Made in China "Ikan Bilis" - Anchovies

"Disgusting Made in China food....BeWare!!

"Ikan bilis" made in China. Fish skin is made from PE (plastic) tube,
meat is made of some kind of jelly or gelatine. It has fishy smell.

I boiled with hot water for sometime the PE gets burst and exposing fish meat. These fish has NO bone and color would not change after cooking a long time.These fish also sold in flour coated form."

I found this again in one of the rampant forward emails with some pictures. All the time I wondered the authenticity of such info. I googled the web for confirmation but this time I found nothing on this topic... maybe someone out there could shed some light!

Baby Carrots You Buy from Supermarkets!

Yet another email forwarded again and again, and this time it may just ring true....baby carrots you buy in the supermarkets are not baby carrots in the real sense.

The following is information from a farmer who grows and packages carrots for IGA, METRO, LOBLAWS, etc.

The small cocktail (baby) carrots you buy in small plastic bags are made using the larger crooked or deformed carrots which are put through a machine which cuts and shapes them into cocktail carrots, most people probably know this already.

What you may not know and should know is the following: once the carrots are cut and shaped into cocktail carrots they are dipped in a solution of water and chlorine in order to preserve them (this is the same chlorine used in your pool) since they do not have their skin or natural protective covering, they give them a higher dose of chlorine.

You will notice that once you keep these carrots in your refrigerator for a few days, a white covering will form on the carrots, this is the chlorine which resurfaces.

At what cost do we put our health at risk to have esthetically pleasing vegetables which are practically plastic?

Chlorine is a very well known carcinogen.

Baby carrots can be less economical… http://www.wisebread.com/baby-carrots-the-frugal-idea-that-isnt - this site will give you more details.

http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/carrots.asp More information on this site for you to re-affirm what we read in email.

And wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_carrot) has a few external links if you need to know or understand more.

The decision is yours whether baby carrots are good or bad for your health and whether you should continue buying bagged baby carrots as your “healthy” snacks.

"A horrible fact about KFC"

I received this email, not once but many times, about a horrible fact about KFC. When I first read the story, I felt a loathing for such a practice but then I wonder again .... "Is it true? Would a well reputed international company go to such low level to save cost and earn some extra money?". Like I said, I started to google up to get factual reporting on such rampant rumours.

Here are part of the email about KFC that has been circulating on the net:

Kentucky Fried Chicken has become KFC. Does anybody know why? We thought the real reason was because of the 'FRIED' food issue.

IT'S NOT! !

The reason why they call it KFC is because they can not use the word chicken anymore. Why? KFC does not use real chickens. They actually use genetically manipulated organisms. These so called 'chickens' are kept alive by tubes inserted into their bodies to pump blood and nutrients throughout their structure.. They have no beaks, no feathers, and no feet. Their bone structure is dramatically shrunk to get more meat out of them. This is great for KFC because they do not have to pay so much for their production costs.There is no more plucking of the feathers or the removal of the beaks and feet.

The government has told them to change all of their menus so they do not say chicken anywhere. If you look closely you will notice this. Listen to their commercials, I guarantee you will not see or hear the word chicken.
I find this matter to be very disturbing.

I found a few site talking about this subject particularly:-
1. Kentucky Fried Chicken Hoax - seems there no proof on a specific study done in the University of New Hampshire
2. The Curse of Frankenchicken- The University of New Hampshire wasted no time publishing a rebuttal on its Web site.
3. Taste like chicken - genetic engineered food.....
4. Kentucky Fried Cruelty - I guess its people promoting going vegetarian....

So folks, read and make up your own mind.......

Internet Hoax

Artificial foods are at rampant and with the advanced in technology, we received information in loads telling us about foods that are tainted, artificial, genetically altered and are bad for our health.

Diseases are also at rampant. We received depressing information so fast these days, we can consider that "the world is flat now". Some of the information received over the net, in forwarded emails are so disheartening and sometimes I wonder about their authenticity!

So in order to bona fide the information I read, I usually take some time to google them up before panicking and even before forwarding to friends and love ones.

Internet Hoax not only report on food but also on the subjects of politics, crimes, environmental subjects etc etc...... I usually read them with a pinch of salt or not read at all.

I will research on these reported stories and share under the category of "Internet Hoax" hoping to create awareness on the legitimacy of such subjects.

Is Reboiling Water Bad?

One of my sisters used to come to my humble abode every Sunday morning to go for a swim and as usual after an hour swim, we were hungry and ready for a hearty breakfast of toasts and coffee. Then, I noticed my sister always pouring away whatever water I have left in my electric kettle and refilling it afresh.

When I could not retain my curiosity any longer, I asked her why she did that. She looked me in my eyes and asked "Why? Don't you know, you should because you are so widely read?" Then she continued to chirp "Its bad to reboil boiled water". When I asked "Why?", her reply was just "It's bad la". I was always skeptical about statement without any logical explanation, so I left it at that and humoured her whenever she was around.

Then this email found its way into my mail box recently with this newspaper report in a Chinese daily. Hah, now that I do have something in black & white, its time to investigate.

I found no evidence of any detrimental issue on reboiling water except this article written in another personal blog on the 10 tips for a better cup of tea; also someone intrigued by this issue which states that:

"The more oxygen that is dissolved in water, the better it tastes. So, to make sure you use water with the maximum amount of oxygen, don't re-boil any leftover water in your kettle. Water that is boiled too much becomes poorly aerated because oxygen atoms escape in the form of steam. By always filling your kettle up afresh, you are ensured fully aerated and tasty water."

Frankly, I can't find anything else anywhere that has evidence of such a claim.....more like the boy who cried wolf or one of grandmother's tales.

Most grandmother's tales come without any supporting evidence or reason for their sayings or claims, however, it is notable that many of their claims are useful hints to live by and also very interesting to analyze in.