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CDC Examines Raw Milk's Role In Dairy-Related Food Poisoning

2012-02-22T22:44:00Z

Dairy-related illness is caused more often from raw, or unpasteurized, milk than pasteurized milk, according to a new government report.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study showing that the risk of getting ill from consuming raw milk is 150 times higher than if you consume pasteurized milk, according to the study.

The report also showed that in states where selling raw milk is legal, outbreaks of food-borne illness are more than twice as high than in states where raw milk sales are illegal. Bloomberg Businessweek reported that 20 states currently have some form of ban on selling raw milk.

The findings were an aggregation of data collected on dairy-related outbreaks between 1993 and 2006. During that time period, there were 121 outbreaks, with 60 percent of them from raw milk products.

Not only were there more outbreaks related to raw milk, they were also more serious. The study showed that 13 percent of raw milk-related outbreaks resulted in hospitalization, while 1 percent of pasteurized milk-related outbreaks resulted in the same. The researchers said that the increase in hospitalization may be because bacteria like E. coli O157 were the cause of most raw milk-related outbreaks, which can result in more severe illness. Norovirus and Staphylococcus aureus were the more common causes of the pasteurized milk-product outbreaks, which are comparably mild infections, researchers said.

"While some people think that raw milk has more health benefits than pasteurized milk, this study shows that raw milk has great risks, especially for children, who experience more severe illnesses if they get sick," said study researcher Dr. Barbara Mahon, M.D., M.P.H., deputy chief of CDC's DFWED Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch.

Pasteurized milk is exposed to blasts of heat to kill pathogens, like E. coli and salmonella, that cause food poisoning, TIME reported. But raw milk supporters say that heating the milk also kills the good stuff in milk, such as good bacteria, and proteins and enzymes that help with digestion, according to TIME.

The nonprofit Weston A. Price Foundation, which advocates for raw milk, said that the findings should be taken with a grain of salt, saying that there are very low numbers of dairy-related foodborne illnesses to start with. [You can read their full statement here.]

The Los Angeles Times reported that raw milk supporters point to evidence in some journals showing that raw milk consumption is linked with a lower risk and/or rate of eczema and allergies. However, studies in journals have shown an exact opposite effect.

Anthony Bourdain Announces His First Projects As Book Publisher

2012-02-22T22:42:48Z

Back in September, when it was announced that Anthony Bourdain, star of No Reservations and all-around culinary luminary, was getting his own line of books at Harper-Collins' Ecco, it surprised people in both the food world and in the publishing industry. Today, though, Ecco revealed the first books the new imprint will publish -- and the picks go a long way towards silencing any critics.

The biggest name in the bunch is Roy Choi, a former Food & Wine Best New Chef, of LA's Kogi, Chego and A-Frame. He'll be releasing a memoir-slash-cookbook called Spaghetti Junction: Riding Shotgun with an L.A. Chef.

The other two authors aren't as high-profile, but their offerings are arguably even more in Bourdain's macho style than Choi's. Daniel Vaughn will present Prophets of Smoked Meat, a guide to Texas barbecue legends. And kickboxer Mark Miller will add a memoir, Fight Shark, to the mix.

Cooking, shotguns, smoked meat and kickboxing... as a writer, Anthony Bourdain may not quite be Ernest Hemingway, but he's sure aiming for The Sun Also Rises as an editor!

Kellogg's Creates 'Totes Amazeballs' Cereal From Twitter Suggestion

2012-02-22T22:20:34Z

A lot of things can be "totes amazeballs" (translation: totally amazing): a spontaneous trip to Tuscany, a really special dinner or maybe even an especially good episode of Downton Abbey. Something else to now add to the "totes amazeballs" list is, well, Totes Amazeballs cereal.

This bizarre cereal came into existence after Tim Burgess of British band The Charlatans tweeted his Totes Amazeballs cereal idea to Kellogg's. Soon after, the company responded and created a cereal just for Burgess (as in, there is only one box).

Burgess explains:

I was thinking it'd be cool to come up with a breakfast cereal -- I heard someone use the expression Totes Amazeballs and it sounded like something from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -- I sent a cheeky tweet saying I'd invented a new cereal.

Totes Amazeballs cereal is a mix of Rocky Road cake, Coco Pops Rocks, marshmallows, shortbread pieces and raisins.

Although this was a one-time only creation, Kellogg's is now getting "inundated" with Twitter requests for the cereal, according to the Manchester Evening News.

PHOTOS: LA Dominates James Beard Award Nominations

2012-02-22T21:58:53Z

The 2012 James Beard award semifinalists were just announced, and Los Angeles was honored many times over.

Among the well-established powerhouses, Patina, Lucques and Providence all have multiple nominations, while chefs Suzanne Goin and Nancy Silverton are both up for the "Outstanding Chef" award.

But it's the "Rising Star Chef" category that've got us excited. 5 out of the 31 new toque nominations are from the Los Angeles area. Up-and-coming restaurants Picca and MB Post have been nominated for "Best New Restaurant."

5 finalists in each category will be announced on March 15, and the winners on May 7 at the annual Awards Ceremony. That means you've still got a little more time to snag a table at the nominated restaurants; after the awards, it'll be near impossible.

Check out all of our local semifinalists in the slideshow below. And for a full list of semifinalists, check out the listing on jamesbeard.org:

Maryland Bill Would Ban Shark Fin Possession, Sale

2012-02-22T21:53:13Z

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Maryland lawmakers are considering joining states that have banned the possession and sale of shark fins.

Shark fins are popular in Asia where they are a delicacy used in soup. However, environmentalists say overfishing is threatening shark species.

House lawmakers in Annapolis heard testimony Wednesday on a bill containing fines of up to $50,000 for repeat offenders. If the bill becomes law Maryland would join California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and Guam that have banned shark fin sales. The environmental group Oceana says Maryland's bill is similar to legislation also pending in New York and Illinois.

The European Union's executive arm said in November that it wants to completely ban shark finning – the practice of removing sharks' fins and throwing the finless creatures back into the sea to die.

Arizona GOP Leader: Let Kids Work For $4.65 An Hour

2012-02-22T21:31:01Z

WASHINGTON -- Republican lawmakers in Arizona are pushing legislation that would lower the legal minimum wage for younger part-time workers and tipped workers such as restaurant servers, just as Florida lawmakers are considering dropping their state's tipped rate as well.

In both cases, proponents of the measures are arguing that the wage floor for such employees is too onerous on businesses.

The Arizona proposal, HCR 2056, would amend state law so that an employer could pay a teenage worker $3 less than the current minimum wage per hour if the worker is employed either part-time or on a temporary basis. The Arizona minimum wage is currently $7.65 -- forty cents more than the federal rate -- meaning that many teenagers could end up being paid $4.65 per hour if voters approve the proposal in a ballot initiative later this year.

An amendment to the legislation would also cut the minimum wage that employers must pay tipped employees by more than $2 per hour. The minimum wage for servers and other tipped workers in Arizona is currently $4.65. If a worker's tips don't add up to the normal minimum wage of $7.65, the employer must cover the difference -- a stipulation that would not change with the legislation.

The proposal, which was sponsored by the House of Representatives' majority leader, Rep. Steve Court (R-Mesa), passed through the state commerce committee last week along party lines. Court could not be reached for comment. According to an article by Arizona's Cronkite News Service, Court said at a recent hearing that the minimum wage for teenagers is "causing employers to employ fewer people. It also makes us a lot less competitive."

The amendment to the Arizona legislation is similar to a proposal in the Florida legislature, where the tourism and commerce committee is considering giving businesses the option of dropping the state minimum wage for servers, currently $4.65, in favor of the lower federal one of $2.13. However, if the employer opts for the lower wage and the employee doesn't earn at least $9.98 per hour after tips, the employer would have to make up the difference.

Since the proposal surfaced in the GOP-controlled legislature earlier this month, some Florida lawmakers and businesses have faced a backlash, with worker advocacy groups denouncing it as an attack on low-wage workers and a boon to the restaurant industry. Members of the Florida AFL-CIO have been leaving literature behind on restaurant tables to inform servers of the potential changes, and the group also put together a protest outside an Outback Steakhouse in Miami Lakes. Organizers encouraged attendees to dress in 1980's garb to mock a minimum wage they described as being from an earlier era.

Outback Steakhouse's parent company, OSI Restaurant Partners, supports the Florida measure, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The Tampa-based company, which counts Carrabba's Italian Grill and Bonefish Grill among its holdings, gave more than $120,000 last year to 32 Republicans running for state office.

Carol Dover, president of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, told The Huffington Post in a statement that the proposal under consideration has been mischaracterized. "There appears to be confusion as to the legislation," said Dover, whose trade group supports the proposal. "No one is having their wages cut. Employees are being guaranteed 130% of the state minimum wage if the employer elects to offer that option."

But Rich Templin, legislative and political director of the Florida AFL-CIO, argues that the measure would simply let employers save money at workers' expense.

"We believe that many people in the legislature, from both sides of the aisle, once they understand what it's about will not be supportive of this," says Templin. "It really is a pretty despicable idea."

Civil War Museum Details Best Way To Fry A Squirrel

2012-02-22T20:26:09Z

WASHINGTON -- What kind of food did people eat during the Civil War? Period food and dining don't deserve the bad rap they often get, according to George Wunderlich, executive director of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md.

In an effort to better understand life during the Civil War, the museum has over the last few years extensively researched the foods eaten by soldiers and folks on the homefront. Diet, Wunderlich explained, is not only a colorful way to understand history, but it's also an important indicator of the population's health and general knowledge of nutrition.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Wunderlich dished on the museum's research projects and gave us a peek into the culinary world around the time of the Civil War.

The Huffington Post: When you say you're looking at what people ate during the Civil War, which people are you talking about?

George Wunderlich: When we think of the Civil War, we think of the men who were in uniform. But there were millions of Americans who weren't in uniform, so [we want to know] what was their health like and what was their diet like.

HuffPost: Absolutely. So, what sorts of things did people eat back home?

Wunderlich: This idea that everybody in the Civil War was eating this disgustingly plain food just doesn't play. Bread puddings of all sorts, game pies ... with pheasant and turkey and duck and venison. This was not an uncommon diet. ... Stuffed crabs, oyster dishes of all sorts were part of a common diet in the major cities throughout the United States. Actually, they were shipping canned oysters and lobster to the western frontier as early as the 1850s, because we have the original cans that show up in steamboat registers.

HuffPost: That's pretty fancy. Doesn't sound like battlefield food, though. What was dining like on the front line?

Wunderlich: We tend to think of soldiers eating salt pork and hard tack ... The other thing we tend to think of is that Civil War people ate this very simple food, not terribly nutritious food, and certainly among the soldiers, that was not an uncommon occurrence. But that doesn't mean that people didn't understand that health and nutrition went in hand in hand.

HuffPost: Did that translate to paying attention to soldiers' nutrition?

Wunderlich: Civil War doctors were notorious for lobbying the armies to send what were called anti-scorbutics, or those foods that would help fight scurvy. Things with vitamin C in them. Potatoes, believe or not, and especially in the peels; onions; obviously citrus fruit when it could be attained. So there was an understanding that a good healthy balanced diet, would, in fact, make a good healthy balanced person.

HuffPost: So health was something people had an awareness of?

Wunderlich: These people had a much more balanced diet than I think we like to give them credit for ... The farm in the 19th century was much more a ecologically sound institution, because they grew various crops in a field rotation. They grew their own fruit, they grew their own vegetables. Basically, you were not only providing for a cash crop, but you were providing for the family for a year. Believe it or not, their diets were pretty balanced.

HuffPost: Off the field, what were the wackier things that people might eat? Have you tried them?

Wunderlich: We've done everything from roasted rat, which was something [eaten in] the prison camps, to more delicate foods. We find people are really fascinated by what people ate and what the recipe looked like. While I don't recommend everyone eats squirrel -- I've eaten it -- it's not bad. It doesn't taste anything like chicken, by the way.

HuffPost: No? What does squirrel taste like?

Wunderlich: It's kind of gamey. It's a little bit like venison that's been in a freezer too long. It's kind of a stronger taste. It's not like possum. Possum is just, ewww. Did that once, too. I'm not going to that again.

HuffPost: Note to self: Don't eat possum. What sorts of people ate squirrel? And why?

Wunderlich: You've got to understand one thing. Squirrel was probably most commonly eaten on the frontier, and it makes perfect sense that that would be the case ... It's an easy food source, and if you're on the frontier, an easy food source is a good thing. Squirrels are pretty much ubiquitous, they're everywhere, they were everywhere back then. It is certainly something that people would eat and did.

HuffPost: How did people cook it?

Wunderlich: Boiling was not uncommon, but it seems like frying was more common. Browning in primarily bacon drippings or lard, which was commonly kept in the house. You've got to make sure that it doesn't cook too fast. That's the bad thing with squirrel, from what we can obtain from our research ... There's not a whole lot of squirrel to a squirrel. The pieces are fairly thin, and if you cook them through too quickly, you wind up with something incredibly tough. So, you've got to cook it a little bit on the slow side with a lower heat.

HuffPost: The museum has recently been posting recipes to its Facebook page, including one for fried squirrel. People have been eating it up (pun intended). Why do you think there's such an interest?

Wunderlich: When we seek to understand what our ancestors went through, some people go out and they reenact history, they put on the uniforms, they go out and eat food of the Civil War encampments, or they go to a local historic site and they do things. But I think we miss just how connected we become with the past when we can taste it ... and it gives me an insight into something that my fourth great-grandfather may have tasted. I can still taste and I can smell it and I can make it. This is a great way to get a deeper appreciation for who we are and what we are.

Flickr photo by niXerKG.

Pawnshops Accepting Wine As Collateral

2012-02-22T20:00:00Z

By Leslie Gevirtz

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some U.S. pawnbrokers are taking liquid assets - literally.

Along with family jewels and fine art they will accept wines as collateral for loans to help ease cash shortages of businesses and people on all rungs of the economic ladder.

"You'd be amazed by how many wealthy individuals have terrible credit ratings," said Jordan Tabach-Bank, head of Beverly Loan Co. in Beverly Hills, California.

"And besides, if you go to a bank, it can take weeks or months to get a loan. When we make a loan, it's usually the same day,"

The pawnshop for the prosperous lends to hedge-fund managers, bankers, lawyers, doctors and even Oscar winners.

"Most people have a vision of pawn shops as sad sites. But that's not the case here," Tabach-Bank said. "I have a lot of people who come in who have a business opportunity and they need an infusion of cash for business purposes."

USGoldBuyers.com, an online pawnbroker with an office in New York, will also accept fine wines, said spokesman Jose Caba, adding that the rich do not always have liquid assets to keep up with their expensive toys.

"That's where we come in," he said. "We don't really want to sell the wine, or any asset that we take in whether it be gold or fine art."

He estimates that about 90 percent of the loans made have been repaid.

But interest rates and length of the loans vary widely.

British-based pawnbroker, borro.com, recently lent $120,000 in exchange for 128 bottles of Chateau d'Yquem, which had an estimated worth of $250,000.

Within the last three weeks, borro.com had taken a case of 1989 Chateau Petrus, valued at about $38,000, for a loan of $24,000, said its Chief Executive Paul Aitken.

Loans were also secured on various vintages of the five First Growths Bordeaux: Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Margaux and Chateau Mouton Rothschild -- top wines regularly sold at auctions where cases fetch tens of thousands of dollars.

Aitken's clientele, whose net worth ranges from $1 million to $10 million, are mostly small business owners with cash flow problems. Financial advisers and wealth managers recommend many of their clients to him.

Britain's Prime Asset Loans, based in Durham, has a specific list of wines it will loan against including the First Growth Bordeaux, Burgundy's Domaine de la Romanee-Conti and, depending on the vintage, Australia's renowned Penfolds Grange.

"We lend up to 70 percent of the value of the wines and the term is usually seven months," said Richard Mews, a partner at Prime Asset Loans. "Investors are using this type of loan more as it is quick, easy and there are no fees."

Credit Municipal de Paris, which has been offering loans against fine wines, champagnes and aged spirits since 2008, can keep more than 90,000 bottles in its 18th century wine cellar.

"Just deposit your bottles against a loan that is immediately awarded," said spokeswoman Florence Marambat, adding that Bordeaux were the wines most frequently offered as collateral.

(Reporting By Leslie Gevirtz; Additional reporting by Dominique Vidalon in Paris; Editing by Richard Chang and Patricia Reaney)

Shark Fin Ban Likely In New York

2012-02-22T19:50:49Z

While Senator Charles Schumer occupies his time by waging war against inhalable sticks of fun, legislators are working on a more serious bill that will likely ban the sale and distribution of shark fin in New York state.

The push follows a string of similar bills enacted by California, Oregon, Hawaii, and Washington in an effort to prevent future slaughter preserve the dwindling shark population left. Several other states have legislation pending.

While the bill is receiving high marks from environmentalists, the potential ban is causing a stir amongst Chinese Americans due to a popular broth created by the fin to serve a traditional delicacy in Chinese culture.

The Wall Street Journal spoke to Dr. Giam Choo Hoo who defended, "Most fins are humanely taken from landed, dead sharks" and said that the ban would be culturally discriminatory because other delicacies such as caviar have not received such negative hype.

But most in the science community, who claim 73 million sharks are slaughtered annually just for the soup, are praising the move. In reaction to the announcement, scientist and senior vice president of Oceana Dr. Michael Hirshfield said, "Demand for shark fin soup is responsible for the slaughter of these magnificent creatures so essential to the health of our oceans. Oceans without sharks are oceans out of balance, which means trouble for everyone who depends on oceans for food, jobs and enjoyment."

Assemblywoman Grace Meng, who represents Flushing, is the daughter of immigrant parents who once owned several restaurants that served shark fin. Meng spoke of her affinity for the delicacy and acknowledged that the ban would be a tough adjustment for the Chinese American community, but stressed, "it’s important to be responsible citizens."

America's Favorite Vodka Brands

2012-02-22T19:47:23Z

The market research company NPD Group has released a survey on consumer vodka preferences. The survey found that men and women have generally the same preference in the top vodka brands, but brand preference varies among age groups.

Among the 33,750 adults surveyed, Grey Goose (18%) is the most popular brand of vodka, followed by Absolut (12%). Smirnoff (10%), Ketel One (7%) and Stoli/Stolichnaya (5%) rounded out the top five, with men slightly preferring these brands over women.

Adults (21+) under 50 preferred Grey Goose slightly more than the 50+ age group. The 21-34-year-olds surveyed went for Smirnoff significantly more than the 35-49-year-olds; the reverse is true in the case of Absolut. Ketel One was significantly more popular with the under 34 crowd.

Grey Goose's number one spot speaks to the success of the company's branding. Grey Goose has been in existence less than 20 years, and in that time has captured a good chunk of the market.

Vodka is the most popular liquor in America.

Check out the results below, courtesy NPD Group:

Do you agree with the results?

Tribe Asks Judge To Intervene In Alcohol Dispute

2012-02-22T19:01:45Z

LINCOLN, Neb. — Leaders of a South Dakota American Indian tribe who are suing beer makers, distributors and retailers are now asking a judge to restrict alcohol sales in a tiny Nebraska town that borders their reservation.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe added the request late last week to a federal lawsuit that seeks $500 million in damages for the alcohol-related problems on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The tribe's attorney, Tom White of Omaha, said he will argue that Nebraska officials have failed to enforce their own laws by allowing beer sales that far surpass the amount that can legally be consumed in the area.

Alcohol is officially banned on Pine Ridge, a reservation the size of Connecticut in southwestern South Dakota. Nebraska state law prohibits drinking outside of the stores, and the nearest non-reservation town is more than 20 miles to the south. Yet the four beer retailers in Whiteclay, which has fewer than a dozen residents, sold the equivalent of nearly 5 million cans in 2010.

"The defendants have failed to make reasonable efforts to ensure their products are distributed and sold in obedience to the laws of the state of Nebraska and the Oglala Sioux tribe," White said Wednesday.

The lawsuit says the tribe has "no adequate remedies to protect its federally granted rights" to protect its sovereignty and enforce its own alcohol ban. He pointed to statements by Attorney General Jon Bruning, the state's top law enforcement officer, who has said shutting down the beer stores will not solve the problem.

The lawsuit in U.S. District Court of Nebraska targets some of the world's largest beer makers, as well as their distributors and the four stores in Whiteclay.

Tribal leaders and activists blame the Whiteclay businesses for chronic alcohol abuse and bootlegging on the Pine Ridge. They say most of the stores' customers come from the reservation, which spans southwest South Dakota.

The $500 million lawsuit seeks reimbursement for the cost of health care, social services and child rehabilitation caused by chronic alcoholism on the reservation, which encompasses some of the nation's most impoverished counties.

One in four children born on the reservation suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, and the average life expectancy is estimated between 45 and 52 years – the shortest in the North Hemisphere except for Haiti, according to the lawsuit. The average American life expectancy is 77.5 years.

The lawsuit alleges that the beer makers and stores sold to Pine Ridge residents, knowing they would smuggle the alcohol into the reservation to drink or resell.

Matthew Fletcher, a Michigan State University associate law professor who specializes in American Indian issues, said the suit offers a novel approach to a problem that has plagued the reservation for more than a century. But, Fletcher said, "my sense is, it doesn't have much of a chance."

For years, Nebraska lawmakers have struggled to curb the problem, and are considering legislation that would limit the types of alcohol sold in areas like Whiteclay. The measure would require local authorities to ask the state to designate the area an "alcohol impact zone." The state liquor commission could then limit the hours that alcohol sellers are open, as well as ban the sale of certain products.

The beer store owners, distributors and retailers have all declined to comment.

Pancake Stacking World Record Now Stands 2.5 Feet High

2012-02-22T18:54:01Z

Life is just a little bit sweeter today for Andy Wrobel.

After previous failed attempts, Wrobel finally can taste victory as the man who owns the world record for pancake stacking.

Wrobel battered his way into the Guinness World Records on Shrove Tuesday by stacking a whopping 60 pancakes on top of each other for a stack that ultimately measured 76 cm (2.49 feet), according to Metro.co.uk.

The world record stack eventually collapsed, but, luckily, not before adjudicators could confirm that it broke the previous record of 74 cm (2.42 feet) set in Croatia in 2008.

The victory was especially sweet for Wrobel, who whips up hundreds of pancakes a day at a Melbourne restaurant called the Pancake Parlour. This marks his second attempt at the record, according to ABC.net.au.

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS GALLERY (Story continues below)

"We tried last year and we got to 61 centimetres and did pretty well," he said."We thought we'd give it another go, and this year we actually did it."

But achieving greatness, whether it's on an athletic field or a stovetop takes serious, concentrated effort.

"We had a lot of practices, spent about 50 hours, probably used another quarter of a ton of buckwheat mix, and we finally got to the point where we needed to go," he said.

In many parts of the world, pancakes are commonly eaten on "Shrove" or "Fat" Tuesday, which is when many Catholics eat up all their rich foods before the beginning of Lent. As a result, the day is known as "Pancake Day" in British Commonwealth countries like Scotland, England, Canada and Australia.

Cantaloupe Listeria Outbreak Claims Another Life

2012-02-22T17:58:38Z

The deadly cantaloupe listeria outbreak that the Center for Disease Control said was over in December has claimed another life on Tuesday -- that of Mike Hauser, a 68-year-old man from Monument, Colorado, Fox31 reports. Hauser's death raises the total estimated deaths from the Colorado cantaloupes to 34 adults.

In December, the CDC released its "final" report on the outbreak stating that the contaminated melons had claimed a total of 30 adult victims and one miscarriage. However, as The Denver Post reports, lawyers representing additional victims claim that four more people have died with illnesses related to the outbreak since that December report.

9News reports that it remains unclear if Hauser's death will be included in the CDC's official list of at least 30 adult deaths and one miscarriage linked to the listeriosis infection because Hauser may have died from a different infection after having recently been treated for listeriosis.

The CDC said in December that a total of 146 people were sickened in 28 different states. The tainted melons came from Jenson Farms located in the southern Colorado town of Holly, which recalled the cantaloups on Sept. 14. In October, the FDA said that pools of water on the floor and old, hard-to-clean equipment at the farm's cantaloupe-packing facility were probably to blame for the listeria contamination. The FDA also said that the farm had stopped using antibacterial washes and did not "pre-cool" cantaloupes off the fields to reduce bacteria growth.

The CDC has said that this was the deadliest outbreak of foodborne illness in 25 years. Eric Jenson, owner of Jenson Farms, faces multiple lawsuits related to the outbreak.

Will Wawa Expand To D.C.?

2012-02-22T17:31:12Z

WASHINGTON -- Could Wawa, the beloved Pennsylvania-based gas station and convenience store chain known for its touchscreen-menu sandwich ordering system, be moving into the nation's capital?

According to the Washington Business Journal, that's a distinct possibility.

The chain with the funny name is "looking to fill out the D.C. and Baltimore corridor, both in Northern Virginia and Maryland," according to Peter Gilligan, a Wawa vice president and chief real estate officer.

Crossing the District of Columbia line could be in the cards, too, WBJ notes. But Wawa stores typically need 5,000 square-feet, which limits possible site selections in urbanized D.C.

The Wawa stirrings, naturally, have energized local fans, especially those who hail from southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, where the chain rules supreme.

It also might raise the stakes in the ongoing Wawa vs. Sheetz debate.

As The Washington Post detailed in a lengthy feature in 2009, fans of Wawa and Sheetz have a type of devotion that rises above the normal threshold for customer loyalty:

In some towns, the farther out you get, it feels like the Sheetz is the only thing left. Both chains see the same people every day. Wawa customers and Sheetz customers are known to make three, four, even, legendarily, 12 visits a day. Living in a limitless Wawa-or-Sheetz world is a miraculous thing. It might even be too much convenience. (Too much convenience?)

What would happen if Wawa teamed up with Fast Gourmet, the beloved D.C. gas station sandwich operation that has won over plenty of fans with its Uruguayan-style chivito?

Such an alliance would easily catapult Wawa over Sheetz, right?

Photo by Flickr user taberandrew

Simulated Mars Mission To Study 'Menu Fatigue,' Find Best Meals For Astronauts

2012-02-22T17:16:52Z

Though it is unanimously known that space food is not the tastiest cuisine available, it nevertheless tends to fascinate many individuals, if for nothing else than the exotic factor. After all, we all wanted to be astronauts when we were growing up, but that dream disappeared for most of us. For those that have not let the dream fade, this may be your chance -- sort of.

Researchers from Cornell University and University of Hawaii-Manoa are looking for six volunteers to live in a simulated Mars base located in Hawaii's lava fields. There, the volunteers will eat a range of astronaut food, in an effort to assist NASA with menu planning for an upcoming Mars mission (about six months travel each way, plus two years on the planet).

The researchers hope to determine "the lowest-cost and easiest ways to give astronauts well-rounded meals without inducing menu fatigue." In other words, these half dozen volunteers will be the guinea pigs to figure out what food is worth giving real astronauts.

It's not just all about the food though. The volunteers will really have to simulate living in space and will wear space suits anytime they venture outdoors.

If going to space without actually going to space sounds like something you'd be interested in, applications are due February 29 and can be found here.