15 Food Companies That Serve You 'Wood'

From The Street

Are you getting what you pay for on your plate?

or

are you getting wood?

Chief among those concerns is the use of cellulose (read: wood pulp), an extender whose use in a roster of food products, from crackers and ice creams to puddings and baked goods, is now being exposed. What you're actually paying for -- and consuming -- may be surprising.

Perhaps most important to food processors is that cellulose is cheaper because the fiber and water combination is less expensive than most other ingredients in the [food] product.

Indeed, food producers save as much as 30% in ingredient costs by opting for cellulose as a filler or binder in processed foods, according to a source close to the processed food industry 

Find out if your favorite foods contain the wood pulp... Read here to read the complete article. 

From an article in the Wall Street Journal:

Here’s the low-down on cellulose:

• “Powdered cellulose is made by cooking raw plant fiber—usually wood—in various chemicals to separate the cellulose, and then purified. Modified versions go through extra processing, such as exposing them to acid to further break down the fiber.”
• “Cellulose additives belong to a family of substances known as hydrocolloids that act in various ways with water, such as creating gels.”
• “The rising cost of raw materials like flour, sugar and oil is helping boost the popularity of these additives.”

Is Slow-Cooker Food Safe to Eat?

The facts about bacteria growth and 

slow-cooked meals.

From Elisa Huang - RealSimple

The idea of slow-cooking food for eight hours on your countertop might trigger fears of bacteria and other unwelcome food invaders. But according to Mark Tamplin, M.D., a USDA microbiologist and food-safety specialist, it's not a problem: "You won’t see growth of harmful organisms in a slow cooker."

According to FDA guidelines, cooking food at temperatures above 140º F ensures "significant destruction of bacteria." Slow cookers operate at temperatures between 170º F and 300º F, well above the FDA recommendation. But bacteria thrive at what the FDA calls the "danger zone"―40º F to 140º F―and can multiply rapidly in food left at room temperature for long periods, so it's better to let your cooker cook on low until you get home than to set the timer to shut it down in the early afternoon.

To reheat leftovers properly, you should heat food until it's steaming hot. If you leave food in a slow cooker that's been turned off, Tamplin warns, "try not to leave it out for more than four hours." And make sure that the cooker is on the "warming" function if you leave food in it during a meal―and immediately refrigerate any leftovers in airtight containers.