Shopping, Cooking, Baking

Will The Food Sitting In Your Hot Car Make You Sick?

July 25, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Can food that stays in a hot car for a long time make you sick?

It’s hot outside. When you open your car door after it’s been sitting in the parking lot you’re hit with a blast of heat that seems hotter than an oven.

The Temperature Rises Quickly Inside A Closed Car

Very quickly — even when it’s only moderately warm outside.

A study found that at 9AM when the outside temperature was 82 degrees, the temperature inside a closed car was 109 degrees. At 1:30PM, when the outside temperature rose to 112 degrees, the temperature inside a closed car reached 124 degrees.

Cracking the windows helps, but only a little bit. With four windows cracked, at 10AM when the temperature was 88 degrees outside, inside the car it was 103 degrees. At 2PM when the outside temperature rose to 110 degrees, the internal temperature rose to 123 degrees. Certainly not safe conditions for living creatures, especially kids and dogs both of whom are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat.

Hot Weather and Food-borne Illness

Hot weather and food-borne illness can be evil partners. Forty-eight million people are affected by food-borne illnesses each year which, in the US, result in an estimated 3,000 deaths. More than 250 food-borne diseases have been identified. They are common and preventable public health challenges.

Most food-borne illnesses can be prevented with proper cooking or processing, both of which destroy harmful bacteria. It’s really important to keep cold food cold and hot food hot because food that stays set out for a long time can enter “The Danger Zone,” or temperatures between 41˚F and 140˚F where bacteria multiply most rapidly.

What About The Prepared Food You Just Bought?

Extreme heat is certainly not a safe environment for fresh and prepared food, either. Pity the poor groceries or take-out you just bought that’s sitting in extremely hot temperatures in the back of your car. Shelf, cupboard, and boxed food may be fine, but for meat, deli, dairy, cut food like fresh fruit, and prepared foods (salad, fried chicken, Chinese take-out, pizza) it’s not a good situation. Why?

When you give bacteria the conditions they like: warmth, moisture, and nutrients, they’ll grow. A single bacterium that divides every half hour can result in 17 million offspring in 12 hours.

Consequently, the food you just bought might spoil because bacteria present in the food have multiplied like rabbits in your car in the hot conditions that are ideal for food spoilage. Perishable food can stay safely unrefrigerated only for two hours if the air temperature is under 90 degrees – and only for one hour if the temperature is 90 degrees or higher. Follow this rule for picnics, barbecues, and buffets, too.

Take Pity on Your Food and Protect Your Family and Guests

Be aware of the type of food you’re buying. If you have perishable items, take some of these steps:

Think about your route and how many errands you have to do. Stop at the cleaners or for coffee before grocery shopping — not afterward when your groceries will be baking in the car.

Make wise choices. When it’s hot outside, take your perishable items straight home. If you know you can’t go straight home take steps to keep your purchases cool – or buy food that doesn’t need refrigeration.

To be on the safe side, think about keeping a cooler, cold packs, or insulated bags in your car for perishable items. Make sure the cooler hasn’t turned into a portable oven because it’s been sitting in the car for so long.

Buy a bag of ice if you need to for keeping cold stuff cold and frozen stuff frozen on the way home. Or, bring some frozen gel packs with you.

If you’re on a road trip, remember that food in your car is vulnerable. The trip to the beach and then spreading your food out on a table or a blanket means that if it’s not in a cooler, it’s been in hot conditions for a long time. Just think — in the winter your car might be colder than your refrigerator. Then there’s no problem stopping for coffee on the way home!

Road trip: is there one in your future?

The Summer issue of Eat Out Eat Well Magazine is ready to help you eat well when you’re in the car or grabbing some food at rest stops or roadside diners.

Get it now from iTunes or the Google Play Store for $1.99 an issue or $4.99 for a yearly subscription (four seasonal issues).

If You Consider Toppings an Ice Cream Essential, Check These Out

July 10, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

You can put just about anything on ice cream, but the standard fare — toppings like hot fudge, whipped cream, peanuts, walnuts in syrup, crushed heath bar, caramel sauce – can add hundreds of calories and not much nutrition to your sundae or cone.

Some common ice cream toppings:

Smucker’s Spoonable Hot Fudge Topping, 2 tablespoons: 140 calories, 4g fat, 24g carbs, 2g protein
Smucker’s Spoonable Pecans in Syrup Topping, 1 tablespoon: 170 calories, 10g fat, 20g carbs, 1g protein
Regular Redi Whip, 2 tablespoons: 20 calories, 2g fat, 1g carbs
Fat Free Redi Whip. 2 tablespoons, 5 calories, 0g fat, 1g carbs
Cool Whip, extra creamy, 2 tablespoons: 32 calories
Cool whip, light, 2 tbsp,16 calories
Cool Whip, fat-free: 2 tbsp, 15 calories, 43.5g carbs, 0 protein
Regular M&M’s, 10 pieces: 103 calories, 5.2g fat, 12.1g carbs, 1.9g protein
Peanut M&M’s, about 16 pieces: 200 calories, 10.15g fat, 23.48g carbs, 3.72g protein
Peanuts, one ounce: 160 calories, 14g fat, 5g carbs, 7g protein
Rainbow Sprinkles (Mr. Sprinkles), 1 teaspoon: 20 calories, 0.5g fat, 3g carbs, 0g protein
Chocolate Sprinkles (jimmies), 1 tablespoon: 35 calories, 0g fat, 6g carbs, 0g protein
Smucker’s Spoonable Light Hot Fudge Topping, Fat Free, 2 tablespoons: 90 calories, 23g carbs, 2g protein
10 mini marshmallows: 22 calories, 0 fat, 5.7g carbs, .1g protein
18 gummi bears: 140 calories, 0 fat, 43.5g carbs, 0 protein

Think Outside The Box For Lower Calorie, but Still Delicious, Toppings

The world is your oyster in terms of toppings, so why not think about fruit, cereal, or a crushed up 100-calorie pack of anything? Here are some suggestions:

Smucker’s Spoonable Pineapple Topping, 2 tablespoons: 100 calories, 0g fat
1 mini box of raisins (0.5 ounces): 42 calories, 0.1g fat, 11.1g carbs, 0.4g protein
One medium banana: 105 calories, 0 fat, 27g carbs, 1g protein
One cup strawberry halves: 49 calories, 0.5g fat, 11.7g carbs, 1g protein
Sugar-free Jello pudding: 60 calories
One cup Froot Loops: 118 calories, 0.6g fat, 26.7g carbs, 1.4g protein
One cup blueberries: 83 calories, 0.5g fat, 21g carbs, 1.1g protein
Crushed pretzel sticks, 1 ounce: 110 calories, 1g fat, 23g carbs, 3g protein

Eat Out Eat Well Magazine Issue 03 Summer 2014 — Road Trips! Eat Out Eat Well Magazine Issue 03
Summer 2014

Is there a road trip in your future?

The Summer issue of Eat Out Eat Well Magazine is ready to help you eat well when you’re in the car or eating at rest stops or roadside diners.

Get it now from iTunes for $1.99 an issue or $4.99 for a yearly subscription (four seasonal issues). Soon to be available for android, too.

Ice Cream and Gelato: A Cheat Sheet

July 8, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

The cold deliciousness of ice cream and gelato is hard to beat. There are an astounding number of flavors with varying degrees of fat, calorie, sugar, and dairy content. The sad truth is that no matter how innovative food scientists and savvy marketers have become, a three-scoop sundae with hot fudge, whipped cream, and other assorted toppings still isn’t going to rank at the top of the health-o-meter.

The Difference Between Ice Cream And Gelato

In the US, the government regulates what can be called ice cream, but in some other countries ice cream can mean all frozen desserts.

Ice cream and gelato are usually dairy-based but differ in texture, fat and air content, and ingredients. Because gelato is made and stored at a higher temperature than ice cream, it’s softer, smoother, and quicker to melt.

Both are usually made from sugar, milk, eggs, and flavorings — although gelato is often made from fresh fruit. Gelato has less butterfat than ice cream, usually about 4 to 8% compared to ice cream’s 10 to 20%.

Gelato has a higher sugar content than ice cream, and the sugar/water combination acts like anti-freeze, preventing the gelato from freezing solid. Most US commercial ice creams are frozen in an assembly line freezing process while gelato is frozen very quickly in small batches.

Both ice cream and gelato are churned during the freezing process, which incorporates air. Most commercial ice cream contains about 50% air while gelato contains much less, generally 20-35%, producing a denser product with more intense flavor.

Ice cream is sold by weight, not by size, so a pint of cheaper ice cream which is fluffed up with more air than premium or artisanal ice creams will feel lighter than better brands which are pumped up with just enough air to make the ice cream nice and smooth. Compare pints of different levels of quality when they’re fresh out of the freezer. Which one is heavier in your hand? Not surprisingly, the premium brands will also be higher in calories, probably have more intense flavor, and be higher in price.

Ice cream, with its higher fat content, can be stored frozen for months. High-quality artisan gelato, when stored carefully at consistent, low temperatures, only keeps its peak flavor and smooth texture for several days.

How Much Butterfat?

According to US federal standards, a frozen dessert must have a minimum of 10% milk fat to be called ice cream. Economy brands usually have the least amount of fat and super premium brands have more. Milk fat content of less than 10% makes the product ice milk or light ice cream.

Premium ice cream has between 11% and 15% butterfat, which makes it richer, denser, higher in calories.

Regular ice cream – what you usually find in the larger containers in the market — is somewhat less dense and contains 10% to 11% butterfat (perfect for milkshakes).

Economy ice cream, by law, has 10% butterfat.

Light ice cream has either 50% less fat or 33% fewer calories than the producer’s regular ice cream. Here’s the hitch: because of the higher starting point for fat content especially in premium brands, light versions of premium ice cream can have more fat and calories than the regular version of other brands.

Reduced fat ice cream must, by law, have 25% less fat than the regular ice cream produced by the same vendor.

Soft serve ice cream is the same as regular ice cream but is served at a higher temperature.

French Style Ice Cream also called glace, has a custard base that includes eggs, which makes it silky and rich.

Gelato (plural, gelati) has more milk than cream (if any) so its fat content is significantly lower. It doesn’t saturate your taste buds as much as ice cream so the flavor seems more intense. It’s often flavored with fresh fruit, nuts, chocolate, and other natural flavors. Gelato is served at a higher temperature than ice cream making it look more like frozen yogurt or whipped cream than ice cream.

How Many Calories?

There’s a huge variation in nutrition so it’s best to check labels if you’re counting calories, fats, and/or carbs. These are the general caloric ranges for “naked” ice cream and gelato (without sauce, toppings, nuts, and whipped cream):

3.5 ounces of milk-based gelato has between 120 and 160 calories, 4g to 8g of fat, and 30 g to 45g of carbs; milk and soy-based gelato has between 3g and 5g of protein.

3.5 ounces of American ice cream (not churned, light, or reduced fat) averages 240 calories, 15 grams of fat, and 24g carbs.

3.5 ounces of light ice cream can vary between 100 to close to 200 calories depending upon whether it is just light or if it is slow churned light. The flavor and the add-ins can significantly raise the calorie count.

Tip: Order a small serving of ice cream or gelato instead of a medium or large. You’ll probably be just as satisfied. Even if you indulge in your favorite full-fat flavor, you’ll save as many as 550 calories with a 5-ounce size of ice cream instead of a 12-ounce size.

A Dozen Ways To Keep Grilled Food Safe To Eat

July 2, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Summer means grilling and barbecue for lots of people. It’s hard to resist juicy burgers, sizzling steaks, fish seared to perfection, and frankfurters crackling and popping and screaming for mustard and relish or sauerkraut.

The food may taste great, but picnics, barbecues, and grilling can create the perfect environment for the bacteria that already reside in food to rapidly multiply and become the cause of a foodborne illness.

It’s really important to follow safe food handling rules when you’re cooking perishable foods like meat, poultry, and seafood and Unfortunately, it’s way too easy to get a little lax about following food handling rules when the grill takes center stage.

Some Grilling Guidelines

Always wash your hands with soap and water before and after you handle the food. Did you pick up the raw burger or the piece of fish or chicken with your fingers to put it on the grill?
When you marinate your food, let the food sit in the marinade in the refrigerator — not the counter — or even worse, in the sun next to the grill. Don’t use the marinade that the raw meat or poultry sat in on the cooked food. Instead, reserve part of unused marinade to baste with or to use as a sauce.
Get those coals hot. Preheat the coals on your grill for 20 to 30 minutes, or until they are lightly coated with ash. If you’re using a gas grill, turn on the grill so it has enough time to thoroughly heat up.
When the food is cooked, don’t put it on the same platter that you used to carry the raw food out to the grill. Ditto for the tongs and spatula unless they’ve been washed first in hot, soapy water. Reusing without washing can spread bacteria from the raw juices to your cooked or ready-to-eat food. Bring a clean platter and utensils with you to the grill and remove the ones that the raw food has been on – it’s too easy to mistakenly reuse the raw food ones.
When grilled food is “ready” keep it hot until it’s served by moving it to the side of the grill rack, just away from the coals or the gas burner. This will keep it hot but prevent it from overcooking. If you reheat food, make sure it reaches 165°F.
Cook only the amount of food that you think people will eat. It’s easy to cook more, but it’s a challenge to keep leftovers at a safe temperature. Throw out any leftovers that haven’t stayed within the safe temperature range.
Use a food thermometer (make sure you have one at home and one to pack for grilling at picnics) to be certain that the food reaches a safe internal temperature. The FDA recommends:

Steaks and Roasts: 145 degrees F (medium rare), 160 degrees F (medium)
Fish: 145 degrees F
Pork: 145 degrees F
Ground beef: 160 degrees F
Egg dishes: 160 degrees F
Chicken breasts: 165 degrees F
Whole poultry: 165 degrees F
Shrimp, lobster, and crabs: cook until pearly and opaque
Clams, oysters, and mussels: cook until the shells are open

HCAs and PAHs: Two Dangerous Compounds That Can Form

Unfortunately, two types of cancer causing compounds can increase or form in some foods that are grilled or cooked at high heat.

Heterocycline amines (HCAs) increase when meat, especially beef, is cooked with high heat by grilling or pan-frying. HCAs can damage DNA and start the development of cancer. Most evidence connects them to colon and stomach cancer, but they may be linked to other types of cancer, too.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) increase with grilling because they form in smoke and can get deposited on the outside of your meat.

Five Things You Can Do to Decrease HCAs and PAHs:

Cook or fry at lower temperatures to produce fewer HCAs. You can turn the gas down or wait for charcoal’s low-burning embers.
Raise your grilling surface up higher and turn your meat very frequently to reduce charring, which is highly carcinogenic. Grilling fish takes less cooking time and forms fewer HCAs than beef, pork and poultry.
Marinate your meat. According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, marinating can reduce HCA formation by as much as 92 to 99%. Scientists think that the antioxidants in marinades help block HCA formation.
Add some spices and rubs. Rosemary and turmeric, for example, seem to block up to 40% of HCA formation because of their antioxidant activity. A study by Kansas State University found that rubbing rosemary onto meat before grilling greatly decreased HCA levels. Basil, mint, sage, and oregano may be effective, too.
Select leaner cuts of meat and trim excess fat to help reduce PAHs. Leaner cuts drip less fat – and dripping fat causes flare-ups and smoke which can deposit PAHs on your food.

Iced And Frozen Coffee Drinks: Are They Coffee, Snacks, Or Dessert?

June 26, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

When the weather heats up, the coffee drinks tend to cool down. Unfortunately, some iced and frozen coffee drinks – whether they’re from a coffee shop or from a can — can really bump up your calories and fat grams.

Calories in Some Iced And Frozen Coffee Drinks

Note: all info (with the exception of Burger King) is for a 16 ounce cup.

Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino with whipped cream, 16 ounces (grande): 400 calories, 15 g fat (9 g saturated), 64g carbohydrates.

Starbucks Mocha Light Frappuccino with nonfat milk, 16 ounces (grande): 130 calories, 0.5g fat, (0 g saturated), 28g carbohydrates.

Iced Caffe Latte with nonfat milk, 16 ounces (grande): 90 calories, 0g fat, 13g carbohydrates.

Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Coolata made with whole milk, 16 ounces (small): 240 calories, 4 g fat (2.5 g saturated), 50g carbohydrates

Dunkin’ Donuts Vanilla Bean Coolatta, 16 ounces (small): 420 calories, 6g fat (3.5g saturated), 92g carbohydrates
Dunkin’ Donuts Iced Caramel Mocha Latte with milk, (large): 450 calories, 12g fat (7g saturated), 73g carbohydrates

Dunkin’ Donuts Iced Latte made with skim milk, 16 ounces (small): 80 calories, 0g fat, 13g carbohydrates

Baskin Robbins Cappuccino Blast Mocha, 16ounces (small): 400 calories, 13g fat (9g saturated), 65g carbohydrates

McDonald’s McCafé Iced Caramel Mocha, 16 ounces (medium) made with whole milk and whipped cream: 300 calories, 14g fat (8g saturated), 36g carbohydrates

Burger King: Iced Seattle’s Best Coffee Mocha, 22 ounces (medium): 260 calories, 3.5g fat (2.5g saturated), 54g carbohydrates

Calorie Savers:

Ditch the whipped cream.

Swap full fat or 2% milk for 1% or skim.

Watch the sugar: ask for one pump instead of two or sugar free syrup, add non-calorie sweetener instead of sugar, or don’t sweeten at all.

Change the size of the drink that you order: instead of a venti or an extra large, order a grande or large – or drop down to a tall, medium, or even a small-sized drink.

If you have a two a day (or more) habit – like a coolata in the morning and a frappuccino in the afternoon – substitute a plain coffee or iced tea (easy on the milk and sugar), or even a latte with nonfat milk for one of those choices.

Order plain iced coffee or even an iced Americano (almost no calories for 16 ounces) and doctor it with non-caloric sweetener and skim milk. You’d even come out ahead if you use controlled amounts of sugar and a bit of half and half. Or have an iced brewed coffee with classic syrup: a 12 ounce cup has 60 calories.