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Broccoli: Utilize the Stalk and Avoid Food Waste

Broccoli stalks often end up in organic waste – not only are they edible, they are also very tasty. You can use the stalk in various dishes. We give you some suggestions.

In most broccoli recipes, the small florets play the main role – the broccoli stalk, on the other hand, is usually not intended for use. However, if you peel it and remove any woody parts, you can prepare it just like the florets, for example by boiling, steaming or frying it. Compared to the florets, the broccoli stalk has a particularly fine and mild aroma.

You can therefore add the stalk to many dishes that contain broccoli, simply peeled and cut into small pieces – for example Asian vegetable pans, pasta dishes or vegetable casseroles. If you are preparing a broccoli soup, you can cook and puree the stalk as well.

By the way: It doesn’t matter which recipe you use the broccoli stem for – it’s best to buy your vegetables in organic quality. So you can be sure that it comes from organic farming and contains no chemical-synthetic pesticides. In order to avoid long and CO2-intensive transport routes, it is also worth buying vegetables that are regional and seasonal whenever possible. You can get fresh broccoli from German cultivation, for example, from June to November. You can read about the seasons of many other types of fruit and vegetables in our seasonal calendar.

Broccoli mashed potatoes with broccoli stalk

Ingredients:

150 g potatoes
1 clove(s) garlic
250 g broccoli stalk
100 ml vegetable cream (e.g. oat cream)
1 tablespoon vegan margarine
salt and pepper

Directions:

Wash the potatoes, peel them and cut them into small cubes. Peel the garlic clove.
Wash and peel the broccoli stalk, removing any woody parts. Then cut it into pieces.
Bring the diced potatoes to a boil in the vegetable cream. Add the chopped broccoli stalk and the whole clove of garlic and let all the ingredients cook together for 20 minutes.
Finally add the margarine and let it melt. Mash everything until you get a homogeneous consistency and season with salt and pepper. Alternatively, you can also use a hand blender, but then the consistency will be a bit more liquid. Tip: The broccoli stalk puree tastes good with patties, oven-roasted vegetables or fried tofu, for example.

Crunchy vegetable salad with broccoli stalk

Ingredients:

1broccoli stalk
1carrot
1 small kohlrabi
1 small onion
1half apple
1 handful of peanuts
1 tbsp oil (e.g. sunflower oil)
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 pinch(s) of salt
1 pinch(s) of pepper
1 pinch(s) of sugar

Directions:

wash the vegetables Peel the broccoli stem and remove any woody parts.
Peel the carrot, kohlrabi and onion.
Core the apple half.
Finely dice the onion and apple. Chop the peanuts.
Roughly grate the broccoli stalk, carrot and kohlrabi.
Heat the oil in a pan. Add the shredded broccoli stalk, carrot, and kohlrabi and sauté over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. They shouldn’t turn brown.
Then add the diced onions and the chopped peanuts and fry them briefly until the onions start to become translucent.
Then remove the vegetables from the pan and let them cool.
Add the vinegar and season with salt, pepper and sugar. Then let the salad soak for at least half an hour.

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10 Common Mistakes When Making Coffee and How to Avoid Them

Brewing good coffee is not that easy – there are many factors that can influence the taste. Some of these are common knowledge, others perhaps less well known. We introduce you to ten common mistakes when making coffee.

Coffee is one of the most popular hot drinks in Germany: For many, the daily cup for breakfast and in the afternoon is a matter of course. Coffee is not only an everyday drink, but also a luxury food.

However, the enjoyment quickly becomes clouded if coffee is prepared incorrectly. It then tastes too bitter, too thin or even burnt. This is due to various mistakes that often happen when making coffee. In this article we will show you which coffee mistakes are particularly common – and how you can avoid them.

Store coffee incorrectly

You should always store coffee in a dark, cool and dry place so that it does not lose its taste and quality. Heat, moisture and oxygen damage it. Many people therefore fill the coffee into a container. It is best to leave the coffee in its original packaging, seal it well and also store it in an airtight container. Coffee isn’t in good hands in the refrigerator if air can get in: it quickly absorbs the smells of other foods and changes its taste.

Caution: Even if stored well, coffee loses its aroma over time. So only ever buy as much as you need and use it up within six to eight weeks.

The wrong type of coffee

If you don’t like your coffee, it might not be because of the machine, but because of the type. Because coffee is not just coffee: there are over 100 known types of coffee with different flavors. For example, Arabica beans have a milder and less bitter taste than the robust beans of the Robusta plant. Robusta coffee usually also has a higher caffeine content than Arabica coffee. You can find out what you personally like best by trying it out.

The wrong degree of roast

The type of bean doesn’t taste like it does in your favorite café? This could be because you use a different method of preparation. Depending on whether you brew your coffee with a filter machine, an espresso maker or a French press, different degrees of roasted coffee are recommended.

For filter coffee, you should use beans with a medium or light roast.
A dark roast is recommended for espresso.
If in doubt, seek advice from a specialist retailer or take a look at the coffee packaging. Often you will find additional information there.

Mistake: Buy conventional coffee

When buying coffee, not only pay attention to the type of beans and the degree of roasting, but also keep an eye on the production conditions. Conventional coffee is repeatedly criticized because it is often contaminated with pesticides. This is doubly problematic: On the one hand, chemical-synthetic pesticides that are spread over large areas damage the environment. On the other hand, coffee contaminated with pesticides can also have a negative effect on your own health.

It is therefore best to buy organic coffee. It comes from sustainable cultivation and you avoid harmful residues because chemical-synthetic pesticides are banned in organic farming. Various test results also suggest that organic coffee is better for your health: Oko-Test, for example, took a closer look at 22 espresso roasts and found that many beans contain critical amounts of acrylamide. The substance is produced during roasting and is considered carcinogenic.

Grind coffee beans in advance

You can get coffee either ready-ground or in the form of whole beans. Many coffee lovers swear by the second variant and like to freshly grind their coffee at home. It should then have a more intense and pleasant taste than pre-ground coffee powder.

However, this is only true if you actually grind the beans right before brewing. Grinding a whole pack of coffee beans in advance may be more convenient, but it makes little sense: ground coffee loses its aroma faster than whole coffee beans. Therefore, pre-ground coffee does not differ significantly from conventional coffee powder.

Grind bean coffee with the wrong degree of grinding

When you grind your coffee yourself at home, it’s not only important to do it fresh every time – you should also consider the correct grind size. If the powder is ground too finely, the coffee releases too many bitter substances into the water, resulting in an unpleasantly bitter taste. On the other hand, powder that is too coarse does not release enough aromas into the water – the result is a rather thin coffee with little taste.

Basically, you should use medium-fine ground beans for the filter coffee machine
and use finely ground beans for hand filter coffee.
A coarser grind is recommended for espresso makers and French presses.

Mistake: Buying unfair coffee

In addition to the organic seal, you should also look out for the Fairtrade seal on the coffee pack of your choice. Poor working conditions often prevail on coffee plantations and local coffee farmers are often badly paid by bulk buyers. Fairtrade coffee, on the other hand, is traded and exported under fair conditions: For example, fair trade sets a minimum price for coffee that is not subject to the usual price fluctuations on the world market. This guarantees that the farmers can cover their production costs and their existence is not threatened. Other goals of fair trade are to enable coffee farmers to receive further training, to strengthen their negotiating position with customers and to combat child labor on coffee plantations.

In addition to the social aspect, Fairtrade coffee is usually also more sustainable, because fair trade focuses on environmental protection and bans certain pesticides. In addition, Fairtrade companies are more careful with valuable resources such as water. Our guide gives you an overview of the best places to buy Fairtrade coffee.

Incorrect amount of ground coffee

Coffee often gets too strong or too weak because you use too much or too little powder. For a pleasant taste you can use the following rule of thumb:

You need seven to ten grams of ground coffee per cup of coffee (125 to 150 milliliters). Ten grams is approximately one heaped tablespoon. For a more accurate dosage, you can also use a special teaspoon to help you measure.

Brew coffee with water that is too hot

You should avoid this mistake especially if you brew your coffee with a French press or prepare Turkish coffee. Boiling hot water weakens the aroma of coffee and more bitter substances are released. Ultimately, the finished coffee tastes much more bitter.

It is better to use water with a temperature below 100 degrees Celsius for these types of preparation; 90 to 95 degrees are ideal. If you don’t have a way to measure the water temperature precisely, you can simply let the water cool slightly after boiling before using it to brew the coffee.

Water quality is also important

What many people don’t take into account: It’s not just the coffee powder itself that contributes to the taste of a cup of coffee, but also the quality of the water. Be sure to use fresh and pure water to brew your coffee and pay particular attention to the calcium and magnesium content. If it is particularly high, we speak of hard water – this has an unfavorable effect on the taste of the coffee and can also calcify the coffee machine. Too soft water with very little mineral content is not recommended either. The ideal water hardness is a maximum of 8 °dH.

If you are unsure about the composition, you can have your tap water tested. If it’s high in calcium and magnesium, you can soften it by using a water filter. Alternatively, you can brew your coffee with mineral water. In principle, however, tap water is better for the environment than plastic bottles.

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E Number List: You Should Avoid These Additives

E numbers do not have a good reputation. Rightly so: food additives can lead to allergies and trigger diseases. But which E numbers should you really avoid?

They are found in many foods and give themselves inconspicuous names: additives with E numbers, many of which are suspected of being unhealthy. Utopia gives you an overview as a list.

What does the E stand for?

“E number” is actually just another name for food additives that are approved in the EU – the “E” in “E number” stands for Europe. Interesting: Up until 1993, only 265 E numbers were permitted in Germany. The harmonization of laws in the EU has meant that over 300 different E numbers can now be used.

There are many different additives with different functions:

Antioxidants: prevent fats from going rancid and ensure a longer shelf life
Emulsifiers: combine substances that are not miscible with each other, such as oil and water
Dyes: make food a bit more colorful and bright
Thickeners: ensure a nice consistency, for example with pudding or ice cream
Flavor enhancers: spice up the taste
Preservatives: inhibit microorganisms and ensure a longer shelf life
Sugar substitutes: used as a sugar substitute

E-numbers: useful, but also suspicious…

E numbers are therefore added in order to make foods last longer, to improve consistency, to simplify technological processes or to increase the enjoyment value.

But food additives not only have good properties: Many are suspected of triggering allergies and promoting diseases such as asthma, neurodermatitis, Alzheimer’s or even cancer.

In recent years, customers have become more critical. And the food manufacturers have actually reacted: in supermarkets there is hardly an E number left on the packaging.

How can that be? Because the manufacturers now like to use the name of the additive instead of E numbers: “Citric acid” sounds much more harmless than “E330”.

Therefore, a list of ingredients on which no E-numbers can be seen does not mean that the content is actually free of additives. A critical look at the list of ingredients is always worthwhile.

In the case of packaged foods, you still have the opportunity to check the ingredients on the packaging. It’s a bit more complicated at the bakery or at the kebab shop during the lunch break – who really asks the seller what’s in it (and asks if the answer is “Only healthy things!”).

But you should do it with the questions. Because since December 2014, bakers, butchers, snack bars, restaurants and ice cream parlors have had to have written information about the ingredients at hand. In addition, a label next to the goods must indicate whether additives have been used.

E number list: You should avoid these additives

Incidentally, not all E numbers are bad: about half of the food additives are considered harmless. Around 40 E numbers are even approved for organic food.

E102 – Tartrazine
The E number E102 is found in mustard, custard powder, processed cheese, as well as drinks and sweets. Tartrazine is an artificial yellow dye with a high allergy potential, especially in people who are sensitive to aspirin or benzoic acid. E102 is also of concern for people with asthma or neurodermatitis.

Tartrazine has been linked to health effects such as difficulty breathing, skin rashes or blurred vision, and can affect children’s activity and alertness. The dye E102 is banned in Norway. In Germany and Austria, the ban was lifted as part of a harmonization of EU laws. The consumer centers advise against the consumption of larger quantities.

E104 – Quinoline Yellow
Jelly, effervescent powder, chewing gum, smoked fish and fruit wines – the E number E104 is only permitted for such foods, and only in small quantities. The yellow dye quinoline yellow is suspected of causing cancer and is banned in the US, Japan and Norway. E104 can cause allergies and affect children’s activity and attention.

E110 – Yellow Orange S
The dye E110 colors products such as wine gum, salmon substitutes or cheese yellow-orange. In animal experiments, the additive led to kidney tumors. Yellow orange S is probably a trigger for asthma and neurodermatitis and is considered an allergy-triggering agent for people who are sensitive to aspirin and benzoic acid (E210). The dye E110 can affect children’s activity and attention. The consumer centers advise against the consumption of larger quantities.

E122 – Azorubine (carmoisine)
The red dye E122 is found in ready-made products and ready-made soups, but also in drinks and sweets. Azorubine can cause allergies, especially in people who are sensitive to aspirin and benzoic acid. In addition, the red dye E122 can impair children’s attention and activity. The consumer centers advise against the consumption of larger quantities.

E123 – Amaranth
Amaranth does not mean the grains here, but the red dye E123. Amaranth is only allowed for spirits, aperitif wines and caviar. It is even banned in the USA because it is suspected of causing cancer. In animal experiments, E123 caused calcium deposits in the kidneys. This dye is also of particular concern for people with an aspirin or benzoic acid allergy and could be a trigger for neurodermatitis and asthma.

E124A – Chochineal Red A
The red dye Chochineille A or E124A is what gives the salmon substitute its beautiful red colour. It is also found in chorizo ​​sausage, fruit jelly and other confectionery. E124A is considered to be allergenic and may affect children’s activity and attention. Consumer advice centers advise against consuming large quantities.

E127 – Erythrosine
The red dye is only permitted for cocktail cherries, candied cherries or fruit salads containing cherries. The E number E127 can release iodine into the body and impair thyroid function. People with thyroid disorders should not eat foods with erythrosine, so avoid cocktail cherries and candied cherries of all kinds. The dye E127 can disturb children’s attention and cause allergies.

E129 – Allura Red AC
We still know very little about this red dye: Hardly any research has been published, so the effects of E129 have not yet been conclusively assessed.

In Germany, the dye can be found in sweets, desserts and drinks. The E number E129 is banned in Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, France and Switzerland. People with aspirin or benzoic acid allergy, asthma or neurodermatitis should avoid the E number. Allura Red AC may affect children’s activity and attention.

E142 – Green S
Peppermint candies or canned peas, but also drinks, cosmetics, wool, leather and paper are colored with the green dye E142. One may ask oneself why peas have to be colored even greener. Although the body excretes the E number largely unchanged within 7 hours, E142 is banned in the US, Canada, Japan and Norway. The additive Grün S is suspected of promoting Alzheimer’s and has led to genetic damage in animal experiments.

E150C – Ammonia Caramel
Ammonia – isn’t that toxic? As “ammonia caramel” not directly. You’ve probably already eaten E150C: it’s in cola, whiskey and mustard sauces, for example, and is what gives it the brown color. Ammonia caramel is made from sugar compounds using ammonia, and genetically modified corn can be used. By-products of the E number led to cramps in animal experiments and impaired the immune system. In the USA, the dye E150C is suspected of causing cancer. Consumer centers advise against frequent consumption of the E number.

Incidentally, Coca-Cola does not have the E number: instead of E150C, Coca-Cola is made pretty brown with the dye E150D. Unfortunately, the additive ammonium sulfite caramel is not much better than ammonia caramel: In the USA, a by-product of E150D that is difficult to avoid is suspected of causing cancer: 4-methylimidazole (source: BfR). The E number may contain a toxic compound that caused blood changes and convulsions in animal studies.

E151 – Brilliant Black BN
Caviar substitute, liquorice, but also shampoos or liquid soaps are colored violet, brown or black with the dye E151. The food additive Brilliant Black BN is considered to cause allergies in people who are sensitive to aspirin and benzoic acid and should also be avoided by people with asthma or neurodermatitis. Consumer centers advise against consuming large quantities.

E154 – Brown FK
The E number E154 can damage internal organs due to deposits. Consumer centers advise against consuming large quantities. The good news: The dye Braun FK is only in smoked herring from England (Kippers) anyway, it is not approved for anything else. The food additive Braun FK should be avoided by people with aspirin and benzoic acid allergies, asthma or neurodermatitis.

E155 – Brown HT
The reddish-brown colorant E155 is primarily used to color sweets such as cakes, biscuits, ice cream and chocolate. However, consumer advice centers advise against consuming the food additive, since the E number is particularly questionable for people with neurodermatitis, asthma and an allergy to aspirin or benzoic acid.

E 171 – Titanium dioxide
Titanium iron white dye is used as a coating for chewing gum or candy. The possible risks of titanium dioxide are currently being discussed: In animal experiments, diseases of the immune system and damage to the large intestine occurred. In addition, there were cellular changes in mice, and it is unclear whether the additive might not have a carcinogenic effect.

According to the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, there is still a need for research into this E number, but the data so far do not indicate any health concerns. In France, however, the approval of titanium dioxide for 2020 was suspended because, according to the French health authority, no clear risk assessment is possible.

E173 – Aluminum
We know aluminum as an ingredient in deodorants. Aluminum is suspected of causing Alzheimer’s, dementia and breast cancer, which is why many consumers are looking for aluminum-free deodorants, for example. However, as a silver-grey colorant, E173 is approved for coatings on confectionery and decorations on cakes and pastries. The body partially stores aluminum. The E number E173 should be avoided by people with kidney disease. More about aluminum in the article How harmful is aluminum?

E180 – Litholrubin BK
The red food coloring E180 is only approved for cheese rind – even if it can be eaten. The additive Litholrubin BK is of particular concern for people with pseudoallergies (e.g. asthma or neurodermatitis) and people who are allergic to aspirin or benzoic acid.

E239 – Hexamethylenetetramine
The preservative hexamethylenetetramine can cause allergies. Consumer centers advise against frequent consumption. But don’t worry: the food additive E239 is only approved for the Italian cheese type Provolone anyway. The E number kills microorganisms and prevents the cheese from “puffing up”. The preservative is also used in medicines and cosmetics.

E284 – boric acid
Boric acid, also known as the food additive E284, has caused poisoning in the past – the preservative is therefore only approved for caviar. Traditionally, caviar is preserved with salt, and manufacturers add boric acid to make it last longer. The E number cannot be broken down and accumulates in the body. Frequent consumption of E284 causes diarrhea and internal organ damage – but the probability of this in everyday life is rather low.

E285 – Sodium tetraborate (borax)
The preservative E285 is a variant of boric acid and also only approved for caviar. The food additive borax cannot be broken down and accumulates in the body. With long-term intake, the E number causes diarrhea and internal organ damage.

E385 – Calcium disodium ethylene diamine tetraacetate (Calcium disodium EDTA)
Antioxidant E385 is only approved for cans, jars, margarine and frozen crustaceans and prevents discoloration of these foods. Since calcium disodium EDTA binds minerals, the E number can have a strong influence on the metabolism.

But the additive isn’t always bad: the food additive E385 is also used as a drug to treat heavy metal poisoning.

E407 – Carrageenan
Carrageenan is a thickening agent chemically derived from red algae and is often used in cream, pudding, ice cream and other dairy products. If it consists of large molecules, it is largely considered harmless. Small molecular carrageenan varieties are mostly banned because they are proven to be harmful to health. However, impurities of up to 5 percent are allowed – so you should better avoid carrageenan in food.

Various studies suggest that carrageenan is probably carcinogenic. It is also suspected of triggering intestinal diseases and allergies. The World Health Organization (WHO) does not issue an official warning, but recommends a maximum dose of 75 mg/kg body weight.

E425 – Konjac
Konjak is obtained from the so-called devil’s tongue: the root of the Asian plant is processed into flour for this purpose. Konjac is used in glass noodles and Far Eastern specialties.

The E number E425 cannot be absorbed by the body. So far harmless, but E425 increases the intestinal contents and hinders the absorption of important nutrients. In the EU, the use of E425 in jelly confectionery is already banned because the thickening agent can get stuck in the throat and has caused choking attacks in children.

E512 – Tin II chloride
Stannous Chloride is used as an antioxidant and color stabilizer. The E number E512 is only permitted in cans and jars and is used, for example, to preserve the light color of the asparagus in the jar. In high concentrations, the E number E512 has a metallic aftertaste and causes nausea and vomiting.

E999 – Quillaja extract
The E number E999 is obtained from the bark of the Quillaja tree and is only approved for drinks such as ginger ale or cider. It is a foaming agent that stabilizes the foam in the drink. Quillaja extract contains blood toxins (saponins): saponins taste bitter, form foam and are toxic when they enter the bloodstream.

E999 was only approved in Germany through the harmonization of EU laws. A daily intake of 1.75 liters of ginger ale for a body weight of 70 kilograms corresponds to the permitted daily dose.

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6 Reasons Why You Should Avoid Quail Eggs

The small speckled eggs are trendy and are often advertised as superfood. However, the truth behind the quail eggs looks murky. We explain why you should stay away from quail eggs and quail meat.

Quails are the smallest of all gallinaceous birds, their eggs weigh just ten to twelve grams. The pretty mini-sized eggs can be prepared like chicken eggs, but their taste is a bit more intense.

Both the eggs and the quail meat are becoming increasingly popular. While quail eggs used to only be an exclusive delicacy in delicatessens, eggs have now become something of a trend food item and are available in almost every supermarket and discounter. They are often referred to as superfood, as they contain many minerals, trace elements and vitamins.

Here’s what you should know about quail eggs

However, many people do not realize how sad the circumstances are under which the birds eke out their existence.

1. There is no cage ban when keeping quail

Actually hard to believe: What is forbidden for laying hens and broilers is allowed for quail. In the EU there is neither a cage ban nor far-reaching regulations for keeping quail. 143 million quail are said to be kept in unstructured cages in the EU.

There they live crammed together in a very small space and can hardly stand up. Behavioral disorders and injuries are the order of the day, according to the German Animal Welfare Office.

In addition to cages, Soko Tierschutz also criticizes the way fattened quails are kept on the ground, which shows that this form of husbandry is just as cruel as keeping them in cages: “More than 100,000 quails are usually kept in a hall, painfully cramped, only artificial light, that too burns in the night, no chance for weak animals.”

In the wild, quail spend much of the day on the move: walking, running, flying, pecking for food and bathing in the sand.

No labeling of quail eggs

The EU marketing standard for chicken eggs is not mandatory for quail eggs. In the past, quail eggs were often found to be incorrectly labeled: the packs said “barn farming”, but the eggs came from cage farming. “Even the term ‘free range’ is not necessarily comparable to free-range chickens,” explains the German Animal Welfare Association.

Quail eggs come from factory farming

Like laying hens, quail are bred on a large scale – and the market for the small eggs is anything but small: in Germany alone, more than 40 million quail eggs are consumed every year. Most of them come from cage batteries.

High performance breeding in quail

High-performance breeding also entails animal welfare problems, explains the German Animal Welfare Association: “While wild quail only lay ten to 15 eggs a year, hens of the specially bred laying line ‘produce’ almost 200 eggs during their short ‘useful life’ of a maximum of 38 weeks before they be slaughtered.”

This abnormal laying performance means that the birds often suffer from peritonitis and inflammation of the fallopian tubes.

Little egg for much animal suffering

Animal suffering cannot be offset. But since the small quail eggs weigh just over ten grams, the animal suffering from quail eggs is disproportionately high compared to chicken eggs (50 to 60 grams). At least if you want to get full from the eggs.

Quail eggs travel far

Quail eggs are still often not from Germany – about half of the eggs are imported from abroad. This makes the keeping conditions even less comprehensible. In addition, there are long distances that pollute the climate.

Utopia advises: Quail eggs are another example of the fact that the consumption of animal products is often associated with a great deal of misery and suffering for the animals. Even with laying hens, conventional husbandry is cruel, with quail it is even more torture.

The Albert Schweitzer Foundation warns that organic quail eggs are not automatically a good solution either. Here, too, the animals live and die “often under poor conditions”. Quail farming is still miles away from initiatives such as dual-purpose chickens and brother roosters for more compatible chicken farming. Therefore, our tip here is very clear: It is best to avoid quail eggs altogether!

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Titanium Dioxide: Why You Should Avoid the Substance

They cannot be seen with the naked eye and are nevertheless widespread: nanoparticles such as titanium dioxide. We explain why you should avoid the substance.

Titanium Dioxide – a widely used whitening agent

Titanium dioxide (also: titanium(IV) oxide) is a color pigment that is intended to optically enhance industrially produced food and other products. It is one of the three titanium oxides. You can recognize the additive on food packaging under the number E 171, in cosmetics it is listed under the designation CI 77891. Around 6.5 million tons of the additive were produced in 2013 alone. Despite its widespread use, titanium dioxide is not always harmless to health.

What products contain titanium dioxide?

Titanium dioxide is widely used in industry. The chemically produced pigment is well suited to brightening products or giving them a fresh shine.

You can find titanium dioxide as an additive in these products, among others:

paint and varnishes
plastic
adhesive
rubber
bleached paper
The chemical is also used to “beautify” food and cosmetics. Approximately in:

Mozzarella
Baking mixes & ready-made desserts
instant soups
chewing gum
Marshmallows
fondant
toothpaste
suncream
body and hair care products
Titanium dioxide is also used to bleach tablets.

Why you should avoid titanium dioxide

Several studies cast doubt on the harmlessness of titanium oxide. For example, a large-scale study at the University of Zurich from 2017. The study suspected that titanium dioxide could increase or even promote intestinal inflammation.

The problem: Titanium dioxide is often added in the form of tiny particles, so-called nanoparticles. These are often included in sunscreen, for example. According to gastroenterologist Gerhard Rogler from the University of Zurich, if the particles are less than 100 nanometers in size, they can penetrate cells. According to the study, the substances should also accumulate there and cause inflammation. The researchers at the University of Zurich therefore recommend that people with intestinal diseases in particular avoid foods with titanium dioxide.
Furthermore, it is feared that inhaling titanium dioxide particles can be carcinogenic. According to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), the EU Commission has decided to classify titanium dioxide as a hazardous substance with the note “probably carcinogenic by inhalation”. The risk mainly affects cosmetic sprays, aerosols and powders and not products that contain the whitening agent in solid form.
Due to the uncertain facts, France was the first European country to enforce a ban on titanium dioxide in food at the beginning of last year. The Netherlands also want to follow. In Germany, however, such a ban does not yet exist.

No ban on titanium dioxide in Europe yet

France’s ban on titanium dioxide is based on the French Agency for Food Safety (ANSES), which concludes that there is insufficient scientific evidence to show that the substance is safe. As long as it is not absolutely clear that titanium oxide does not pose a risk, it will be banned in our neighboring country.

In Germany, people tend to follow the recommendations of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). From there it was said in May 2021 in an updated assessment that titanium dioxide “can no longer be considered safe as a food additive”. The authorities could not find conclusive evidence of a toxic effect, but a harmful effect cannot be ruled out. So more research is needed.

By the way: Dr. Oetker has not used titanium dioxide in its products since April 2020 after foodwatch launched a protest campaign signed by around 40,000 people.

Overall, it’s arguably safer to avoid the substance. It’s not that complicated: Just look for titanium dioxide/titanium oxide or the numbers E 171 and CI 77891 when shopping.

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Lamb’s Lettuce: You Should Avoid These 4 Mistakes

Lamb’s lettuce is one of the few vegetables that can be harvested in winter. We give you four tips on how to properly harvest, wash, store and prepare leafy greens.

Lamb’s lettuce is healthy and one of the most nutritious types of lettuce. It contains valuable vitamins and minerals that contribute to a balanced diet.

However, there are a few things you should keep in mind when storing and preparing lamb’s lettuce. Only if you harvest, store, wash and use them correctly can the leafy vegetables unfold their healthy effect, preserve them and stay fresh for a few days.

We explain which mistakes you should avoid and give you tips on how to do it right.

Mistake #1: Not harvesting lamb’s lettuce properly

You can easily sow lamb’s lettuce yourself in the garden. It is undemanding and with proper care you can harvest it all year round. The main season for lamb’s lettuce is from October to December. So you can still prepare delicious dishes with the leafy vegetables from your garden even in winter.

However, there are a few things to keep in mind when harvesting:

Cutting: Cut the rosettes of the lamb’s lettuce individually. Always use a sharp knife for this. This way the cut will be smooth and the plant will be less susceptible to diseases and pests. Also, make sure you never cut too deep so the lettuce can grow back properly.
Picking: Lamb’s lettuce can grow back best if you pick individual leaves and do not cut them off. Pick the large leaves so that young shoots can grow. Take just a few leaves from each plant at a time so they can keep growing year-round.
Nitrate: Lamb’s lettuce stores nitrate in its leaves. Nitrate in water and food is initially harmless. It only becomes critical when we absorb too much of it. In the evening, the nitrate in lamb’s lettuce is lower because it has been broken down over the course of the day. Therefore, harvest the lettuce in the evening to be on the safe side.
If you don’t grow lamb’s lettuce yourself, but buy it, then make sure it’s organic. Especially tender leafy greens can easily absorb pesticides or chemical-synthetic fertilizers – these end up in and on your food. When shopping, you can use the organic seals from Demeter, Bioland and Naturland as a guide, as they require particularly strict criteria.

Whether from your garden or from the organic market: Wash the lamb’s lettuce thoroughly before eating.

Mistake #2: Wash lamb’s lettuce under running water

Before eating, it is important to wash the lamb’s lettuce properly. The leafy greens are often full of sand or soil and may have fertilizer residues on them.

You should not wash lamb’s lettuce under running water. The soil often hides on the individual rosettes of the leaves and is not rinsed off under running water. In addition, the sheets can quickly stick together under running water and thus prevent thorough cleaning. Anyway, you save water if you don’t wash the lamb’s lettuce under running water.

Prepare a cold water bath for the lamb’s lettuce instead:

Remove wilted or dried leaves from the lamb’s lettuce rosettes.
Fill a large bowl with cold water (it will go limp quickly in warm water).
Submerge the lamb’s lettuce in the cold water and let it soak for five minutes. The heavy earth sinks down.
Carefully remove the leaves from the surface and discard the water along with any soil that has collected at the bottom. Tip: Catch the water and use it to water the flowers.
Fill the bowl again with cold water and add the lamb’s lettuce. Now toss the individual leaf rosettes in the water and check them for sandy residue.
Place the washed leaves on a clean tea towel and let them dry.
Remove the roots with a sharp knife so that only the individual leaves or fine rosettes of leaves remain.
Spinning in a salad spinner is not recommended for lamb’s lettuce, or if so, then only very carefully. The lettuce quickly loses its loose structure and sticks together.

If you do not prepare the lamb’s lettuce directly, it is particularly important to dry it well and store it appropriately.

Mistake #3: Storing lamb’s lettuce incorrectly

Lamb’s lettuce is delicate and doesn’t keep very long after harvest. That’s why you should eat it as fresh as possible. If you do want to store it for a few days, then follow these tips to keep the leafy green crisp:

Store lamb’s lettuce cool. This keeps the leaves crisp and fresh.
Avoid wetness. Lamb’s lettuce quickly becomes mushy and can only be stored if it is well dried.
Condensation damages the lettuce and causes it to rot quickly. Therefore, do not store lamb’s lettuce in airtight packaging. If you buy it in a box, always unwrap it for storage.
It is best to wash and dry the lamb’s lettuce thoroughly before storing it. Wrap it in a kitchen towel and put it in the fridge. It can stay fresh for up to a week.

Tip: Place lettuce that is a few days old in a cold water bath for a few minutes. This has an invigorating effect and makes the leaves fresh and crisp again.

Mistake #4: Preparation without vitamin C

Lamb’s lettuce is a real vitamin bomb and rich in valuable minerals and trace elements. It is valued above all for its high iron content and can counteract iron deficiency during pregnancy (caution: do not eat pre-packaged and/or pre-cut lettuce during pregnancy, as it can provide an increased surface area for bacteria to attack. If you are unsure, also avoid lamb’s lettuce in the restaurant – you don’t know how freshly and thoroughly washed it was.). Iron is an important trace element that influences many bodily functions.

The body needs vitamin C to properly absorb iron. Therefore, always prepare the lamb’s lettuce with a dressing containing vitamin C.

You can easily make dressing for lamb’s lettuce yourself. Orange or lemon are particularly suitable as they contain a lot of vitamin C.

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Food

Consuming Christmas Leftovers: How to Avoid Wasting Food

Food waste is particularly noticeable on public holidays. If you ended up throwing away too much food this year, this article can help you avoid leftovers in the future.

Christmas comes every year. We want to feast on the holidays, but still – and rightly so – not buy too much food. Nevertheless, planning the right amount of food often resembles a science. For most people, too much ends up in the shopping basket and in the bin after the holidays. According to the consumer center, Germans throw away 12 million tons of food every year. Occasions and holidays such as Christmas are often triggers for this.

You can avoid wasting food at Christmas and afterwards with a few tips.

This is how you avoid wasting food at Christmas

Even before you go to the supermarket, a few considerations will keep you from overstocking your fridge:

How many guests are coming? Who eats a lot and who prefers small portions? This overview will help you to better weigh the amounts of food. You can use the portion planner on the consumer advice center website to calculate the exact amounts.
Write a shopping list and try to stick to it.
Don’t go shopping hungry. Evidence shows that hungry people make more impulse purchases and are less likely to stick to their shopping list. This doesn’t just apply to food!
If you still have leftovers, you can store them as follows:

Put leftover food in airtight food storage containers (available at **Avocadostore, for example) or cover them before putting them in the fridge – this way food will last at least two days. You can learn more about sustainable alternatives to cling film here: Bee’s Wrap: plastic-free film for food.
Many leftovers can be frozen without much effort. You can do without conventional packaging and freeze it plastic-free: Freezing food without plastic: 5 tips.
Properly stored bread stays fresh longer. You can put it in a bread bin or in a crock pot. You can leave stale bread in a covered pot with a little water on the bottom overnight. It is important that the bread does not lie in the water, but that you create a distance between the water and the bread with forks or a sieve. The bread absorbs moisture and becomes fresh again.

Use leftovers at Christmas time

If there are leftovers, you don’t have to go straight to the garbage can. Some of the following foods are often left over at Christmas.

You can use leftover noodles, for example, as a soup ingredient, in a noodle salad or as a noodle casserole with vegetables.
Dumplings work when sliced ​​and fried as dumpling gröstl, in a vegetable casserole or dressed sourly as a dumpling salad.
You can dry leftover bread and use it to make croutons or serve it as a toast. You can find more tips here: Bread is not rubbish – this is how you can recycle old bread.
Process cooked vegetables (e.g. leftovers from a vegetable soup) and raw vegetable strips into a layered salad. The recipe follows in the next paragraph.
Store leftover fish in the fridge immediately so you can eat it the next day. You can use it as a topping for bread or in a salad, for example.
You can use old cookies such as speculoos in a speculoos cake or speculoos tiramisu. You can find more inspiration here: Using leftover biscuits: Recipes for different types of biscuits or Using old gingerbread: Tasty recipes and tips.
When baking cookies, you often only need the yolk. You can store raw egg whites in an airtight container for two to three days. For example, you can use the leftover protein to bake biscuits with protein or test one of our protein recipes.
You can make dried-out Christmas stollen edible again in the same way as French knights or use them to make sweet Christmas dumplings.

Layered salad to use up leftovers

This vegetable salad is a delicious muddle of leftover cooked and raw ingredients. Only the snipping takes some time, because the cubes should be very fine. Of course, you can also omit ingredients and modify the salad depending on your taste or what the leftovers are made of.

Ingredients:

1 small can of corn or leftover cooked corn
1 small can of peas or leftover cooked peas
cooked parsley root
boiled celery
cooked and/or raw carrots
cooked potatoes
1 raw pepper
1apples
1pickle
1 onion
1boiled egg
Salt, pepper and spices to taste

Directions:

Chop everything into fine little cubes and mix the ingredients in a large bowl.
Mix everything with homemade salad mayonnaise. Decide for yourself whether you just glaze the salad or take a good blob. Make sure that the mayonnaise is made from organic eggs and that it’s best to use non-chicken shredded eggs. Without eggs and with a mayonnaise without eggs, the salad can also be enjoyed by vegans.
Season the layered salad with salt, pepper and spices of your choice.

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Food

Cooking the Salad Properly: Avoid These 5 Mistakes

If you want to prepare a salad, you should follow a few guidelines. In this article we will show you which five mistakes you should better avoid.

Salads can provide a refreshing and nutritious meal within a balanced diet. Depending on the ingredients, they provide you with various vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber. There are a few things to keep in mind so that you can absorb as many nutrients as possible and prepare a delicious salad.

For a salad that is as sustainable as possible, we recommend that you first pay attention to organic quality when buying the ingredients. In this way you avoid chemical-synthetic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. If you also buy regionally and seasonally, you avoid long transport routes and the associated CO2 emissions.

Mistake #1 in salad preparation: Washing wrong

In order to prepare a nutrient-rich salad, you should avoid washing the lettuce leaves immediately after chopping them. After chopping, the lettuce has a particularly large number of interfaces. If you wash it exactly then, it loses an unnecessarily large number of nutrients through contact with water. It is best to detach the leaves from the stalk by plucking them and wash them whole. Even then, you should only expose the lettuce leaves to the water for as long as necessary so that the lettuce loses as few nutrients as possible.

Mistake #2: Not drying lettuce

In order to prepare delicious, crunchy lettuce, you should always dry it as well as possible after washing. If you leave it wet, it can collapse faster. Drying also has the advantage that the salad dressing sticks better to the leaves and the sauce is less likely to pool with leftover water at the bottom of the bowl. You can gently dry the lettuce with a clean kitchen towel or in a salad spinner.

Cooking the salad: Mistake #3

The third mistake when preparing salad is to let too much air get into the salad. Some vitamins are particularly sensitive to oxygen in the air. It is therefore better to pluck the lettuce than cut it when chopping it up. When you cut, you break up the cell structures. On the one hand, the valuable plant sap can escape and on the other hand, the interfaces have direct contact with the air.

When you pluck, the lettuce often tears along the veins of the leaves, which is gentle on the lettuce. If you don’t want to eat the salad immediately after preparing it, store the salad in a tightly sealed container and if possible in a cool place.

Mistake #4: Wrong timing for dressing

If possible, add your salad dressing to the salad just before eating. Otherwise, the lettuce may lose some of its crispness and collapse and become mushy. This is mainly due to the salt that is usually contained in the dressings. This draws the water out of the lettuce.

Mistake #5: Too little variety in the salad cooking

From a nutritional point of view, it makes sense if you make your salad varied and diverse. This means that you should use or combine more nutrient-rich types of lettuce such as dark green and red lettuce, lamb’s lettuce, rocket or spinach.

It is best to add fresh herbs, other types of vegetables, sprouts or wild plants such as nettles, wild garlic or dandelion that you have collected yourself. This is how you add nutrients to your salad. You can also supplement your salad with protein-rich foods. Foods like tempeh, nuts, or beans will keep you full longer.

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Food

Botulism: How to Avoid the Risk of Food Poisoning When Preserving

Botulism is a serious form of food poisoning that can even be life-threatening. We tell you how botulism develops and how you can protect yourself from it.

Botulism is caused by the neurotoxin botulinum toxin. This toxin is caused by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which is particularly resistant to heat and cold. Botulism is not to be trifled with: in the worst case, this food poisoning can be fatal. Luckily, botulism is very rare.

Botulism: symptoms and diagnosis

Botulism can manifest itself through the following symptoms:

  • dry mouth
  • nausea
  • Vomit
  • Diarrhea
  • circulatory problems
  • Signs of paralysis in the eye and throat muscles
  • numbness in the hands

In severe cases, the paralysis spreads from the head.

There are antidotes that can be used to combat the symptoms. However, diagnosing botulism is not easy because it is such a rare phenomenon. If you suspect botulism, be sure to tell your doctor if you ate canned or preserved food before the onset of symptoms. Thanks to improved laboratory technology, it is now possible to detect toxins in stool samples within a few hours.

Botulism from cooked foods

The bacterium Clostridium botulinum occurs frequently in nature: It can be found in soil and water. That is why it can also get into our food. The name already suggests this: botulism comes from the Latin word botulus, which means “sausage”. The causative bacterium was first detected in a ham in 1896.

However, not only meat products are affected – the bacterium can also occur in preserved and particularly protein-rich foods. Canned foods and jars provide the perfect environment for the bacteria to multiply and produce botulinum toxin. To do this, it must be shielded from oxygen. Although the bacterium and the resulting toxins can be destroyed by heat, the contents of an infested can are often not heated to the required 80 degrees.

In the past, botulinum neurotoxins were often found in bloated tin cans. In the 19th century, seafarers in particular often contracted botulism during their long voyages because they ate the contents of the bloated cans for lack of alternatives. Since the neurotoxin botulinum toxin is colorless and odorless, the danger is not so easy to recognize.

In the past, however, canned goods were processed much less cleanly than they are today and botulism could easily form in the absence of air. In the meantime, this danger usually only exists if you cook it yourself. You should be particularly careful with beans, mushrooms and asparagus, as they contain a lot of protein. With other preserves like jam, on the other hand, the risk of botulism is almost impossible.

Avoid botulism: this is how you cook properly

Canning is a great way to stock up and preserve food. Nevertheless, the process is not entirely harmless because of the risk of botulism. However, to protect yourself from botulism while preserving, you just need to take a few precautions. It is particularly important that you pay attention to hygiene and boil the canned food long enough to kill the bacterium. You should follow these rules to protect against botulism when cooking:

Thoroughly boil all canning supplies, such as jars, lids, and sealing rings, for at least 10 minutes before using them. This will sterilize the jars. Wash your hands and work surface thoroughly, too.
You should also clean the food you want to preserve well. If you discover moldy areas, it is better not to process the affected specimen further. Also check carefully whether there are other moldy specimens.
Fill the jars and close them tightly. Boil the sealed jars in a large saucepan for 2 hours. When cooking on the stove, you reach a temperature of 100 degrees.
Repeat the cooking process again after 24 hours. This will destroy any germinated spores.
If you have a pressure cooker, use it to cook. If you work with a pressure cooker, the temperatures during cooking are between 116 and 119 degrees. So you can be sure that all bacteria will be killed. The higher temperatures are caused by the pressure that is created in the pressure cooker. This also reduces the cooking time to 25 minutes.
Don’t eat canned foods that have obviously been improperly stored. This is the case, for example, when the lid has opened. The same applies to bloated canned goods.
Never eat cooked food unheated. This is especially true for vegetables that are particularly rich in protein – for example beans. Before you eat preserves, you should heat them up to 80 degrees for at least five minutes. This will destroy any poison that may be present.
If you follow these safety rules, the risk of contracting botulism is extremely low.

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Plan The Move Correctly, Avoid Mistakes, Save Time: That’s How it Works

If you plan your move properly, you can avoid mistakes and save a lot of time at the same time!

Good planning: Here’s how!

Remember the address changes. These affect banks, insurance companies, but also friends and family. The residents’ registration office and the kindergartens and schools must also be informed and all people who move must be re-registered. In addition, you should plan many things several weeks before the move so that there is no stress later.

If you organize the following things some time before you move, you are guaranteed to be on the safe side and you can move into your new apartment completely relaxed:
Do you need a moving truck? Rent it in good time and find out about the prices.
Get enough moving boxes and packing materials. You can gradually collect newspaper or organize it with friends and family.
Pack a bag with a toothbrush, a change of clothes and deodorant so that you can get to the most important things immediately after the move without having to search.
Organize enough helpers for the moving day early on! It is often difficult to carry the heavy furniture alone or in pairs.
Compare and find out more about moving companies. These can sometimes be very expensive.
Plan enough time for the renovation of your old apartment. Painting, cleaning and handing over the apartment often take a lot of time.

You can avoid these mistakes

In addition to good planning, you can also avoid some mistakes when moving:
Don’t pack too heavy! Many make this mistake. You would like to fill the boxes as full as possible, but then you can hardly lift them or they even break on the ground. Therefore, always pack light and heavy things mixed up in a box and check whether you can still lift it.
Don’t use bags to pack: Bags are often difficult to carry and not really fit much. It is best to pack everything that is possible in boxes.
Do not forget to label: If you do not label the boxes correctly, you will have to spend a lot of time and nerves afterwards to put everything back in the right place. Make it easy for you and your helpers and label everything well, with room information and content. So you always have an overview.
Don’t forget your helpers! A moving day can be long and tiring. Don’t forget to provide your helpers with enough food and drinks. It doesn’t matter whether you order a pizza for everyone or make something yourself.
If you pay attention to these things, you will certainly have a relaxed move without any big surprises! Good planning and organization are the decisive factors.

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