Everyone knows what a pumpkin is: a roundish gourd with grooves going up and down, and, of course, it's orange. One then uses this produce to make a jack-o'-lantern or, more importantly, a pumpkin pie! The pumpkin pie purests insist that you must use fresh pumpkins to make a pie. These pumpkins have the botanical … Continue reading No “Pumpkin” in my Pumpkin Pie? Understanding the “Common or Usual” Name for a Food

"It's candy and I'm allowed to eat it during class," my fourth grade classmate bragged to me. His parents wrote a note to the teacher saying that he was allowed to have cough drops during school to help with his cold. Little did my fourth grade self know that I was witnessing FDA regulation at work: … Continue reading The Curious Cough Drop

Buy in bulk and save: Sam's Club and Costco are built on this concept. Even at non-warehouse retailors, you can buy a large quantity in a big container, usually at a decreased price for unit of measure. For example, for $2.40 you can buy about 1 pound of Peter Pan Peanut Butter, or spend about … Continue reading Toothpaste: No Supersize Packaging?

Name that food: Dry dough made from flour and water that is made into various shapes, may contain some optional ingredients such as salt or eggs. According to Merriam Webster, Oxford English Dictionary, or wikipedia, we just described a food known as "pasta," but then why do all of these labels call this food "macaroni … Continue reading Name that Food: Macaroni Product?

For almost 50 years Mom had an understudy in the kitchen: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This government agency carefully studied her recipes and wrote them down; they even considered her chocolate milk recipe. FDA can establish legally enforceable recipes that food manufacturers must comply with: these are known as "food standards." A food … Continue reading Keeping America Safe for Chocolate Milk

July is National Ice Cream Month, which dates back to 1984 when President Reagan issued a Presidential Proclamation and Congress issued a joint resolution to celebrate this "nutritious and wholesome food." President Reagan wasn't alone in referring to ice cream as a nutritious; several others did too during a Congressional hearing in 1977, which was held in response to … Continue reading You Scream, I Scream, We all Scream for Jell-o Ice Cream!?

I love air travel and airplanes -- all types of airplanes, including propeller-driven planes. While they are noisy and bumpy, they are also romantic and cause me to imagine that I'm experiencing the early days of air travel. Unfortunately, the last major U.S. airline (American Airlines) just flew its last propeller-driven flight: an era is … Continue reading FDA Inspecting Airplanes & Airlines?

Sunglasses -- they are an essential part of looking cool, as well as keeping the sun out of your eyes, especially when driving on those summer road trips. However when thinking about looking cool and driving, the Food and Drug Administration rarely comes to mind too. However, FDA regulates sunglasses as a medical device. While this … Continue reading FDA Regulates … Sunglasses?

Glass jars filled with delicious apple juice. The label depicts two beautiful, fresh Grade A apples -- implying that apples such as these were used to make this yummy looking apple juice. One problem, "rotten, wormy, moldy, black -- whatever shouldn't happen to an apple had happened to those apples" were used to make the … Continue reading Choose Your Charge and Please Hold the Mold

To get away from FDA?   At the inception of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) in 1906, Americans ate far less than the 35.8 pounds of chicken they do today. Chickens were a delicacy, a treat, that "typically cost 50 cents a pound (about $22 today)." Chicken … Continue reading Why did the Chicken Cross the Road…