Whilst winding down last night, Twittering away my last hour before going to bed, I discovered that a very witty Tweep I recently friend'ed (@machopper) has been participating in the fine art of bacon-spotting and twitpic'ing what she has been coming across.

Here are the last 4:

Board Game

Book

Bandages

Belt

Surely, there are other foods that warrant wearables? And there are!

Starting from a link on Buzz Feed, I came across a pizza scarf, which lead me to the Twinkie Chan website. There, I found all sorts of food-inspired hand-knit scarves being retailed, sweet, savory, and um...produce.

Toast

More Toast

Afore-mentioned Pizza

Bacon

As an ardent foodie, I think it's time to update my wardrobe....

Sometime mid-May, I posted a blog entry entitled "Fortified Highly Sweetened Junk Food Oh My." It included my thoughts about processed food manufacturers, making unjustified claims on food products that ordinarily have little nutritional value. Today, processed food is again the subject of several media exposes and discussions on the blogosphere. Some include startling revelations.

According to the Globe and Mail newspaper, a survey published by the Canadian Journal of Public Health, has determined that pastas, breads, and cereals can contain anywhere from 90% to 377% of the folic acid claimed on product labels. While the federal government is responsible for implementing mandatory fortification of wheat flour, enriched pasta, and cornmeal in 1998 and the high levels of folic acid actually may not be harming consumers, the results of the survey demonstrate two things. Firstly, the amount of vitamins producers add vary widely. Secondly, fortification of these products does not seem monitored.

According to the Canadian Press, processed foods sold by the likes of Nestle, Burger King, Subway, McDonald's and Kellogg's vary in salt content from one country to another. The referenced study from the British World Action on Salt and Health (WASH) shows that where products sold in Canada were included in the survey, some had significantly higher salt concentrations. They follow:

Burger King Onion Rings
Canada - 1.703g of salt/100g
United Kingdom - 0.398g of salt/100g
Source: World Action On Salt

Kellogg's All Bran
Canada - 2.153g of salt/100g
United States - 0.645g of salt/100g
Source: World Action On Salt

Kellogg's Special K
Canada - 2.328g of salt/100g
Turkey - 1g of salt/100g
Source: World Action On Salt

Kentucky Fried Chicken Popcorn Chicken
Canada - 2.271g of salt/100g
Malaysia - 1.40g of salt/100g
Source: World Action On Salt

Kentucky Fried Chicken Twister or equivalent sandwich
Canada - 1.572g of salt/100g
New Zealand - 1.0313g of salt/100g (includes pepper mayo)
Source: World Action On Salt

A total of 260 food products were tested.

According to the Fooducate blog, Kellogg's has chosen to follow General Mills' example and market fortified brands of Rice Krispies in the United States as having significant health benefits. Apparently, eating fortified Rice Krispies "Now Helps Support Your Child's Immunity."

According to the Rice Krispies website, a new formulation of traditional Rice Krispies, Jumbo Krispies, and Cocoa Krispies carries A, B6, B12, C and E.

Immunity Rice Krispies
Source: ricekrispies.com

Furthermore, based on its ingredient list and nutritional panel, the Cocoa variety is made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (a trans fat). Sugar occurs three times in the list. And, a 3/4 cup serving carries 150mg of salt and 12g of sugar (39% of the product by mass).

In summary, processed foods are fortified to varying degrees somewhat contrary to what is advertised on their packaging. Processed foods are differently salted depending on what country you live in. And, in the United States, manufacturers are allowed to market a fortified product that is almost 40% sugar by mass as benefiting a child's immunity.

Update: In Canada, Cocoa Rice Krispies boxes on mega-mart shelves do not yet bare the "Now Helps Support Your Child's Immunity" lettering.

Cocoa Rice Krispies on a Canadian grocery store shelf
However, the nutritional panels on three varieties of Rice Krispies are rather telling.

Nutritional Panels

• One serving of traditional Rice Krispies (1cup, 28g) contains 3g sugar (10.5%) , 21g starch, and 230mg salt.
• One serving of Cocoa Rice Krispies (1cup, 34g) contains 10g sugar (29.4%), 20g starch, and 220mg salt.
• One serving of Multi-Grain Rice Krispies (1cup, 31g) contains 7g sugar (22.5%), 15g starch, and 190mg salt.

Today, the Real Estate Section of the Globe and Mail website is featuring an image slide show of a Toronto luxury loft in what the newspaper calls a "1919 Edwardian bakery" (306-183 Dovercourt Road).

This particular section of the recently revamped Globe and Mail website features slide shows of luxury properties. Here are pictures of the bakery loft's interior:

Kitchen
Source: Globe and Mail


Living Room and Stair to Loft
Source: Globe and Mail

Whilst wondering if the centrally located unit with extremely high ceilings still smelled like bakery, I googled the building's address to see what other information I could turn up. According to the Toronto Condominiums website, the 5 storey building is called the "Argyle", as Dovercourt Road is south of Dundas Street West at Argyle Street. It was built in 1873 and once housed a bread factory, not a bakery per se. It was formerly owned and operated by the Ideal Bread company. According to the Toronto's Historical Plaques website, the building was in-use as a bakery until 1957.

Ideal bread Company Factory Building
Source: Toronto's Historical Plaques

It was converted into 86 residential lofts, with 11 being 2-story penthouses with decks, in 2007. It was designated an Ontario Heritage Building a year later. Its architect was Montreal's Sydney Comber who designed the factory building in "Edwardian Classical" style. When it operated as a bread factory, bread wagons were loaded from the ground-level archways on Argyle Street. The factory clock even remains above the front entrance.

At the moment, a 1 bedroom, 1 washroom loft one floor below the one featured in the Globe and Mail (210-183 Dovercourt Road) is listed on My Toronto Condo for $276 500. Condo fees are $245/month.

I don't even want to know what the Globe and Mail featured unit would list for...

I found the following image of somewhat twisted root vegetables yesterday evening. it was tweeted by a local grill enthusiast who goes by the handle "@uppercanuck".

RT @uppercanuck: Veggie porn...with beets! http://bit.ly/WN3i6

He's well worth the follow, both for his awesome sense of humour and his grill recipes.


Interesting Carrot and Beet Specimens
Source: Flickr

The root veg comes from the garden of someone who goes by the handle "bluescrubby" on Flickr.com and hail from 2007. According to the comments to the image, the carrot and beet may have been the result of being planted too close together or there being insufficient nitrogen in the soil. I'm wondering if there was too much clay or if the soil were too compacted.

These specimens actually remind me of a like-shaped red pepper from a while back.

Anyhow, happy planting to my green thumbed readers :)

A link that's currently making the rounds on digg.com leads to a piece that was put together sometime this past March on home-designing.com. It features some rather creative chair designs, made with recycled materials. There are chairs constructed out of everything from pencils to firearms. Since foodiePrints is a food blog, I am going to include two pertinent images from the collection. There are much more on the original page that link to some really interesting furniture design websites.

Ever wonder what happens to the cutlery from restaurants after they're turned over? UK's Osian Batyka-Williams made a sitting implement from serving implements:

Chair Made From Spoons
Source: osianbatykawilliams.com c/o home-designing.com

I drink very little wine, but I've an abundance of wine bottle corks after dinner parties. Here's an innovative way to use them:

Chairs Made From Wine Corks
Source: furnitureseen.com c/o home-designing.com

Gotta luv the resourcefulness of designers :)