Balance of Food

What's Tempting: Truly homemade yogurt

If you go all in for the adage "you are what you eat," would you also "eat what you are"?

Cecilia Westbrook, an MD/PhD student, put that to the test by making homemade yogurt using her own vaginal bacteria.

The key is lactobacillus, a bacteria commonly found in yogurt and a healthy vagina. Sounds like a new angle for Jamie Lee Curtis and her yogurt obsession.

Westbrook reportedly described the finished product as having a sour taste like "Indian yogurt" that went well with blueberries.

Vagina yogurt: strong enough for a man, but made from women.

Vaginal bacteria is a great way to make truly homemade yogurt, but using cow or goat milk doesn't click with yogurt from within a woman. To make a truly homemade yogurt, you could use breast milk if you want to make a yogurt from what women produce.

In a country where raw milk makes the mainstream world squeamish, you'll never see vagina yogurt in the stores, even without breast milk.

Still, imagine if vagina yogurt with breast milk was available in a grocery store and advertised on TV.

• It's a play on those classic mother-daughter ads where the daughter "isn't so fresh" and the mother could tell her how she needs to get clean enough to produce her own truly homemade yogurt.
• You could have a hippie-styled older woman who points out the natural goodness of vagina yogurt and breast milk. No artificial colors, flavors — nothing that a woman can't naturally produce herself.
• A young pregnant woman who only wants what is best for her baby. She plans to breastfeed her child, but for those times where she can't provide the breast milk, vagina yogurt with breast milk is the next best thing to being there.
• A sensitive man who loves his woman and wants to understand her better can feel closer with a serving of vagina yogurt with breast milk.

We've written about yogurt marketed to men. Yogurt has been traditionally marketed to women; can't get more in touch with women than to have a yogurt made from women.

Vagina yogurt with breast milk is organic, locally grown, locally sourced, and a truly natural food. Even if that sounds too appetizing, you've eaten worse and a lot less healthy.

Kraft Singles nutrition 'endorsement' puts dietitians in bad light

"Turns out the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is an academy in the same way this (Kraft Singles) is cheese." — Jon Stewart, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

You see a label on a food that says "Kids Eat Right." Even if you are paying attention in a grocery store with your kids, you might not take too much time to look into what the label means.

If you do look closer and you see that the label is brought to you by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, you would be justified in thinking this was an endorsement of the food.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a program called Kids Eat Right. The organization says food companies that help with that program get rewarded with a "Kids Eat Right" label on their products.

As horrible as that idea sounds, the only thing that would be worse is picking a really horrible example as the first food to get the label. Enter Kraft Singles.

Kraft Singles were traditionally allowed to positioned itself as American cheese when it was "pasteurized process cheese food" -- a category that only allows for 51% cheese yet could be called cheese. Now Kraft Singles are legally classified as "pasteurized prepared cheese product." The FDA prohibited Kraft from referring to the product as "pasteurized process cheese food," a step higher in the food chain but a long way from actual cheese.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) — formerly the American Dietetic Association — is no stranger to corporate tie-ins with food companies. The AND says the label is not an endorsement, though Kraft said this was an endorsement. The label does walk and talk like an endorsement from an organization of dietitians.

(Full disclosure: I once interviewed for a job at the organization, back when it was the American Dietetic Association. I did not get the position.)

This "endorsement" against "pasteurized process cheese food" comes from Sargento, a company that makes real cheese.

In the weeks leading up to this embarrassing AND/Kraft Singles PR disaster, Sargento has been running an ad advertising 100% cheese: "Real cheese people don't eat pasteurized process cheese food" and how pasteurized process cheese food is "only required to contain 51% real cheese."

Remember that Kraft Singles isn't even good enough to be "pasteurized process cheese food."

If the dietitians that I know were setting the rules, the AND would put stickers on fruit and vegetables containers that say "Kids Eat Right." But those companies don't have the resources to advertise, much less put in enough money to sway the interests of the AND. Kraft does.

Some dietitians are fighting back with a petition to the AND to get the organization to rescind the policy. They don't want their hard work to be overshadowed by a financial arrangement that looks like fake cheese is getting rewarded.

There is a divide among dietitians. Some dietitians work for PR agencies that represent food companies or directly for the food companies. They use their dietary knowledge and expertise as a cover for food companies to try to convince us a food is healthier than its actual reality.

Dietitians are good and bad; human like the rest of us. Doctors and nurses are also good and bad, but they aren't working for companies that are trying to do the opposite of what they learned in their education.

I know dietitians in both camps; I find them to be good people. But most people don't know a dietitian. Many people who could use the help of a dietitian aren't sure where to turn. A lot of those dietitians who could help can't because they work for PR agencies and food companies with designs to embrace strategies to convince consumers to eat a particular processed food.

One major resource where people can go to find a dietitian is the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Yes, we see the irony.

Dietitians who want to work with people to help them have been overshadowed by corporate food interests for some time. Those dietitians are trapped in a tidal wave of messages from advertising, food companies tricks on the front labels of products and one particularly bad trick on the ingredient label.

The Kraft Singles controversy is an extreme example in the desire for some dietitians to suck up to large food companies. But the dietitian world shouldn't pretend that this is the only problem.

video credit: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart/photo credits: Kraft; Sargento

Super Bowl XLIX food ad review

 

"It's time to take back control"

The most impressive food ad in Super Bowl XLIX might have been one where you were encouraged to manage your food.

Weight Watchers showed off food in a more beautiful fashion than any of the other food ads on the night.Super Bowl ads are designed to make you feel good, not show off food.

Whether you believe in the actual Weight Watchers program, the message is a good one. You have to eat, but you have to be in control. Great to deliver that in front of the Super Bowl audience.

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Guacamole comes from avocados. The Mexico avocados people ran a wonderful spot with a draft of icons for different countries. Australia drafts the kangaroo and Mexico gets avocados.

Former NFL players and current commentators Doug Flutie and Jerry Rice call the draft action in the commercial.

"Rich volcanic soil," said Flutie. "Perfect weather," said Rice. "Makes avocados from Mexico the ideal year-round snack."

Shows off the product well. Clever premise and writing. And avocados are good for you.

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Snickers took its celebrity campaign to new heights with Danny Trejo as Marcia Brady and Steve Buscemi as Jan Brady in a Brady Bunch takeoff.

Clever, especially building off its usual campaign. The candy bar has been able to market itself to being beyond a candy bar, difficult in that product category. You'd be better off eating a handful of peanuts but Snickers makes it more tempting to add chocolate, caramel, and nougat.

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McDonald's "Pay with Lovin'" sounds good, but has a long list of rules and rituals. There is also the potential unpleasantness of being told to call your mom and she's passed on.

You also have very little chance of being picked. And the doorway you enter the restaurant makes a big difference, though you don't know which doorway is the magic doorway of the moment.

The payoff, especially since dinner isn't covered, won't be that high.

Each restaurant gives away 100 prizes over the next 2 weeks. However, 35 of them are given away today (February 2), 20 on February 3, and 10 on February 7. 35 winners will be scattered through February 4-6, 8-14.

You have to go between 6 am and 6 pm. On February 8, there will be 0 prizes after 3 pm. In the final week, there is only 1 winner in each of the dayparts (except for the late afternoon on February 8): 6a-11a, 11a-3p, 3p-6p.

So go today or tomorrow and assume you will pay for your meal with money and without a sign of love. For the full and very complicated rules, click here.

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Coca-Cola had a really nice anti-bullying ad. We saw samples of Internet bullying. We saw a kid who gets a Facebook message that initially reads "No one likes U" then changes to "There's no one like U." #makeithappy

There is nothing about the product, but the message is worth saying.

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Doritos gave us a creepy guy who was saving the airline seat next to him for a pretty woman. The punchline is that she has a baby.

Cute enough by Doritos standards but pretty weak, especially in the big time of Super Bowl XLIX.

This ad was still more interesting than the "pigs who fly" ad that ran in the 2nd half. The kid works really hard to come up with a way for the pig to fly. A rocket strapped to the pig's back was much simpler than what was implied. Not a great ad.

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Skittles is barely food, but the candy had an ad that dealt with arm wrestling to decide who would get a yellow Skittles.

If you are going to arm wrestle, do so for a red or blue Skittles.

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video credit: Weight Watchers; Avocados from Mexico; McDonald's

What's Tempting: 7 weeks of pasta for $100

I ate a bit of pasta in my recent Toronto trip. Mostly good pasta with one bad pasta night. Paid about $100 for 5 meals, including tax and tip.

Earlier this week, Olive Garden was offering a chance at 7 weeks of pasta for $100. The restaurant chain handed out 1,000 "never ending pasta passes" to use between September 22 and November 9.

Since the restaurant offers a $9.99 never ending pasta day pass (available during the same time period), one media outlet's reasoning was that you would have to eat there at least 11 times to get a bargain. The 7-week pass includes Coca-Cola soft drinks, so the number would be smaller than 11. But 11 trips in 7 weeks seems pretty mild.

After all, if you enjoy Olive Garden pasta, you could be there 49 times for dinner. Add unlimited breadsticks, salad, soup, and the Coca-Cola brand drinks, and you would do quite well.

Feel like you need to save even more money? Skip lunch for 7 weeks. Eat a hearty breakfast, snack on fruit and lean protein at lunch, and make up for a lack of carbohydrates at dinner.

49 dinners for $100 (plus tips) is a bargain. And you do get vegetables. Add more fruit for dessert when you get home, and you could do a lot worse.

If you took advantage of the deal 20 times in 7 weeks (about 3x/week), you would be paying $5 per meal. 40 times would be $2.50 per meal.

For $2.50, you could put together a really nice spaghetti dinner with a salad. Soup might fit in the budget, but maybe not breadsticks. Still, Olive Garden gives you multiple choices.

Sometimes in this role, being a food snob is pretty easy to pull off. The pasta day pass might not be worth $9.99 to you, but a decent plate of pasta with unlimited breadsticks, salad, and soup for that kind of money is a good deal.

As much as we love cooking, sometimes you want someone else to do the work.

Duplicating the feat at home for that low a margin would be rather difficult. White flour pasta is pretty cheap in the store and you could make your own sauce, or find a cheap jarred sauce. But 49 dinners of breadsticks, salad, and soup for $100 would still be a great bargain.

The food is supposed to be OK. I don't live close to an Olive Garden, haven't been to one in years, and couldn't remember what I ordered or whether I enjoyed the meal.

If I had a chance to buy a pass, I would have done so. I contemplated on Twitter about using the pass to allow homeless people to get a good meal. I also would have eaten a few times myself.

Americans worry more about the cost of food, yet among First World countries, they pay the least for their food. They also entail, according to food snobs, the path of least resistance when it comes to food.

The "never ending pasta pass" is a reminder for us to think about the true cost of food. Olive Garden is buying a lot of publicity for these $100 passes. Honestly, when was the last time you thought about an Olive Garden?

Good food at good prices: this is what most people strive for. Sometimes at a cost to money, sometimes as a cost to food. Save money where you can, but splurge on what is important.

If I lived near an Olive Garden, and bought a pass for $100, I would go a lot just to break up the routine. I cook a lot and get great satisfaction. Taking 7 weeks to have someone cook for me would be a nice change of pace. I could try different pastas and soups. I could find out which soups taste good with the breadsticks. I could be tempted by new sauces.

I wouldn't get tired of 7 weeks of pasta, but others might. Or for the price, people might not care as long as they are eating food.

7 weeks isn't forever. If you are stuck in a rut, try something different for 7 weeks. Sure it may cost more than $100, but what you'll learn about yourself could be priceless. Buono appetito!!

photo credit: Olive Garden

Toronto gets an In-N-Out Burger for a day

The following article is courtesy of our sister blog, CanadianCrossing.com. It has been reproduced here with complete permissions.

In-N-Out Burger is legendary in the United States, but mostly because of its scarcity. In 2011, the chain expanded outside the U.S. southwest to Texas.

However, for one day, In-N-Out Burger comes to Canada.

Today from 11 am to 3 pm, the heralded burger chain will pop up at the Italian restaurant Ganzi Osteria at 504 Jarvis in Toronto.

At the pop-up version, you can get double-double burgers (two patties and two slices of cheese), animal-style burgers (mustard-grilled patty with lettuce, tomato, pickles, grilled onions and extra spread), and a protein-style version (served in a lettuce wrap instead of a bun).

As you can see from the Google map above, you can get off at the Wellesley station at Yonge Street. Or you can get off at the Sherbourne station on the Bloor-Danforth line. If you are strolling through St. Lawrence Market this morning, it's a decent walk north on Jarvis.

The 1-day popup can only do so much to embrace what makes the fast food chain special.

-- In-N-Out Burger treats their employees better than typical fast-food chains. For one day in Toronto, you can't see that in action.

-- You can order your In-N-Out Burger medium rare or rare in the United States. Can't do that legally in Canada.

-- We don't know about fries or milkshakes. If fries are an option, you can order them animal style. All part of the secret menu that is the charm of In-N-Out Burger.

-- In-N-Out Burger is normally a leisurely experience, but for 4 hours for a pop-up, the fine print notes "First come, first served. Limited quantities available" and there will be a huge line.

-- The only palm trees you will see in Toronto is on the wrappers and signage.

Toronto joins other major world cities that have hosted a In-N-Out Burger popup, including Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, London, and Auckland.

We don't know why Toronto or Canada for In-N-Out Burger, but the timing is during the Toronto International Film Festival, so if you go, you might see a celebrity or two (or their assistants) in line with you. Movie stars come from Southern California and so does In-N-Out Burger … for a limited time.

map credit: Google/logo credit: In-N-Out Burger/photo credit: Twitter @shaortega

What's Tempting: Guilt-free 0 g sugar

"There are lots of things to feel guilty about. Think Thin isn't one of them. 20 grams of protein. Zero sugar. Zero guilt."

This is one of my favorite food ads these days. Can't say as much for the product.

Protein is in and sugar is out. So the Think Thin protein bars are designed to appeal to both concerns.

The bars achieve 0g of sugar through sugar alcohols. Think Atkins from 8-10 years ago.

Turning a stereotype around usually leads to a well-done ad. Instead of women being the ones treated as an object of desire, the roles are reversed and the women are ogling the young man.

In Spinal Tap, the band members talk about the fine line between stupid and clever. This ad was clever.

Using guilt in marketing to women is as old as marketing. The ad tells you to feel guilty about some things (like ogling a friend of your son), but not the protein bars they are selling.

We aren't fans of guilt in general, especially when it comes to food marketing. 20 g of protein is an easy choice, depending on the source of protein. 0 g of sugar is touted as an easy, good, and most importantly, guilt-free choice. What could rid you of guilt quicker than 0 g of sugar?

If you handled the Atkins bars with little trouble, then you'll likely be fine with these bars. However, many people can't handle sugar alcohols, then and now.

The idea that "0 g sugar" removes all guilt assumes we turn off our brains when it comes to what we put in our bodies. Anything that says 0g sugar as a marketing tool always has proverbial fine print involved.

When the low-fat craze hit, "0 g fat" became a siren of a "good" food, regardless of the fact that sugar (likely high-fructose corn syrup) was a frequent substitute and we need fat in our diet.

The siren of "0 g sugar" doesn't mean it's a good food. The siren should really be to read the fine print.

If something is too good to be true, then it isn't true. Besides, we need fruit sugar (ideally from fruit) and milk sugar (for those who consume milk products). And a bit of sugar from good sources adds fun and flavor to our food-eating lives.

Whether you use honey, maple syrup, Stevia, agave, or another sweetener, use it in moderation and you'll likely be just fine. Too much sugar, especially in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, is doing great harm to our diets. But we don't need to go to 0g sugar in our diet.

Cutting out sugar 100% isn't practical. Cutting out guilt 100% isn't practical. You could feel guilty about some things, but having a bit of well-sourced sugar isn't one of them.

photo credit: Think Thin

What's Tempting: Shame for switching back to high-fructose corn syrup

How long should a company wait before switching back to high-fructose corn syrup?

As readers might remember, Miracle Whip made a big deal about switching to sugar but were quiet when the recipe switched back to high-fructose corn syrup. The switch lasted a little more than 2 years before quietly going back to HFCS.

Hunt's waited about 2 years before going back to using high-fructose corn syrup. The company was the first major manufacturer in the United States to switch its primary ketchup to sugar from high-fructose corn syrup.

Of course, Hunt's ketchup contained sugar for countless years until the 1980s, when most food manufacturers switched from sugar to high-fructose corn syrup to save a few pennies.

Hunt's ketchup was created with sugar. So bringing back the original formula shouldn't have been a limited run decision.

"Overall, consumer demand for the HFCS-free ketchup was not as strong as expected, thus prompting the change," a ConAgra spokesman explained.

So this wasn't that the switch to sugar was unpopular, but that the switch to sugar wasn't popular enough for internal expectations.

Miracle Whip didn't go that route, at least not from a spokesperson just after the switch.

"We use high fructose corn syrup because of its stability, consistency and functionality, as well as its cost."

In other words, blah, blah, blah, cheaper.

• Miracle Whip goes back to using high-fructose corn syrup

• Ketchup on store shelves much better; restaurants slow to change

A company, especially a major company, has to be brave to buck the corporate trend, even if both products returned to their natural roots. Some of that bravery has to be saved for resisting the temptation to go back.

Both Hunt's and Miracle Whip had bells and whistles to announce the switch to sugar and stone silence to switch back. Consumers were likely tricked into buying the product after the switch, ironically increasing sales of the high-fructose corn syrup version until they could figure out why their food tasted differently.

The companies were happy to have the perception of a better product without giving it to the consumers. That isn't very brave.

A warning on the front of the label: "Now contains high-fructose corn syrup" would have been helpful. After all, the companies decided their products were "better" for the bottom line to have high-fructose corn syrup. They just were ashamed to admit that in public.

Making a significant move and announcing it boldly should require time for the public to be aware of the change. Less than 30 months isn't that long, but too long for Hunt's and Miracle Whip. Perhaps their trigger fingers were itchy from the start.

While I am personally a fan of Miracle Whip (in its classic form), I wasn't that much of a Hunt's fan. Heinz from Canada or Simply Heinz or Organic Heinz were better options than regular Hunt's. However, if a restaurant carried Hunt's, I would have grabbed that bottle and used it with glee … until they changed back the formula.

Newer products can sadly get away with using high-fructose corn syrup since consumers had never known a version without the sweetener. Hunt's and Miracle Whip are classic brands with an association of using sugar. They took advantage of that trust in offering a recipe using sugar. They then broke that trust by going back and lying through omission.

We applaud their efforts to get rid of high-fructose corn syrup but we abhor their cowardice in going back on their word. Even if somehow either company goes back to the original formula, read the label every single time. The trust is gone.

photo credit: Hunt's

Foodland Ontario shows local food in TV ad; why don't Americans?

We hear lots of talk about local food and eating local. On television, we see ads for processed food and restaurants featuring processed food. So why don't we get commercials for local food?

This Foodland Ontario ad was too precious to limit its exposure to our sister blog, CanadianCrossing.com, and its look at Canadian ads. The ad promotes how the food you are buying is local, Ontario, in this instance.

The ad is simple, as sweet as the apple featured in the ad, with nothing fancy. Local food is closer than you think, thanks to Foodland Ontario.

So why don't we see ads such as these on U.S. television?

You do see ads from California promoting California raised food. But those ads feel like they are promoting California over any food.

Ontario comprises a large percentage of Canada in terms of land and people, so promoting food may be easier for Ontario. California is the largest state in population, but smaller as a percentage of the United States than Ontario to Canada.

The USDA wouldn't run such an ad unless that had to do with factory farms. Michigan has great fruit but may not have the resources or interest in running TV ads saying how great their fruit is (their fruit is really good).

We spend tons of money to market food-like substances to a marketplace already well aware of their existence. But natural, local food doesn't have an advertising and marketing budget like processed food.

U.S. farmers and growers could take some inspiration from Foodland Ontario. Would be really nice to see some healthy food promoted on TV. Might even give healthy food some needed credibility in the marketplace. A kid might tug on the mother's shirt and plead for her to buy some apples and broccoli because he saw it on TV.

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This commercial for Oka cheese promotes local food in a more conventional fashion.

The dynamic of the ad counts on knowing the contrast of English-speaking tourists in Quebec to get most of the humo(u)r. The magical place he speaks of is "not near Quebec City," but is next door (province-wise) in Toronto, Ontario.

Local and regional food used to be a bigger deal in our food supply, but large companies taking things over have virtually wiped out the joys of local and regional food.

The commercial ran on a telecast airing in Alberta, where English is rather dominant.

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McCain (no relation to the senior senator from Arizona) is offering a pizza taste guarantee where you would get your money back if you didn't like the taste. The woman (Alison Jutzi) in the ad is clearly lying, but is very cute at doing so.

The idea is that the pizza is so good that you would have to lie to ask for your money back.

Once consumers are home with their food, even if they don't like a food product, they aren't likely to go to an elaborate set of instructions to get back less than $10. Still, as a marketng technique, putting money behind your food product works even if no one takes advantage of your offer.

What's Tempting: Food labels listing added sugars

If you felt a little dizzy this week with the whirlwind of news from the government, you are forgiven.

First Lady Michelle Obama started the parade by talking about a proposal to ban the marketing of junk food in schools. In the mainstream media, this is labeled as a "controversial statement." Oh no, we can't offend companies that make junk food.

"We'll be eliminating advertising for unhealthy foods and beverages in our schools because I think we can all agree that our classrooms should be healthy places where our kids aren't bombarded with ads for junk food. And these guidelines are part of a broader effort to inspire food companies to rethink how they market food to kids in general," Michelle Obama said at a press event.

All the junk food companies will have left is marketing with TV programs, billboards, ads, magazines, online ads …

Seriously, school should be about learning. Students get plenty of exposure to ads in the outside world.

The proposal builds on standards set in the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. The marketing of all food/drinks needs to conform the same healthy standards required of foods sold starting in the fall of 2014.

"I don't understand a First Lady accomplishing something. Everything they do is supposed to be a symbolic waste of time," said Stephen Colbert.

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Journalists are plagued with being horrible at math. While I'm an exception, I can relate to the frustration of staring at the back of a food label and calculating the viability of the food.

The proposed new labels will adjust portion size to standards set by American consumers. For example, apparently no one eats ½ cup of ice cream, so the new standard would be 1 cup.

So instead of being "tricked" into seeing 150 calories for a ½ cup, you can now be "freaked out" by seeing 300 calories for a cup. This way, you avoid the need to multiply 150 x 2. The bad news is that you have to look at what you served and still guess whether you now have a 1-cup serving.

One pressing question is whether all manufacturers in a product category would have to conform to the same standard. In the cereal aisle, a serving can be 1 cup or ¾ cup or a ½ cup. In the story we did on Grape-Nuts, we found the company undercut the size of the serving and undersold the amount of protein in a real serving.

For foods that can easily be consumed in one sitting, the food labels would reflect this reality, or at least offer side-by-side a per serving/per container option.

The new labels will be less cluttered with certain categories (i.e., calories) in larger fonts. This will likely come at the expense of information we can use and can't find otherwise.

The absolute best part of the new potential labels is a category for "added sugars."

Sure your yogurt may have fruit, but if the company adds high-fructose corn syrup, that will be more clearly marked on the back of the label.

Right now, on a container with yogurt and fruit, you have total sugar, but that includes milk sugar and fruit sugar. Naturally occurring sugars will be exempt from "added sugars" since they aren't added.

Natural applesauce is made up of apples and water where conventional applesauce adds high-fructose corn syrup or sugar. The added sugars would reflect a difference so a consumer can see side-by-side that 0g added sugars are better than some added sugars.

Those who can interpret the added sugars on food labels are at an advantage, so adding that category will level the playing field. The true rational is to put pressure on companies to reduce added sugars to improve the perception (and reality) of their food products.

The new labels won't be seen for some time, and will go through a lengthy process and likely won't end up as ideal as the stories have made out the changes.

Most of the changes involves easier math or less math, but will still require some math. If nothing else, you can take your kids food shopping and have them figure out the math.

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video credit: Colbert Report
graphic credit: Food and Drug Administration

Daily Show takes on Subway 'yoga mat' bread

Jon Stewart and The Daily Show gave us a nice wrapup of recent food stories that make you question why you are eating anything you don't make with your own two hands.

Stewart joked about having a mid-show snack. His first try was Subway sandwiches.

Then he "finds out" that Subway had azodicarbonamide in its bread. The funny visual is having azodicarbonamide spread in huge letters across the entire screen via the Al-Jazeera feed.

While the company says the chemical makes bread look white and fluffier, but azodicarbonamide is found in yoga mats and the soles of shoes.

Previous coverage:

Slider Bites: Subway takes out yoga mat chemical from its bread

His second snack choice is Kraft Singles. Kraft just announced that sorbic acid in the full-fat American and White American varieties only will be replaced by natamycin, which Kraft says is a "natural mold inhibitor."

Stewart jokes that since Kraft Singles are American, they don't need a mold inhibitor since they never go bad.

The third and final snack option is Hot Pockets, Philly Cheese Steak version. But that version was part of the 8.7 million lbs. of beef recall from Ranchero.

"I had no idea they put actual beef in these," said Stewart.

The meat comes from "diseased and unsound animals."