Consumer Reports On Health reported in December 2007 that organic tomatoes may be better for you, because they contain more of two flavonoids than conventional tomatoes, including higher levels of other healthful antioxidants.
The March 2008 issue cited reports of bagged vegetables being recalled due to contamination with E. coli, urging readers to thoroughly wash even "prewashed" or "triple-washed" bagged fruits or vegetables.
I have been buying Earthbound Farms organic spring mix at Coscto for a couple of years now and never wash it. It used to say it was triple-washed; now it just says it is prewashed. I have been grabbing a handful and stuffing it into pita bread for a sandwich or placing it into a bowl for my dinner salad and have suffered no adverse effects.
Finally, if you wonder why some people insist on grass-fed beef, the November 2007 issue said, in answer to a reader's letter, that beef from grass-fed animals contains about half the saturated fat of corn-fed beef, and higher levels of two potentially beneficial fats: omega-3 fatty acids, also found in fish, and conjugated linoleic acid, which some studies have suggested helps protect against obesity, clogged arteries and possibly diabetes.
In addition, Consumer Reports On Health said, grass-fed beef is usually raised without antibiotics, hormones or rendered animal byproducts, which may harbor mad-cow disease. So be a pain in the grass the next time you go to a steakhouse and insist on a grass-fed steak. The January 2008 issue informed readers that new rules from the U.S. Department of agriculture require that "grass-fed" cows get 100 percent of their daily calories from grass, compared with 80 percent under the old rules.
Whole Foods usually has a good selection of grass-fed beef, including some raised in New Jersey.
See two previous posts, "If you eat a lot of rice, read this" and "Clashing food coverage at Consumer Reports."
I believe the Australian beef at Shoprite is grass feed, am I correct?
ReplyDeleteYes. Australian beef and lamb producers say the animals are free-range and grass-fed. But when beef is described as grass-fed in Australia, does it mean 100% grass-fed, as in the U.S.? I don't know, but you can be assured the meat is raised without antibiotics and growth hormones, two important factors.
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