In every store, check the nutrition label for added sugar

These sardines from Thailand seemed like a good buy at ShopRite in Parmaus, but when I looked at the nutrition label on the ones with tomato sauce, sugar was listed as one of the ingredients.

Editor's note: On government-approved nutrition labels, natural and added sugars are listed in grams, but you are not told 4.2 grams of sugar equals 1 teaspoon. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Tomatoes are one of my favorite foods -- in juice, raw in salads and in cooking -- but a lot of products made with them also contain added sugar.

Bottled pasta sauce with sugar is commonplace, as I discovered at Trader Joe's the other day. But what is sugar doing in sardines?

I've been buying 99-cents canned Moroccan sardines with tomato sauce at Fatal's in Paterson, because they have less sodium than the same fish in oil, and often use them with pasta.

At the ShopRite in Paramus, I saw 3.75-ounce of sardines in tomato sauce from Thailand for only 59 cents during the Summer Can Can Sale.

But the nutrition label listed sugar as one of the ingredients.

I bought three jars of Archer Farms Roasted Salsa Verde from Target, and liked its thick, chunky style.

When I tasted it and then looked at the label, I saw sugar is one of the ingredients. 

No sugar is used in green salsas made in Mexico, and sold by Goya, La Costena and others.

Two bottled pasta sauces at Trader Joe's in Paramus, above and below, contain added sugar. I buy Kirkland Signature Marinara and Classico Tomato & Basil at Costco Wholesale. Both are made without sugar.

The front label on Trader Joe's Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil says it is "imported from Italy and packed in U.S.A." But a label on the back notes the bottle contains a blend of oils from four countries.

The side or back label, left, lists an oil blend from Italy, Spain, Argentina and Greece. ShopRite sells a liter bottle of 100% extra-virgin olive oil from Italy for $7.99 and for $6.99 during the Summer Can Can Sale.

Trader Joe's

At Trader Joe's in Paramus, I looked at bottled pasta sauces with sugar, but bought a 25-ounce jar of Trader Giotto's Organic Tomato Basil Marinara, which is unsweetened ($2.29).

A package of Trader Joe's uncured, antibiotic- and hormone-free beef hot dogs was $4.99.

Applegate naturally raised sliced ham and roast beef come in 7-ounce packages for $3.99 each.

A 2-pound bag of small sweet potatoes was $1.69 or about 85 cents a pound.

Summer Can Can Sale

I took advantage of Summer Can Can Sale discounts at the ShopRite in Paramus. 

The sale continues next week, though different items may be discounted.

A 1-pound package of Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Pasta from Italy is $1, compared to $1.39 for a similar product at Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's.

I bought spaghetti, linguine, fusilli and capellini.

Liter bottles of Adirondack Lemon-Lime Seltzer were 40 cents each, and come in a 12 pack, a better value than the same seltzer in 12-ounce cans or 20-ounce bottles.

Bing Cherries were $1.99 a pound, reduced from $2.99.

Two-hundred Melitta basket filters for 4-cup coffee makers were 77 cents, reduced from $1.99.

Costco Wholesale calls this a "food court," but with only one counter, it's really just a food stand with tables. At the Montreal Costco, you can buy coffee and espresso drinks, but not in Hackensack.

A Melted Turkey and Provolone Sandwich is $3.99.

Costco Wholesale's $9.95 pizza

The slices on baked-to-order Costco Wholesale pizzas are so wide they are cut in two.

I ran out on Thursday to get an 18-inch pepperoni pizza at my Hackensack warehouse store for my wife and son ($9.95).

Before I went on a diet, I loved this pizza for all of the filling dough. And you can get a non-meat version with vegetables.

You can ask for it well done, but I'm not sure that is actually bakes longer in the conveyor-belt oven.

I used to bring it home and put the slices in the oven to bake even more.

The waiter said the Watermelon Salad at the Suburban Diner in Paramus comes with soup, such as this tasty vegetarian lentil, below. But when I got home, I noticed I was charged $4.10 for a small bowl.

The popular diner is cutting down trees to add more parking spaces.

A refreshing summer salad

I met a friend for lunch on Wednesday at the Suburban Diner in Paramus, and enjoyed a terrific Watermelon Salad with peppery arugula, diced cucumbers, feta cheese, salsa verde and a vinaigrette dressing with more cheese ($11.95).

I asked for the dressing on the side, and the waiter left it in the kitchen, but he brought it later when I asked for "more dressing."

He also told me a small bowl of soup came with the salad, but my check included a charge of $4.10.

I called the diner today and was told the soup is included. The next time I am there, a man said, the error will be fixed.

A cup of Mighty Leaf Organic Earl Grey Tea was $2.25.

Suburban Diner, 172 Route 17 north, Paramus; 201-261-2605.

At Maison Keyser on Third Avenue and 74th Street in Manhattan, a latte will set you back $4.50 plus tax, including a small pastry made in the artisan bakery. I couldn't find a Starbucks Coffee in the neighborhood.

Nibbling around the edges of a few non-food issues

This one-ply toilet paper is so thin and narrow it is difficult to keep your hand clean unless you double and re-double it.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Did I buy the Scott Tissue I've been cursing for the past few weeks?

Yes. I actually purchased a large package of this thin, narrow toilet paper at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

In the past, when I've purchased toilet paper at Costco, it usually costs more than the Kirkland Signature store brand.

I'm sure the Scott Tissue cost less, though I don't have the receipt in front of me.

This toilet paper may not even be good enough for prisons and mental hospitals.

I just looked at the package, described by Scott as "Our biggest pack ever!" Groan. There are plenty of the original 36 rolls left.

A Russell Hobbs electric kettle, right, and glass tea pot on a warming tray.

Makes me blue

Another terrible product is Clorox Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner Bleach & Blue, which shouldn't be confused with the regular, white tablet also sold as Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner.

On Dec. 16, I purchased two packages, containing two tablets each, when they were on sale at Target in Hackensack, and two packages of the white tablets ($4.49 each).

I found the Bleach & Blue tablet gave the toilet water an appealing color, but did a miserable job of controlling stains below the water line and odor.

The white tablet, which I bought for many years before Costco discontinued it, does a much better job on stains and odor.

I returned one package with one blue tablet and got a full refund, then discovered a second, unopened package, and will have to go back.

Great customer service

We love the Russell & Hobbs 1.7-liter Electric Kettle with Keep Warm Tea Tray I found on Amazon.com when another electric kettle started rusting inside after a dozen years.

But after a week or so of using the new electric kettle, I noticed a stain forming on the shiny interior bottom plate that eventually turned brown.

I called the company, and as I suspected, the stain was from minerals in our drinking water in North Jersey.

As the instruction booklet suggested, I used diluted vinegar and allowed it to soak inside the kettle for 30 minutes, but it didn't remove the stain.

I told that to the woman at customer service, and then asked if the company could send me another kettle. 

She agreed, and it showed up at our door two days later.

Then, we cleaned the original kettle with Bar Keepers Friend Cleanser & Polish, a terrific product we have been using for a few years to clean stains on our steel cookware.

The opening on the kettle is narrow, but large enough for a woman's hand, and my wife was able to remove all of the ugly brown stain.

Great seafood and going organic to avoid GMOs

Two organic brown eggs served over organic quinoa prepared in an electric cooker with organic diced tomatoes and organic chicken stock, all from Costco Wholesale. In the absence of a labeling law in the United States, going organic is the only sure way to avoid genetically modified foods and the safety issues they raise.

Wild-caught Pacific halibut is the most expensive fresh fish sold at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, but it's a breeze to prepare and the taste is worth every penny.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

I've seen fresh, wild-caught halibut in the cold case at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack for at least a couple of years, but the price has always stopped me -- until last week.

At $16.99 a pound, the fillets are only $2 or $3 more a pound than the Copper River sockeye salmon that I enjoyed this year.

When I got it home, I didn't have to do much more than slice the 1.16-pound skinless fillet into four serving pieces, place them on parchment paper in a large pan, squeeze lime juice over them and add a few pinches of Aleppo pepper.

Then, I put them in a 375-degree oven for about 10 minutes, took out the pan and spooned refrigerated Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto on each fillet.

My snowy fillet flaked beautifully and tasted wonderful. I served the fish with boiled sweet potatoes mashed with extra-virgin olive oil and seasoning.

A halibut snack reheated in the microwave for 1 minute.

Here is more about halibut from the Environmental Defense Fund:

"Halibut are flatfish (like flounders and soles) and can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh 800 pounds. They have both eyes on the same side of their head, which enables them to better see predators and prey as they lay camouflaged on the sea bottom."

EDF gives its "Best-eco" rating to Pacific halibut (sold at Costco), notes it contains a "moderate" amount of mercury and advises adults to limit their consumption to about 4 times a month.

A takeout dinner of calamari stuffed with shrimp and crab meat; spaghetti with red-clam sauce and whole shrimp; crab cake, broccoli and beets was only $5.99 after 4 p.m. at Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St., Englewood.

A serving of jumbo shrimp with vegetables; dry sauteed string beans and brown rice delivered by Zen Kitchen, 1443 Teaneck Road, Teaneck.

Avoiding GMOs

The European Union has a law calling for labeling of food containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), but the United States doesn't.

Going organic is the only sure way to avoid GMOs, but in the United States there are some organic and non-organic foods that carry a label from the NON GMO Project.

The NON GMO Project Verified label appears on Tru Roots Organic Quinoa, right, and  non-organic Lundberg Wild Blend Rice.

Click on the following link: nongmoproject.org

The European Union's Web site is: GMO Compass

Related articles

• Costco: Shifting More and More to Organic
• Costco return policy is only as good as employees
• Target Introduces GMO-Free Food Line

Picking up more than a few of my favorite things

My first visit to Costco Wholesale in Hackensack after a brief vacation netted fresh wild sockeye salmon fillet, Tropicana Orange Juice, beefsteak tomatoes, bottles of mango nectar, Greek Yogurt, a seedless watermelon, Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix, clothing for my teenage son and other items.

That night, I prepared the wild salmon with Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto that I had in the refrigerator, and served it with organic brown rice and prepared sweet-potato salad, all from Costco.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

It wasn't difficult to drop nearly $200 at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack on Tuesday during my first visit after a brief vacation.

I spent $95 on clothing, and the rest on food:

Earthbound Farm Organic Sprinx Mix, 1 pound for $4.99; a large seedless watermelon, $5.49; Kirkland Signature Greek Yogurt, 2 32-ounce cups for $6.99; fresh, wild sockeye salmon fillet, up $2 in recent weeks to $11.99 a pound; 3 half-gallons of organic, low-fat milk for $10.19; and other items.

At checkout, a woman in front of me was so impressed with a 5-pound box of Sunset-brand hothouse Beefsteak Tomatoes ($6.39) she saw in my cart that -- without asking -- she actually picked up one to examine it.

An open-face omelet made with Kirkland Signature Egg Whites.

Campari Tomato, bottled Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto and sliced, reduce-fat Jarlsberg Swiss Cheese dress up another egg-white omelet, served over brown rice.

More favorites

On Wednesday, in Englewood, I stopped at Balthazar Bakery on South Dean Street for 2 fresh baguettes, still $2 each.

Then, I drove the half-mile or so to Jerry's Gourmet & More, where I picked up 2  Meals To Go, cut to $5.99 after 4 p.m.

Normally, the restaurant-quality dinners are $7.99.

At home, I plated tender calamari tubes stuffed with shrimp and arugula, penne alla puntanesca, fresh artichoke salad and eggplant caponata, and re-heated them gently in the microwave.

I poured myself a glass of Italian red wine, and allowed myself a couple of pieces of crusty baguette.
 
My son enjoyed Jerry's Chicken Cordon Bleu, Spinach Lasagna and a Ham & Cheese Monte Cristo, but passed on the Brussels sprouts and baked cauliflower that came with the dinner. 

Balthazar's baguette has a living crust: It's crispier in dry weather.

A bowl of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix.

Kimchi and coffee

Also on Wednesday, I visited the Englewood building where Arirang Kimchi is made by hand, and learned the Oh family will be moving the operation to a Ridgefield shopping center in the next few weeks.

On Thursday, I dropped into the Target in Hackensack, where an employee said the store's small food court is being replaced by a Starbucks and a Pizza Hut.

They should be open by the last week in September, she said.

The licensed store would be the second Starbucks in Hackensack.

There is a company owned Starbucks on Essex Street, near the medical center, but the city still needs one close to the Bergen County Courthouse and law firms, and there are a couple of vacant storefronts that would do nicely within a block or two.

Salted codfish

On Monday, in Englewood, I picked up medium boneless salted codfish at the ShopRite for $6.99 a pound, compared to $8.99 a pound at Costco.

Jersey Blueberries were 2 pints for $4.

The tart-sweet blueberries are great with the sweet seedless watermelon I bought at Costco.

No need to thump the melon unless you plan to make music with it.

I look for the biggest, heaviest watermelon I can find; the exterior was a paler green than others, but it was perfectly sweet inside.

The blueberries also are wonderful in a breakfast "parfait" made with Greek Yogurt, Hemp Hearts, Black Chia Seed and Organic Blue Agave nectar -- all from Costco.

Parchment paper

To roast fish or chicken, I now use Kirkland Signature Parchment Paper to line the pan.

Meat or seafood doesn't stick to the paper so I don't have to use spray oil, as I did with aluminum foil, which is more expensive.

With chicken, I use two layers of paper to handle all of the juices, but one layer is enough to roast wild salmon or other fish.

I also use parchment paper to roast the sodium-free raw almonds I buy at Costco, and use the paper over or recycle it. 

I was never sure whether the aluminum foil was recyclable.
 

At the supermarket, organic lactose-free milk prices are defying gravity

Lactose-free milk at Walmart in Teterboro (2016).

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

At $4.99 or more for a half-gallon of organic, lactose-free milk, avoiding cramps and gas from eating dairy is getting expensive.

This summer, I started buying conventional, lactose-free, 2%-milk at the expanded grocery section of the Target in Hackensack, where a half-gallon of the store brand cost as little as $2.89 in August.

I was at the ShopRite in Englewood to fill prescriptions on Tuesday, and saw organic, lactose-free milk for as much as $5.19 a half-gallon. Instead, I bought the non-organic store brand for $3.39.

Lactaid, one of the first widely available brands of lactose-free milk, explains on its Web site: 

"Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest a sugar called lactose that’s found mainly in milk and dairy products.

"Normally, the small intestine produces an enzyme called lactase , which breaks down lactose into two simple sugars, glucose and galactose, that can be absorbed into the bloodstream.

"People whose bodies don’t make enough lactase can’t fully digest lactose, causing mild to uncomfortable side effects.

"Some people have a higher chance of being lactose intolerant. These groups include Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians and people of Jewish descent. It also affects adults more than children, since the body produces less lactase enzyme as people age."

Gas, cramping

Signs and symptoms are gas, cramping, bloating and diarrhea (sounds like my recent hospital stay, with constipation standing in for diarrhea).

Lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose, also is available in a pill, which you can eat before or with such problem foods as cheese. I buy mine at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, but the warehouse store doesn't carry lactose-free milk.

Although Lactaid milk has been widely available for a decade or more, you never see lactose-free milk served at Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts or in restaurants, forcing you to carry lactase pills or drink coffee black, as I do when I'm not at home.

Some yogurt and yogurt products are said to be naturally lactose free, including a sliced yogurt cheese available at Trader Joe's with and without jalapeno peppers.

Doctors talk food

In all the years I've been going to Dr. Glenn Brauntuch, my general practitioner in Englewood, he's never asked me what I eat, commenting only when I started gaining weight and urging me to eat less.

"I love food," my 228 pounds protested last year.

"Just love it less," he replied.

I was a food writer and news copy editor for a daily newspaper until 2008, so any food talk usually involved restaurant recommendations or complaints.

A decade or more ago, Brauntuch detected my heart murmur -- the swooshing sound of blood passing through my aortic valve, which was calcified and wouldn't close completely.

Heart murmurs aren't related to diet, he said, so I didn't have to stop eating milk, yogurt and other dairy food.

Open-heart surgery

Last Friday, my sluggish valve was replaced during open-heart surgery at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. 

When I was discharged on Tuesday, I was given a sheet of paper from the hospital outlining what I should and should not eat -- the most comprehensive advice doctors have ever given me about food.

Foods to avoid include high-fat bakery goods, fried vegetables or those made with butter, cheese or cream sauce; fried fruit or fruit with butter or cream;  butter; whole milk and other dairy products; smoked meat or poultry; frankfurters, sausage, cold cuts and other cured meats; too many egg yolks and all canned beans.

Except for canned beans, I've avoided all of those foods for many years, preferring heart-healthy fresh fruit and vegetables; wild-caught, cold-water fish (salmon, sardines and so forth), and almonds.

In the past year, I've lost 30 pounds with a regimen of five weekly visits to the gym, weight training twice a week and virtually eliminating bread and pizza. And I was out of the hospital only four days after surgery.

Vegetarian meals direct from India

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

You can find meatless meals in a box at Target's grocery department in Paramus. The Archer Farms-brand dinners come from India, feed two and cost $3.99 each. I called them vegetarian, though they contain milk.

I prepare two at time to feed me, my wife and our 13-year-old son. On Wednesday night, we had the vindaloo and tikka masala dinners -- rice, sauces and side dishes -- but not the chutney, which I find too sweet.

You might notice the word "spicy" on the boxes, but, in fact, everything is mild and delicious.


The vindaloo dinner includes raw basmati rice, an onion-ginger curry sauce and a potato-peas sautee. The tikka masala dinner also comes with rice, accompanied by a creamy tomato sauce and potato curry.


You'll have to boil the rice for 17 minutes, but everything else comes in plastic pouches and can be heated in the microwave.


Corrado's remodeling

Today's paper brought a flier from Corrado's, announcing a newly remodeled Clifton store and grand re-opening specials through Nov. 5 (1578 Main Ave.; 973-340-0628).

I have shopped there infrequently in recent years, because of a decline in quality in the produce section and the sale of expired items.

Are there bad-produce days?

Image by wallyg via Flickr

If humans have bad-hair days, do supermarkets have bad-produce days? I certainly thought so yesterday when I stopped at H Mart in Little Ferry to pick up some greens for dinner (photo shows Ridgefield store).

I have purchased collard greens from this large Korean market several times, but yesterday, the leaves were blemished. As I strolled along the aisle, looking at the large selection of leafy greens and Chinese vegetables, nothing looked very appealing -- wilted, shriveled and so forth.

Another shopper, an American woman, came over and asked the produce stocker if there were more eggplants in the back, explaining the ones she saw were soft. Same for the red peppers. He said no. She went back and managed to find some firm eggplant. I spoke to her and she suggested Thursday wasn't a good day to shop there for produce.

Finally, I saw two heads of fresh spinach at $1.29 each that looked as if they had been put out that day, and grabbed them.  I had already picked up a 5-pound box of large Spanish clementines for $6.99, rejecting smaller Spanish clementines nearby that had seen better days and were priced $1 higher. That was odd -- two prices for the same item.

The selection of delicious prepared food was as good as ever: stewed tofu seasoned with a red-pepper sauce ($3.99) and stewed Alaskan pollack with onions and hot peppers ($4.99).

For dinner, I cut, rinsed and blanched the spinach leaves, then sauteed them in a little extra-virgin olive oil and seasoned them with salt, black pepper and mixed organic spices (Costco).

I served them with an imported vegetarian Indian dinner for two of basmati rice, coconut curry sauce and spiced chickpeas ($3.99 at Target in Paramus) and home-made baked crab cakes, using a pound of lump crab meat from Costco.

Saturday night food notes

Saturday night is the one night we eat out, so we headed to Bergenfield to try one of the Filipino restaurants. First we drove to Wuzz Up! on Bedford Street, formerly Migdalia's Cuban Cafe, but it was setting up for a private party. We walked up Bedford to Cusinera, on South Washington Avenue, where Migdalia Sanchez Morales started out.

We placed our order after the woman behind the counter pointed to what was available and described the dishes. We asked for three egg rolls, three small, whole roasted fish; beef, tripe and green beans in a peanut sauce; pork chunks in shrimp paste, and white rice. We finished with three more egg rolls, but these were stuffed with sweet plantain. The white-fleshed fish were mackerel-like and delicious. And we loved the pork in the salty shrimp paste and the mounds of beautiful rice. The tripe and green beans were good, but the beef was too fatty. The plantain egg roll was a sweet ending to the meal. We spent about $25 for three, including two sodas and a water.

Then we headed to the new Target in Paramus, passing what looked like 75 or so people waiting on line inside and outside Bobby Flay's new hamburger restaurant. Maybe they were giving away the food. I haven't eaten there and don't want to. (See earlier post, "Hear the sizzle, smell the hype.") Give me Fuddruckers any day, if it is still serving a naturally raised ostrich burger or fish sandwich as an alternative to its beef hamburgers.

We had Target coupons that we wanted to use before they expired. I had a free green tea at Starbucks, my 11-year-old son had a free Icee and we got $5 off a purchase of $25 in groceries, which included Italian blood orange soda and fruit bars. While I was shopping, I heard a woman say into a cell phone, "Do you want Hot Pockets for dinner?"