Maintain Food Safety While Cutting Food Waste

Food safety is a major concern for the United States. The Federal government estimates that there are about 48 million cases of foodborne illness annually – the equivalent of sickening 1 in 6 Americans each year. And each year these illnesses result in an estimated 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths.

But food waste is also a major concern. According to the Federal government, the U.S. leads the world in food waste, with Americans discarding nearly 40 million tons of food every year. That’s worth more than $161 billion and comes to about 219 pounds of waste per person, or 30-40 percent of our food supply. Most of this wasted food is sent to landfills where it decomposes and produces methane. Landfills are  the third largest source of methane emissions, which are a big factor in climate change because methane is so effective at absorbing the sun’s heat, which warms the atmosphere.

The chief sources of food waste in the United States are the food industry and consumers. Within the food industry, waste occurs at every step — on the farm and with packers, processors, distributors, and retailers. Some of it is the result of economic forces, some of management problems, and some is caused simply by dumping products that are less than perfect in appearance. Several Federal agencies are cooperatively working with food industry entities to identify ways of reducing food waste.

For consumers, much food waste results from a misunderstanding of what the various wordings on product date labels mean, along with uncertainty about storage of perishable foods. Confusion over date labeling accounts for an estimated 20 percent of consumer food waste.

Food Product Dating

Except for infant formula, manufacturers are not required by Federal law or regulation to place date labels on packaged food. For all other foods, there are no uniform or universally accepted descriptions used on food labels for open dating (calendar dates) in the U.S. Accordingly, there are differing phrases used for product dating. Manufacturers apply date labels at their own discretion and for a variety of reasons. The most common is to inform consumers and retailers of the date to which they can expect the food to retain its desired quality and flavor. Industry is moving toward more uniform practices for date labeling of packaged foods. But, for now, consumers may see different phrases used for product dating, such as Sell By, Best By, Expires On, Best if Used By, etc. These are related to best quality, not to food safety. There is, however, a free source of information on safe storage of food.

 The FoodKeeper — A Guide to Safe Food Storage

 The FoodKeeper is an inclusive guide to how long virtually every food available in the United States will keep in the pantry, in the refrigerator, and in the freezer. Access the Foodkeeper  here, or download it as a mobile application..

Ways to Avoid Wasting Food

• Be aware of how much food you throw away.
• Don’t buy more food than can be used before it spoils.
• Plan meals and use shopping lists. Think about what you are buying and when it will be eaten. Check the fridge and pantry to avoid buying what you already have.
• Avoid impulse and bulk purchases, especially produce and dairy that have a limited shelf life. Promotions encouraging purchases of unusual or bulk products often result in consumers buying foods outside their typical needs or family preferences, and portions — potentially large portions — of these foods may end up in the trash.
• Check the temperature setting of your fridge. Use a refrigerator thermometer to be sure the temperature is at 40° F or below to keep foods safe. The temperature of your freezer should be 0° F or below.
• Avoid "overpacking:" Cold air must circulate around refrigerated foods to keep them properly chilled.
• Wipe up spills immediately: It not only reduces the growth of Listeria bacteria (which can grow at refrigerator temperatures), cleaning up spills — especially drips from thawing meats — will help prevent "cross-contamination," where bacteria from one food spread to another.
• Keep it covered: Store refrigerated foods in covered containers or sealed storage bags, and check leftovers daily for spoilage.
• Refrigerate peeled or cut produce for freshness and to keep them from going bad.
• Use your freezer! Freezing is a great way to store most foods to keep them from going bad until you are ready to eat them. The FoodKeeper has information on how long most common foods can be stored in the freezer.
• Check your fridge often to keep track of what you have and what needs to be used. Eat or freeze items before you need to throw them away.
• When eating out, become a more mindful eater. If you’re not terribly hungry, request smaller portions. Bring your leftovers home and refrigerate or freeze them within two hours and check the FoodKeeper to see how long they’ll be safe to eat.
• To keep foods safe when entertaining, remember the 2-Hour Rule: don’t leave perishable foods out at room temperature for more than two hours, unless you're keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold. If you’re eating outdoors and the temperature is above 90° F, perishable foods shouldn’t be left out for more than one hour..

Top 4 Fruits, Nuts, And Vegetables You Did Not Know Were Man-Made

 Believe it or not, a number of the favored fruits, nuts, and vegetables we eat today are man-made hybrids. They were created in laboratories through selective breeding, a process whereby only plants with favorable traits are replanted. That said, there are rare instances where insects were liable for creating the hybrid plants through cross-pollination.

SEE ALSO: 10 ‘NATURAL’ Belongings you WON’T BELIEVE are literally MAN-MADE

Of course, these insects would never are ready to cross-pollinate the plants if humans hadn’t planted a minimum of one among them within the area. Most of the entries on this list are surprising because the bulk are fruits, nuts, and vegetables that we concede to be natural.

1.Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale, And More

Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale, And More

Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts, collards , kohlrabi, and a number of other closely related vegetables originated from an equivalent plant species: Brassica oleracea. Its original form is understood as field mustard and still exists today.About 2,500 years ago, field mustard only grew in some parts of Europe and therefore the Mediterranean; its taste varied greatly counting on where it grew. Ancient Romans and Greeks soon realized that they might plant it for food in order that they engaged in selective breeding by planting seeds from field mustard with larger leaves. The result was the vegetables that we now call kale and collards .Selective breeding continued within the 1600s when people bred field mustard with bigger leaf buds. The result was a replacement vegetable covered with many leaves—this was the primary cabbage. field mustard selected for its bigger stems became kohlrabi, those with small heads became brussels sprouts, and therefore the ones with big flowers became broccoli and cauliflower.

2.Orange

Many varieties of the orange exist today. However, every variety traces its roots to the man-made hybrid when the pomelo was crossed with the mandarin. The pomelo is nearly as bitter because of the grapefruit, while the mandarin is nice. The mandarin has an orange color, which is why many of us misidentify it as a spread of the orange. Wrong! The mandarin is an ancestor of the orange. The history of the orange is unclear, but it’s believed to possess first appeared in southern China. Over the years, humans have selectively bred oranges to make many sorts, making it easy to confuse the orange with other citrus fruits. To be clear, a fruit must have evolved from the pomelo and mandarin to be considered an orange. That said, the tangerine isn’t considered an orange because it evolved from the mandarin but not the pomelo. However, the tangelo, which we’ll get to shortly, is during a grey area. It’s a cross between a tangerine and a pomelo. And as we mentioned already, the tangerine was created from mandarin.

3.Peanut

Peanut

The modern peanut may be a hybrid of two earlier sorts of peanuts, the Arachis parenesis and therefore the Arachis duranensis. The Arachis duranensis grows within the Andean valleys between Bolivia and Argentina, while the Arachis parenesis grows inside Bolivia. Both plants were found thus far faraway from one another, they couldn’t have crossbred naturally. Researchers ultimately discovered that the earliest settlers in South America took the Arachis duranensis from the Andean valleys as they migrated into today’s Bolivia 10,000 years ago. However, the settlers didn’t quickly realize the potential of their new crop and it had been the bees that really cross-pollinated both peanuts. The result was a replacement
peanut that’s the ancestor of today’s peanuts.

4.Almond

Almond

The almond may be a man-made hybrid of the wild almond, which is notoriously bitter and will be deadly when consumed in considerable amounts. The history of the fashionable almond is unclear, and scientists still can’t determine which variant of the wild almond was selectively bred to make the fashionable almond.
Scientists have their theories though. they think that the wild ancestor of the almond is that the Amygdalus fenzliana (Fritsch) Lipsky because its trees, seeds, and fruits resemble the fashionable almond. It’s also found in Armenia and Azerbaijan, where today’s almond is believed to possess been selectively bred by humans. Besides the origin, scientists cannot determine how our ancestors managed to make an ideal, almond because the almond is poisonous..

Top 3 Amazing Moments Captured In Fossils 2020

Fossils are the traces left by organisms – if they happen to die in only the proper time and just the proper place. If the conditions are correct the organic structures are replaced by minerals that will last many many years. Fossils are our greatest way of understanding ancient life but often scientists need to cope with mere fragments of bone which will be hard to interpret. In exceptional cases, an entire animal is preserved and sometimes it tells us an excellent deal about how the organism lived. Here are ten fossils that capture a snapshot of the primordial world.,

1.A Snake Hunts a Dinosaur

In the popular imagination, dinosaurs were the undisputed masters of their world. Yet the dinosaurs shared their planet with creatures that might if they got the prospect, take an utter of these terrible lizards. In one case it seems that a snake decided to raid a dinosaur nest for its meal. Sanajeh indicus was a species of snake that lived around 67-million years ago. When the remains of this 3.5m long snake were discovered it had been found beside a clutch of dinosaur eggs. Sometimes it happens that dead animals are going to be washed together by a flash flood and be preserved next to every other accidentally . during this case, though the coils of the snake show it died suddenly inside the nest. Most telling of all were the remains of a newly hatched sauropod . While sauropod dinosaurs grew up to be vast creatures this individual was still tiny and susceptible to snake attack. Other fossils found nearby show other Sanajeh snakes wrapped around other eggs so this wasn’t a one-off example of snakes snacking on baby dinosaurs..

2.A Shared Burrow  

250-million years after it had been crammed with mud the fossil of a little burrow was discovered by a paleontologist. whilst a fossil just of a burrow from that way back it might be interesting but when it had been examined it had been found to possess not only one occupant but two. the primary animal spotted inside the burrow was a proto-mammal called Thrinaxodon that’s thought to possess created the opening. But right next thereto was an amphibian called Broomistega. Since Broomistega is precisely the type of animal that the carnivorous Thrinaxodon would have hunted the 2 bring unlikely bunkmates. Scientists who examined the specimen considered various scenarios to elucidate how the 2 ended up together. The key to understanding what happened was the injuries on the amphibian. Two bite marks on the highest of the top showed it had been attacked, but the bite marks don’t match the Thrinaxodon. Researchers believe that Thrinaxodon was probably asleep, or during a state of torpor when an injured Broomistega dragged itself into the burrow for safety or to flee the sun. Unfortunately, both the burrow’s inhabitants were caught during a muddy slurry when a flash flood buried them alive..

3.Parasite Escapes Dying Host

Parasites are amazing, if unnerving, creatures. rather than the effort of finding their own food, they’re perfectly adapted to steal from other creatures. Sometimes they move inside their hosts to urge both access to nutrients and security. you would possibly think that it’s unlikely then that we might have any fossil evidence of those subtle creatures but amber is teeming with traces of parasitism.Sometimes once you kill an insect you’ll witness a horrifying event. While you’ve got rid yourself of 1 creepy-crawly another suddenly emerges. When a parasitic nematode senses that its host is dying it’ll often struggle free. an unusually long worm can unfold itself from a dying insect – and this will actually be seen in ancient amber.When a touch planthopper bug found itself struggling in thick tree sap its life was just about over. What the planthooper didn’t know was that quite one life was at stake. because the planthooper died a worm that had been filling almost its entire body cavity began to flee . Unfortunately for the parasite it had been no more ready to escape the sap than its host. Both were preserved for 35-million Years.

3 Ways You Might Be Hurting Your Brain

 Our brains are an incredibly important a part of our bodies. they provide us our personality, thoughts, and emotions and enable us to interpret and interact with the planet around us. It’s an organ we can’t get a transplant for, so it’s incredibly important that we lookout of the one we’ve immediately .Unfortunately, there area lot of the way to harm our brains, a number of which can be surprising. So let’s take a glance at a number of the ways a brain are often harmed, sometimes permanently, and (ideally) do exactly the other,

1.Not Exercising Enough

Not Exercising Enough

We need to exercise. Yes, it’s tough, it takes time, and perhaps it’s boring, but we’d like it. Our bodies need it. It’s recommended that we have a minimum of half-hour of moderate exercise each day. If, like everyone else lately, it seems a burden to dedicate an entire half-hour to yet one more task, don’t worry. Short bursts of exercise are great. Maybe take the steps rather than the elevator. rise up from the desk and walk around the office. Take the dog for a walk once you get home. There is evidence that exercising like we are alleged to also will help with memory. it’s actually one among the only a few memory enhancers that have good evidence backing it up. Don’t worry about having to follow a particular routine or perform exercises that you simply hate or cannot physically do; all you would like to try to do is make certain to sweat. Working up an honest sweat is vital. A good sort of workout to specialize in is aerobics. As we grow old, our brains actually decrease in size, by approximately five percent every ten years. aerobics is great for keeping that pulse up and pumping more oxygen throughout your body. As we exercise, our bodies produce a chemical, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, that helps fight this decrease and Maintain our cognitive functions.

2.Taking Those Memory-Enhancing Supplements

Taking Those Memory-Enhancing Supplements

All those memory-enhancing supplements that are advertised everywhere? Yeah, generally speaking, the sole thing they enhance is that the wallet of the manufacturer. There’s not much, if any, reliable evidence that these supplements are literally helping us unless we are literally deficient during a vitamin. The evidence also shows that while supplements won’t have much benefit, they still carry risk. do skills supplements are regulated within the United States? As long because the manufacturer follows good manufacturing processes, claims to possess supporting research, don’t make specific medical claims, and includes a disclaimer on the label, they’re good to travel.

3.Can’t Get Enough Of Those Cigarettes

Can’t Get Enough Of Those Cigarettes

When we smoke, we don’t just hurt the brain; we’re actually causing harm to almost every organ in our bodies. Although the damage to all or any of those organs can have an impact on the brain also, let’s specialize in what specifically happens to the brain. It’s probably not a surprise to you that cigarettes have nicotine, but did you recognize that nicotine actually causes your brain to change? It’s true. Cigarettes flood our brains with such a lot of nicotine that they really build more receptors to handle it all. Now that our brains have these receptors, if we don’t keep them happy, then we’ll enter withdrawal and doubtless be smoking again soon. Having plenty of nicotine receptors isn’t all that happens to our brains. Research has shown that folks who smoke have, on average, a thinner cortex than those that don’t smoke...

John Abraham On His Viral N,de Picture: “It Was just So Casual, I Wasn’t Even Posing.

John Abraham says that he is not one to take comments on social media seriously. In fact, he says that he never even reads them.

                                                                                            

Actor John Abraham says while social media is relevant today, he is not someone who would post details of his personal life.

“I was a media planner in an ad agency and I believe in the power of social media. It is very relevant. If I have to make an announcement, I would look at the digital route. But I am very resistant to using it for personal pictures, JOHN told IANS

Four More Shots Please season 3 starring Kirti Kulhari, Sayani Gupta, Maanvi Gagroo and Bani J goes on floor

 

The third season of the show, which received an International Emmy 2020 nomination in the best comedy series category, recently went on floors. Nandy says that she feels “alive” getting back to a set after a brief hiatus owing to the Covid-19 lockdown. “There is this absolutely wonderful sense of warmth and shared history and success that we all enjoy and post the year we’ve all had, just being on set — exchanging ideas, discussing characters, celebrating the successes of the past year, even squabbling over costumes and whether to eat healthy or not on a set — it just all feels like coming home. We’ve actually grown into our own little sisterhood, men included, and that is a wonderful feeling to go to work with every day,” she elaborates.,

With production houses hitting the ground running and resuming shoots, project crews and units are mandatorily required to adhere to all Covid-19 guidelines. Talking about shooting amidst the new normal, she says, “Our protocols are driven by the government’s prescribed norms and Amazon’s exhaustive list of SOPs. We’re testing exhaustively, masking for safety, using private travel modes only, there’s zero sharing of food and liquids and we’re living in a shoot bubble to keep our crew and ourselves as safe as possible. All this while we keep a close watch on the changing pandemic environment around us to devise new and additional precautions that could come into place.

The shoot of Four More Shots Please! is currently underway in Mumbai and will continue till the end of May. Post that, the team will be shooting in another Indian city and then jet off to an overseas location

COVID-19 vaccine for children: Moderna begins testing on children between 6 months to 12 years Old.

 

Children may soon get the jab if things go according to plan. Moderna has started testing a COVID-19 vaccine candidate o
n kids in Canada and the US..

Till now, no COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to children. Also, it is not yet known what effects a vaccine may have on kids. But now things may change soon. US-based Biotechnology company Moderna on Tuesday announced that it is now testing a COVID-19 vaccine designed to be used on children aged between 6 months to less than 12 years old. To begin with, the company intends to enroll approximately 6,750 paediatric participants in the US and Canada. The trials are being conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). In a statement, the Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, Stephane Bancel, said that the company is pleased to begin this Phase 2/3 study of mRNA-1273 in healthy children in the US and Canada. In the statement, they also thanked NIAID and BARDA for their collaboration in this. Bancel further added, “We are encouraged by the primary analysis of the Phase 3 COVE study of mRNA-1273 in adults ages 18 and above and this paediatric study will help us assess the potential safety and immunogenicity of our COVID 19

Participants To Receive One Of Two Dose Levels In Phase 1

This Phase 2/3 two-part and randomised study will evaluate the safety, tolerability, reactogenicity and effectiveness of two doses of mRNA-1273 given 28 days apart. In Part 1, each participant ages two years to less than 12 years may receive one of two dose levels (50 microgrammes or 100 microgrammes). Also, in Part 1 clinical Tips, each participant ages six months to less than 2 years may receive one of three dose levels (25 microgrammes, 50 microgrammes and 100 microgrammes). 

Dosage Yet To Be Decided For Phase 2 Trials

An interim analysis will be conducted to determine which dose will be used in Part 2, the placebo-controlled expansion portion of the study. Participants will be followed through 12 months after the second vaccination, the company said. Vaccine effectiveness will either be inferred through achieving a correlate of protection, if established, or through immunobridging to the young adult (ages 18-25) population, it added.

Aamir Khan bids adieu to social media; says ‘I have decided to stop this pretence

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan celebrated his birthday yesterday. Fans and well wishers Showered the superstar with heartfelt messages and pictures. Acknowledging their wishes, Aamir penned a heartfelt note of gratitude, which was also followed by his statement of bidding adieu to social media. Have a look 

Aamir’s note read, “Hey guys, thank you so much for all the love and warmth on my birthday...my heart is full. In other news, this is going to be my last post on social media. Considering that I am SO active anyway, I have decided to stop the pretence. We will continue to communicate as we did before”.

He also added that his production house has also created an official channel wherein they;ll be updating fans about him and his films. Aamir Khan will next be seen alongside Kareena Kapoor for 'Laal Singh Chaddha'. The film will also have a cameo appearance by Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan as reported by Mumbai Mirror.