Shame on Hebrew National

Image via Wikipedia

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Have you seen the latest Hebrew National TV commercial, the one that calls its hotdogs "the best of the best of the best"?

I was watching morning TV on an exercise bicycle at the gym on Monday, not taking notes, so I might have missed another "best."

Later, this appears on the screen: "OMG, they're kosher."

More copy tells you the beef hotdogs contain nothing artificial, but there's no mention of preservatives or whether the cattle feed contains antibiotics, growth hormones and animal byproducts.

OMG, they're stuffed with antibiotics.

OMG, they're drowsy with growth hormones.

OMG, they're preserved to last forever.

Trader Joe's, Stop & Shop, Whole Foods Market and other stores sell uncured hotdogs made from beef raised without antibiotics, hormones or animal by-products.

H Mart coupons

I tried to use the H Mart coupons I got in the mail, but the produce at the Little Ferry store looked sort of forlorn today.

Gala apples, in the bag or loose, were bruised. The red-leaf lettuce was 99 cents, but I decided to continue eating the lettuce growing in my garden.

There were no coupons for the other items I was looking for: 

Fresh fish (Spanish mackerel was $3.49 a pound vs. $4.99 a pound at Whole Foods Market in Paramus); stewed tofu with red-pepper sauce and hot-pepper sauce in a squeeze bottle.

I also picked up Champagne mangoes, a box of 18 for $8.99, or about 50 cents each, compared to five for $5 at Whole Foods. Collard greens were 79 cents a pound.

I drink lactose-free milk and was surprised Lactaid conventional milk and Organic Valley milk were priced the same ($4.49 for a half-gallon).  

The Cheesecake Factory

Two friends asked me to meet them for lunch today at The Cheesecake Factory in Hackensack, where takeout slices of cheesecake are priced at around $7 each.          

I had a large salad with blue cheese and walnuts. 

One friend had a large bowl of pasta with meat sauce, and the other chose a soup-sandwich combo. I drank seltzer, they drank water, and each of us had coffee.

With a 15% tip, each of us paid $20. That seemed like a lot for lunch.

I was chagrined to see I was charged $13.95 for the salad, even though I asked the waiter to hold the chicken usually served with it.