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The Healthiest Items You Can Order From Your Favorite Fast Food Restaurant

Despite best-laid plans, the reality is that almost all of us rely on fast food on days when there isn’t enough time to prepare a meal from scratch. We’re in good company. According to a Gallup poll conducted in 2013, 28 percent of Americans reported eating fast food at least once a week, while 16 percent reported having fast food several times a week.
The good news? Fast food chains have more healthy options than ever, and a nutritious and filling meal is now just a quick drive-thru trip away.
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If you were to go by the lunches seen on social media and food blogs, you’d think that everyone else is going to open up picture-perfect Mason jar salads and intricately composed bento boxes once noon rolls around. As idyllic as this seems, the reality is that people—particularly millennials—are working longer hours and spending more money than ever on food outside the home.
Fast food chains are scrambling to benefit from this trend, and we can leverage that to the advantage of our schedules and our bodies.
Studying the effects of fast food consumption has traditionally produced some grim statistics; a study conducted over a period of 15 years by researchers at the University of Minnesota found a correlation between fast food consumption, weight gain, and insulin resistance leading to an increased risk for type 2 diabetes and obesity. That same study also concluded that people who ate fast food two or more times a week were at a higher risk than those who didn’t eat fast food.
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But eating fast food isn’t all bad news. In fact, this is the time to be seeking out healthy menu items. Popular chains that were once thought of as entirely unhealthy are introducing menu items that cater to a more health-conscious audience.
The New Yorker article “Freedom From Fries” describes how consumer trends such as the demand for food transparency and quality ingredients have been driving the fast food industry’s shift toward healthier food options.
Gone are the days when being health conscious while eating fast food meant a small order of fries and a sad side salad made of limp lettuce and slimy cucumber slices. But it is still important to do some research before buying what you think is healthy. What appears safe in terms of calories and fat can often be the complete opposite.
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So how do you choose the healthiest option at your favorite fast food restaurant? Registered dietician Lindsay Pleskot specializes in teaching and inspiring her clients to make healthy choices and was able to offer us some practical advice on how to get the most nutritional bang for your buck from fast food menu items.
Pleskot explains that ironically, some of of the most deceptive items on fast food menus are salads. Fast food entrée salads are notorious for being marketed as healthy choices when in reality they often have sky-high calorie counts and large amounts of saturated fat and sodium.
The problem, Pleskot says, is that “we seem to automatically associate salads with health and nutrition but often they are loaded with tons of dressing and toppings that will add up quickly; think cheese, nuts, croutons, and bacon, to name a few.”
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Pleskot also gives a few general rules for keeping your fast food on the healthy side. She advises keeping a close eye on sauces and condiments when possible, seeking out grilled instead of deep-fried items, and asking for the dressing on the side. A spritz of lemon juice on a salad is a calorie-free way to stretch out the dressing so that you aren’t stuck using the whole packet.
Whether you’re a Starbucks kinda gal or a devoted fan of Taco Bell, there’s something at every major fast food chain for anyone in need of a healthy meal in minutes.
Here we break it down by some of our favorite big names in the fast food game.

Starbucks

There are some mornings when your alarm clock fights a losing battle against a few extra precious moments of sleep. When even a bowl of cold cereal takes too much time, the food menu at Starbucks includes healthy options that will leave you feeling satisfied and full until lunchtime. Pleskot advises skipping the lemon loaf and ordering the Spinach, Feta, and Cage Free Egg White Breakfast Wrap to start your day.
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With only 280 calories per serving, this savory wrap contains a very filling 20 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber. Still feeling hungry? Pleskot suggests adding a fruit cup or veggies and dip to round out the meal.
Not all of Starbucks’ breakfast sandwiches are equally as healthy though. Be wary of their Sausage, Cheddar, and Egg Breakfast Sandwich, which has 480 calories and 29 grams of fat per serving.

McDonald’s

Although entrée salads from fast food restaurants have a bad reputation for being full of empty calories and saturated fat, there are definitely healthier options to be found if you do your research
For example, McDonald’s Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad contains an impressive 330 calories, 11 grams of fat, 33 grams of protein, and 6 grams of fiber, which, as a whole, should keep you feeling satisfied for hours.
Compare the grilled chicken salad to McDonald’s Southwest Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Salad for an eye-opening example of how food preparation and high calorie salad toppers can make a huge difference.
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Thanks to the deep fried chicken, shredded cheese, and fried chili-lime tortilla strips, this salad comes in at 500 calories and 25 grams of fat.

Taco Bell

Taco Bell has been a vegetarian staple for generations, but today, the chain quietly offers all diners an easy, tasty way to cut calories. It’s called “Fresco style,” and it replaces high-calorie sauces and toppings with a bright, healthy pico de gallo.
Even the Taco Bell Bean Burrito, a classic for low-budget vegetarians in a hurry, is available Fresco style…although the pico de gallo substitution only shaves 20 calories off this already-minimal dish.
With 350 calories, 9 grams of fat, 13 grams of protein, and a whopping 11 grams of dietary fiber, even the non-Fresco Bean Burrito packs a filling and nutritious punch for those days when you have no time to stop and eat.
While Fresco-style food from Taco Bell offers several healthy options, be wary of their regular menu items, as they can contain astronomical amounts of calories, fat, and sodium.
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For example, the Cheesy Gordita Crunch contains 500 calories and fully half of the recommended daily intake of saturated fat.

Wendy’s

As many health-conscious Wendy’s customers will know, this fast food chain has had quite a few diet-friendly side options for a while now. Their side salads, baked potatoes, and chili are all smart choices even if you’re aiming for a complete meal.
Ordering an entrée, however, takes a little bit of research. Pleskot advises always “looking out for anything deep fried and breaded. For example, opt for sandwiches made with grilled chicken breast instead of a crispy chicken sandwich … it offers just as much protein without all of the extra fat, calories, and salt.”
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Wendy’s Grilled Chicken Sandwich fits the bill perfectly, with 370 calories per serving, 10 grams of fat, and 34 grams of protein.
Compare this grilled chicken sandwich to the restaurant’s Homestyle Asiago Ranch Chicken Club. This deep-fried chicken breast sandwich is smothered in a creamy ranch dressing and Asiago cheese with a topping of bacon. The damage? 650 calories, 34 grams of fat, and almost double the sodium compared to the Grilled Chicken Sandwich.
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In need of something more? Add a side salad or a plain baked potato for extra energy without a ton of calories.

Dunkin’ Donuts

The key to eating a healthy meal at Dunkin’ Donuts is to make a healthy food selection and then stick to drip coffee, an Americano, or a cappuccino made with skim milk as an accompanying beverage.
The Turkey Sausage Wake Up Wrap contains a satisfying 240 calories and 11 grams of protein to get your day started.
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Looking for a meatless but still filling alternative? Dunkin’ Donuts’ Egg White Veggie Flatbread is a vegetarian option that still contains plenty of protein with very little fat.
Speaking of the Veggie Egg White Flatbread, it’s part of Dunkin’ Donuts’ DDSMART collection. Look for the DDSMART logo to find choices that contain a quarter less fat, sodium, sugar, or calories than the restaurant’s typical fare.
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If you don’t spot the DDSMART logo, be careful ordering off the Dunkin’ Donuts menu. There are some real calorie bombs here. For instance, the Sausage Egg & Cheese Croissant is an example of a nutritionally catastrophic breakfast menu item. With 720 calories per serving, 100 percent of the recommended daily intake of saturated fat, and sky-high sodium levels, this is one breakfast sandwich to steer clear of.

Burger King

Are you craving a burger but worry it will hinder your healthy eating goals? Believe it or not, a classic cheeseburger from Burger King is a relatively healthy choice when the need for a burger strikes. A single cheeseburger contains 280 calories and is fairly low in fat and sodium.
If you want to be even more virtuous and skip the cheese, a plain Burger King hamburger has only 240 calories and 10 grams of fat. It’s also comparatively low in sodium.
Feeling like a splurge? Pair a Burger King hamburger with a small order of onion rings to complete your traditional fast food meal with gusto.
While a Burger King cheeseburger may be relatively healthy option, beware the Bacon & Cheese Whopper. Unlike a regular cheeseburger, this sandwich weighs in with 790 calories per serving and 51 grams of fat per serving.
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No discussion of health and Burger King is complete without a look at the famous Impossible Whopper, which features a high-tech plant-based patty that’s virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. Does the lack of animal protein make the Impossible Whopper any healthier, though? 
Sadly, the answer is “not really.” An Impossible Whopper contains 630 calories, compared to the beef Whopper’s 660. Not much difference there. The same goes for fat; the Impossible Whopper contains just 6 fewer grams than the real thing, which has 40 grams of fat. Both burgers are catastrophically high in sodium. The traditional Whopper contains 980 milligrams of the stuff, and the Impossible version has 1,080 milligrams. 
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For context, the American Heart Association recommends a hard limit of 2,300 milligrams of sodium for most adults, and they’d really prefer we limit ourselves to less than 1,500. 

Subway

Subway has a reputation as a healthier alternative to the fried-and-greasy fast food model. Surely you can’t crash your diet on a fresh deli sub, right? Well, that depends. 
If you’re satisfied with a 6-inch Veggie Delite on 9-grain wheat bread—without cheese and substituting a splash of vinegar for calorie-rich mayonnaise—you can eat pretty healthy. Such a sandwich build (with lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, red onions, green peppers, and cucumbers as your only toppings) weighs in at just 200 calories and only 2 grams of fat, none of it saturated. 
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Not bad. This sandwich also has a relatively low share of sodium, with just 280 milligrams and a not-negligible amount of dietary fiber with 5 grams. If a sub like that sounds good, feel free to eat fresh all you want. 
If you’re more of an Ultimate Meatball Marinara kind of gal, watch out. Subway recommends ordering this sandwich on their Ultimate Cheesy Garlic Bread, which is a calorie-packed powerhouse. 
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A 6-inch Ultimate Meatball Marinara with that bread option contains 730 calories—and that’s without any toppings whatsoever. Load on the melted mozzarella, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles, and you’re up to 830 calories for a 6-inch sub. This build also contains 52 grams of fat and more sodium than the American Heart Association recommends all day (1,720 milligrams).   

KFC

Eaters on a strict caloric budget aren’t likely to seek out fried chicken, but sometimes you just have to eat. If KFC is all you see, that’s where you’ll end up. And the truth is that the calorie counts on certain KFC menu items might surprise you (in a good way). 
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The trick here is to avoid the breading. Stick with Kentucky Grilled Chicken, which, yes, is actually what it’s called. A single drumstick, grilled, only contains 90 calories, 4 grams of fat, and 290 milligrams of sodium. 
If you can’t resist the temptation of KFC Original Recipe fried chicken, you actually don’t have that much to worry about as long as you exercise portion control. A single Original Recipe drumstick contains 120 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 380 grams of sodium. 
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Even the sandwiches at KFC aren’t out of control, calorie-wise. A Crispy Colonol’s Sandwich contains 470 calories—which isn’t great, but won’t put you over the top in a single sitting. You do have to watch out for sodium with KFC sandwiches, though. The above example contains 1,170 milligrams of the stuff, which is more than half of the American Heart Association’s absolute hard ceiling of 2,300 milligrams. 

Jack in the Box

Typically, a late-night dinner at Jack in the Box means you’ve made a bad decision somewhere along the way. But you don’t have to pile mistake on mistake with your order; Jack in the Box has a few items that will fill you up without breaking your diet goals. 
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You might have noticed a grilled-chicken trend here. Jack in the Box keeps up the streak. Check out their Chicken Fajita Pita, which makes a decent meal with 340 calories, 12 grams of fat, and a whopping 23 grams of protein. 
Unfortunately, the Chicken Fajita Pita wasn’t created with heart health in mind. It contains 1,000 milligrams of sodium—and that doesn’t include the side of salsa that comes with each order. 
Even better is the Jack in the Box Side Salad, although it won’t make a very satisfying meal on its own. With just 20 calories (or 45 with a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette), this dish probably isn’t enough to beat the hunger pangs. Still, it makes a smart addition to one of the outlet’s grilled chicken dishes. 
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Stay away from the Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger, though. This grease bomb packs 930 calories, 65(!) grams of fat, and almost 1,600 milligrams of sodium. When you absolutely must have a burger, stick with the plain Jack in the Box hamburger, which weighs in at 340 calories and 18 grams of fat. 

Sonic Drive-In

For healthy eating at your neighborhood Sonic, the word to remember is “wraps.” More specifically, the Grilled Chicken Wrap. It isn’t exactly low in calories—it has 480 of them—but it’s among the lighter options on this particularly heavy menu.   
A word of warning to sodium-conscious eaters, though: The Sonic Grilled Chicken Wrap is salty. It contains 1,720 milligrams of sodium, which is a lot. 
A less sodium-packed option is the Jr. Burger. This is a better choice for the health-conscious among us, with 330 calories, 16 grams of fat, and 610 milligrams of sodium. The trade-off, of course, is that this is a small sandwich with just 15 grams of protein. You may be more satisfied by the Grilled Chicken Wrap, which offers 31 grams of protein.  
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As for menu items to avoid, where do we start? The SuperSONIC Bacon Double Cheeseburger with mayonnaise is loaded with 1,030 calories, 65 grams of fat, and 1,880 milligrams of sodium. A Chicken Club Toaster Sandwich, which sounds healthy enough, contains 770 calories and 43 grams of fat. And, if you can resist the temptation, you probably want to avoid the Footlong Quarter Pound Coney Hot Dog. This beast has 790 calories, 49 grams of fat, and 2,300 milligrams of sodium. Oof. 

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle famously only uses 51 ingredients in all their dishes. But how healthy are those 51 ingredients in their various combinations? 
As with Subway, that all depends on you. Fast food restaurants that give their customers wide leeway in constructing their own dishes complicate the attempt to eat healthy—but they also give you more power over what you’re putting into your own body. All in all, it’s a beneficial trend, we’d say. 
Anyway, for a healthy, satisfying meal at Chipotle, start with a burrito bowl. A single burrito-sized flour tortilla contains 320 calories, all of which could be spent on tastier, healthier ingredients. 
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Likewise, it’s a good move to skip the rice. Black beans provide plenty of starch on their own. As for what to include, start with the veggie burrito bowl with black beans. Add an extra serving of fajita vegetables if you’d like, and don’t skimp on the guacamole. This condiment (if you can call it that) is relatively calorie-dense, with 230 calories per serving, but the heart-healthy fats of avocados tip the scale in guacamole’s favor. 
Choose tomatillo green-chili salsa to round out your lunch. A burrito bowl like this only carries 395 calories and 23.5 grams of fat. More importantly, it’s loaded with vitamin C and helps to keep you feeling full with 14 grams of dietary fiber.  
If you’re counting calories, you probably don’t want to build a carnitas burrito with white rice, pinto beans, and guacamole. A meal like that carries an incredible 1,100 calories, with 48.5 grams of fat and nearly 2,000 milligrams of sodium. They may be real ingredients, but they’re not necessarily diet food.    

Hardee’s / Carl’s Jr.

Hardee’s (or Carl’s Jr., depending on where you live) may not seem like a healthy-eating mainstay, and that criticism is fair. However, you can’t credibly accuse the chain of failing to serve more health-conscious customers. 
The restaurant’s menu offers a selection of “better for you” options, including designations like “Low Carb It,” “Trim It,” and “Gluten-Sensitive.” Yep, this is a fast food restaurant where you can order a Thickburger in a whole-leaf lettuce wrap instead of a bun. 
For breakfast, try the “Trim It”-branded Frisco Breakfast Sandwich. It’s an eggy, meaty meal that will satisfy well into your lunch hour. This product contains 360 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 19 grams of protein. 
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Low-sodium eaters should steer clear, though; the Frisco Breakfast Sandwich is loaded with 1,100 milligrams of sodium. 
The “Trim It” collection’s Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich is Hardee’s original low-fat menu item, and it remains a decent choice for the hungry health enthusiast. 
The Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich provides 18 grams of protein, which is a lot for a lunch item that only contains 190 calories. It’s also low in fat, with just 3.5 grams. And while the Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich’s sodium content is a bit high at 910 milligrams, it won’t put you over the limit as long as you plan the rest of the day’s meals carefully. 
Avoid the ⅓-pound Bacon Cheese Thickburger, except as a very occasional treat. This sandwich is certainly hearty, with 850 calories and 42 grams of protein. However, the 54 grams of fat, 130 milligrams of cholesterol, and 1,700 milligrams of sodium make this item a no-go for those of us who are trying to eat healthier. 

Steak ‘n Shake

If there’s a healthy milkshake out there in the world, we have not met it (though we’d like to). So we’re afraid we’ll have to stick to the “steak” side of the menu here. As you might have guessed, the healthiest lunch and dinner option on the Steak ‘n Shake menu is probably its Grilled Chicken Sandwich. It’s got 360 calories and just 7 grams of fat, but it provides a belly-filling 28 grams of protein. 
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If you’re in the mood for a burger, you can’t go wrong with the Steak n’ Shake Single. This no-frills steakburger contains 320 calories, 14 grams of fat, and 15 grams of protein. 
Maybe stay away from the Bacon ‘n Cheese Triple if you’re watching what you eat. Three burger patties is a lot, as reflected by this sandwich’s calorie count of 1,030. Add in the 74 grams of fat and 170 milligrams of cholesterol, and you’ve got a meal that bites back, health-wise. 

Hungry yet? 

We don’t mean to suggest that eating fast food is always damaging to your health. Just pull up this handy guide next time you find yourself in the drive-thru and choose carefully; there’s plenty out there that will fit into your eating plan.  
Also, it’s important to recognize that the problem with fast food isn’t that it’s fast; the issue is with how the food is prepared and the extra ingredients that are piled on for extra flavor. If fast food is a regular part of your diet, then stick to the tips in this article.
But, if it isn’t, take Pleskot’s advice about occasionally treating yourself to the real, greasy deal: “I think the first thing to consider when eating fast food or eating out in general is whether or not this is something you do all the time or is this a once in a while treat? If it really is just once in a while, enjoy your favorite and eat it mindfully!”

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12 Popular Foods That Are Complete And Total Frauds

Cooking using all-natural foods is a wonderful way to know what you’re eating, but it’s also a great way to spend a lot of money. Not everyone has the financial resources or time required to craft a 100 percent farm-to-table menu at home, meaning most of us opt for something a little easier with relative frequency.

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But it might be time to rethink our eating options, especially considering that these 12 foods are notorious frauds.
Portions of this article were updated on Oct. 23, 2018.

1. Red Velvet Cake

Everyone loves red velvet cake. What’s not to love? There’s cake, there’s cream cheese, usually there are some sprinkles on top, and it’s delicious. #treatyoself. The thing is, we also love red velvet cake because the taste is comforting and decadent, even though the color indicates something, well, unnatural is probably going on.

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Red velvet cake is really just chocolate cake with some food coloring (some people use beet juice for a natural coloring effect). During the Great Depression, a Texas company began selling food coloring and flavoring extracts that were purported to cut down on the costs of cooking. One recipe that Adams Extracts brought to life was the red velvet cake.
The story is mentioned in the 2014 New York Times article titled “Red Velvet Cake: A Classic, Not a Gimmick.” It goes like this:

After Congress passed the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act in 1938, shoring up regulations for food coloring, Mr. Adams [the company’s founder] figured he could sell a lot more extracts and dyes, and a red cake would be just the way to do it. Sometime in the 1940s, the company tricked out a mahogany cake [popular at the Waldorf Astoria where Adams and his wife enjoyed it] recipe with food coloring, printed it on cards and began plans to merchandise it alongside bottles of vanilla, red dye and artificial butter flavoring, which was popular when butter was rationed during World War II.

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Today, red-velvet themed products from pancakes to candles are available all over, and it’s still a favorite, even if it really is just dyed chocolate cake. Want to make your own? You can find a red velvet cake recipe here.

2. Wasabi

If you go out for some sushi, you know you’re going to mix that fiery hot green wasabi in with some soy sauce (or just smear a dollop of it on top of every single bite of California roll, if you’re a real heat seeker). The catch is, real wasabi is incredibly expensive and the stuff we’re typically served at our local sushi joint isn’t actually wasabi.

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The Daily Meal states, “The wasabi you’ve most likely had differs quite a bit from the real thing. Wasabi roots are difficult to grow, and a pound can cost up to $100, so a substitute is often made by combining mustard, horseradish, and food coloring to give it its iconic light green hue.”
The biggest difference is that, as with almost all culinary cost-cutting methods, the flavor of the product is compromised. Real wasabi has more of a pleasurable kick at the end, whereas the cheaper concoction will give you that runny-nose burn. That said, most of us will happily endure a little short-term pain over the alternatives: a long-term loss of money we’d have to spend on the real thing, or sushi without that signature spiciness we know (isn’t real) and love.
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If you’re set on trying the real thing, here are a few ways to make your own genuine wasabi-flavored condiments at home.

3. Crab Meat

Hold on tight for this one, because if you don’t already know about this, then what you’re about to read will essentially do what Supersize Me did for the McDonald’s chicken nugget.

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In Japanese, those iconic crab sticks (pictured above) are called surimi, which actually means “ground meat”—and they’re essentially the oceanic version of the hot dog.
HuffPost explains, “Surimi is made of different kinds of fish, which are ground together [and pulverized] into a paste. According to SF Gate, manufacturers add starch, artificial flavors, sodium and sometimes MSG.” Then, of course, it is dyed with orange food coloring to give it that authentic, crab-like look.
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Unless you’re averse to food colorings, this might not seem like a big issue. And while it’s not as bad for most consumers as eating an actual hot dog, the HuffPost article points out that, “Because starch is often made from wheat, imitation crab meat is not gluten free. True crab meat, on the other hand, is safe for the gluten-averse.”
“On most nutritional counts,” it goes on to note, “this processed seafood pales in comparison to the real thing.”
In our opinion, it’s best not to ingest imitation anything, so try to go for the salmon, tuna, or yellowtail when eating sushi—or opt for vegetarian and vegan options like mushroom rolls and delicious inarizushi. Also, we are not listing a recipe for making your own fake crab meat because doing that at home could be…disastrous.

4. White Chocolate

White chocolate is hit or miss with most people (our favorites, though, include white chocolate Crunch bars and Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme). The funny thing about white chocolate, of course, is the fact that it’s hardly chocolate at all.

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As described in this Greatist article, “Real chocolate contains three must-have components: chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, and cocoa solids (often in addition to other ingredients). But the white kind lacks chocolate liquor and cocoa solids—which means it’s also missing flavanols, the antioxidants that give the authentic stuff nutritional benefits.”
So, not only does white chocolate lack much of what makes chocolate chocolate, it is void of the few healthy components that come with chocolate, too. In 2004, the FDA got involved and mandated a law that required white chocolate to have a minimum of at least 20 percent cocoa butter and no more than 55 percent sugar or other sweeteners.
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That way companies couldn’t basically put sugar on a stick and call it white chocolate. In case you’re curious, here’s a recipe for making white chocolate—not sure why you’d want to though!

5. Pomegranate Juice

You should probably be a little cautious about anything labeled “juice” or “fruit drink.” It is worth checking the ingredient list since more often than not, you’ll find some oddities in there—along with an insanely high dose of sugar.

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That said—we know that pomegranates are incredibly healthy and do amazing things for your heart and cholesterol levels, but the problem with buying the “juice” version is that you might not be getting that healthful beverage you were after. Unfortunately, it’s not just off-brand companies trying to claim their products offer you the benefits of the pomegranate; magnate corporation Coca-Cola was actually sued by Pom Wonderful because they were putting out a drink and calling it “Blueberry-Pomegranate Juice.”
Yet, as discussed in this article from The New York Times, “the blend, sold under Coca-Cola’s Minute Maid brand, is made almost entirely from apple and grape juice. [The juice] is made up of 99.4 percent apple and grape juices, 0.3 percent pomegranate juice, 0.2 percent blueberry juice and 0.1 percent raspberry juice.”
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The lesson here is to check your labels, or, to be extra safe, make your own juice. Interested? Learn how to seed and juice a pomegranate here.

6. Breakfast Syrup

Unless you’re putting the tap into a tree and getting the maple syrup yourself, it’s tough to say exactly what you’re eating when you drizzle Aunt Jemima (or any other) syrup over your waffles. Most likely, unless it’s labeled as 100 percent pure, authentic maple syrup, it’s probably a mixture of corn syrup, cane syrup, and a slew of natural and/or artificial ingredients and sweeteners.

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Some people take this blasphemy very serious, so much so that there was a law being pushed forward that would make it illegal to sell fake maple syrup. The Huffington Post reported that “legislation would make the sale of fraudulent maple syrup a felony offense with up to a five-year maximum penalty. Currently, it is only a misdemeanor. The MAPLE (Maple Agriculture Protection and Law Enforcement ) Act aims to protect the producers of maple syrup.”
While it’s best to go with a natural fruit topping for your favorite breakfast items, we know that is not going to always happen. The next time you’re at the store, it might be worth spending the extra couple dollars to get something authentic rather than a jug of artificial (and clawing) sweetness.
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Since maple syrup is all natural, here is a link to buy your own tap kit. Note that it does not come with a flannel shirt or wool beanie.

7. Bacon Bits

Bacon is one heck of a trendy culinary pick right now. And it’s earned its stripes—it is delicious. You can put bacon on just about anything and it will increase the flavor and texture while boding well for foodie photos. However, you have to be careful when eating it because while some products may be called bacon, there’s a possibility that they’re something else.

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Enter bacon bits. Shockingly enough, those little nibs of goodness are actually vegetarian! Greatist explains what they’re made from: “Lacking any animal products, these crispy bites are made of artificially flavored textured soy flour and other ingredients including caramel color, maltodextrin, yeast extract, and flavor enhancers called disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate.”
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So technically, if you’re vegetarian or even vegan, you could eat these little toppers, but we warn you, it may not be the best idea. If you’re really craving some bacon, you could always buy an actual package, cook it, and then refrigerate the leftovers for use when needed.

8. Supermarket Sourdough

Sourdough bread is a classic baked good that has a long history and a tanginess that’s won it a place in the hearts (and stomachs) of many a carb connoisseur. Unfortunately, if you’re grabbing your sourdough off a grocery store shelf, it might not be sourdough at all.

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Matt Bowler, founder of Bowler Organics, explains: “Sourdough bread and pasta set themselves apart from quick-rise products, and even some ‘sourdough’-labeled products because of the presence of lactobacillus, a type of bacteria which naturally produces lactic acid during the fermentation process.”
“Some of the more prevalent ‘sourdough’ products will leverage acid as an ingredient added to the dough rather than allowing the lactobacilli to work their magic.”
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Even if you’ve been satisfied with the flavor of your go-to faux sourdough, you’re missing out on some other key benefits of genuine sourdough, according to Bowler.
“Quick-rise breads utilizing commercial yeast products—whose rise-time may be less than two to three hours—essentially cheat the process during which those nutrients and enzymes are unlocked. This results in fewer readily-available nutrients our bodies can use.”
On the contrary, “fermentation with sourdough cultures, which tends to last between six and 36 hours, ensures active microbial colonies are working to break down grains and allow the finished product to be much easier for our bodies to process.”
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Plus, all the lactobacillus in real sourdough starters means it’s full of probiotics, right? Not so fast! “Sourdough bread is not a probiotic product due to the high temperatures reached while baking,” says Bowler. “Enzymes are effectively deactivated between temperatures of 120 and 150 degrees Fahrenheit.”
That doesn’t mean sourdough isn’t great for your gut. Here are Bowler’s tips for buying bread that’s the real deal:

  • Always look at the ingredients label first. Yeast should never be listed as an ingredient for naturally-leavened, true sourdough bread.
  • No acids should be listed as an ingredient in a genuine loaf of sourdough. Sourdough is very simple and consists of only base two ingredients: water and flour. Salt is added during the process to facilitate fermentation and influence flavor. So, generally speaking, you should look for a basic loaf of sourdough to contain only flour, water, and salt.
  • Other grains can be added while still allowing the bread to be classified as sourdough.

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To find out if the sourdough bread at your grocery store is legit, “check the labeling, and if you have questions or suspicions, don’t be afraid to ask the bakers about the fermentation process,” Bowler says. “Ask how old their sourdough starter, or ‘mother,’ is and if they proof their dough at room temp or in the fridge, or both. A quick-fermented sourdough loaf will typically undergo between two and four hours of bulk fermentation and an additional two to 24-plus hours of during final fermentation. Cold-fermentation is usually performed during the final stage and will dramatically increase the sour flavor of the dough.”
Once you get your hands on a legit loaf, Bowler—who’s been nurturing his first sourdough starter, affectionately named “Josh,” for a year—has the following advice: “When experiencing sourdough products, I really enjoy tasting them plain first. No butter, cheese, honey, et cetera. There is a depth of flavor achieved by simple fermentation which sets legit sourdough apart from all other types of bread.”
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“What’s more,” he says for the bakers out there, “your favorite style of bread can most likely be made with sourdough by substituting commercial yeast with some sourdough starter as an ingredient and modifying the process to account for longer fermentation and rise times.”

9. High Fiber Options

Fiber is an important part of any diet, and according to “High In Fiber: Everything You Need To Know About A High Fiber Diet,” a previous piece by HealthyWay, it’s essential to the health of our gut microbiomes. So rather than reaching for a slice of red velvet cake or even a bottle of real pomegranate juice when we need a little something sweet and tangy, we ought to opt for a high-fiber snack, right?

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Registered dietitian Rachel Fine says this isn’t so cut and dry: “When it comes to packaged foods claiming to be high in fiber, it’s important to examine more than just the number on the label.”
She goes on to say that “plant-based, minimally processed foods are going to be your ideal source for naturally occurring intact fibers—such as beans, veggies, whole fruits, and whole grains. These foods offer significantly more nutrition per bite, and there is sufficient research supporting the wide array of health benefits behind intact naturally-occurring fibers.”
“Highly processed foods,” she says, pointing to ice cream treats, high fiber protein bars, and high fiber powders, “contain processed fibers, which are created in a lab from isolated starches. The research behind these fibers remains limited.”
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She also stresses that “processed fibers lack additional nutrients and bioactive substances found in naturally occurring high fiber foods.”
Want a high fiber option that doesn’t contain isolated starches that hail from a lab? Rachel urges you to “compare a grain salad to a highly processed packaged food that is not usually high in fiber, e.g., cakes or brownies. Bottom line: If you’re trying to increase the fiber from your diet, do it from whole food sources.
Need some recipes to get you going? Check out the links in this piece on pulses.

10. Bottled Teas

Tea. It just sounds healthy. But odds are, if you’re reaching for sweetened flavored iced teas to quench your thirst, you’re actually sipping on what the FDA calls a sugar-sweetened beverage, or SSB, which in many cases includes sugar as the second ingredient (after water), along with preservatives and other unidentified natural flavors.

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Snowacinesy (via Wikimedia Commons)

According to a resource from the State of Rhode Island Department of health, “the calories in sugar sweetened beverages can contribute to weight gain and provide little to no nutritional value. …Those extra calories can lead to other health risks including obesity, tooth decay, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.”
Not exactly what you had in mind when you decided on tea rather than soda.
Zoe Kissam, herbalist and marketing manager of innovation at Traditional Medicinals—the most popular seller of wellness teas in the U.S.—says, “Quality matters when you are buying tea. While there currently isn’t an FDA standard definition for products labeled as ‘tea,’ our products fall into the dietary supplement and food categories, which are both highly regulated. In addition to our teas being formulated by herbalists, they also use medicinal grade herbs whenever possible, which simply means that our products deliver on their intended health benefits.”
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Traditional Medicinals

Of course, this isn’t necessarily what you’re getting when you grab a bottle of tea on the run.
Kissam’s advice: “If you are trying to make healthy decisions, it really doesn’t matter if you are purchasing brewed/steeped at home or bottled iced teas. The best thing to do is read the labels so you know what you are getting. There are options for healthy and clean products in most categories—you just have to be conscious about what you are buying.”
Want to ensure you’re consuming the highest-quality iced tea (rather than an SSB)? Kissam says, “We have a range of teas that work really well as iced teas, including Hibiscus, Raspberry Leaf, Green Tea Matcha, Nettle, Stress Ease, and Roasted Dandelion Root.”
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@tradmedicinals/Instagram

Traditional Medicinals even has a recipe for roasted dandelion iced “coffee” that Kissam says is one of her favorites—it’s pictured above.

11. Sugar-Free Snacks

Registered dietician Paige Penick says, “One of the things that drives me nuts is when labels say ‘sugar free’ on the front, because it’s very misleading.”
Working to cut added sugar out of our diets isn’t the problem. Penick says “sugar-free” packaging is deceptive because companies “usually make up for the lack of actual sugar by adding in something artificial, which may or may not give people—to put it nicely—gastrointestinal discomfort. There are more pleasant and healthful ways to address your sugar cravings.”

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The Vermont Department of Public Health hosts a simple and informative resource that can help consumers identify different types of sweeteners in their foods. It also points out that:

There are two types of sweeteners found in food and beverages: sugars and sugar substitutes. Sugars provide calories, or energy, for our bodies and increase blood glucose, as well as overall calorie intake. All carbohydrate-containing foods, such as breads, fruits, vegetables, milk, and yogurt, increase blood sugar, even if they do not have added sugars.

Depending on your nutritional needs and goals, some sugar-free snacks might be right for you, but you may also want to explore options that contain no added sweeteners—sugar or otherwise.

12. Oatmeal

Oatmeal can be an extremely satisfying (and quick) breakfast option. And even if you’re a fan of steel cut or overnight oats, let’s be honest, almost everyone has their favorite flavor of single-serve instant oatmeal, too.

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Mx. Granger (via Wikimedia Commons)

Registered dietitian nutritionist Kelsey Peoples says, “Instant oats come in a massive range of flavors now and often have little bits of fruit like raisins, apples, peaches, and dates.” So what’s the controversy?
“You may want to double check the ingredient list, as those little fruit chunks aren’t always what you’d think. One titan of the oatmeal industry has both Peaches and Cream and Strawberry and Cream [flavors] that use dehydrated apples with coloring and fruit flavoring—but no actual pieces of the fruit listed in the title.”
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The cream? Well, she says that refers to “a ‘creaming agent’ made up of maltodextrin, plant oils, corn syrup solids, whey, and casein.” Looks like it might be best to add your own fresh or dried fruit and cream to plain instant, steel cut, or rolled oats after all.

Categories
Nosh Nutrition x Advice

What Makes Food Taste Better—According To Science

Ever wondered what actually makes food taste good? Obviously, a lot of it depends on the ingredients and preparation, not to mention your personal preferences. But psychological studies have shown a few surprising things that can make a difference. So whether you’re an amateur chef looking to improve, or just interested in the topic, here are a few things you should know about what’s at play when it comes to enjoying a plate of chow.

What you’ve probably suspected is true: When food looks good, it tastes better.

In one study, researchers presented subjects with a salad plated in one of three ways: with the ingredients tossed together, with the ingredients presented neatly, and with the ingredients presented artistically (with the ingredients arranged to mimic a painting by Wassily Kandinsky).

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“Prior to consumption, the art-inspired presentation resulted in the food being considered as more artistic, more complex, and more liked than either of the other presentations,” the paper concluded. “The participants were also willing to pay more for the Kandinsky-inspired plating. Interestingly, after consumption, the results revealed higher tastiness ratings for the art-inspired presentation.”

Novel eating experiences are also more enjoyable.

Ever tried eating popcorn with chopsticks?
As weird as this sounds, research actually shows that you enjoy popcorn more if you eat it with chopsticks. Yes, really! Apparently, eating or drinking something in an unusual way can recreate that feel-good sensation of trying something for the very first time, heightening our enjoyment of its taste (assuming we like it in the first place).

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For a paper published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, researchers asked a group of subjects to do various things—like eating popcorn, drinking water, and watching a movie—in either a totally normal way, or an unconventional, new, and exciting way. They found that people who tried things the unconventional way, like eating popcorn with chopsticks or drinking water out of a martini glass, enjoyed their experiences significantly more.
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“When you eat popcorn with chopsticks, you pay more attention and you are more immersed in the experience,” one of the study’s authors said in a press release. “It’s like eating popcorn for the first time.”

Using a totally new utensil could also make food taste better.

Enter the Goûte. This glass utensil, created by designer Andreas Fabian and chef and scientist Charles Michel, is a kind of wand modeled after the shape of a human finger. It’s designed for creamy foods like yogurt, hummus, Nutella, and peanut butter. Fabian and Michel partnered with Oxford University’s Crossmodal Research Laboratory to see how people reacted to the utensil, and they found that participants in a small study said food tasted “significantly better” when eaten from a Goûte rather than a spoon.
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“Conventional cutlery is a technology we put in our mouths every day, and currently it is only designed with functional purposes,” Michel explained. “We want to offer eating utensils that enrich the sensual pleasures of eating.”
Obviously, a new and novel piece of cutlery is not super appealing to everyone. But think about whether you use things like a honey dipper, soup spoon, seafood fork, or lobster cracker. Using these specialized utensils can be very satisfying, and possibly make your food taste better.

Still, there’s something about eating with the “right” cutlery…

Who wants to eat yogurt with chopsticks? A spoon just makes sense.
But what kind of spoon of spoon should you go for, then? Well, researcher Charles Spence asked people to rate yogurt that they tasted from either an artificially weighted spoon or a lightweight plastic one.

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“The results revealed that yogurt was perceived as denser and more expensive when tasted from a lighter plastic spoon as compared to the artificially weighted spoons,” he wrote in a research paper published in the journal Flavour. The paper goes on to indicate that the right utensil will vary depending on the type of food that’s being served and the experience you’re after.
This definitely makes sense. Think about how food tastes to you when you eat it from paper plates using disposable plastic cutlery versus how it tastes at home or at a restaurant using ceramic plates and metal knives and forks.
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This same logic can also apply to drinks. Have you ever thought that soda tastes different when you drink it from a can versus a paper cup? Or what about the holy grail: the OG glass soda bottle? How about movie theater popcorn from a paper bag versus a sturdy bowl, or ice cream from a cone versus straight out of the carton?

The color of your plate, cup, or mug matters, too.

Researchers from the the Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom served 53 subjects a serving of strawberry mousse on either a black plate or a white plate. Their paper reveals that those served the mousse on a white plate liked it more and rated the mousse as sweeter and more flavorful.
For the most part, restaurants serve their food on white plates—which may well be accentuating the flavor of the food while also making it easier for diners to recognize what they are eating.

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For a paper published in the Journal of Sensory Studies, researchers asked subjects to drink cocoa out of a white, red, orange, or cream mug. “The results revealed that orange (with a white interior) and dark-cream colored cups enhanced the chocolate flavor of the drink and consequently improved people’s acceptance of the beverage,” the researchers wrote.
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This may explain why we all have a “favorite” mug that brings us a little bit of joy every time we take a sip. It also explains the aversion many people have to mugs that are not white on the inside—it affects the color of whatever you’re drinking. Anything that makes my tea look a strange color? Not gonna work for me.

Okay, so we know that the science says. But how can you incorporate of these tricks when serving food to others?

“I always tell my clients that nourishment is a sensory experience,” says Gisela Bouvier, a registered dietitian who focuses on mindful and intuitive eating. “Food, first and foremost, should be visually appealing to them. When they see the food combinations they are about to consume, they should be excited and look forward to the food they are about to eat. Food colors have a lot to do with that. If a meal is too monochromatic, it may not stimulate the senses as much as a meal rich in colors. A combination of colors may make the meal a lot more appealing and therefore more appetizing.”

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Bouvier also says that playing with textures can completely change how someone feels about a certain food.
“When someone is aiming to include more nutrient-dense foods in their daily intake, the texture of their food matters,” she says. “For example: The texture of roasted broccoli versus tender-fork steamed broccoli is significantly different. The slightly crisp texture that occurs from the broccoli being roasted may make a meal a lot more enjoyable to the palate versus a soft-steamed texture of the same vegetable. Further, having different textures in a meal also creates a more enjoyable experience when eating that meal. I always recommend that my clients combine a variety of textures in their meals and snacks, such as crispy, soft, tender, crunchy, and creamy.”
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Rachel Meltzer Warren, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in Jersey City, NJ, suggests other small tweaks you can easily make.
“Top with a sprinkle of fresh herbs,” Meltzer Warren suggests. “Restaurants do this all the time—why not try it at home? Chop a bit of parsley, oregano, or basil and sprinkle on your meal to add intrigue, not to mention nutrients and a burst of fresh flavor.”
Another one of her tips that’s an echo from above? “Use white plates. Having a blank canvas allows the colors of your food to pop and even makes it seem more flavorful.”
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Finally, she suggests playing around with portion size when you’re plating. “Placing one minimal portion of food on the plate allows the food itself to shine; an oversized portion that takes up the whole plate or dish overwhelms the eye and doesn’t show off your food as well,” she says.
When you are thinking about how to make a meal more appealing for yourself or guests, think about aspects of dining that you really enjoy and try to recreate them. For example, if you love the atmosphere of a restaurant, recreate parts of it at home by setting the table, lighting candles, and playing soft jazz or classical music in the background. If you personally enjoy eating from pretty plates or using different knives and forks for each course, go for it.
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And of course, beyond psychology, the quality and freshness of the ingredients in your meal do make a difference. Consider how a farm-fresh summer tomato tastes in comparison to a mealy supermarket tomato that was grown out of season, or what a difference fresh herbs can make compared to their dried counterparts. If you have access to a farmer’s market or seasonal produce stands, make the most of local fare to create fresh, flavorful meals.

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In the Kitchen Nosh

How To Host A Perfect Gluten-Free Holiday Dinner

Sponsored content by Argo.
Hosting a holiday feast for your whole gang can feel intimidating, even when none of your nearest and dearest have dietary restrictions. But making dinner when one or more guests is gluten-free can really throw you. It used to rattle me, and cooking is my career! But I now know making a delicious, entirely gluten-free holiday meal is totally possible, fun, and, dare I say, easy. You just need to stock your pantry smartly and have a few so-delicious-you’ll-never-know-they’re-GF recipes in your back pocket.
I started experimenting with gluten-free holiday recipes years ago, when we discovered my brother had celiac disease (an autoimmune disease that can cause damage to the small intestine in those who eat gluten) and we learned he had to stay away from that protein. We soon realized gluten was in almost everything we ate, including holiday favorites like stuffing, pie, and cookies.
We’ve had many GF feasts since my brother’s diagnosis, and everyone leaves our holiday table happy, grateful, and stuffed. Now I’m sharing my secrets (including a 30-minute recipe for Gluten-Free Sausage-Apple Stuffing Casserole that’s bound to be the star of your holiday spread) so your family can do the same!

Secret #1: Make these smart switcheroos!

You’ll want to take a peek in your pantry and stash problematic foods away while you’re hosting. Gluten-free folks can’t have traditional breads, pastas, pastries, cookies, pie crusts, or crackers. Fortunately, you don’t have to give up baking—more on that later!
You may be surprised to learn soy sauce, gravy, and thick sauces can also contain gluten, as do foods and drinks that have barley, malt, or rye. Even the canned frosting you use on your Christmas cookies may have gluten lurking within.
To avoid laboring over a dish that can’t be enjoyed by everyone at the table, turn to these smart swaps for your holiday staples:

Gluten-Free Pantry Swaps

  • Instead of ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR, try: CORNSTARCH to make a gluten-free baking blend
  • Instead of 2 Tbsp. FLOUR to thicken gravy, try: 1 Tbsp. CORNSTARCH
  • Instead of PIE CRUST, try: a cookie-crumb crust with PACKAGED GF COOKIES
  • Instead of SALAD CROUTONS, try: NUTS or LARGE, TOASTED COCONUT FLAKES for crunch
  • Instead of BREAD for making leftover turkey sandwiches, try: quesadillas made with CORN TORTILLAS
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Tara Teaspoon

Secret #2: Use this super-ingredient in your sauces and sides!

Both stuffing and saucy side dishes are often no-nos for gluten-free guests—the stuffing because of the bread, of course, and the sides because of the flour used to thicken them. With a simple swap, though, you can make your fave sides a-okay for everyone at the table. Argo® corn starch—the ingredient that adds crispy texture to sautéed veggies, structure to pie fillings, and lovely body to crusts and cookies—is a brilliant GF flour replacement for thickening roux and sauces. I keep Argo at the ready for my holiday meals, adding about half as much cornstarch as I would flour. It elevates my recipes into crowd pleasers that no one would ever know are GF.
This season, I used Argo corn starch to create a GF holiday side dish of my dreams. This sausage and apple casserole tastes just like mom’s stuffing with a little gravy drizzled on top. The crunchy, cheesy topping takes the place of crusty breadcrumbs. I added cubes of fennel and squash so everyone gets their veggies in, too.
This casserole gets made in a skillet while the topping bakes in the oven. Have your vegetables chopped, and you’ll be ready to serve it hot in 30 minutes. It’s delicious alongside holiday staples like turkey, roast, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, or my flavorful Brussels Sprouts with Apricots and Pistachios.

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Tara Teaspoon

Gluten-Free Sausage-Apple Stuffing Casserole

Serves: 6 to 8

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients for the Filling:

  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 links sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
  • 1 cup (3 stalks) celery, diced
  • 1 cup (1 medium) onion, diced
  • 1 cup diced apple
  • 1 cup diced fennel
  • 1 cup diced butternut squash
  • 2½ teaspoons kosher salt
  • ½ tsp. garlic powder
  • ½ tsp. dried thyme
  • ½ tsp. mustard powder
  • 1 Tbsp. fresh minced sage (or 1 teaspoon dried)
  • 2½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

Ingredients for the Topping:

  • ¾ cup finely chopped almonds
  • 3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan
  • ½ tsp. paprika
  • 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
  • 3 Tbsp. butter, softened
  • 2 Tbsp. milk

Method:

  1. Heat oven to 350ºF.
  2. In a large non-stick skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
  3. Add sausage and cook, breaking into small pieces, until just browning, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add the celery, onion, apple, fennel, butternut squash, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
  5. In a separate bowl, mix the spices, broth, and cornstarch and add the mixture to the skillet.
  6. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.
  7. Reduce heat and let simmer until vegetables are tender and sauce is thick—about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
  8. Meanwhile, for the topping, mix together the almonds, Parmesan, paprika, cornstarch, butter, and milk until a batter forms.
  9. Spread batter to 1/8” thickness on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (Use another sheet of parchment to flatten the batter onto the pan, then remove the second sheet.)
  10. Bake topping until golden brown—about 15 minutes—while the filling simmers. Remove from the oven.
  11. Remove filling from the heat and stir in grated cheese.
  12. Transfer filling to a 2- or 3-qt casserole dish and spread evenly. Crumble topping and sprinkle over entire casserole. Serve hot.

Secret #3: Make your own easy, GF baking blend.

What’s a holiday dinner without dessert? I’ve come up with some yummy GF sweets over the years, like using GF pretzels for the crust on my Chocolate Covered Pretzel Cream Pie and decorating cookies with a homemade Fluffy Vanilla Frosting since the store-bought kind contains gluten. You can also make GF versions of your favorite, tried-and-true pies, cakes, and cookies by whipping up your own all-purpose flour substitute.
I make this Gluten-Free Flour Mix from Argo in multiple batches at the holidays and keep it airtight for baking days. It gives my cookies and crusts the best texture. Storebought GF flour mixes often have preservatives added, but by making my own version, I know exactly what’s in it—just four ingredients.
Rice flour, potato starch, and xantham gum can be found in the health food section of your supermarket. (Xantham gum may also be in the supplement section of your health food store. It’s a wonderful binding ingredient that acts like the glutinous proteins you’re missing when cooking GF.) Try using this blend instead of the packaged GF flour mix called for in holiday specials like Gluten-Free Sugar Cookie Cutouts and Gluten-Free Pie Crust.
Guaranteed, when your friends and family finally push away from the table, they’ll be asking you for your recipes (and an invite for next year!).

Categories
Nosh

The Truth About How Grocery Stores Are Designed To Make You Buy More Stuff

If you’re like most Americans, you spend a lot of time in your local grocery market.
According to statistics website Statista, the average U.S. consumer goes grocery shopping 1.5 times per week. Those shopping trips are big business: Grocery sales generated over $600 billion in 2015.
To keep you spending, your local grocer employs some nifty marketing tricks. That’s not to say that they’re doing anything shady, exactly.

HealthyWay
J. Emilio Flores/The New York Times

“[Marketing] used to be all about the product, now it’s all about the customer’s experience,” Georganne Bender, partner at Kizer & Bender. Her firm helps retailers design store layouts, market new products, and improve their sales. “Obviously, there’s a benefit to the retailer, but the purpose of it is to make people feel better when they’re in the store and make it easy for them.”
We spoke with Bender to find out about the methods that grocery stores use to keep shoppers moving—and how some of those techniques can compel people to buy things they don’t really need.

The supermarket starts selling as soon as you walk in the door.

Well, to be fair, the selling starts before you walk in the door, since retailers carefully control things like parking space availability to ensure a positive experience. Once you’re in, however, you’ll be immediately presented with a selection of seasonal items.
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“When you go into stores, you’ll see things called merchandise outposts, which are generally tables of merchandise that is somewhere in the aisles of the store,” Bender says, “but because there’s an event or holiday coming up, they bring it out to other areas of the store. It’s called cross-merchandising.”
The merchandise outpost is a type of “speed bump,” and whether or not you buy something, you’ll likely pause for a moment to check out the new items.
“They work the same way speed bumps in parking lots work,” Bender says. “They slow you down. When you walk into a store, you’re thinking about all of the things you have to do for the day, and your list, and you’re getting your kids organized. When you walk in, they want to put something that makes you stop and look.”
If you’re moving more slowly, you’re more prone to making an impulsive purchase or adding a few items to your list.

They put the products they really want you to notice at eye level.

This might not come as a surprise; most parents already know that retailers keep candies and sweet cereals at kids’ eye levels.
[pullquote align=”center”]“Eye level is considered buy level.”
—Georganne Bender[/pullquote]
“When kids walk down the aisle, they see candy and ask Mom for it,” Bender says. Retailers also make sure that adults walk right past the must-see items.
“Eye level is considered buy level,” Bender says. “It’s exactly 5 foot 4 inches, the height of an average woman.”
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Name-brand items are typically the more expensive products in grocery stores, and that’s why they want you to buy them. To help persuade you, stores place these items at eye level so you’re less likely to keep searching the shelves once you see them.
Recently, a new trend called “vertical slicing” has started replacing some eye-level positioning. The retailers lay out items across several shelves in vertical “slices,” which keeps the brand in front of customer’s eyes.

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Melissa Lukenbaugh/The New York Times

“Say there’s a display and it’s got four different kinds of liquid detergent, they’ll put a vertical slice of [each] one. It doesn’t matter which shelf the customer’s looking at, they’re going to see that product.”

They understand that you shop differently if you’re eating healthy.

“We’ve been kind of trained from the time we were little, when we went shopping with our parents, that you grab a shopping cart and you go up and down every aisle,” Bender says.

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“But if you’re eating healthier, there’s a good chance that you don’t go up and down every aisle,” she continues. “You just shop the perimeter.”
Store owners know that, so they’ll place must-see items in “end caps,” which cap off each aisle.
“The end caps [near the] meat department might be something that they don’t want you to miss,” Bender says. “They’ll put the things they don’t want you to miss in areas adjacent to the perimeter, sometimes in the perimeter.”
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If you’re trying to eat healthy, you might want to avoid those end caps entirely. Good luck—they’re designed to grab your attention.

The milk’s in the back, but probably not for the reason you’d expect.

Retailers typically put milk, eggs, and other essentials toward the back of the store. That’s to get people to walk through the entire store to get those must-have items, right?
[pullquote align=”center”]“I tell the retailers to put the milk in the front of the store for the convenience of the customers, and the retailers, typically, ignore my advice.”
—Burt Flickinger[/pullquote]
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Well, not exactly. Milk needs to stay cold (duh), and the freezers and refrigerators are typically in the back. They could build the refrigerators in the front, but they don’t.
Why? NPR’s Planet Money interviewed a few experts to find out, but their results weren’t exactly conclusive.
“I tell the retailers to put the milk in the front of the store for the convenience of the customers, and the retailers, typically, ignore my advice and put the milk in the back of the store where they’ve been putting it for 70 to 80 years,” retail consultant Burt Flickinger told the show.
While grocery store designers carefully plan out every aspect of the shopping experience, they’re creatures of habit just like everyone else. While some might put those necessities in the back as a way of upselling customers, most simply do it because they’ve never considered the alternative.

Many stores have scent machines, and when they don’t, they improvise.

Fragrances can be incredibly compelling to shoppers. Scent marketing services like ScentAir help retailers retain their customers by pumping certain aromas through stores with discreet devices (they offer similar services for casinos and other businesses).
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“It’s called aromacology,” Bender says. “When we smell something, it takes us back immediately to the first place we smelled it. So if you walk through the bakery and smell chocolate chip cookies, there’s a really good chance that that’s going to take you back to being a little kid at home with your mom or Grandma making cookies. Scents make us feel good.”
“That’s why, if the store’s not using a machine like a ScentAir machine, they’ll either have flowers right near the front door, or the bakery’s close to the front door. It puts us in a good mood. ”

That music is nice and upbeat for a reason.

Ever find yourself tapping your toe as you make your way down the aisles? Stores select music very carefully to keep you shopping. They pay hefty music licensing fees to organizations like ASCAP, and many also invest in services like SiriusXM Music for Business, which pipes in carefully tailored playlists to keep shoppers in a good mood.
[pullquote align=”center”]“Disco is the sound of money.”
—Georganne Bender[/pullquote]
“They play music because it’s comforting for you to shop with music,” Bender says, “and the type of store [determines] the type of music they play. When Rich [Kizer] and I are designing stores, we always tell them to play upbeat music like disco.”
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Yes, you read that right: disco.
“Disco is the sound of money,” she says. “It doesn’t matter how old you are, the beat makes you feel good. You’ll stay longer in the store, and you’ll spend more.”
We’ve never heard disco described as “the sound of money,” but somehow, that sounds about right.
Some major retail chains are trying to change this tactic. For decades, Target hasn’t played background music, possibly because they target mothers with young children who might appreciate the peace and quiet. Recently, the chain started introducing music in some stores in an effort to revive its sales.
“When you go into those stores, it’s too quiet,” Bender says. “If the store isn’t busy and you’re walking around a giant store and there’s no sound at all.”

They don’t redesign the store just to throw you off.

One common myth suggests that grocery stores undergo redesigns just to change their regular customers’ shopping habits. Bender says that while some retailers might occasionally reorganize their products to sell them more effectively, they try to avoid massive changes—and they certainly try to make those changes easy on their customers.
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“Our grocery store just did a complete re-lay, and it really messes you up for a while until you learn it again,” she says. “We become accustomed to where things are, and that’s why people become so loyal to their favorite grocery store. They know where everything is.”
Some stores try to make re-designs easier by positioning staff members at the end of each aisle. Bender notes that one store even handed out maps to visitors.

So there you have it: the truth about why grocery stores are the way they are.

Are they designed with profits in mind? Sure. But is it nefarious? Eh, not quite.
“[A lot of people] try to make retailers out to be these bad guys who just want your money,” Bender says. “They’re not. They’re just business people who want their customers to have a comfortable experience.”

Speaking of buying things and customer comfort: There are ways you can hack your shopping experience.

Starting off with a list—extra points if it has built-in visual cues, like a full spread of items that you can mark throughout the week as you run out—is a great way to streamline the process since you can generate the list as you go, and it’ll keep you from making any impulse buys once you’re in the store.
If you want to help save the planet, bring your own eco-friendly shopping bag (or bags, let’s be honest), and if you have a grabby baby in tow, you can help distract them from all those strategically placed, eye-level goodies by plopping them in something like this Brica Go Shop Baby Shopping Cart Cover, which comes equipped with toy loops and a smartphone pouch.
Finally, having a place in your trunk to store cold items for the drive and organize the groceries once you buy them can mean the difference between eggs and cracked eggs, ice cream and just cream—these are important distinctions, especially when your schedule or your budget won’t allow two-a-day grocery trips.

Categories
Nosh

Foods You’d Never Suspect Of Causing Foodborne Illness (And How To Avoid It)

Let us begin with a scene I call “The Ghost of Foodborne Illness Past.”
You’re at what looks to be a swanky new restaurant and you order the special: shrimp ceviche. It looks magical. Music is definitely playing in the background when you snap the perfect photo and post online (#foodie!). Sure, the shrimp might smell slightly off, but it tastes even better than it looks.
Fast-forward to the present and you’re pretty sure you won’t survive to see beyond the four walls of your bathroom. All kinds of ungodly things have taken place that you are definitely not ready to talk about.

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This, my friend, is the disarraying rollercoaster that is foodborne illness.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 48 million people get sick from food in the U.S. each year. “Remember, bacteria are not visible to the human eye, and there could easily be enough to give you a full-blown case of food poisoning, even if everything looks, smells, and tastes fine,” says Kristin Koskinen, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in Washington.
If only you had known what to look for. If only you could go back in time. We feel you, and we’re here to help. Consider this your primer on risky foods and tips for avoiding this travesty altogether.

Foodborne Illness for the Uninitiated

Let’s rewind and cover the basics. Foodborne illness occurs when a person ingests food that has been contaminated or has been prepared or stored in a way that allowed existing pathogens to survive and multiply. “The initial bout of foodborne illness can be life-threatening, depending on the pathogen and the person,” says Koskinen.

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According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of foodborne illness (that you’re probably well acquainted with by now) include nausea, vomiting, watery or bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain or cramps, and fever. And any of these can last from a few hours to several days. However, if you find yourself with an oral temperature higher than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius), it’s time to seek medical attention.
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Also be on the lookout for signs of dehydration (including dry mouth and little or no urination) or symptoms like blurry vision and muscle weakness.

What are the causes?

Foodborne illness can come from pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, or molds, as well as contaminants such as dust with heavy metals, chemicals, or other toxins. Some of the most common forms of foodborne illness come from norovirus, salmonella, listeria, Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter, and Staphylococcus aureus. “People with compromised immune systems, young children, the elderly, and pregnant women are more susceptible to food poisoning,” Koskinen notes.

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Assuming you live to tell the tale, you may end up with long-lasting effects from the infection, she adds. While we’ve all experienced the unpleasantness of the occasional stomach bug, foodborne illness can pose some serious risks ranging from kidney failure and brain damage to death. In fact, Foodsafety.gov reports that in the U.S. alone, approximately 3,000 people die each year of illnesses associated with foodborne illness.

The Usual Suspects

“Many people think of undercooked poultry or potato salad left in the summer sun as top food sources of foodborne illness,” says Koskinen.
But the truth is a lot shadier.
“The thing about foodborne illness is that all foods are possible carriers,” she insists. “If not because they are breeding grounds for microorganisms, but due to cross contamination.”
For example, bread is typically considered a safe food. However, invisible mold spores from one piece may contaminate other pieces without any fuzzy evidence. 

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Likewise, if you handle contaminated raw meat and then touch an otherwise ready-to-serve item, the ready-to-serve item is now contaminated.
Still, some foods have a worse rap than others, which is why we’ve broken it down for you with this handy list of a few common risky foods to look out for:

Poultry

You probably guessed this immediately—and for good reason. The harbinger of multiple bacteria types, raw poultry can become contaminated with salmonella or Campylobacter.

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Eating an undercooked bird (or even digesting its juices) puts you at risk for foodborne illness.  Stay on the safe side by employing these four simple steps when handling and preparing poultry.

Eggs

What came first, the salmonella or the egg? While we may never know the answer, one thing’s for sure: Finding out ain’t no walk in the park. The CDC warns that a normal-looking egg can be the culprit for making you really, really sick.

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But take heart, you can reduce your risk by cooking eggs to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 degrees Celcius) or hotter, refrigerating them promptly after cooking, and making sure to wash your hands and basically all the things that came into contact with them afterward.

Cheese

Raise your hand if you’re starting to feel personally attacked. Turns out our favorite food comes with a high risk for listeria. Brie, camembert, ricotta, and feta all sound delicious but can be huge risk factors, especially for pregnant women.

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Even a mild infection can cause miscarriage or premature birth.

Berries

Before you pop another unwashed berry in your mouth, consider this: A dime-sized morsel can be your downfall.
There’s a reason your mom was always yelling at you to wash your fruit before eating—the little suckers have been linked to a germ called Cyclospora, which causes severe diarrhea, dehydration, and cramps.

Raw Seafood

Not to scare you off your next ceviche, but it turns out some deadly Vibrio infections are associated with eating raw shellfish (sushi lovers take heed: Your favorite treat may carry parasites and liver flukes).

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Even scarier? According to WebMD, there’s no specific cure available for shellfish poisoning, and antibiotics don’t shorten the illness. Meaning…I’m out.

Foods You’d Never Expect to Cause Foodborne Illness

Melons

When not properly washed before slicing, this tasty fruit can become contaminated with salmonella.

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In fact, pre-cut melon sold in clear, plastic containers accounted for over sixty cases of salmonella outbreak earlier this year as reported by Alix Langone at Time.

Romaine Lettuce

While you’re fretting about the potato salad or ground beef at your friend’s BBQ, romaine lettuce is yet another thing to add to your list of concerns.
The leafy vegetable was recently associated with five deaths and numerous illnesses caused by E. coli infections.

Deli Meats

Not-so-fun fact: listeria or Staphylococcus aureus can occur after factory cooking or at the deli counter (I mean, are there any safe foods?). Turns out, the bacteria that causes listeriosis live in soil or animal intestines and can contaminate food.

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If you think that is way more info than you needed to know—you would be right. Heat up all your meats, basically.

Raw Sprouts

You probably have a box of these stashed in your fridge somewhere (especially if you’ve recently hopped onto the healthy-eating bandwagon) but here’s something you should know: They’ve been known to carry salmonella, E. coli, and listeria. It’s like the jackpot of risky foods. In other words, be afraid, be very afraid. All kidding aside: Cook before you eat.

Ready-to-Eat Foods

Restaurant goers beware: Your favorite menu items can easily be contaminated with norovirus. The most commonly contaminated prepared foods, according to Koskinen, include salads, sandwiches, ice, cookies, and fruit. This is just another reason to be picky about which establishments you choose to frequent.

Meat and Poultry Products Like Stews, Casseroles, and Gravy

These staples are linked to institutional-style food service, like what you might see in cafeteria or banquet settings, explains Koskinen. When made in large batches and kept warm for too long before serving, these products may include a helping of Clostridium perfringens.

Signs to Look Out For

Koskinen warns us against relying on obvious tell-tale signs to determine when foods have gone bad (e.g. off color, off smell, a furry coat of mold). “It’s foolish to depend on your senses to decide if a pathogenic overgrowth has happened.”

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Similarly, we shouldn’t buy into the belief that refrigeration and freezing kill bacteria. They don’t. “Refrigeration and freezing simply slow down the pathogen reproduction,” she explains. “Freezing slows it down more, which is why we can keep foods longer in the freezer than the refrigerator, and why you can get food poisoning from foods left in the refrigerator too long.”
So what then is the key to knowing whether your meal is safe or not? According to Koskinen, we should look to our local newspaper to find out if any restaurants have been flagged by the health department. “I follow which restaurants are issued infractions and what those infractions are.”
Keep an eye out for establishments that have been cited for having limited access to a hand washing sink or with no soap at the sink. If you aren’t privy to a health department report, you can get a feel for whether a food purveyor’s prioritizing sanitation by the way they keep the rest of the restaurant. Dirty restrooms or dining areas are a good indicator that things may not be as clean as they should be in the kitchen, Koskinen notes.
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Overall, she asks us to keep in mind that “quality restaurants are obsessive about cleanliness, as not only the safety of their guests, but their reputations depend on it.”
Needless to say, any signs of vermin should be a red flag. (In other words, RUN.)

Tips for Avoiding Foodborne Illness.

While you can never get back those precious hours of life back, there are a few things you can do to avoid another 12-hour bathroom fiasco:

Wash your hands.

Always wash your hands before you eat or prepare food. Also, remember to wash thoroughly before cooking, and even more often if you’re dealing with raw meats or produce.

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“Thorough hand washing means using soap and warm water,” Koskinen insists, stressing that any wanna-be cooks should remember to wash the fronts, backs, palms, between the fingers and under the nails for 20 seconds or more. “Sing the ABC song as a good guideline of what 20 seconds is,” she says.

Cook foods thoroughly.

Especially meats (even more important for those who like their steaks on the rare side). Also, remember to use this chart provided by the CDC for safe food-cooking temperatures. Be sure to keep hot food hot and cold food cold.

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“Hot food should be kept at 140 degrees or warmer, cold foods at 40 degrees or cooler,” Koskinen says. “Anything else puts your food in the ‘Danger Zone,’ which is where bacteria most rapidly multiply.”

Store properly.

Keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs separate from ready-to-eat foods. This means not storing raw animal proteins directly above the latter in the fridge.

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Food should be stored within two hours of being served, but that time goes down to one hour if service is outside and the ambient temperature is 90 degrees or warmer.

Be proactive.

So you’ve survived to tell the tale of your food poisoning misfortunes—now what? Aside from becoming a restaurant-hermit for the next few months, you can opt to pay it forward (your new-found wisdom, that is). The CDC has outlined a few key ways you can help prevent future foodborne disease outbreaks, namely, by reporting your illness to our Health Department, speaking to your health care provider, and keeping track of what you ate and did before getting sick (gather food receipts and sharing this info with investigators).

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All of this sounds well and good, but if you’re still feeling wary of ever dining out again, remember this: the best treatment is prevention and trusting your gut (if the ceviche smells off, please don’t eat it). Or as Koskinen puts it: “When in doubt, throw it out. A bit of leftover picnic food for lunch isn’t worth a trip to the hospital.”
I think we can all heartily agree with that logic.

Categories
Favorite Finds Nosh

37 Amazingly Useful Kitchen Accessories For Under $25 That Are Worth Every Penny

We all know we need to cook more—it’s healthier, cheaper, and just generally better for you. That being said, sometimes it’s hard to get yourself in the kitchen to whip up a nice meal when you’re tired from a full day of work and parenting (or a long day of relaxing, we don’t judge).
Fortunately, thanks to the power of Amazon, we’ve discovered an array of cooking tools and accessories that make us excited to get back in front of the stove to create some culinary delights.

1. Give yourself an extra hand (or two) in the kitchen.

A good set of tongs is like having an extra set of hands when you’re cooking, and with these Polar Pantry tongs, you get double the help for the price of a single pair. These tongs have turquoise silicone-tipped points, which means they won’t scratch your bakeware, dinnerware, or delicate wooden or ceramic dishes.

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Amazon

Make easy work of flipping meat and poultry, tossing salads, mixing pasta with sauce, grabbing hot things out of the oven, and wilting greens—all while adding a stylishly bright pop of color to your kitchenware!
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E5APHYO”]Premium Silicone Kitchen Tongs 2-Pack, $13.84 from Amazon[/link-button]

2. Discover a new use for beeswax and eliminate the need for plastic wrap.

Give these delightfully twee beeswax wraps from Beetome a try and feel good about saving the bees and helping the environment at the same time. Designed to adhere directly to food and to seal leftovers in containers, these wraps work best when they’re at room temperature (when they’re at their most malleable). Naturally anti-mold and antibacterial, beeswax wrap can be rinsed with cold water and used repeatedly.

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Amazon

Beeswax wrap can be used to preserve all kinds of foods, but since it’s a highly breathable substance, it’s particularly effective when used to wrap cheese in place of plastic wrap or cheese paper for storage.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DBZB6NB”]Reusable Beeswax Wrap, $17.56 from Amazon[/link-button]

3. Stop horsing around with pasta measurements.

Cooking too much pasta seems to be a universal problem, especially if you’re trying to make pasta for one or two people. This whimsical little pasta measurer couldn’t be easier to use and it lets you know exactly how much dry pasta is needed based on the number of people eating. Plus, the more you use this little gadget, the more likely you’ll be able to eyeball pasta measurements (although you may find yourself reaching for the I Could Eat A Horse pasta measurer out of sheer appreciation for its cuteness).

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Amazon

Capable of measuring up to four portions of spaghetti, this adorable measuring tool also comes in a T-Rex-themed version (perfect for any dinosaur and pasta-loving people in your life).
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DDRSYUA”]I Could Eat a Horse Spaghetti Noodle Pasta Measurer Tool, $11.95 from Amazon[/link-button]

4. An Extra-Safe Mandoline for All Your Slicing Needs

If you’ve ever wondered how food bloggers and stylists get their veggies looking picture-perfect, the answer is (drumroll please) a mandoline slicer. This affordable mandoline slicer is a particularly impressive model thanks to its numerous safety features and the fact that it will drastically cut-down (get it?) on prep time.

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With three interchangeable stainless steel blades, this mandoline can grate, slice, and julienne with ease. This deluxe set includes a spiralizer, a cheese grater, a straight blade, a julienne blade, and a cut-resistant glove (mandolines have infamously razor-sharp blades).
Use this mandoline slicer from Prep Naturals to make homemade coleslaws and other chopped salads, quick pickles, crudites, homemade vegetable chips, grain bowls, ramen dishes, and pie fillings.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-Mandoline-Slicer-Spiralizer-Vegetable/dp/B07FZL4C54″]Adjustable Mandoline Slicer, $19.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

5. A Kitchen Timer That Keeps On Ticking

If you’ve ever used your phone as a cooking timer, you’ve probably also had the misfortune of not hearing the alarm on your phone go off, leaving you with an overcooked, inedible waste of food that had to be thrown out. Avoid future kitchen disasters with this stainless steel kitchen time from LEMEGO, a mechanical timer that doesn’t require batteries or a power outlet to work.

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Amazon

Made of attractive durable stainless steel, this timer can be set for any amount of time between 0 and 60 minutes and has an alarm that’s loud enough to be heard in another room.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072MN3ZH2″]LEMEGO Stainless Steel Manual Kitchen Timer, $9.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

6. A Super Stack of Super Useful Items

Consolidate the contents of your cupboard with this impressive stack of nesting baking essentials from Vremi. This 13-piece set contains a large mixing bowl with a non-skid bottom, a colander, a fine-mesh sieve, a bowl with a pouring spout, measuring cups, and a standalone keyring of measuring spoons (all measuring equipment is marked with both imperial and metric increments). Made of BPA-free, dishwasher-safe sturdy plastic, this nesting stack of versatile culinary equipment will save valuable kitchen space (as well as all the money needed to buy the pieces individually).

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Amazon

Looking for gift ideas? This nesting set is a natural for weddings, first apartments, and new homeowners.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GVMW044″]Vremi 13 Piece Mixing Bowl Set With Handle, $18.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

7. An Elegant Bento Box For Everyday Use

There are many benefits to bringing your own lunch to work; it’s easier on the wallet, gives you far more healthy options, and reduces the waste inherent to pre-packaged foods. You’re a mature adult with sophisticated taste and it’s officially time to leave the brown bags behind and graduate to this stylish bento box from GRUB2GO. Composed of two leak-proof sections that are perfectly sized for healthy portions, this bento is microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safe.

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This bento box also comes with a single set of utensils, an elastic strap to prevent potential leaks, and an e-book featuring plenty of bento inspiration to get you started.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014EX3672″]Japanese Traditional Bento Box by GRUB2GO, $22.95 from Amazon[/link-button]

8. This Cheerful Set of Blue Mugs

Looking for some flower power in the kitchen? These beautifully patterned mugs are a surefire way to serve some much-needed cheer and warmth on early mornings before work. Whether you’re a fan of coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or matcha (hello gorgeous!), these mugs are elegant enough for company but also casual enough for everyday use.

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Amazon

For best results, handwash these Nicola Spring patterned mugs with a mild detergent and a non-abrasive cloth to maintain their vibrant color and keep them free from accidental chips and breakage.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XKZSSD7″]Blue and White Floral Design Tea & Coffee Mug, $24.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

9. A 3-Pack of Knives You’ll Want to Use All the Time

If you already own a chef’s knife and a serrated knife, this compact 3-piece knife set from Ecotony will complete your inventory of necessary cutlery (just remember to keep them sharpened). This set includes a paring knife, a peeling knife, and a longer utility knife; the bright green handles add a pop of color to your knife collection and are ergonomically designed for easy use.

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Don’t underestimate the importance of small knives! They can be used to peel and finely dice stringy vegetables, remove the seeds from tomatoes, slice cheese and charcuterie for a cheeseboard, and most importantly, they’re an essential tool for recreating Chef Jacques Pépin’s lion teeth and tiny pigs from lemons at home.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0754HY1JY”]Ecotony Pro 3 Piece Kitchen Paring Knife Set, $17.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

10. Get your caffeine fix at home for a fraction of the cost.

In case you’re a millennial and haven’t heard, your out of control coffee spending habits (and affinity for avocado toast) are ruining any chances you might have of future financial success. But don’t panic, this Bodum’s for you! Less expensive, easier to use, and faster than an electronic coffee maker, a French press is a fantastic way to drink as much coffee as you’d like without putting a significant dent in your wallet (or retirement savings).

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This particular Bodum makes 34 ounces of coffee (or loose tea) which is the perfect amount for two people (or, if you’re like me, one caffeine lover).
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00430C92U”]Bodum Brazil French Press Coffee Maker 34 Ounces, $17.95 from Amazon[/link-button]

11. A Sheet Pan That Can Do It All

Buy one, two, or even three of these incredibly useful Bellemain sheet pans for your kitchen and get ready to use them for all kinds of kitchen projects. Made from extra-strong aluminum, these sheet pans evenly distribute heat and won’t warp (a common problem with too-thin baking sheets). These sheet pans aren’t non-stick, so you’ll need to make sure they’ve been greased or lined with a Silpat, parchment paper, or aluminum foil before using.

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Amazon

These rimmed pans are ideal for sheet pan dinners, whole chicken and other large cuts of meats, cookies, meringues, bars, broiled or baked fish, and roasted vegetables.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AGQ027S”]Bellemain Heavy Duty Aluminum Half Sheet Pan, $14.50 from Amazon[/link-button]

12. A Hand Blender That Fits In Your Kitchen Drawer

The season of comforting, creamy soups is almost upon us, and this powerful little hand blender from OXA Smart will help the soup-making process go that much smoother. Forget waiting until your unblended soup has cooled down before messily transferring it to a regular, stand-up blender and switch to pureeing ingredients directly in the stockpot. This hand blender can also work its magic with individual smoothies, makes quick work of pesto, and whips up a delicious chunky salsa or tomato sauce in seconds.

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This hand blender also comes with a whisk attachment, which means you can give your arms a rest the next time you make whipped cream, meringue, or hollandaise sauce.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076GW89V9″]OXA Smart Powerful 2-in-1 Hand Blender, $19.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

13. A Surprising Kitchen Tool the Professionals Swear By

Anyone who works in a professional kitchen will tell you the importance of having a dry side towel (or two) handy at all times. Side towels can be used to maintain a strong grip, grab hot handles and dishes, and dry your hands. Several years ago, I had an accident involving a dull knife and an uneven cutting board that resulted in several stitches on my middle finger; I now take the precaution of placing a damp kitchen towel under the cutting board to prevent slippage (and I keep my knives sharp).

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Amazon

These basic flour-sack kitchen towels from Utopia Kitchen can also be used to dry and store greens (gently roll up and store in the crisper), to tidy up portioned food before serving, and for general kitchen cleaning.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XK69NRW”]Utopia Kitchen 12 Pack Flour-Sack Towels, $16.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

14. Protect yourself from burns with these extra-long oven mitts.

Made from flexible silicone that’s heat-resistant up to 450 degrees, these oven mitts will protect your skin from burns if you’re removing food from a hot oven, grabbing multiple scalding dishes at once, barbecuing, or draining large pots of steaming pasta. Lined with a quilted cotton-polyester blend and available in seven different colors to suit any taste (or kitchen color scheme), these extra-long mitts are a wise investment for any home cook.

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Amazon

To clean, remove the cloth lining, hand wash, and hang to dry; the silicone shell can be easily washed in the dishwasher.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WUDQ61W”]Extra Long Professional Silicone Oven Mitts, $11.97 from Amazon[/link-button]

15. Show off your colorful side with this whimsical serving tray.

With its bright chevron pattern, this serving platter from French Bull will add a funky pop of vivid color to any dinner party. Made from scratch- and shatter-resistant melamine, this tray is perfect for people who seemingly break dishes just by looking at them (not that I would know anything about that), so go ahead and use this tray outdoors if you’re barbecuing, camping, or having a picnic.

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Amazon

If you’re looking for the full psychedelically patterned dishware experience, French Bull also makes appetizer dishes, soft cheese and dip spreaders, and serving spoons.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/French-Bull-Rectangular-Platter-Dinnerware/dp/B079KLLHHN/”]19” Melamine Platter, $15.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

16. Make muffins and more with this versatile tin.

Baking is definitely not my favorite thing (at least, having to do the baking itself, I obviously love eating baked goods) but I use my muffin tins ALL. THE. TIME. Some of my favorite uses include making miniature versions of the following entrees: crustless quiche, meatloaf, lasagna, shepherd’s pie, and vegetable gratin. I also use my muffin tins to hard boil eggs for a crowd, make puff pastry or egg roll wrapper appetizer nests, and set frozen yogurt bites with granola.

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Amazon

This muffin tin from USA Pan is coated with Americoat non-stick silicone coating, which also happens to be PTFE, PFOA and BPA free. Treat this muffin tin like you would any non-stick product, using a non-abrasive sponge or dishcloth and mild detergent to clean.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001IANICS”]USA Pan Bakeware Cupcake and Muffin Pan, $19.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

17. Use this mat to protect yourself when standing.

If you’re like me and you spend a significant amount of time standing in the kitchen, an anti-fatigue mat is one piece of equipment your entire body will thank you for. This NewLife anti-fatigue mat is five-eighths of an inch thick and made from non-skid ergonomic foam, which provides support for your feet, calves, hips, and back while you’re preparing food or doing the dishes.

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Those who spend a lot of time in the kitchen will also advise wearing supportive shoes (there’s actually a good reason why professional cooks wear Crocs and it has nothing to do with controversial fashion choices). When you’re working, make sure you move around as much as possible—even gentle foot and leg movements help with blood circulation and muscle soreness.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MVYIADM”]NewLife by GelPro Anti-Fatigue Kitchen Floor Mat, $24.97 from Amazon[/link-button]

18. Catch the cast iron wave.

One of the most useful pieces of cookware of all time, cast iron pans can be used to roast meat and vegetables, make Dutch pancakes, frittatas, and paella, and are quite possibly the absolute best tool for reheating pizza ever. At 12” in diameter, this pre-seasoned Calphalon cast iron pan is the right size for almost any kitchen project.

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Cast iron cookware can last a lifetime, so it’s important to take good care of your skillet by following proper cleaning, seasoning, and storage protocol.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L4771OG”]Calphalon Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Cookware, $23.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

19. The Only Non-Stick Product You’ll Ever Need

There’s a reason that Silpat’s non-stick baking mats are beloved by professional chefs and bakers all over the world: They’re durable, reliable, and can withstand an impressive range of temperatures (from -40 to 482 degrees Fahrenheit). Made from food-grade silicone, Silpat baking mats eliminate the need for parchment paper, aluminum foil, and greasing agents such as oil or cooking spray.

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Whether you’re baking chicken breasts, broiling fish, roasting vegetables, or baking cookies, Silpat non-stick mats will prevent the frustrating problem of stuck-on foods. Silpat mats can be cleaned with hot soapy water, or do as I do and wash them upright in the dishwasher propped up between some tall plates or cutting boards.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008T960″]Silpat Premium Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat, $16.48 from Amazon[/link-button]

20. A Cute Apron for Every Body

If you’ve ever splattered tomato sauce all over the front of a favorite white shirt or doused your black pants in flour, you’ll appreciate this functional and adorable option from DII. Made from 100 percent machine-washable cotton and available in several different patterns and colors, this apron has extra-long 36” straps, making it a great fit for almost everybody (literally).

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Fans of matching kitchen accessories will be pleased to discover that DII offers the same prints across a wide variety of products, including tea towels, tablecloths, and oven mitts.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N3AI60X”]DII Cotton Adjustable Buffalo Check Plaid Apron, $13.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

21. The Magical Dishwand That Will Make Kitchen Cleanup a Snap

I freely admit there was a time when I doubted the total awesomeness of Scotch-Brite dishwands. How life-changing can a sponge on a dish soap-filled handle really be? As it turns out, very. Is hand-washing dishes easier and more efficient? Absolutely (although a word to the wise, sticky melted cheese can quickly ruin a dishwand, so let it cool and peel it off the dish before washing). After the dishes are done, you can use the dishwand to scrub your sink. Sprinkle baking soda over the sink first for a deep clean.

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These dishwands aren’t strictly for the kitchen. I like to fill the extra handle with equal parts dish soap and white vinegar and use it as a shower and tub cleaner, too. The dishwand can be left in the shower and used to quickly give the area a once-over every other day or so, and this can also be repeated in the bathroom sink and along the countertops—just wipe any soap residue away with a damp towel.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CT42K2V”]Scotch-Brite Heavy Duty Dishwands, $14.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

22. A Knife Sharpener That Does It All

There are many good reasons to keep your knife blades sharp, but according to the American Knife & Tool Institute, safety should be your first priority, “Sharp blades are actually safe blades. It takes less energy to make a cut with a sharp blade.” If your knives are in really rough shape, it’s wise to take them to the professionals for an initial sharpening, but after that, you can keep up the maintenance with this easy-to-use sharpener from TIDALY.

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Amazon

This ergonomically designed sharpener has a non-stick cushion on its base, making it extra-safe to use for at-home sharpenings. The three different sharpening slots are meant to be used in succession; the first slot works to repair and straighten blades, the second slot helps maintain shape, and the third slot is meant to give the blade a final polish.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GBTLN95″]TIDALY Kitchen Knife Sharpener, $12.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

23. A Humble Microplane (That Can Do Almost Anything)

Use this coarse microplane to finely grate aromatics or to rub them into a thick paste (this is especially useful when making salad dressings, marinades, and stir-fry sauces). The fine teeth on this microplane can work its magic on entire lemons, limes, and any other citrus fruits in under 30 seconds, leaving you with delicate ribbons of pungent, pith-free zest.

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What else can you do with a microplane? For starters, you can shave chocolate directly onto desserts and hot drinks, grate a miniscule amount of fresh nutmeg over cheese sauces, and offer the tableside experience of freshly grated hard cheese the next time it’s pasta night.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/Microplane-38000-Professional-Coarse-Grater/dp/B00009WE3Y”]Microplane 38000 Professional Coarse Grater, $14.49 from Amazon[/link-button]

24. The Tumbler Most Trusted By Restaurants

A restaurant industry darling for decades, Duralex is the original inventor of tempered glass (tempered glass is 2.5 times stronger than regular glass and if it does break, the pieces are rounded and less likely to cause an accident). I can personally testify to the strength of these glasses, having dropped them numerous times onto my stone kitchen floor only to have them bounce right back, free of any chips. Duralex glasses are also non-porous, which means they’re less likely to harbor bacteria and lingering smells.

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Safe for the microwave, dishwasher, and refrigerator, these chic tumblers are also resistant to thermal shock (which means you don’t have to worry as much about pouring ice-cold water into a still-hot glass straight from the dishwasher).
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KRABXEK”]Duralex Picardie High Ball Tumblers, $23.49 from Amazon[/link-button]

25. Use this holder to keep your place and prop up recipes.

We’ve all been there, carefully following a recipe from a beloved recipe book only to have the book snap shut mid-instruction. Instead of overextending the spine and marking the pages with food-stained hands, let this recipe holder from Greenco do the work for you (ditto for following recipes on your iPad or tablet).

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Made of lightweight bamboo, this attractive holder folds into a compact rectangle and can be filed away with cutting boards and lids when it’s not in use. If the stand itself bears a few cake batter casualties, it can be washed with warm water and a gentle dish detergent.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019QRHRP8″]Greenco Bamboo Foldable Recipe Holder, $11.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

26. A Beautiful Teapot With a Built-In Infuser

If you love a good morning or afternoon cuppa, this beautiful teapot will add a touch of elegance to your teatime ritual. Rather than having to fiddle with tea balls and strainers, this teapot from Hiware has a stainless steel infuser built directly into the pot. While this teapot can technically go through the dishwasher on the top rack, the manufacturer recommends hand-washing whenever possible to prevent breakage (although this teapot does come with a two-year warranty).

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As a collector of gourmet loose teas, this gorgeous teapot has brewed countless comforting cups of tea for myself and my guests. For a super-special treat, I’ll brew some of my very special (and very pricey) British Rose Pouchong tea, a delicate floral blend that is rumored to have been a favorite of Princess Diana’s.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZOLU1VI”]Hiware Glass Teapot and Infuser, $13.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

27. Get your groove on while you’re cooking.

While technically not a kitchen appliance, this sleek little Bluetooth speaker from Anker gets a ton of use while I’m cooking. Available in five different colors and finishes, I’m always grateful for some auditory entertainment when I’m doing dishes or cooking, especially when I’m tending to time-consuming dishes like risotto, ratatouille, and prep for stir-fries.

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When I’m not getting inspired by The Kitchen Sisters Present podcast from Radiotopia (or any other of my favorite entertaining foodie podcasts) I listen to audiobooks, music, and guided mindfulness exercises.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E6ZLLPW”]Anker SoundCore Bluetooth Speaker, $16.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

28. This retro-chic pitcher is perfect for iced tea.

Have you been keeping an eye out for a vintage-inspired pitcher with modern-day features? Look no further than this 68-ounce diamond pattern glass jug, which can safely hold liquids up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (meaning ice tea can be made directly in the pitcher with boiling water—no more waiting around for 24-hour cold brew).

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Amazon

If you’re a fan of big-batch cocktails containing plenty of fresh fruit, herbs, and ice cubes, this pitcher from JCPKitchen will allow you to serve concoctions of all kinds in style thanks to its filtered mouth (you can also flip the top up so the pitcher’s wide open).
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071HJ692V”]Borosilicate Glass Pitcher with Lid, $24.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

29. Serve cheese in style (and with minimal crumbling).

Cheese and charcuterie boards are definitely having a moment thanks to social media, and this serving kit from Proper Goods will have you rushing to the nearest deli or cheese shop to make your own. While the whole chalk-on-slate look has been popular for the past couple of years, there’s actually a very practical reason why chalk labels are preferable to upright cheese labels: Sticking a cheese flag into a crumbly piece of fromage will likely cause the entire block to collapse.

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Amazon

Large enough to accommodate three to four pieces of cheese plus additional accouterments, this kit also makes a thoughtful gift for your cheese-loving friends.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0749DJ8L8″]Slate Cheese Board Serving Set, $16.49 from Amazon[/link-button]

30. Toaster Bags

If you’ve ever come across the popular grilled cheese hack on social media that involves melting cheese on bread with the toaster tipped sideways and felt tempted to try it, don’t. Instead, buy a 12-pack of toaster bags from Kitchemy and make as many toaster-grilled sandwiches as you’d like!

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Each non-stick bag can be reused up to 50 times and—in addition to making grilled sandwiches—can also be leveraged when heating up leftovers in the toaster, microwave, toaster oven, or panini maker as they can withstand heat up to 500 degrees.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072FGB1ZK”]12-Pack of Toaster Bags, $14.87 from Amazon[/link-button]

31. Get your pantry in order with these sleek bag clips.

Say goodbye to that ever-expanding collection of stray rubber bands you’ve been using to secure bags and say hello to these sleek stainless steel clips from DanziX. Stale chips, spilled coffee grounds, and exploding bags of not-quite-sealed rice will be a thing of the past when you have a collection of these clips handy. I also like to use these all-purpose clips to keep newer or not-as-frequently used recipe books open to the correct page (while they’re propped up on my foldable stand).

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Amazon

With many reviewers saying these are the best clips ever invented, there’s no reason to rely on iffy closure methods any longer!
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/DanziX-Stainless-Durable-Coffee-Kitchen/dp/B075GKMB3Z”]DanziX 10-Pack Stainless Steel Bag Clips, $10.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

32. Discover a magnetic method for organizing your spices.

One of the best kitchen storage solutions ever invented, these magnetic spice tins from Nosiva are a godsend for spice storage. Not only do the magnetic tins keep your spices tidy, but they also help prevent accidental overstock (I’m currently guilty of having four bags of ground cumin in my cupboards at this very moment). With 96 pre-printed spice labels and 24 blank labels for custom blends and rare spices, this kit will forever change the way you organize your herbs and spices.

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Amazon

These tins can also be used outside of the kitchen and are ideal for storing small office supplies and toiletries (stick them to magnetic surfaces such as filing cabinets or the back of your medicine cabinet).
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076P82LYR”]Magnetic Spice Tins, $23.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

33. Never deal with too-cold butter again.

Trying to spread ice-cold butter on toast is one of life’s greatest frustrations (okay, not really, but it is annoying). You can keep your butter at room temperature without worrying about spoilage thanks to these charming butter dishes from Sweese. They’re available in six vibrant hues and are sealed with a beautiful beechwood lid (which also doubles as a small cutting board).

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Amazon

While this butter dish is meant to keep butter at room temperature, it can also be used to store blocks of firm cheese in the refrigerator.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075K6P6F3″]Sweese Large Turquoise Butter Dish, $21.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

34. A Cleaning Concentrate That Smells Like Heaven

I’ll be honest, the first time I bought this Mrs. Meyer’s multi-surface cleaner it was 100 percent because it was basil-scented, which is something that’s hard to find in perfume and beauty products, let alone cleaning supplies. This multi-purpose cleaner doesn’t quite replicate the smell of actual fresh basil but it does smell wonderful: faintly sweet, herbaceous, and clean.

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This cleaner is a concentrate, so you’ll need to mix 1 gallon of water with a fourth cup of cleaning solution (or make just enough to fill these pretty and reusable spray bottles). It’s safe for most surfaces including hardwood, laminate, granite, countertops, and bathroom tiling—as long as they’ve been sealed. Keep in mind that although this cleaner contains ingredients with natural antibacterial properties, it isn’t actually considered an antibacterial spray.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MDPI0AI”]Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Cleaner, $12.50 from Amazon[/link-button]

35. Keep everything nice and neat (including the kitchen sink).

Buying a sink caddy may not seem like the most exciting purchase in the world, but trust me when I say that this little gadget will instantly declutter your kitchen sink area (and look good while it’s working).

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Amazon

This OXO Good Grips caddy sits right on top of your counter and can hold sponges, dishwands, scrub brushes, and a narrow dish soap dispenser. If you have larger items to store, the divider insert can easily be removed to make extra room.
Best of all, there is a small reservoir underneath the caddy where water can drain off, which will extend the life of sponges while keeping unpleasant odors at bay.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N06UEH4″]OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Sinkware Caddy, $19.99 from Amazon [/link-button]

36. A Cute Set of Multi-Purpose Ramekins

If you’ve ever ordered crème brûlée from a restaurant, chances are it was served in a ramekin, a small ceramic dish that can withstand the high heat of an oven and the force of a culinary blow torch. These pretty little Lifver 5-ounce ramekins are dishwasher safe and ideal for home cooks looking to try their hands at a classic homemade brûlée.

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Amazon

Ramekins are great to have on hand for mise en place (a French culinary term that means “everything in its place”) when you’re cooking at home, especially for minced aromatics. Ramekins can also be used to neatly display dips, jellies, and mustards on cheese and charcuterie boards.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XNQV562″]Lifver Ceramic Ramekins, $14.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

37. A Food Processor With All the Power (and Half of the Size)

There’s no denying the impact a food processor can have in the kitchen: They can chop, mince, pulse, and blend ingredients quickly and without very much effort on the cook’s behalf. They can, however, take up plenty of kitchen counter real estate. This little 3-cup food processor from Hamilton Beach gives you the best of both worlds: powerful chopping action without a too-large size or extra-heavy base.

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When not in use, this compact food processor can be stowed away with all of its parts. And while we’re on the topic of parts, the food processor bowl, blade, and lid are all dishwasher safe.
[link-button href=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y2GZWCJ”]Hamilton Beach 3-Cup Food Processor, $20.99 from Amazon[/link-button]

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Nosh

5 Strange And Fascinating Food Jobs You Never Knew Existed

Before I became a food and nutrition writer, I worked at two different cheese shops; when the years are combined, my time as a cheesemonger (more on that term later) spans a full decade. It’s a great conversation starter: If anyone asks, I can recommend one (or several!) of the hundreds of cheeses I’ve had the fortune to taste.
I can pair your favorite beverage with a cheese that will make your taste buds sing, and I can talk exhaustively about the politic of dairy farming any day of the week. Working in a cheese shop employed with foodies of the best sort (former chefs, pastry school students who always brought in their “failed” baking attempts, and even a now-famous forensic anthropologist) gave me an education in food that I’ll always treasure.

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iStock.com/fcafotodigital

While some of these strange food jobs might seem far-fetched (or even downright dangerous), the people who fill these spaces are incredibly passionate about their careers. Many of these jobs require years of expensive and ongoing training, with plenty of long hours and extensive travel time. So how and why do people get interested in these professions in the first place? Read on to find out what makes these strange food jobs such interesting (and appetizing) career options!

1. Honey Sommelier

Carla Marina Marchese, owner of Red Bee Honey and author of Honeybee Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper and The Honey Connoisseur Selecting, Tasting, and Pairing Honey (co-authored with Kim Flottum) was inducted into the world of honey tasting by accident.
“In 2000, I was invited by a neighbor to visit his apiary. Between the visual activity of the bees at the hive entrance, the smell of beeswax, and the taste of fresh honey, I was mesmerized,” she tells HealthyWay. Marchese’s initial interest bloomed into a strong desire to learn everything there is to know about honey and beekeeping.

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iStock.com/Sushaaa

“It did not take long before I became curious about the wide range of flavors in honey depending upon the specific type of flowers bees visit. I was on a mission to uncover information about matching each flower to the flavor it would impart to the honey.” After years of research and hands-on training, Marchese became the first non-Italian to be inducted into the Italian National Register of Experts in the Sensory Analysis of Honey, and in 2013, she founded the American Honey Tasting Society.
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iStock.com/Materio

The term “honey sommelier” was invented by Marchese and is now widely used in the United States. “Today, people are using it to freely to describe expert honey tasters,” she says, “in reality, it takes years to understand the finer aspects of a wide range of honeys.”

2. Truffle Forager in the Pacific Northwest

When you think of foraging for truffles, your mind probably goes straight to Italy or France. Both countries are famous for their highly-prized white and black truffles (as well as the pigs that find them). You may not realize that there are people working as truffle foragers much closer to home. Oregon is quickly becoming a hotspot for truffle aficionados from all over the globe; there’s even a yearly Oregon Truffle Festival.

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David Barajas (via OregonTruffleFestival.org)

In 2015, the Discovery Channel unveiled a five-episode documentary called Unearthed that explored the trials and tribulations of truffle hunting in the Pacific Northwest. The state of Oregon boasts two specimens of white truffle, Tuber oregonense and Tuber gibbosum, and a single species of the highly coveted black truffle, Leucangium carthusianum.
For many years, truffle foragers in Oregon have used rakes to find the underground fungi, an inefficient practice that drove down the price of Oregon truffles. The reason animals are traditionally used to search for truffles is because their heightened sense of smell can discern between ripe and unripe truffles—whereas raking them out of the ground produces an uneven mix of the two.
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iStock.com/Jevtic

The solution? Truffle foragers are relying on specially trained dogs to ensure they’re digging up only the highest-quality product. Dedicated trainers like the ones at the Truffle Dog Company are working with specific dog breeds to teach them how to identify a ripe truffle by its scent alone. Thanks to the efforts of these trainers and dogs, the value of Oregon truffles are now hovering around $400 per pound, and while still well below the asking price of European truffles, their popularity is growing as the culinary world deepens its commitment to locally grown ingredients.

3. Geoduck Diver

The geoduck (pronounced “gooey-duck”) is a rather alarming-looking specimen at first glance. The Pacific geoduck, also known scientifically as the much prettier sounding Panopea generosa, is a massive clam that is wildly popular in China and is quickly gaining attention in North America for its sweet, pleasantly briny flavor and delicate crunch.

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Aqua Best NYC

Found all along the West Coast of the United States and Canada, from California to British Columbia to Alaska, harvesting geoducks is an extremely competitive, dangerous occupation that can quickly become deadly if circumstances turn sour.
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Serious Eats

Geoduck divers wear weights on their feet so that they can “walk” across the ocean floor, sometimes at a depth of up to 70 feet. During harvesting season, geoducks are mostly invisible to the naked eye as they bury themselves deep in the sand. Harvesters must tap the ocean floor to find them with the hope that a single hidden geoduck will lead to hundreds more close by. As the geoducks are harvested and placed in a net, the silt from the ocean floor scatters and creates low visibility conditions.

The diver is tethered to a boat and must signal when they’re ready to ascend, a process which can take several minutes. Of course, weather conditions and quickly changing ocean currents can worsen conditions within a span of seconds.
So why do geoduck divers take the risk? Depending on market value at the time, geoducks are worth anywhere from $7 and $20 a pound and on a good day, a diver will have harvested thousands of pounds of geoduck as the clams generally weigh an impressive 2 to 3 pounds each, although larger specimens are not uncommon.

4. Food Stylist

You may not realize it, but the work of food stylists is everywhere. They can make egg yolks look vibrantly sunny in recipe books and magazines, and they’re behind all of the food shown on TV and in films, whether it’s a cup of coffee or an extravagant feast.
Many food stylists begin their jobs as professional chefs, building their food styling portfolio up as they work (although some food stylists begin their careers through hands-on training, completion of a food styling certificate, or attending food styling seminars).

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A major branch of food styling involves preparing and styling food for cookbooks and talk shows, an activity that many people assume is done by the cookbook author themselves. A 2017 article published in The Star profiles Jan Sherk, a prominent food stylist in the Toronto culinary arts scene.
“People are shocked when I say that the author didn’t make the food,” she told food writer Karon Liu. “I tell them that they’re flying in from another city and it’s impossible for them to shop for the ingredients when their plane lands at midnight or cook out of their hotel room. It’s why there’s a need for people that do what I do.”
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iStock.com/igor_kell

Becoming a professional food stylist requires patience, time, organization, and a good eye for detail and what makes food aesthetically pleasing and interesting.
While the average salary of a food stylist depends on the industry they’re working in (for example, pay rates for book layouts, TV shows and film, and the hospitality industry all vary), an experienced food stylist can expect to earn between $30,000 and $50,000 per year.

5. Cheesemonger

The term “cheesemonger” describes someone who sells and is knowledgeable about cheese. Building on this title, cheesemongers can go on to become maître fromager (“cheese masters” who have been inducted into the prestigious Guilde Internationale des Fromager) and affineurs (individuals responsible for aging the cheese and serving it while at peak ripeness).
Marcella Wright, a former cheesemonger and current cheese educator, is a member of the Guilde Internationale des Fromager and now works closely with cheesemongers hoping to pass the notoriously rigorous American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional Exam. Wright was fortunate to grow up in a family that appreciated good cheese.

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iStock.com/RossHelen

“During the summer, my grandfather delivered milk and cheese for a local dairy in Michigan—in the winter he drove a snow plow—and brought cheese home for the family. Robust, ‘sharp’ cheddars were always in our fridge and one of our favorite snacks was cheddar and bell peppers,” she tells HealthyWay.
However, it was a taste of an extra-aged gouda in the late ’90s that really sparked her interest in specialty cheeses. “One of the cheeses we tasted was an aged gouda with ‘those crunchies.’ I fell in love with that gouda and became an occasional customer of The Cheese Shop of Beverly Hills.”
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For those people who love the delightfully crunchy texture of aged cheeses, Wright helpfully shares that “those ‘crunchies’ are tyrosine—an amino acid that develops in aging cheeses like gouda, cheddar, and parmesan. The crystals that develop on the outside of cheddar are usually calcium lactate.”
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iStock.com/AlexKozlov

Wright’s advice to those interested in becoming cheesemongers is to work in an environment where you can taste different cheeses as often as possible:
“The best way to become a monger is to work in a cheese shop, especially for a chain such as Kroger, Whole Foods, et cetera. These stores have a greater selection of cheeses from “industrial” to high-end specialty and you can learn the ropes while being paid to taste cheese every day. Murray’s requires its mongers to taste three cheeses every day. You learn a lot about cheeses that way especially when you taste the same cheese at different times in its life.”
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iStock.com/Kerrick

Pay rates for cheesemongers depend on where you’re working, what your responsibilities include, and your level of experience. For those interested in the actual making of cheese, Wright notes that “in the U.S. artisan cheese world, there is a need for cheesemakers. It’s almost a crisis; more jobs open than people qualified. There are courses at many universities and colleges and internships with cheesemakers are abundant.” 
“If you are passionate, cheesemakers will welcome you and share their knowledge and train you to make cheese,” she says.

Strange but Necessary: Why We Need Weird Food Jobs

If I have learned anything from having a career in the niche food industry, it’s that the people who fill these positions are incredibly passionate about their job itself, as well as the products they work with.

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iStock.com/MarianVejcik

Anyone working in a weird food job will be super knowledgeable, and, perhaps best of all, incredibly excited to share their expertise with people who have questions about their livelihoods (and the particular products they work with or produce). The passion felt by people in these industries is what maintains the integrity of the product and allows small artisan companies to thrive in a food culture that is becoming increasingly saturated with inferior, mass-produced items.

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Nosh Nutrition x Advice

What Is Greenwashing, And How Can You Fight Against It In Your Daily Life?

It always feels good to make a healthy decision, whether that’s going to the gym, cutting out negative energy, or doing your part to help better the environment. We all try to be conscious of the planet and taking care of the world around us. Every little step helps and should (theoretically) count. But what if you found out that those allegedly “sustainable,” “eco-friendly” products and practices you were adopting were not as socially responsible as they seemed?
Welcome to the world of greenwashing. In case you aren’t familiar with this term, greenwashing is a company’s attempt to make its products appear environmentally sound, when in fact the products themselves are not green at all. Unfortunately, this practice is prevalent in many industries, from textiles and cleaning supplies to beauty products and food.
“Greenwashing is the … attempt to make something appear environmentally sound when indeed it is quite possibly not,” says Kevin Dixon, founder and president of Alterra Pure textiles. “Some are unintentional, some aren’t. Some are malicious, or others are from lack of understanding. It takes a few different forms. For many, it’s difficult to spend the time to gain the knowledge to know the difference between them.”
[pullquote align=”center”]“When you know what you’re looking for, it’s not easy for … businesses to pull the wool over your eyes.”
—Shannon Dunn of EcoBeautyEditor[/pullquote]
Examples of greenwashing include companies trying to leverage certain buzzwords in advertisements and on product labels, such as “sustainable,” “eco-friendly,” and “natural.”
“When you know what you’re looking for, it’s not easy for such businesses to pull the wool over your eyes. But in most cases, the general public doesn’t know what to look for on the labels, so they trust what they are being told by clever marketing,” says Shannon Dunn, founder of EcoBeautyEditor.
The sad news is that this is only detrimental to the company if consumers know to dig a little deeper and discover the truth, which does not happen as often as we might think. The only way to discern the reality behind the claims is to get educated about how greenwashing is used and how to see beyond the hype.

The Seven Sins of Greenwashing Companies

The way greenwashing works is often referred to as the Seven Sins of Greenwashing.
The first sin is the Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off, which is the claim that a product is “green” based on certain attributes—without giving deeper thought to the meaning behind them. For example, paper isn’t necessarily environmentally friendly if the wood it’s made from came from a sustainably harvested forest. The production of paper typically results in greenhouse gas emissions and/or chlorine use in the bleaching process, so deeper research is needed to determine which paper products are actually sustainable.
The Sin of No Proof is a claim that can’t be proven. There is no trace of these claims ever being substantiated, nor is there evidence of a credible third-party certification.
The Sin of Vagueness is an eco assertion that is so unclear that it is easy to misunderstand what it means. The most common example is the use of the term “all natural.” Mercury, arsenic, and formaldehyde are naturally occurring, but would you want those on your skin or in your body?
The Sin of Worshipping False Labels is exactly that: fake labels. They are meant to give consumers the idea that the product has been endorsed by a third party when no such endorsement (or third party) actually exists.
The Sin of Irrelevance is a claim that might technically be true, but it doesn’t actually have anything to do with a product being environmentally friendly. For example, a product that says “CFC-free” might intrigue consumers, when the fact of the matter is that CFCs are banned from all products by U.S. law.
[pullquote align=”center”]The Sin of Fibbing is an environmental claim that is a downright lie. And it happens more than you think.[/pullquote]
The Sin of Lesser of Two Evils is a claim that may be true within the product category but that doesn’t truly address the issue overall. Organic cigarettes, for example, are certainly the lesser of two evils, but is one option really that much better?
Finally, the Sin of Fibbing is an environmental claim that is a downright lie. And it happens more than you think.
“The intentional cases of greenwashing clearly benefit companies wanting to take a shortcut to appear sustainable or ethical, when in fact they haven’t taken all steps to reach that marketing claim,” says Danielle Jezienicki, director of corporate social responsibility for Williams-Sonoma, Inc. “This enhances their brand reputation or image with customers but runs a major risk of being discovered with negative long-term consequences as customers are more educated and interested in transparency than ever before.”

How do you know if a company is using greenwashing tactics?

There are a lot of great companies that are committed to making this planet a better place and that are getting their message across beautifully. Still, there are companies out there that are doing their best to deceive us by giving the impression that it’s environmentally sound to use or consume their products, when it’s really not.
“This is part of the issue—it can be difficult to spot a company that is greenwashing unless you do some research,” says Dunn. “I always like to know who is behind the company, what its history is, the mission, and, of course, why they choose to use the ingredients they do. If this information is not available or not clear, then it’s always a sign to me that some deeper digging is needed.”
According to the Greenwashing Index, one of the best ways to see if a company is greenwashing is to look at an ad and then look at the company as a whole. It’s a good practice to look on their website for information on their sustainable business practices. If you can find this easily or can find something else to back up their claims on the ad, that’s a good sign.
Another way to tell if a company is greenwashing is to google the company along with the word environment and see what kind of results you get. “This is far from scientific, but if consumers or environmental advocates have a beef with the company’s track record, something’s bound to pop up,” the Greenwashing Index reports.

How to Become More Aware of Greenwashing Tactics

The best way is to educate yourself. Sadly it’s not as easy as glancing at a label these days. It requires a bit more time and investment on your part to do your homework. That said, there are advocacy and environmental groups out there working tirelessly to bridge the gap so that going green won’t have to be a conscious choice anymore. It will be the only choice.
The Environmental Protection Agency, for example, works with a variety of private sector standards developers to create programs for eco-preferred goods and services, such as the ENERGY STAR, WaterSense, and Safer Choice labels.
Greener Choices is another organization working in the food space to educate consumers about which products support a sustainable food system. Its goal is to empower the consumer with information so that they can decide which practices to support. Labels include Fair Trade Certified, Certified Pesticide Residue Free, American Humane Certified, Rainforest Alliance Certified, etc.  

How to Make Your Daily Life More Eco-Friendly

The first step is always to educate yourself. “Read the ingredients label,” says Sheridan Howie, coordinator of sustainability for Lulu. “Pretty packaging may mask a product’s negative effects.”
Howie gives the example of sunscreen, which may claim to be biodegradable but still includes harmful chemicals like oxybenzone, octinoxate, and methyl paragon. Howie recommends DoneGood as a great resource for finding environmentally responsible companies. They have a Chrome extension that recommends ethical, sustainable brands as you shop online. It even includes discount codes! (Ecolabel Index is also helpful to find environmental certifications.)
Still, there are practical everyday things that we can be doing to reduce our carbon footprint overall. “The easiest way to be more eco-friendly or waste-free at home is to avoid what I call NSU products, or non-single use,” says Josh Wadinski, founder of Plantioxidants, a line of beauty products that bridge the gap between luxury, health, and sustainability.
As Wadinski points out, “each time you order carry-out food, you typically receive plastic utensils, some form of carton, and a bag.” He recommends asking yourself how much of that you’re recycling and how much will you just throw away. Then prior to purchasing, consider asking the restaurant not to provide a bag or the plastic utensils.
He also recommends looking for products that indicate they are not from virgin materials and that they are entirely recyclable and/or biodegradable. “Our shipping boxes at Plantioxidants are made from entirely recycled cardboard and are biodegradable. Even our label is made from completely recycled materials and our adhesive for it is vegetable-based.” This means that even if you throw away the packaging, no harm is being done to the environment.
Other easy life hacks include turning off the faucet when you’re not actively using it (e.g., when you’re brushing your teeth), turning off lights in rooms you’re not using, setting air conditioning temperatures a little higher, and looking for every way possible to use fresh produce.
“Lastly,” Wadinski says, “use your dollar to make it clear that you work towards a waste-free life. If you love a product but you only see an abundance of wasteful packaging, don’t simply buy it. Email them, let them know your concern, and see what they can do.”
Identifying greenwashing tactics isn’t always easy, but there are steps you can take to educate yourself as a consumer and call out unethical marketing tactics while making the world a cleaner, greener place.

Categories
Nosh Nutrition x Advice

5 Nutritional Yeast Benefits Your Body Will Love

Have you ever tasted a dairy-free “cheese” and wondered how it gets its addictively tangy flavor? It’s a secret ingredient that the vegan community’s known about for years called nutritional yeast. Yep, it’s similar to the stuff that’s used to make bread rise! But nutritional yeast benefits go far beyond boosting the taste of plant-based foods. These flavorful flakes (which are gluten-free!) are packed with nutrients our bodies crave and offer positive effects for our health.
Still not convinced about nutritional yeast (or just want to know how you can actually incorporate it into your diet)? Sarah Skovran, a registered dietitian nutritionist who specializes in plant-based diets, sat down with HealthyWay to talk about the benefits of nutritional yeast and offer some tips on cooking with it. (Hint: It’s not just for vegan cuisine!)

What is nutritional yeast?

Let’s be honest: You probably didn’t start salivating when you first heard of nutritional yeast. The name does it no favors, but it’s actually some pretty good stuff.
“Nutritional yeast is an actual yeast grown on another substance—often molasses—then harvested, dried, and deactivated,” explains Skovran.
Is there a difference between conventional yeast and nutritional yeast? Certainly—and don’t expect nutritional yeast to give you fluffy loaves of bread. Unlike baker’s yeast (which is used in breads and pastries) and brewer’s yeast (used to brew beer), nutritional yeast is no longer living, so it won’t offer certain culinary effects.
“It won’t make liquids frothy or baked goods rise,” adds Skovran.
[pullquote align=”center”]“Try just a couple tablespoons at a time to see if you like it without committing to a large amount.”[/pullquote]
Typically, nutritional yeast (also known as nooch) comes in two forms: flakes and powders. It’s available at health food stores and some grocery stores, like Trader Joe’s (look for it in the baking aisle or specialty diet sections).
“When people first hear about this ingredient, which I tend to think of as a flavoring, they’re reluctant to try it. If you can get it in the bulk section, you can try just a couple tablespoons at a time to see if you like it without committing to a large amount,” Skovran says.
As for the flavor, it’s tough to describe. People generally say it’s a little bit cheesy and nutty. Nutritional yeast can also introduce that umami flavor (a savory taste, usually from broth and meat) that plant-based cuisine sometimes lacks, says Skovran.
“When people switch over to a plant-based diet, they sometimes pull all the meat and dairy out of their meals and just eat what’s left, but they don’t notice that they’re missing that umami,” she says. “For me, that flavor is key to maintaining a plant-based diet.”
This is why nutritional yeast has been a staple in most vegan kitchens for years! But once you understand the full spectrum of nutritional yeast benefits, you’ll want to stock some in your pantry—even if you don’t adhere to a plant-based diet.

What are the benefits of nutritional yeast?

On its own, nutritional yeast is a healthy, low-calorie ingredient that does the body good. But the benefits of nutritional yeast get taken to new heights when you consider the fact that almost all brands of nutritional yeast are fortified with vitamins and minerals. Here are are a few of the most compelling benefits of nutritional yeast:

1. It’s a complete protein.

It’s no surprise that protein is a critical component of a healthy diet. But not all sources of protein are created equal. The proteins in the body are made of a combination of up to 20 amino acids. Nine of those amino acids are considered “essential.” A complete protein contains all nine of those essential amino acids. While it’s tough to find a complete protein outside of animal products, one of the biggest benefits of nutritional yeast is the fact that it contains the nine essential amino acids the body needs—all from a vegan source.
“Two tablespoons of nutritional yeast contain 5 to 10 grams of protein, depending on the brand, which is a significant amount,” says Skovran.

2. It’s loaded with fiber.

The benefits of nutritional yeast also include a boost to our digestion and gut health, says Skovran. Why? It has a remarkably high fiber content, usually somewhere between two and five grams of fiber per two-tablespoon serving. According to the Mayo Clinic, fiber helps keep bowel movements regular, may reduce your risk of hemorrhoids, lowers cholesterol, and keeps your blood sugar levels in check. That’s some serious motivation to incorporate nutritional yeast into your diet.

3. It’s a vegan- and vegetarian-friendly source of B12.

For vegans and vegetarians, finding a plant-based source of B12 is the equivalent of spotting a unicorn in the wild. Fortunately, one of the benefits of nutritional yeast is that a two-tablespoon serving from many brands of the product contains a full day’s supply of this important vitamin, along with ample amounts of vitamin B6 and vitamin B2 (also called riboflavin).
“B vitamins play a big role converting food into energy. B12 is also important to the central nervous system, and if you don’t consume enough, you risk developing neurological issues that can become irreversible,” says Skovran.

4. It’s packed with vitamins and minerals.

Not into taking daily supplements? Try eating nutritional yeast. It’s fortified with tons of vitamins and minerals that will help keep you healthy. Depending on exactly which brand you choose, nutritional yeast may contain ample amounts of folate (which may help prevent certain birth defects) and zinc (an important mineral for immune function and healing), among other vitamins and minerals.

5. It adds that umami flavor to foods.

The benefits of nutritional yeast don’t stop at its nutritional composition—they also include that rich umami flavor. Making sure your food has that component can make it easier to stick with a diet that’s low in animal products, says Skovran.
But here’s another fascinating fact about umami: It may actually help you self-regulate your eating habits during meals, whether you’re eating a plant-based diet or not, according to a recent study from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Do you struggle with overeating when presented with your favorite meal? (Who doesn’t?) Toss on a little nutritional yeast and see if it helps you with portion control.

It’s clear that nutritional yeast benefits make it a valuable ingredient, but is there anyone who shouldn’t eat it?

“It’s possible to be allergic to nutritional yeast, but I’ve never personally seen it,” says Skovran.
Overall, there really aren’t any nutritional yeast dangers for most people. However, if you have a sensitivity to active yeast, your body may not tolerate nutritional yeast well. Your best bet? Check with your doctor if you have any concerns.

Using Nutritional Yeast in Your Kitchen

So you’ve bought a container of savory yeast flakes and you’re ready to add them to your diet. What’s the best way to use nutritional yeast in food?
Try substituting this savory yeast for Parmesan cheese on pastas, says Skovran. It will give you that familiar flavor and texture, but with no fat or dairy. It can also make a pleasant addition atop veggie stir-fry and leafy green salads.
“You can also include nutritional yeast as part of a spice rub if you’re grilling meat, or add it to homemade breads to give it a cheesy aftertaste,” she adds.
[pullquote align=”center”]Umami flavors may actually help you self-regulate your eating habits during meals, whether you’re eating a plant-based diet or not.[/pullquote]
But that’s not all: Nutritional yeast can also be used in vegan “cheese” sauces.
“A cheese sauce that I love is just a drained can of hearts of palm mixed with three to four tablespoons of nutritional yeast in a food processor,” Skovran says.
And if you’re looking to make your movie night snacks a bit healthier, sprinkle some nutritional yeast atop your popcorn. You can thank us later.
From a tasty flavor to ample vitamins and minerals, the benefits of nutritional yeast make it a worthy addition to your regular diet. Experiment by putting nutritional yeast on things you’re already eating—soon enough, you might find yourself sprinkling it on all your meals.