right balance of fluids and have your activity in a manageable zone, consider skipping the high noon workout or consider an indoor regimen when it’s 100 humid degrees. Keep your body hydrated no matter time of day or physical activity.

Participate. Drink. Be smart.

Changes have been mentioned and changes have been suggested, but little has been done in terms of the overall improvement of the system of protecting the purchaser and consumer of foods. Take the often recalled food, ground beef. It has a strong presence in individual family meals, restaurants, and of course, school lunches. By this summer the USDA will have in place tougher guidelines that include more frequent testing and analysis for the foods in the school lunch program.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that school lunches will receive a major overhaul as so much attention has been given to the dire straits of the program and the overall health and well-being of our children. Suppliers can no longer skirt the issue. The safety of the foods for school lunch and nutrition assistance programs has become a top-down focus for the Administration. It should be noted that these new inspections apply to new contracts awarded after July 1. One has to ask about those suppliers who have long-term contracts? Will there be enhanced inspections?

Part of the new standards include increasing sampling frequency and tightening the overall rejection criteria. These are all important steps. We call that the good news. There’s a lot to learn and we have a responsibility in our own kitchens to execute food safety. BTW, ground beef and hamburger are not the same beast according to the guidelines.

Now the focus must be turned to the overall increased inspection of ground beef. Food safety must remain a top priority for all purchases.

–65% like “to dress it up” when it comes to grilling. Translation: sauce, marinade, or seasoning while 21 % “strip it down”, grilled food au naturel!

–More men than women prefer to add a spicy sauce.

–As for toppings, more grillers use ketchup on burgers or other grilled meats; mustard comes in a very close 2nd.

–Cheese is a frequent topping (over 60%), and over 70% of respondents say they want a bun for their sandwich, a traditional bun.

As for grilling’s popularity, the largest number of respondents said they like the way grilled food tastes.

No matter how you vote or what you like to grill, it is obvious that the outdoor cooking method makes kitchen clean-up an effortless process.

If you’re stuck without a clue how to get that perfect flavor or what to do with veggies on the grill, for instance, check out the Association’s website. BTW, if you don’t have a grill, but are thinking about buying one, they have advice and guidelines to streamline the process and help you decide whether to get charcoal, gas, or electric: All good options.

So many choices. So easy and delicious.

The news, from California’s Loma Linda University’s Department of Nutrition with funding from the Tree Nut Council, is excellent: Grab a second handful, and you’ll be doing yourself a bigger favor. You’ll love the taste and at the same time you’ll see an improvement in heart-healthy benefits. None of the individuals in the study were taking cholesterol-lowering medicines but if they had high cholesterol, their numbers dropped.

Let’s look at the much maligned Macadamia or similarly, the Pistachio. Both are popular in the Atkins diet universe, but often denigrated as nuts you should avoid. Maybe not; these tree nuts do the same cholesterol and triglyceride lowering as their faithful companions.

What about the lowly peanut that is banished from most pre-school lunch boxes and many school cafeteria but certainly not at the ballpark. As long as you are not allergic, you can benefit from ingesting peanuts for their positive heart healthy ways.

Before you finish a container of nuts, remember that a little more than 2 ounces were given to subjects in this study and that amount lowered cholesterol levels by over 5%. Another takeaway is that the results did not apply to individuals who were considered obese. The nuts did not do the trick! Nor did a smaller helping of nuts lower cholesterol as much as grabbing that second handful!

Of course, we can overdo the nut-eating scenario, but we can help our hearts by not cutting them out of our diets! You’ll be surprised how many nuts are in two ounces! Get out the measuring cup and do your heart a favor!

Definite news to digest.

–Coffee. I am always on the lookout for the latest positive news about coffee and its potential health benefits. A meta analysis was conducted by researchers at Harvard’s School of Public Health examining over 700,000 people who are coffee drinkers. They found that having more than six, yes, six 8-oz cups of coffee daily, did not boost the likelihood of getting colon cancer. They found the same effect from soda drinking, but we need to think about the sugar-laden drinks as causing other problems such as obesity. Now the tea drinkers did not receive as big a boost in the clean health department. The jury is still a little unclear on this one. Coffee and soda drinks did not yield an increase in colon cancer.

–Dark chocolate. As readers of this blog know, I have a special warm spot for news about dark chocolate. Today’s report from Johns Hopkins University finds that a compound in dark chocolate may protect the brain after a stroke by shielding the nerves from further damage. Researchers hope that this particular property may someday be used to protect people against strokes. So a simple translation means eat and enjoy dark chocolate while at the same time you are insulating yourself from the dangers of getting a stroke. We’ve recognized the heart healthy chocolate benefits so this further validates additional benefit from a little sweet.

–Vitamin D. So much has been written about the vitamins lately and Vitamin D was last year’s attention-grabbing darling as so many people were all of a sudden diagnosed with a D deficiency. Could it be that we are so dedicated to our sunscreen regimen that the sun has no chance to give us its beneficial D attributes? Now that millions have been told to take Vitamin D, this particular study from the Cleveland Clinic says the optimal time to take this vitamin is with your biggest meal of the day. Figure out that simple calculation and pop your D to protect yourself. It will make a major difference.

Keep in mind that this week, May 9-15, is Food Allergy Awareness Week.

Nothing complex about any of these reports, but they are all simple information solutions to improve our overall health.

Settle in with a hot brew and a piece of wonderful dark chocolate, and don’t forget to include your D with whatever meal has the most calories. We can enjoy ourselves and impact our health.

A DC Council member, Mary Cheh, has proposed a way to support her earlier proposal, the Healthy Schools Act of 2010. Her data is startling as DC’s adolescent population has the highest obesity rate in the nation. It seems there are plenty of categories of startlingly high obesity, remember Huntington, WVA?

Cheh’s proposal would get more money into the school lunch program, provide free breakfast and move that meal into the classrooms where the majority of students are at the poverty level. The list goes on: Improve the meals by adding a strong local food component, drop the reduced lunch budget (get rid of the co-payment) in favor of providing a healthy, free meal, and get the students into an exercise program of at least 60 minutes daily. School gardens would be encouraged. Actually the list of possibilities is almost endless in moving forward in this direction with its emphasis on low-calorie and low-fat foods.

How doable is all of this? Cost will be an issue, but Councilwoman Cheh plans to propose a penny an ounce tax for soda. That concept, of course, is controversial. Yet, necessity may make this strategy a natural, driving force. As DC schools continue to improve in terms of academic performance, they need to focus on the individual student who is suffering from health issues and struggling to have a healthy lifestyle. Of course, they are not the only school system with a lunch program that needs a major overhaul. This proposal may move them to the forefront of strong, positive action in driving healthy results. The Council has approved the bill and it goes to a final vote this week with enactment scheduled for this coming August.

Stalling on such a concept does no one any good. When we speak of the lives of our children, such moves at this particular Act should be applauded. The current path leads us nowhere.

Maybe DC’s actions will move them into the win column for the HealthierUS School Challenge. Let’s go for the Gold!

It doesn’t take too long to scan thru my archives to see how I feel about chocolate. Yes, I enjoy chocolate, especially dark chocolate, for its taste and its health benefits. I know plenty of people who have a mini square as a dessert and are good to go. They are not solving issues of depression; rather treating themselves to a taste they enjoy and appreciate. The mini-square bars have had their own revolution of late as consumer check-out lanes at markets are often filled with the little bites of pleasure. Hey, they don’t cost that much. It’s a simple, satisfying reward. After all, we are the grab-and- go society and what could be better at instant gratification than the mini!

Now the depression issue. Which came first the chicken or the egg? If you’re depressed, a little bite of chocolate or many such bites may help. Assume you are doing something more medically sound for the depression anyway so this is just a mini stop. If you are not depressed, doubt how chocolate could cause it. Wait, maybe if you take in too much chocolate, you’ll gain weight and then become depressed. Apples and oranges.

Different issues. Go for the little square. It won’t hurt.