The White House has just launched its new food safety website. I headed over to www.foodsafety.gov and had a look around and was impressed at how much information is readily available to everyone.

Here is a list of just some of the things you can do and find at Foodsafety.gov.

• You can find a list of different contacts and government agencies emails and phone numbers to help answer any food safety question you may have.
• You can find information on even pet food. (got to keep your pets healthy too!)
• The main page has big topics like Meat, Poultry, Fish, Eggs, Dairy, Fruits, Vegetable and Food Borne Illnesses easily accessible with  one click.
• There are educational materials and links .
• You can download podcasts, videos, ecards and handouts from agencies like the FDA and the USDA.
• There is a section where you can locate information about your local state agency.
• A section allows you to learn more about the inspection and monitoring process.
• You can sign up for email updates
• There is current food recall information.
• You can access emergency and disaster information.

After only a quick tour of the site it promises to be a great resource for anyone interested in food saftey. And we should all be interested in that!

Vitamins like B and C get all the spotlight.  While the less popular Vitamin D are left in the shadows. This is really a shame because Vitamin D is very important and helps our bodies build strong bones and muscle.

Wait! Isn’t calcium good for our bones?

Yes, calcium is good to promote bone health, but your body needs Vitamin D to absorb calcium.

The most common and easiest way to get Vitamin D is by enjoying a sunny day outside. The ultra-violet light from the sun fill your body with Vitamin D. As people age and and we become more concerned with skin protection there is a growing need for Vitamin D supplements. (Using sunscreen does not allow Vitamin D to be absorbs into your body).  There are foods that you can consume that will give you extra Vitamin D. Here is a list:

• Salmon: Just 3 ½ ounces of cooked salmon supplies 90 percent of the DRI.
• Mackerel: Just 3 ½ ounces of cooked mackerel supplies 90 percent of the DRI.
• Tuna fish: Approximately 3 ounces of tuna fish canned in oil supplies 50 percent of the DRI.
• Sardines: Sardines canned in oil supply 70 percent of the DRI of vitamin D per 1¾ ounce serving.
• Eggs: One whole egg, with yolk, supplies 6 percent of the DRI of vitamin D.

You can also find food fortified with Vitamin D…

• Milk: Before milk began to be fortified with vitamin D in the 1930s, rickets was a significant public health problem in the United States. Today, however, just one cup of fortified milk supplies about 25 percent of the estimated vitamin D requirement.
• Orange juice: Some brands of orange juice are fortified with vitamin D, typically the same amount you’d find in fortified milk.
• Cereals: Certain ready to eat cereals are fortified with vitamin D. Typically, one serving supplies 10 percent of the DRI.
• Pastries, breads, and crackers: Many of these products are fortified with Vitamin D, but amounts can vary. Read labels carefully before making your purchase.
• Margarine:  one tablespoon contains 60 IU vitamin D.

At your next physical have your doctor check your Vitamin D levels and of you are low start adding Vitamin D rich foods into your diet or consult your doctor about adding Vitamin D supplements into your daily routine.

March is National Nutrition Month!® This year the theme is “Eat Right!”.

Sound like a simple message but the busy lives that we all lead eating right on the go is not always simple. The American Dietetic Associate understands that many of us eat out very often.  They have been nice enough to put together a list of tips to help us eat better when eating out.

Here are some of their tips:

1. Plan ahead and look for a place that has a wide variety of foods on the menu.

2. Look over the menu and look for a “healthier choices” section

3. If they ask, no you do not want that super sized. The regular portions are enough food.

4. If you are tempted when the waiter asks “room for dessert?”, just order one and enough forks for everyone to share.

5. Substitute fries or chips for a side salad, fruit or a baked potato.

6. Eat lower calories food like soup and salad first. Then you can enjoy a lighter and smaller entree.

7. Keep portable, nonperishable foods in your bag. Things like peanut butter with crackers, a piece of fresh fruit, trail mix or cereal are great potable snacks.

For the complete list please visit www.eatright.org

We all know that leafy greens are good for you. Even elephants know this.  A part of an elephants diet is Gotu kola, a small green round leaved plant that has been around since prehistoric times. That is one ancient plant.

You may have heard it by some of its other names. Gotu kola is also known as hydrocotyle, asiatica, luei gong gen, lien tien thao, bai bua bok,  and pennywart.

Gotu kola is much more than just elephant food. For many years this herb has been used in Asia. Both the leaves and the stem have medicinal value.  The leaves can be eaten raw (like the elephants do!) or cooked.

It may not be very easy to find becayse the plant is indigenous to places like Southeast Asia, India, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Pacific Islands, Central America, South America and is warm and wet areas of the Southern United States.

So whats in this plant that makes it good for you? Well like most herbs, Gotu kola is a complex plant with many different chemicals.  It includes:

• asiatic acid
• madecassic acid
• terminolic acid
• bayogenin
• docosyl ferulates
• d-gulonic acid
• centellin
• asiaticin
• cadiyenol
• asiaticoside
• madecassoside
• asiaticoside-B
• castilliferol
• castillicetin
• isochlorogenic acid
• centellasaponins B, C, and D.

In Asia Gotu kola is used for wound healing and to help heal burns. It has also been tested on mice and was concluded that the madecassoside in the Gota kola substantially prevented arthritis  and protected join destruction. It is also being looked into as a possible alternative to steroid creams when treating psoriasis. There are studies to see if it can be used to help repair damaged nerve cells and MIT in Cambridge, Mass is looking into anticancer effects it may have.  It can also be used to help a athletes body recover from hard running or cycling or any other strenuous activity.

If eating raw leaves is not your kind cup of tea, then you can have…. a cup of tea. You can find Gotu kola in tea form. You can also find it in pill form.

So take a lesson from the elephants!

Twas The Month After Christmas

Twas the month after Christmas,

and all through the house,

Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.

The cookies I’d nibbled,

the chocolate I’d taste

At the holiday parties

had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales

there arose such a number!

When I walked to the store

(less a walk than a lumber),

I’d remember the marvellous meals I’d prepared;

The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,

The wine and the rum balls,

the bread and the cheese

And the way I’d never said,

“No thank you, please.”

As I dressed myself in my husband’s old shirt

And prepared once again to do battle with dirt…

I said to myself, as I only can,

“You can’t spend a winter, disguised as a man!”

So, away with the last of the sour cream dip.

Get rid of the fruit cake,

every cracker and chip.

Every last bit of food that I like must be banished

Till all the additional ounces have vanished.

I won’t have a cookie,

not even a lick.

I’ll want only to chew on a long celery stick.

I won’t have hot biscuits,

or corn bread,

or pie.

I’ll munch on a carrot

and quietly cry.

I’m hungry, I’m lonesome, and life is a bore…

But isn’t that what January is for?

Unable to giggle,

no longer a riot.

Happy New Year to all,

and to all a good diet.

Nutrition Ink celebrated at our annual Holiday Party. It was held at the Farmhouse Restaurant in Banning. It was a great turn out this year and everyone had a lot of fun! This year there was a drawing for the big grand prize for 2 tickets anywhere American Airlines travels. The big winner was Julie Enslow.  Congrats Julie and enjoy your trip!

Nutrition Ink wishes you and yours a wonderful holiday season!

Nutrition Ink is very happy to be working with retired California state surveyor, Linda Handy, MS, RD. If you are a facility serviced by Nutrition Ink, give us a call and we can schedule a visit from Linda to insure that your facility is up to par. If you are not, you can still benefit from all of Linda’s expertise by reading her new book, “Safe Dining for The Susceptible Customer: Seven Professional Views During Survey”. Linda Handy has worked hard to give people a tool to have handy (pun totally intended!) to make a survey situation go smoothly. Some chapters titles are “The Comedy of Errors“, “Regulations, Regulations Every Where & Not A Minute To Think” and “Burning The Midnight Fryer Oil“. The book is not the stuffy text book you are use to.  Linda Handy and her co-author Wayne Toczek have taken a humorous and very reader friendly approach with this book. It is filled with “Handy Tips” and is a must have and there is even more! The book comes with a study guide and has been approved for 6 CE credits for Dietitians, DTR, Dietary Managers & Nurses. 

If you would like to purchase this fabulous book please visit Linda Handy’s website:

Handy Dietary Consulting