Cleaning Out Your Fridge for Safety

A little nudge to dig into the back of your refrigerator and remove condiments that have been sitting there a bit too long is often a welcomed reminder. November 15 is National Clean Out Your Fridge Day, and to celebrate, we’re sharing some tips on how to tackle this daunting task and other best practices linked to safe food handling. Not only will cleaning out your fridge give you more storage space, but it can help keep your personal food supply safer to eat and reduce your household waste. What You Should Throw Away Check Date Labels Before you purge any questionable packaged goods, there are a few things to remember about date labels on food packages. Most dates are indicative of an item’s quality, not safety, so don’t be too quick to throw away everything away that is past the posted date. The terms “Best if Used By,” “Sell-By,” “Use-By,” and “Freeze-By” all tell a consumer when a food may start declining in flavor and quality, but none of these phrases precede a safety-based expiration date. In fact, most of the dates listed on products are not regulated by federal food safety agencies but are given voluntarily by food manufacturers. It is important to note that dates on infant formula are federally regulated and any formula should be disposed of when it is past the listed date. Look at the Condition of the Food Itself Beyond checking date labels, if you are trying to determine if something in your refrigerator should stay or go, trust your gut and your nose. Characteristics to look out for are food that is softer than usual, discolored, has an unpleasant odor, is slimy, or has visible mold. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Ask USDA” tool can also help guide your decision-making when it […]

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Google Can’t Diagnose Your Food Allergy

I have a love-hate relationship with the internet. On the one hand, it’s a great place to learn how to fix a hem, Scrabble-certified words with Z and X, and the capital of Malta. Unless you know where to search and the credible sources, the internet is not always a great place to learn about science and nutrition, and food allergies are no different. Thanks to the many symptom checkers that can be searched on Google, a few checks in a box can “diagnose” someone with an allergy. But while people flock to Dr. Google, they forget that he never got his M.D. Why Are People Diagnosing Themselves with a Food Allergy? To understand why people are self-diagnosing, we need to understand allergic reactions. An allergic reaction is “when the immune system overreacts to a harmless substance known as an allergen.” Reactions to food allergens can range from mild — hives, itchy mouth or ear canal, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, nasal congestion and sneezing — to severe – trouble swallowing, shortness of breath, turning blue, drop in blood pressure and loss of consciousness. So does this mean that any of these symptoms can indicate an allergic reaction? No, and this is where people get confused. Symptoms of an allergic reaction are associated not only with an allergy. There are also many medical conditions — including celiac disease, lactose intolerance and asthma — that can produce similar symptoms. This is why a food allergy, and any allergy from bee stings to pet dander, can be determined only by a board-certified allergist. Why Does This Matter? With a quick perusal of many online discussions on food, you will see that a lot of people claim to have a food allergy. From recognized food allergens like peanuts and diary, to more […]

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Peanut vs. Tree Nuts Allergy and Why It Matters

Ever wonder why the eight most common allergens include peanuts and tree nuts? Have you ever assumed that peanuts were a nut? And do you even know what a tree nut is? If you, like I, have ever wondered this, this post explains all the nitty gritty, or rather nutty gritty, on nuts. What Is a Peanut? And How Does It Differ From a Walnut? Even though peanut has the word “nut” in the name, it’s not really a nut at all. It’s actually a legume. Peanuts are legumes, which are edible seeds enclosed in pods, and are in the same family as beans, lentils, and peas. Meanwhile, tree nuts, which include but are not limited to, walnuts, cashews, almonds, and pecans, are all produced on trees. Is That Really the Definition of a Tree Nut? Well… no. Botanically speaking, nuts are tree nuts, but not all tree nuts are nuts. Some tree nuts are drupes. I know, it’s pretty confusing, so let me explain. Nuts are by definition a hard-shelled pod that contains both the fruit and seed of the plant, a category that includes hazelnuts and acorns. Drupes are actually fruit with a hard stony covering enclosing the seed. Drupes have three layers: an outer layer called the exocarp, a fleshy middle layer called the mesocarp and an endocarp — the hard, woody layer that surrounds the seed. Drupes include peaches, mangoes, pistachios, coconuts, almonds and cashews. So, If I’m Allergic to Tree Nuts, Does That Mean I Can’t Eat Mangoes or Coconuts? When it comes to allergens, tree nuts are defined differently. Like I mentioned above, they are any nut or colloquially defined nut that is produced on a tree. They includes true nuts and drupes like almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts, cashews, chestnuts, coconuts and many, many […]

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Food Allergies with David Stukus [Podcast]

According to experts, advocates and the CDC, food allergies are a public health concern and are seemingly on the rise.  But what might be the cause? Have social media and the internet fooled too many of us into thinking we’re qualified to diagnose ourselves? On this edition of DataDish: Your Trusted Serving of Science, Dave Stukus, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, sheds some light on these and other questions about food allergies and allergen management. Here are a few podcast highlights: As food allergies become more prevalent over time, you will likely know someone living with a food allergy.  We hope this podcast helps you better understand how this issue affects them and the 15 million Americans dealing with food allergies every day.

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GMO Crops: Safety, Regulation and Sustainability Insights

Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are a popular topic in today’s conversations about food and farming, and many of us have heard of or read food labels stating “contains bioengineered ingredients” (another way of referring to GMOs). While many of us are familiar with the term GMO, not all of us are quite sure what it is—only, perhaps, that we are advised to avoid them by some people. A 2018 consumer survey by the IFIC found that more than one-third (36 percent) of respondents said they know very little or nothing at all about bioengineered or genetically modified foods, identical to the number who say they know at least a fair amount. Despite the low level of knowledge, a higher volume of respondents (47 percent) said they avoid GMO foods at least somewhat. But when we hear or read “GMO” or “bioengineered food,” do we ever think of the terms “safety,” “regulation” or “sustainability”? If not, IFIC is here to tell you that we should. Let’s look at how these three positive attributes are intertwined with GMOs and what that means for our food supply. Safety signals GMO foods have been part of our food system for more than two decades. The GMO crops available in the U.S.—soybeans, corn (field and sweet), canola, cotton (used in cottonseed oil production), alfalfa, sugar beets, summer squash, papaya, apples and potatoes—are as safe and nutritious as their non-GMO counterparts. The science behind their safety has been evaluated extensively over the past 20 years, including an in-depth analysis performed by 50 scientists that worked on a 2016 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report for more than two years. The NAS scientific cohort examined relevant literature (including more than 900 publications), heard from 80 diverse speakers at three public meetings and 15 webinars, and read […]

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IFIC Spotlight Survey: Americans’ Trust In Food & Nutrition Science

The International Food Information Council (IFIC) commissioned an online survey among U.S. consumers to measure knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about trust in science about food, nutrition, and diet. One thousand adults ages 18 years and older completed the online survey from July 11-13, 2024, and respondents were weighted to ensure proportional results. Key findings include:

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Can Our Diets Be Stress-Free? An Intuitive Eating Expert Weighs In

Many healthcare professionals and consumers either don’t know or don’t fully understand what intuitive eating is, which makes sense because it’s still a relatively new concept. In case it’s your first time reading this series, here’s a recap: Intuitive eating is a style of eating that focuses on listening to your hunger cues, eating a variety of foods for fullness and satiety, respecting your body, and not labeling food as “good” or “bad.” On the surface, this way of eating sounds like wishful thinking and admirable intentions wrapped up in a feel-good message. However, intuitive eating has been shown to be effective — it can help people who have been stuck in the restrict-binge-shame cycle (which has poor health implications) or others who constantly think about their next meal because the one they ate most recently was not satisfying. It’s complex because intuitive eating challenges us to figure out why we have so many subconscious rules and habits around food that may not be healthy or maintainable. Our 2018 Food & Health Survey found that, despite not being very familiar with intuitive eating, people are interested to learn more. So let’s dive into a few important questions. Is intuitive eating science-based? Despite the name, intuitive eating isn’t something we know like the back of our hands — it’s the center of many recent research studies. More and more research is being done to examine the effects of non-restrictive eating in various populations. So far the results are promising: Despite not focusing on weight loss, intuitive eaters often have lower BMIs and better psychological health. Who can you turn to for trusted information about food? It’s no secret that fear-mongering headlines related to food are constantly circulating in the media. We spoke with Rebecca Scritchfield, RDN, EPC, an expert in intuitive […]

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Microbial Misconceptions: Fermented Foods

We’ve officially (finally) made it to the last few weeks of 2017, and that means that foodies and trend forecasters are busy compiling their lists of food trends to watch for in 2018. While new fads and flavors are cropping up all the time, fermented foods have been perennial favorites of chefs, food bloggers, health nuts, and even your grandparents (shoutout to my grandma’s homemade pickles). But as their popularity continues to grow, it’s easy to lose sight of the real vs. perceived health benefits of fermented foods, and that’s where we come in. Fast Facts on Fermentation Fermenting foods takes many forms, ranging from the creation of wine from grapes, making yogurt or kefir from milk, curing meats, or converting a regular old cabbage into kimchi or sauerkraut. But they all have one thing in common: they’re produced by the actions of microorganisms. Certain species of bacteria, yeasts, or molds are responsible for the changes in flavor, texture and appearance of fermented foods. Fermented vs. Probiotic vs. “live and active cultures”: What’s the Difference? Microbes are required to turn any food into its fermented version. Some foods, like freshly made kimchi and most fermented dairy products, may still contain live and active cultures (meaning that the bacteria are still alive and working their magic). However, by the time the final products like beer, wine, vinegars, sauerkraut, cured meats and sourdough bread reach store shelves, the bacteria have been killed or inactivated through processes like pasteurization, baking, or filtering. The microbes are now out of the “live and active cultures” game. Even if a food still proclaims the presence of live and active cultures, this is not the same as being probiotic. The World Health Organization classifies a probiotic as, “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a […]

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