In the past few years, there’s been a dramatic increase in food allergies, particularly peanut allergies in young people.
Amanda Perttunen knows this all too well. She and her family had a huge lifestyle change when her son Wylie, now 4, was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy.
“Everything is an extra step,” said Perttunen. “It got really hard when we went out in public. We can’t go to restaurants a lot… We had to carry an EpiPen with us all the time; had to start checking labels on everything that he ate.”
Statistics show their family is not alone. The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology reported nearly 2.5% of kids are living with a peanut allergy. That’s a 21% increase since 2010.
“We talk now about a food allergy epidemic,” said Dr. Anne Marie Singh, an allergist at UW Health and the director of food allergy research and education clinical center of excellence.
She said there’s still a lot of research being done as to the cause behind the increase. “The most important message is it’s real. Food allergy is real. Peanut allergy is real. If somebody tells you they have a food allergy or peanut allergy, take that at face value,” she said. “And when they say it’s severe or potentially life threatening, that is also true. No one’s being dramatic. No one’s trying to make it sound worse than it is. It absolutely is true. Those things are true.”
There’s a new product on the market called the Nima sensor. It tests food for exposure to peanuts and touts a 97.6% accuracy rating.
We tested it out with three different samples with Perttunen and her son watching. These were the results from the Nima:
* Chicken cooked in olive oil: Safe to eat for people with peanut allergies
* Chicken cooked in peanut oil: Safe to eat for people with peanut allergies
* Candy with peanut butter: Not safe to eat for people with peanut allergies
Perttunen was a little concerned when the sample with peanut oil came back safe to eat. There is research that foods cooked in peanut oil can actually be safe for people with the allergy though, as state on Nima’s website: “Peanut oil is refined enough that the peanut protein is broken down enough that it should not affect people with peanut allergies but if there is peanut remaining, Nima may detect it.”
Dr. Singh said this is why people with an allergy still need to read labels, talk to restaurant staff or whomever is preparing the food.
“Even going through all of those steps, there’s a lot of anxiousness or anxiety, or you’re still really worried about it, then the product might be another adjunctive,” she said.
“I think we do just about as good of a job as the machine itself does monitoring the things that he eats,” Perttunen said after seeing the product in action. She said she would use it in certain situations. “Something where somebody is making a lot of homemade food where people may not tell you what they had in them or what was in their kitchen when they were prepping foods or at like a restaurant or something and they were going out to eat and they didn’t have a very specifically set allergen menu.”
In any case, Dr. Singh said with the rise in food allergies, you can expect to see more products like the Nima on the market. “Within the past couple of years there’s been an explosion in new sorts of products.”
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Monday, February 25, 2019
Pizza monkey bread
The big game is just around the corner, and I know feeding a crowd of football fanatics can be a sport on its own.
So I'm here passing a touchdown of a recipe to you.
Like so good, you'll be MVP status.
Ever heard of monkey bread? It's a sweet, buttery, pull-apart loaf that gets its name from the little individual pastries being picked apart and eaten with your fingers, as a monkey would do.
Now, let's put a savory twist on that with everyone's favorite food: pizza.
Pizza's always a winner, no matter what shape or form it comes in – especially a Bundt pan.
This pizza monkey bread takes chunks of dough filled with pepperoni and mozzarella, and tosses them in a garlicky butter and cheese mixture. It's poured into a greased Bundt pan and baked to gooey, golden perfection.
I serve it with a warm bowl of marinara for dipping – which fits like a glove in the middle of the monkey bread. And, yes, you ranch-dipping fanatics, that can be used, too.
And, like the toppings on a pizza, the options for fillings are endless: Hawaiian-style, meat lover's, veggie – or even anchovy and onion. It's a dish that can be made to suit anyone's taste.
Also, if you don't have a Bundt pan, a 9-by-13-inch baking dish would work fine. Just lower your baking time and keep an eye on it.
Pizza Monkey Bread
40 plus 10 pepperoni, divided
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan, shredded
2 cans pizza dough (11-13.8 ounces each)
8 ounces mozzarella or string cheese, cut into 40 squares
For serving:
Chopped fresh parsley
Marinara sauce
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Coat Bundt pan well with nonstick cooking spray.
Cut 10 pepperoni into quarters and place in a large bowl, along with the melted butter, seasonings, shredded mozzarella and Parmesan. Stir and set aside.
Remove dough from both cans, do not unroll. Cut each roll in half, lengthwise, then cut each dough length into 10 pieces, for a total of 40 pieces.
Flatten each piece into a disc and top with a slice of pepperoni and a cube of mozzarella.
Wrap the dough around the pepperoni and cheese, pinching well to seal. Place dough balls in bowl of seasoned butter-cheese mixture and toss to coat. Pour into the prepared Bundt pan.
Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown.
Slide a knife between edge of pan and bread to loosen and invert bread onto a platter. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and serve with warmed marinara for dipping.
So I'm here passing a touchdown of a recipe to you.
Like so good, you'll be MVP status.
Ever heard of monkey bread? It's a sweet, buttery, pull-apart loaf that gets its name from the little individual pastries being picked apart and eaten with your fingers, as a monkey would do.
Now, let's put a savory twist on that with everyone's favorite food: pizza.
Pizza's always a winner, no matter what shape or form it comes in – especially a Bundt pan.
This pizza monkey bread takes chunks of dough filled with pepperoni and mozzarella, and tosses them in a garlicky butter and cheese mixture. It's poured into a greased Bundt pan and baked to gooey, golden perfection.
I serve it with a warm bowl of marinara for dipping – which fits like a glove in the middle of the monkey bread. And, yes, you ranch-dipping fanatics, that can be used, too.
And, like the toppings on a pizza, the options for fillings are endless: Hawaiian-style, meat lover's, veggie – or even anchovy and onion. It's a dish that can be made to suit anyone's taste.
Also, if you don't have a Bundt pan, a 9-by-13-inch baking dish would work fine. Just lower your baking time and keep an eye on it.
Pizza Monkey Bread
40 plus 10 pepperoni, divided
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan, shredded
2 cans pizza dough (11-13.8 ounces each)
8 ounces mozzarella or string cheese, cut into 40 squares
For serving:
Chopped fresh parsley
Marinara sauce
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Coat Bundt pan well with nonstick cooking spray.
Cut 10 pepperoni into quarters and place in a large bowl, along with the melted butter, seasonings, shredded mozzarella and Parmesan. Stir and set aside.
Remove dough from both cans, do not unroll. Cut each roll in half, lengthwise, then cut each dough length into 10 pieces, for a total of 40 pieces.
Flatten each piece into a disc and top with a slice of pepperoni and a cube of mozzarella.
Wrap the dough around the pepperoni and cheese, pinching well to seal. Place dough balls in bowl of seasoned butter-cheese mixture and toss to coat. Pour into the prepared Bundt pan.
Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown.
Slide a knife between edge of pan and bread to loosen and invert bread onto a platter. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and serve with warmed marinara for dipping.
Saturday, December 22, 2018
The Next Big Things in Food and Drink, According to a Whole Foods Exec
Grocery shopping used to be a drag. You'd troll the aisles, gathering boxes under fluorescent lights. Whole Foods, which was founded in 1980 in Austin, changed all that. It transformed the supermarket from a place of picking up staples to a destination of discovery.
Christina Minardi, a 23-year Whole Foods veteran and executive vice-president of operations, led the charge. She helped reshape the culture of grocery shopping. (Whole Foods was the first grocery-store chain to sell certified organic products.) And, as a top-of-the-food-chain buyer, she's one of the tastemakers to thank/blame for the rise of kale, quinoa, kefir, avocados, purple carrots, and cauliflower. Her secret: "We have foragers around the country," she says. "They go to local farmers markets and shops, and then Whole Foods helps with packaging and conducts taste tests at in-store kiosks. It builds loyalty from the purveyor and helps give Whole Foods the edge in new products."
Justin's nut butters started in one Whole Foods store. Sir Kensington condiments started small with the company. White Moustache yogurt is growing under its tutelage. Whole Foods racked up $16 billion in gross sales in 2016 from 458 stores worldwide, with a growth rate unmatched in the industry. Here's what's next, according to Minardi.
"Fake chicken or fake hamburgers is a big trend that isn't going away, but there are a lot of young chefs doing such good things with vegetables," she says. "We are moving away from vegan food, like fried seitan with a heavy sauce, toward great vegetable-based main dishes," such as whole roasted plantains topped with hot honey or cacio e pepe made with mushrooms instead of pasta.
"In the last two or three years, milk products have increased from a three-foot section of our stores to a fifteen-foot section," Minardi says. That's spurred by soy, almond, and cashew milks, but also by an emerging market for hemp, oat, and flax milk, she says.
"Customers are more and more daring and adventurous," she says. "Ten years ago, our customers were growing comfortable with cooking Mexican food. Now they want to cook food from Croatia." Whole Foods' new hot-bar options reflect this, expanding beyond salad bars to grain-based bowls that incorporate ingredients from foreign cuisines.
"Consumers are more adventurous in the sense of their drinking habits, too." Though rosé sales continue to stay steady, Minardi says sparkling reds are gaining traction. Seek out sparkling Shiraz or Lambrusco. Pair it with Ethiopian, Thai, Moroccan, or Israeli food.
Christina Minardi, a 23-year Whole Foods veteran and executive vice-president of operations, led the charge. She helped reshape the culture of grocery shopping. (Whole Foods was the first grocery-store chain to sell certified organic products.) And, as a top-of-the-food-chain buyer, she's one of the tastemakers to thank/blame for the rise of kale, quinoa, kefir, avocados, purple carrots, and cauliflower. Her secret: "We have foragers around the country," she says. "They go to local farmers markets and shops, and then Whole Foods helps with packaging and conducts taste tests at in-store kiosks. It builds loyalty from the purveyor and helps give Whole Foods the edge in new products."
Justin's nut butters started in one Whole Foods store. Sir Kensington condiments started small with the company. White Moustache yogurt is growing under its tutelage. Whole Foods racked up $16 billion in gross sales in 2016 from 458 stores worldwide, with a growth rate unmatched in the industry. Here's what's next, according to Minardi.
"Fake chicken or fake hamburgers is a big trend that isn't going away, but there are a lot of young chefs doing such good things with vegetables," she says. "We are moving away from vegan food, like fried seitan with a heavy sauce, toward great vegetable-based main dishes," such as whole roasted plantains topped with hot honey or cacio e pepe made with mushrooms instead of pasta.
"In the last two or three years, milk products have increased from a three-foot section of our stores to a fifteen-foot section," Minardi says. That's spurred by soy, almond, and cashew milks, but also by an emerging market for hemp, oat, and flax milk, she says.
"Customers are more and more daring and adventurous," she says. "Ten years ago, our customers were growing comfortable with cooking Mexican food. Now they want to cook food from Croatia." Whole Foods' new hot-bar options reflect this, expanding beyond salad bars to grain-based bowls that incorporate ingredients from foreign cuisines.
"Consumers are more adventurous in the sense of their drinking habits, too." Though rosé sales continue to stay steady, Minardi says sparkling reds are gaining traction. Seek out sparkling Shiraz or Lambrusco. Pair it with Ethiopian, Thai, Moroccan, or Israeli food.
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