FitSugar

Is Peanut Butter Spreading Salmonella?

FitSugar — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:10:07 PST

Last week, yet another salmonella scare swept the nation, and as of today, almost 400 people have been affected. Since September, cases have been found in 42 states, but the majority are focused in California, Ohio, and Minnesota. Although Minnesota officials think the culprit in their state may be King Nut peanut butter, they haven't connected this product to the national outbreak.

Investigators discovered the salmonella in a five-pound container of King Nut peanut butter in a nursing home. This company doesn't make its own peanut butter, but instead orders it from Peanut Corporation of America, based in Lynchburg, VA. King Nut then sells to food-service providers that supply food to hospitals and other institutional facilities, so it's not sold in retail stores. For safety purposes, King Nut has voluntarily recalled its creamy peanut butter sold under the names King Nut and Parnell's Pride with a lot code that begins with the numeral 8.

The CDC, Agriculture Department, Food and Drug Administration, and state health officials plan to continue the investigation so they can give the public more details about the source of the outbreak. Since the salmonella was found in an open container of peanut butter, cross-contamination may also be a possibility. For more details, check out the FDA's press release.

Source

Danny Seo Celebrates Earth Day With a One Kings Lane Tastemaker Sale to Benefit Charity

Guest Writer — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:00:00 PDT

We're excited to present a post from guest writer, eco lifestyle expert, and all-around awesome guy Danny Seo.

Late last year, I had the privilege to sit down with one of the co-founders of One Kings Lane, Ali Pincus, and talk about our favorite places to shop, how I'm addicted to the home shopping site, and to talk about ways I could get involved with One Kings Lane. We came up with the idea for me to do a TasteMaker tag sale where I could collect some of my favorite vintage and antique items from my home and put them up for sale on the site. I agreed under one condition: if we could donate the proceeds to my favorite charity, Baby Buggy.

Baby Buggy, in case you aren't familiar, is the wonderful nonprofit founded by Jessica Seinfeld that has the motto "Love, Recycled." It's so appropriate because they accept lightly used baby gear, clothes, and new baby and children essentials to help families in the greatest need. They are a clearinghouse of sorts that works with a network of nonprofits who call Baby Buggy with a wish list of goods they desperately need. And like a fairy godmother, Baby Buggy always comes to the rescue. With the proceeds from this sale, Baby Buggy will be able to buy the most needed essentials to help families in need. In the spirit of Earth Day, selling vintage and antique items is green for Mother Earth since it's reusing what already exists; the sale proceeds will coincidentally help many mothers here on Earth.

In this special CasaSugar post, I'm excited to give you a sneak peek at three items for sale and the unique story behind them. I've traveled the world for work and always found time to visit out-of-the-way antique stores, flea markets, and galleries to search for beautiful things. I hope whoever buys these goodies will cherish them as much as I have over the years.

Indian ArrowHead Collection When I was filming my TV show "Simply Green with Danny Seo" (all episodes on Hulu now), I made a point to visit a small antique store in the sleepy town of Point Pleasent, PN. Down an alley and past a blacksmith shop (of all things!), I found a little antiques store that was going out of business. Rummaging through box after box, I came across a collection of mounted arrowheads, all hand mounted on colorful felt with a hand pounded metal backing in glossy black frames. What I loved about these pieces is that clearly someone had scavenged the woods of Pennsylvania for each arrowhead, cleaned them, and displayed them in a very beautiful and interesting pattern. I also love the pop of color in the background.

Keep reading to learn about two more special items from the sale

What Went Down on the Royal Honeymoon?

Annie Scudder — Mon, 23 May 2011 10:45:42 PDT

We knew plenty about the royal wedding before it happened and got instant updates about the dress, the guests, and the parties as it all went down. But the royal family kept details about the honeymoon as secure as the crown jewels. Now that it's over and the duke and duchess are back to military life and grocery runs, some details have emerged about William and Kate's trip to islands off the coast of Kenya fit for a future queen and king. If you're looking to live vicariously on this Monday, here's what we know.

Who: William, Kate, and a bunch of wild animals. The pair saw newborn turtles hatch and run to sea and swam with sharks and stingrays while out on a scuba dive.
What: Relaxing in a $6,000-a-night luxury villa that includes a freshwater pool, private garden, and outdoor yoga pavilion, plus a personal chef and butler.
Where: In the Seychelles, a string of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean and a place they had already visited in 2007 when they allegedly made a secret agreement to marry one day. The locals presented the royals with a Coco de Mer "love nut," an aphrodisiac coconut and fertility symbol unique to the island.
When: After delaying their honeymoon, the newlyweds left on May 10 to enjoy 10 days of peace and privacy.
Why: To celebrate their marriage and enjoy time together, of course! A spokesperson said it was successful: "The couple thoroughly enjoyed their time together." How could you not with a trip like that?

10 Signs You're a Full-Blown Vegan

Jenny Sugar — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:58:13 PDT

Whether you started out dabbling in vegetarianism or went head-first into ditching meat, eggs, milk, and other animal products, here are the top 10 signs you're absolutely a full-blown vegan.

When grocery shopping, you have TVP, tofu, tempeh, edamame, miso, Silk, and every other type of soy product in your cart.
Your veggie-oil-powered VW sports a bumper sticker that reads, "Cows Are For Mooing, Not For Barbecuing!"
At least once a day someone asks you, "How do you get enough protein?"
The only time you'd ever set foot into Burger King is if you desperately needed to use their bathroom.
There's a copy of Veganomicon, Fast Food Nation, and The Kind Diet on your nightstand.

Keep on reading for the last five reasons you know you're a die-hard vegan.

Channing Tatum Gets Hot and Shirtless in a Desert Shoot For GQ

Lauren Turner — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:05:40 PST

Channing Tatum's piercing green eyes are the focus of his March GQ cover, which is available on Feb. 22. He got shirtless and sexy for photographer Nathaniel Goldberg inside the issue - check out more photos from the hot desert shoot. Channing's promoting his new action movie, The Eagle, though he opened up about topics other than just work, like his future plans and partying past. Here's more:

On his stripping past: "I had wanted to tell people, I'm not ashamed of it. I don't regret one thing. I'm not a person who hides sh*t."
On wanting to do his own stunts: "I think people pay money to see the actor go through a wall. I want to be like, 'Holy sh*t, Johnny Depp actually jumped off that building. That guy's f**king crazy. I want to be him.' "
On going out: "I lived crazy really young. So now I don't need to go out and get nuts."
On his future plans: "There are so many things I want to do. Like, I want to get an artist, a musician, a photographer, and a bunch of dancers that I know and just travel across Africa and just film it and just see what happens. Do and learn as much as I possibly can. Luckily, I have a lot more time."