Fruits and Vegetables

Officials find potatoes disguised as chocolates

Custom officials at Miami International Airport find sweet potatoes disguised as chocolates. A traveler who arrived at Miami International Airport earlier this month must pay a $300 penalty for trying to smuggle fresh sweet potatoes from Bolivia into the United States by disguising the vegetables as a candy. According to a news release, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists discovered the 18 small sweet potatoes in early November.
 

U.S. food safety likely to get overhaul in 2010

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to increase government oversight of food safety but the first significant overhaul in 50 years may not happen until 2010.
 

U.S. food safety likely to get overhaul in 2010

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to increase government oversight of food safety but the first significant overhaul in 50 years may not happen until 2010.
 

Pest finds prompt San Diego County quarantines

Quarantines established, expanded after insects are found in San Diego County. State agriculture officials have expanded and established quarantines in northern San Diego County to counter two insect infestations.
 

Eat and drink your way to a healthy colon?

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Eating fruits and vegetables, and drinking tea and red wine may offer overweight men and normal weight women some protection from colon and rectal cancers, hint study findings from the Netherlands.
 

20oceanspray

A consumer advocacy group isn't so sweet on the labeling of a new dried fruit cranberry product from Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. The National Consumers League, based in Washington, D.C., sent a letter Tuesday to the US Food and Drug Administration, asking it to investigate the labeling of the Lakeville cooperative's ``Choice'' brand. The group alleges that Ocean Spray sells the food as ``sweetened dried cranberry'' but that it has more sugar than real fruit and is made from cranberry skins and not whole cranberries. ``That is a problem for people who are buying a product they think has cranberries when in fact, it's really no longer cranberry,'' said Sally Greenberg, the group's executive director. Ocean Spray officials said yesterday they don't sell the product to consumers; they sell to food manufacturers, who use it in their own products, which they also label. John Isaf, a spokesman for Ocean Spray, said food manufacturers ``know what they are buying. I am pretty sure we accuratel
 

International research team cracks potato genome

A global team of researchers has mapped the genetic code of the world's most popular vegetable ? the potato.
 

International research team cracks potato genome

Research team releases draft of potato genome, could improve world's most popular vegetable. A global team of researchers has mapped the genetic code of the world's most popular vegetable ? the potato.
 

9 in 10 high schoolers short on fruits, veggies

CDC: Just 1 in 10 high schoolers eating fruits and veggies the recommended 5 times a day. Less than 10 percent of U.S. high school students are eating the combined recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables, a finding that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called "poor" in a report Tuesday.
 

Michelle Obama to promote gardening on "Sesame Street"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. first lady Michelle Obama is to kick off the 40th anniversary season of the children's TV show "Sesame Street" with a segment encouraging kids to plant gardens and eat healthy food.
 

Chef Dennis creates dishes under a master's guide

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - American Joel Dennis has a strong bond with renowned French chef Alain Ducasse.
 

Michelle Obama to appear on 'Sesame Street'

First Lady Michelle Obama will show children how to grow their own vegetables in a special episode to mark the 40th anniversary of US television's Sesame Street, it has been confirmed.
 

As local food gains, local planners face decisions

Chickens, fresh apples and other local foods can give indigestion to local officials. Chickens finally can roost legally in Bozeman, Mont.
 

More Americans growing food on small `hobby farms'

Census shows more Americans trying their hand at raising crops, livestock on `hobby farms'. Most evenings, Gary Mithoefer can be found at the end of a long gravel driveway off a busy highway, tending two garden plots filled with white sweet potatoes, squash, cabbages and a dozen other vegetables still thriving in early fall.
 

A balanced diet

CDC finds that few Americans are eating enough fruits and vegetables. A federal recommendation that each American should eat at least two portions of fruit and three servings of vegetables daily does not seem like much to ask. But getting people to eat sufficient produce is as tough as getting banks to loosen credit or getting Congress to debate health care reform like adults.
 

Fresh-squeezed veggie juice finally comes of age

At midmorning, the line at Liquiteria is almost out the door.
 

Fresh-squeezed veggie juice finally comes of age

Drink your fruits and veggies: Today's bright, cheerful juice bars appeal to wide audience. At midmorning, the line at Liquiteria is almost out the door.
 

Swiss seek to settle debate over the true fondue

Swiss cookbook settles debate over the authentic cheese fondue, offers many other recipes. It's dinnertime and farmers are dipping bread cubes into a molten pot of melted cheese, an image of Switzerland's rustic mountainsides and garrets as iconic as Heidi at her chalet or men in embroidered vests playing 10-foot-long Alphorns.
 

Calif. citrus farmers fear tree-killing disease

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Antioxidants tied to lower risk of preterm birth

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pregnant women who eat plenty of red- and orange-hued fruits and vegetables may have lower odds of giving birth prematurely, a new study suggests.