Kraft Recalls White Chocolate Baking Squares: ” WEDNESDAY October 3, 2007 (Foodconsumer.org) — Kraft Foods is reportedly recalling Baker’s Premium White Chocolate Baking Squares distributed across the United States due to possible contamination of Salmonella, Reuters reported today. The affected product is sold in 6-ounce packages with UPC code 004300025200. “Test when used by” dates printed on package include 31 MAR 2008 XCZ, 01 APR 2008 XCZ, 02 APR2008 XCZ, or 03 APR 2008 XCZ. The recall affects 24,000 cases of the chocolate, but there have been no reports of illness associated with consumption of the product, Kraft spokeswoman Cathy Pernu was cited as saying. The recall was issued after the Food and Drug Administration tested and found salmonella in some 6-oz. packages.”
With all the recalls lately, I wonder if it’s just a matter of companies being more hygenic or perhaps improving the salmonella test itself? Not that I don’t think erring on the side of caution is a good thing, of course.
And Topps, the company that just recalled all that beef, is now going out of business because of the recall – 30 people got sick, and 2 law suits are pending. It’s all just a really bizarre trend, that I hope has a limited shelf life, so to speak.
[Tags: recall, food, chocolate, kraft, baking, salmonella]
A number of months ago we bought some fair trade, unsweetened cocoa from 
Scramblz Diner in Morgan Hill, CA is an interesting place. It used to be a Lyon’s restaurant that was bought by, I believe, an independent owner. The new owners gave the place a new look, as much as they could on a smaller budget – at least that’s my impression. They didn’t redo the mauve and seafoam green vinyl on the booths or the matching tiles on the walls near the kitchen, but they managed to overwhelm these subtle design elements with elements that make you completely forget the muted senior-focused diner it used to be. How? By hanging bicycles and airplanes from the ceiling, of course, as well as repeating a black and white checkerboard theme, and adding a ton of novelty items like oversized chess pieces. Oh, and they painted all the chairs electric yellow….
Five Hills Blue Merlot, 2004, from organically grown grapes – a wine we recently purchased from Trader Joes and recently opened. The only problem is that it wasn’t recent enough to remember details about it, other then it was tasty, smooth, and we liked it. I can’t say that I think the organic grapes TASTED much different from non-organically grown wine, but organic grapes tend to leave a better taste in your mind at least. 😉 (I think it also still had sulfites in it, which many ‘organically grown grape’ wines do, but not all.) But if you want to try a wine made from organically raised grapes, this is a decent place to start.
My artist friend Mary has just created a number of cool t-shirt (and gift) designs that celebrate eating locally, going to the farmer’s market, and sustainability – click on a link below to see all the t-shirts and such you can get!
I’d like to say that this was all homemade, but it’s not. Still, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t delicious! The tri-color tortellini was dried and bagged and from Trader Joes, and the alfredo sauce was from the good people at Classico. Makes a pretty picture, doesn’t it! (And the Classico sauce didn’t have MSG in it, as far as we can tell, which is something we definitely look for these days – harder to find pre-made, non-MSG infused, jarred Alfredo sauce than it should be!)
“Peanut butter is being turned into diamonds by scientists with a technique that harnesses pressures higher than those found at the centre of the earth. Edinburgh University experts say the feat is made possible by squeezing the paste between the tips of two diamonds creating a ‘stiletto heel effect’. The scientists also revealed they can turn oxygen into red crystals using the same method. ” 
I just love this photo of a raspberry sitting in yogurt, as one can too easily forget how ‘hairy’ raspberries are – LOL!