Strawberries up the …

… up the WHAT, you ask? Why, the strawberry bush, of course! Geez, what were YOU thinking? 😉

After yesterday’s strawberry purchase, I have successfully eaten my way through 1.5 pounds of strawberries. Yes, I said POUNDS. How??

Chocolate strawberry oatmeal, with Chillin’ Chocolate PB and a crumbled Saratoga peanut butter ball. Eaten while studying for tomorrow’s Medical Nutrition Therapy exam.

Mid-morning, Peter whipped up some Peter Reinhart crackers.

They were mostly rye flour, with seeds and an egg white wash. I ate a couple with some of my favorite cheeses: Cowgirl Creamery‘s Mt. Tam and a very sharp cheddar:

The basis of lunch was a modified PB & J:

Gorgeous red gems.

This PB & J has no added sugar – only a fresh, sweet taste 🙂

Peter was kind enough to make dinner while I continued my studying frenzy. He prepared black pepper sauce from Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking, and served it with pork, snap peas, and Forbidden Rice.

What is Forbidden Rice? Forbidden Rice is a whole grain rice high in iron that has a nutty taste. It’s a little firmer than brown rice and goes really well with a peppery sauce. We bought ours at Kalustyan’s when we went to the store a few weeks ago.

I’m going to look for this rice someplace a little closer than NYC because it was nutty and delicious!

My brother-in-law Dave sent me this article a couple of days ago. The article talks about initiatives by the FDA to require food manufacturers to put nutrition labels on the FRONT of packages, rather than the side or back. I can understand their reasoning here – put the label front and center so that the consumer sees it, kind of like putting nutrition information on a restaurant menu. BUT, unlike info on a menu, food packages ALREADY have a nutrition label in a fairly conspicuous location. Personally, I don’t think placing a nutrition label on the front of packages will cause more people to look at them. What do you think?

I do agree with the second part of the article that talks about standardizing health claim labels on food packages. Currently, health claims are confusing and often misleading. What exactly does “natural” mean? In truth, it means absolutely NOTHING. But, often people will pick up a product and consider it more healthy if it has that magic word on the front. Food companies employ many such misleading labeling tricks to get you to buy their product in the name of health. I believe passing stricter rules about what can and can’t be on a food package would be helpful in weeding out some of these deceptive practices.

Q: What so you think about putting nutrition labels on the front of food packages? How about standardization of health claims on labels?

I’m off to study for my MNT exam, so I’ll see you all in a few days!

37 Comments

  1. hahah Hi Jessie!! I know 1.5 pounds sounds alot to people, but I can down that many as well EASILY if they’re tasty and sweet. My bf gets me the 7 pound boxes from costco and somehow it’s all gone in 2 days. I wonder where they go! 😛

    Those crackers look fantastic! I gotta go check ’em out!! Thanks for sharing Jessie and have a fabulous rest of the weekend!

  2. I’m all for standardizing health claims. Putting the nutrition label on the front may make the odd person take notice. I think though the label is found by those trying to eat healthy and not by those who don’t care.

    Thanks for stopping by last week Jess. Sorry it took so long to say hello but I’ve been busy. I was a bit forgetful this week too!

    1. Thanks for stopping by, John!

    1. I didn’t know that! :O *goes to check teeth*

  3. Good luck on your studies! That’s so sweet that Peter is cooking so you can study! 🙂

    Forbidden rice sounds really interesting, I’ve got to try it!

  4. I love all the strawberries in this post- I ate a two-pint container in one sitting yesterday, so I can relate!! I don’t think putting the info on the front of the package helps, either. It’s not the placement of the information that matters, it’s getting people to actually look at it!

  5. Your Husband rocks, he cooks up some yummy stuff.

    I am with you on the nutrition label, people know where it is. It really is up to them if they look at it, and care. I do think health claim labels should be standardized. Like you said it’s misleading, especially for people who really don’t know the difference.

    Good luck on your test.

  6. That’s a lot of strawberries! But it makes sense. They are delicious. And I agree on the labels. It being on the front won’t change anything.

  7. I could eat that many strawberries, EASY! They are so lovely to eat. Mmmmmm, and on a PB sandwich, yum!!

    What a good husband you have to cook such a nice meal for you! Awww! 🙂

    Totally agree with you on the label thing. If someone wants oreos, they’re gonna buy the oreos. Most people who buy those kind of things are aware that they have high in sugar, but they eat them anyway, ya know.

  8. i have been on a strawberry kick too…..bought 4 pounds and hubby is not helping me eat them so i have been like crazy 🙂 good luck studying!

  9. Good luck with your Medical Nutrition Therapy exam tomorrow – kick butt! Looks like your dog is all studied out already. Haha so cute!

    Forgot to say that I love xo sauce on my last comment. My mom usually makes hers non spicy though and we love it with hot pot.

    I don’t think it’d make much difference if the nutrition label is on the front. If people cared it wouldn’t matter where they put the label, people would still look for it. And if they don’t care, even if the label was in front they’re not going to bother to read it anyways. And I’m with you on passing stricter rules on what can and can’t be placed on a package.

    1. Yum, XO on hot pot would be the ultimate combination 🙂

  10. I agree that it’s not the placement of the nutrition label that’s going to change the way people buy groceries. I think the people who really care about the nutrition information have no trouble flipping a few boxes over and comparing the label.

  11. Unbelievably delicious dinner! And I love the homemade crackers too! Peter is on fire with the awesome cooking!

    I unfortunately don’t think the nutrition labels being on the front will matter too too much. People who are interested in the stats already know to check on the back or side, and so many people who don’t read them choose to ignore them because they’re not interested in knowing. But maybe if it’s directly in their face, they’re more guaranteed to at least take a peek?

    I hate the “natural” labels and the “healthy” claims. It’s so confusing for consumers!

    Great article, great topic!!

  12. I agree that placing labels on the front of packages will probably only make a minimal impact. And I’ve seen some cereals list basic things on the front already. I think the bigger problem is the non-standard serving sizes. Wouldn’t it be nice if serving sizes were based on an amount a person is actually going to eat/drink in one sitting rather than the amount that makes the calorie count seem lower?? 😉 Making something like a small bottle of coke (or any other sugary drink) look like 2 servings is totally misleading since what person is going to drink ONLY 8 ounces and then save the bottle for later?

    And I think that standardizing health claims on food labels is also a great step. There are so many products that claim to be healthy or organic or natural without really saying what that means — and you’re not going to know unless you carefully inspect the label and all the ingredients (which many people don’t…)

  13. I love strawberries…can’t wait for the picking season here when I can get some bucketfulls and eat them every day.

    The fake ‘natural’ & ‘green’ labels drive me mad…they mean nothing at this point and only serve to confuse consumers.

    I don’t think the placement of the label matters, but the information given on it needs to be clearer – like portion sizes so minutely stated they are almost irrelevant or buying something that states ounces on the container yet the label gives you the nutritional info in grams…that one drives me mad.

    1. Your last point is so important! I forgot to mention it, but portion sizes are a HUGE issue because they can be so convoluted as to be meaningless. I think I’m going to have to talk about that one 🙂

  14. I am all for nutrition labels on chain restaurants and packaged foods (from restaurants). I however think labels on non-chain and fancy-schmancy restaurants kinds ruins the experience..

  15. Very interesting about food labels. I don’t think the labels being on the front will make much of a difference, especially considering that many people don’t know how to interpret the info on the label. And frankly, I don’t think a lot of people care. Sad, sad state of affairs we have going on in this country.

  16. I think the labels are fine where they are, it is just people are lazy to turn the package over and look. I do think standardizing the labeling terms is a good idea. I hate the word natural as it is used to mean anything. Last I checked, and I always remind my clients, lead and arsenic are natural too, and I certainly would not consider these healthy. In fact, I am allergic to smelly cleaning products and the server at a restaurant when I asked him to stop because of my allergy told me not to worry as it was all natural. I had to remind him flowers are all natural too and I am allergic to those too. Anything smelly makes it hard for me to breath, so no, natural does not mean better. Hey, thanks for letting me vent on that one. Have a good night. Good luck studying and on the exam. Yea for MNT!

  17. I don’t mind having the nutrition facts on the back, just so long as they are there I can’t complain. I have never tried strawberries with PB but it looks good!

  18. good luck on your exam chica! I know you are going to rock it.

    I have been gorging on strawberries as well. Love your modified PB+J. That is what I am going to do with my next strawb purchase.

    I think the whole nutrition label on the front thing isn’t going to make a difference. Those of us who know what it means and care about it already looked for it on the back and everyone else still isn’t going to give a damn. In my opinion.

  19. I don’t think it matters much where you put the label. The label itself is what is confusing and I think needs to be spruced up a bit. I don’t know if you have the proposed label. It definitely looks much easier to read and understand.
    I also agree with you in regards to setting stricter guidelines for health claims and what not. So often people will read that is says something, for example, natural, and buy it without looking at the label.

  20. what an excellent idea with the strawberries and peanut butter!!!!!
    i want some RIGHT NOW!

  21. Oh lately I have been loving strawberries too, they just seem to make a perfect addition to any dish! Or maybe I just bought too many and find every excuse to eat them, haha!

    Good luck on your test 🙂

  22. I really wish I can go to strawberry picking!!!! I am not surprised at all for that 1.5 pounds of strawberries, because, why not?!?! 😀
    Now you can enjoy a strawberry loaded meal , oh yah!!!!

    the forbidden rice?? I guess you are talking about the glutinous rice with purple color. but that’s a really awesome name!!!

    1. It sure is purple – apparently it can turn your teeth black!! :O

  23. Okay, this is pretty much selfish on my part…but URGH!!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!! (not you, haha)
    STOP with the nutrition facts! I don’t WANT to know! I already know too much!!! I just want to enjoy my occasional treats in peace, please. I don’t want to know that McD Big Mac is 600kcal, or that Cheetos is 200kcal per grab. Urgh!

    On nicer note…LOVE forbidden rice! The texture is amazing.

  24. I do *hope* that putting the nutrition labels on the front of packages makes people more health conscious/aware, but I’m not too sure that it will. Not to mention that people need to learn it isn’t ALL about calories…the ingredients in food matter too! So maybe a serving of cereal is only 110 calories, but it might also be loaded with sugar and chemicals. But hey, it could be a step in the right direction!

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