The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Top vegetarian restaurants in the nation

What are America’s best vegetarian restaurants? The Vegetarian Resource Group offers this list:

• Blind Faith Cafe, near Chicago

• The Chicago Diner

• Amitabul, Chicago

• Millennium, San Francisco

• Zen Palate, New York

• Candle 79, New York

• HanGawi Restaurant, New York

• New Harmony Vegetarian Restaurant, Philadelphia

• Singapore Kosher Vegetarian Restaurant, Philadelphia

• Kingdom of Vegetarians, Philadelphia

• Sublime Natural and Organic Restaurant and Bar, Fort Lauderdale

• Café Flora, Seattle

• Kaya’s Kitchen, New Jersey shore

• Twisted Tree Café, New Jersey

• Real Daily Food, Los Angeles

For information about vegetarian restaurants in your area, see the “Vegetarian Journal’s Guide to Natural Food Restaurants in the U.S. and Canada.”

If you’d like to add your favorite vegetarian restaurant to the Vegetarian Resource Group’s listing, click here.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

How to peel a pomegranate

Recently, I took a trip to Sacramento.

My daughter-in-law is a farmer, and on her family’s farm they have pomegranate trees.

I was envious as I watched her lean over the sink and quickly and magically peel pomegranates.

Since she was too busy to keep me supplied, I had to figure it out for myself.

Here’s my method:

• Wash the pomegranate. Get out a sharp knife and a cutting board. Place a small bowl in the sink

• Put the knife on top of the pomegranate and cut it about one-third of the way down using the cutting board.

• Lean over the sink and hold the pomegranate as far away from you as you can. This prevents the staining of your clothes.

• Begin pulling the pomegranate apart. Let the white membrane and outside peel fall in the sink and direct the seeds into the small bowl.

• Clean out the sink.

• Enjoy the pomegranate seeds.

When I was a kid, I used to buy pomegranates instead of candy. Back then, pomegranates were only sold for a brief period of time each fall.

I thought my pomegranate-peeling method was so great, it was THE method.

However, I found these ideas as well, which include peeling the pomegranate under cold water to avoid staining clothing or using a hammer:

“How to Peel and Seed a Pomegranate” – metacafe

“How to Peel, Seed, and Juice pomegranates” – About.com

“How to Peel a Pomegranate” – eHow

“How to Peel a Pomegranate” – Mahalo

“Pomegranate” – Cooperative Extension, Utah State University

Pomegranates are high in antioxidants, another reason to enjoy the tasty fruit.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Recall of the Week: Slim-Fast canned shakes recalled due to possible health risk

All Slim-Fast ready-to-drink products in cans are being recalled due to the possibility of bacterial contamination.

Unilever United States Inc. said the products may be contaminated with Bacillus cereus, a microorganism that may cause diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting.

The recall involves all Slim-Fast ready-to-drink products in cans, regardless of flavor, Best-By date, lot code, or UPC number.

No other Slim-Fast products – such as powdered shakes, meal bars, or snack bars – are part of the recall.

See the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announcement for details, which includes a link that lists all ready-to-drink recalled products.

The company is in the process of identifying and correcting the production issue, and will resume production and shipment of the product when the issue has been addressed and corrected.

Consumers who have purchased any of the recalled products are urged to discard them immediately.

Call Unilever at 800-896-9479 for information or details on how to obtain a refund. The Consumer Services Center is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

To learn about other recalls, see www.recalls.gov for details.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

How to choose a facility for your mammogram screening

Years ago, when I wrote about the possible dangers of radiation doses from mammograms, I followed the consumer recommendations to call facilities that offer mammograms and ask about the age of their equipment, equipment certification, and technician training.

In recent years, I’ve been lax about this important consumer research.

However yesterday, when listening to reports on National Public Radio about the recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, I heard a doctor talk about the importance of selecting the best facility to do your mammogram.

The quality of mammography screening varies widely across the country. It’s important for baby boomer women to call the facilities they’re considering and ask questions.

To make a list of facilities, you can get information about local Food and Drug Administration-certified mammography facilities at the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service line at 800–4–CANCER or 800–422–6237. Also, a list of these facilities is on the FDA’s Web site at www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfMQSA/mqsa.cfm.

Here are questions to ask the facilities on your list:

• When did you purchase your equipment? Does the FDA certify it? When was the last inspection? Tell me about your maintenance program. Does the equipment produce digital or film images? Digital technology is newer, but it isn’t known yet whether is produces better results than film.

• How skilled are your technicians? Where were they trained and how long was the training? Do your technicians update their training?

• What's the expertise of the radiologist who interprets the films? Where was he or she trained? Do you have a radiologist that spends more than 50 percent of the time working in breast imaging?

• Does your facility specialize in mammograms? How many mammograms do you do a day?

• Does your facility do audit reviews at least twice a year, and is the radiologist routinely given the results of these reviews? Audit reviews are a form of quality control. The facility should compare the mammogram interpretations with the results of the breast biopsies in order to regularly test the accuracy of the radiologists’ decisions.

• What dose of radiation does your equipment emit for a mammogram?

When you get to the facility for your mammogram, ask to see the MQSA certificate and check its expiration date. MQSA means the Mammogram Quality Standards Act. MQSA regulations also require mammography facilities to give patients an easy-to-read report on the results of their mammogram.

If you are satisfied that the facility is of high quality, continue to go there on a regular basis so that your mammograms can be compared from year to year.

For more information, see “Choosing a Mammogram Facility” and “How to Select a Mammography Facility.”

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

New breast cancer recommendations offer helpful advice to baby boomer women on what to do about breast cancer screening

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force revised guidelines on breast cancer screening recommend against universal screening mammography for women aged 40 to 49, recommend every other year screening for women 50 to 74, rather than annual screening, and recommend against teaching breast self-examination.

I believe the new recommendations provide valuable information for baby boomer women as they access their breast cancer screening needs.

Among the groups that agree is the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
 
For over a decade, the coalition has had the position that over-emphasis on the importance of breast cancer screening, despite a lack of strong evidence, has been elevated to such a degree that some even equate screening with prevention.

The coalition hopes that the task force revised recommendations will put screening and its limitations into proper perspective.

"We hope that policy makers, the public, and the health care community will take the time to carefully analyze the basis of the revised recommendations,” said coalition President, Fran Visco in a statement in response to the task force’s recommendations. “Women have been given different messages for years, but unfortunately those messages were not based on strong evidence."

"Women deserve the truth even when it is complicated,” Visco added. “They can accept it."

Everyone deserves to know the facts and has the right to make informed decisions regarding their health care. The coalition encourages women to make informed decisions regarding screening based on the actual evidence.

To learn more about the myths and truths concerning breast cancer and screening, and to find out how to take action against this disease, visit the coalition’s StopBreastCancer.org.

The coalition is an organization working to ending breast cancer through grassroots action and advocacy.

The Breast Cancer Fund also has raised questions about radiation as being implicated in breast cancer causation. See the articles “Do Chemicals and Radiation Cause Breast Cancer?” and “Preventing Breast Cancer: 20 Risk Factors.”

The Breast Cancer Fund is an organization that works to identify – and advocate for elimination of – the environmental and other preventable causes of breast cancer.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Baby boomers may be heavier and more disabled as they get older

Older Americans entering their 70s aren’t functioning as well as the generations that came before them, a new study shows.

That may predict that baby boomers will have higher disability rates in their “golden years.”

The study compared disability measurements, which assess how well an individual can perform daily activities, such as walking up a flight of stairs, managing personal finances, and performing household chores.

The study doesn't explain why more people are becoming disabled as they enter their later years, reports the Los Angeles Times article “Baby Boomers May Face High Disability Rates.” However, Teresa E. Seeman, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at University of California at Los Angeles’ David Geffen School of Medicine, is quoted in the article as saying:

Rising levels of obesity appear to be the major factor; the greatest increases in disabilities were among non-whites and people who were obese or overweight. Normal-weight individuals do not show a trend of increasing disabilities. It does seem to be that the increase is restricted to the groups that are overweight and obese. But part of the problem is that more and more people are overweight and obese.

Baby boomers can improve their chances of being active and healthy as they get older by losing weight.

Here are resources on weight loss:

“Weight Loss for Life” – National Institutes of Health

“Good News for Women Trying to Lose Weight” – About.com

“Resources for People Who Want to Lose Weight” – Diabetes Spectrum

“10 Painless Ways to Lose Weight” – WebMD

“Top 10 Diet and Nutrition Resolutions” – MedicineNet.com

“Dieting on a Budget” – ConsumerReports.org

“Top Diets Reviewed” – ConsumerReports.org

“Rating the Diet Books” – Center for Science in the Public Interest

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What’s in the House health care bill?

This summer, a number of consumers complained to me they didn’t know what was being proposed in health care reform.

I suggested they read the bills that were beginning to come out of House committees. I also offered a list of consumer organizations that are working on health care and providing information.

Now things are getting exciting. A bill has passed the House of Representatives.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act, HR 3962, includes these measures, reports The Washington Post article “What’s in the House Bill”:

• An individual mandate that would require people to buy health insurance. An employer mandate that would require companies to cover their employees, though small businesses would be exempted.

• Funding to create insurance exchanges to serve people who don't have employer coverage.

• A government insurance option to compete with private plans on the exchange.

• Subsidies to help households earning up to $88,000 in annual income for a family of four purchase coverage.

• A historic Medicaid expansion that would provide free health care to all Americans with incomes below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.

• Up to $400 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts, including to a Medicare Advantage managed-care program that serves nearly 11 million seniors.

• A surcharge on taxpayers who earn more than $500,000 a year, or $1 million a year for families.

• A crackdown on the insurance industry, including bans on lifetime limits, premium disparity based on health status and sex, and coverage denials based on preexisting conditions. The bill also would end a federal antitrust exemption that has for decades protected firms from federal investigations.

Be sure to let your senators know your view on health care reform and whether the above provisions meet your needs. You can also work with the groups listed in my post.

Although an important first step has been taken with the passage of House bill, there are two more steps: (1) passage of a bill by the Senate and (2) a conference committee that will reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of health care bills.

Here are other articles analyzing the House bill:

“House Health Care Vote: Breaking Updates” – The Huffington Post

“Health Care Reform Bill Passes House – What’s in It?" – The Consumerist

“Health Care Reform and You” – AARP

If you want to read HR 3962, go to thomas.loc.gov. Be sure to read the amendments, too, which are included in a separate file.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Recall of the Week: Fairbank Farms beef recalled due to E. coli outbreak; 28 illnesses, two deaths reported

Fairbank Farms, of Ashville, N.Y., is recalling about 546,00 pounds of fresh ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli, reports the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service.


FSIS became aware of the problem during an investigation of a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses. Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health and agriculture departments, FSIS determined that there is an association between the fresh ground beef products subject to recall and illnesses.

The cluster includes 28 persons from 12 states infected with matching strains of E. coli O157:H7, reports the CDC.  

The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: California – one; Connecticut – four; Massachusetts – eight; Maryland – one; Maine – two; Minnesota – one; New Hampshire – four; New Jersey – one; New York – one; Pennsylvania – two; South Dakota – two; Vermont – one.

States where persons infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 live, from Aug. 21, 2009, to Nov. 2, 2009

The first reported illness began on Aug. 18, 2009, and the last began on Oct. 10, 2009, according to the CDC. However, all but two patients reported becoming ill between Sept. 17 and Oct. 10, 2009.

Sixteen patients are reported to have been hospitalized, and three developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome. Two deaths have been reported, according to the CDC. Sixty-seven percent of patients are male and 43 percent are less than 18 years old.

Anyone with signs or symptoms of foodborne illness should consult a physician.



Among the stores that sold the recalled products are Trader Joes, Price Chopper, Lancaster and Wild Harvest, Shaw's, BJ's, Ford Brothers, and Giant. See the FSIS announcement for a list of the products recalled.

Most of the beef packages in the recall bear the establishment number "Est. 492" inside the USDA mark of inspection and have identifying package dates of "091509" or "091609."

Consumers are urged to check their refrigerators and freezers for beef products produced by this firm and purchased on or after Sept. 15, 2009. They should discard or return the recalled beef products to the place of purchase for a refund.

Consumers with questions about the source of a package of beef should contact the grocery store, club store, or meat market where they purchased it, advises the CDC.

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, seniors, and persons with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness.


FSIS and the CDC advise consumers to safely prepare raw meat products, including fresh and frozen, and only eat ground beef or ground beef patties that have been cooked to a temperature of 160° F.

The only way to be sure ground beef is cooked to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria is to use a food thermometer to measure the internal temperature.

See “Is It Done Yet?” for details and food safety resources.


Consmers with food safety questions can "Ask Karen," the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov.

A toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-674-6854 is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from l0 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What were your best and worst consumer happenings this week?

Which consumer experience cheered you this week and which one made you want to scream or weep?

Here’s what happened to me this week:

 

My best consumer experience: Using digital photography to take hundreds of photos of fall colors

I couldn’t have done it without digital photography. I took 1,500 photos of fall colors in and around the Olympia, Wash., area. I wrote “How to Take Photos of Fall Colors” with my 10 best photos and “Fall Colors: My Best Photos for 2009” with my top 100 photos.

A film project with that many photos would have been too expensive. Also, I would have had to wait to see my results. I might have missed unique fall color photo opportunities.

I had fun and experienced much joy from the project.

My worst consumer experience: Bad food at a Mexican restaurant

My friend injured his foot, so we changed the location of our Friday night outing to a Mexican restaurant. It would be easier for him to negotiate with his crutches there rather than the downtown restaurant with curbs and perhaps distant parking.

Our dinners were good, but after we finished them, I got a bad stomachache. I had to leave the restaurant quickly.

The food may have been spoiled; I had a Seafood Chimichanga, but I asked to not have it deep fat fried. Or, I could have been allergic to something in the food.

Not a good consumer experience.

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Healthier treats for Halloween

For years, when we had a Central Washington apple farm in the family, we’d give out apples for Halloween. After that, I passed out popcorn in wax paper bags.

Lately, I’ve been dispensing small boxes of raisins. However, my daughter told me recently that she thinks raisins are a lame Halloween treat.

She suggested a toy, but I wouldn’t consider that because of the possible toxins in toys. One in three toys tested recently by The Ecology Center were found to contain "medium" or "high" levels of chemicals.

Halloween pencils or stickers are other ideas she had.

You don’t have to be a “sugar pusher” on this nationally sanctioned Sugar Overload Day, says Connie Bennett, writing on the Sugar Shock! Blog.

Ideas for nonfood treats

• Hair clips and hair bands for girls

• Key chains

• Children’s magazines or comic books

• Bottles of bubbles

• Fake money

• Used books

• Temporary tattoos

• Jump rope

• Small deck of playing cards

• Sidewalk chalk

• Coupons from a yogurt store or juice bar

Ideas for school supplies

• Pencil toppers

• Pens

• Erasers

• Colorful paperclips

• Paper

• Paintbrushes

• Washable markers

• Ruler

•  Coin purse

Ideas for healthier food treats

• Cereal bar, but watch the sugar level

• Snack packets of pretzels, nuts, and seeds

• Trail mix

• Individual juice drinks of 100 percent juice

• Animal crackers

• Hot chocolate or apple cider packets

• Packages of low-fat crackers with cheese fillings

• Gold fish crackers

• Snack pack pudding

• Applesauce

If you choose candy for treats, look for those that are lower in fat and sugar.

Choose bite-size candy bars based on the least amount of fat and calories per serving, recommends Clemson Extension in the article “Healthy Halloween Treats.”

Better choices are: 3 Musketeers; 100 Grand Bar; Butterfinger; Milky Way; Raisinets; Starburst, and York Peppermint Patties. In addition, consider healthier dark chocolate versions.

Happy Halloween!

Copyright 2009, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist