Selecting and Storing Strawberries

Strawberries are ripe in Northeast Wisconsin. Yum! When picking strawberries, remember that strawberries do not ripen after they are harvested, so it is important to pick the fruit at the right stage of maturity. Pick when the berry surface is fully red, without green or white areas – this means fruit will contain the maximum sweetness and flavor. Strawberries that are deep red and dull in appearance are overripe and may be very soft.

Harvest strawberries by gently snapping the stem from the plant. Take care to avoid bruising the fruit. Cool the freshly picked berries as soon as possible after harvesting and store the fruit in the refrigerator until use. The optimum storage temperature for strawberries in the home is 32 to 36 degrees. The optimum humidity for storage of berries to prevent water loss and shriveling is 90-95 percent. Store the fruit in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.

Do not wash berries until just before eating or preserving. Washing will add moisture and will cause the berries to spoil more rapidly. Strawberries can only be stored for up to seven days under optimum conditions and that shelf life also depends on how ripe the fruit was when picked or purchased. To wash, rinse strawberries thoroughly under cool running water, drain in a clean strainer, and pat dry with a clean paper towel. For maximum cleaning, gently rub each berry under running water.

Washing strawberries in a sink filled with water is not recommended since the standing water can spread contamination from one berry to another. The use of soap or detergent is not recommended or approved for washing fruits and vegetables because the produce can absorb detergent residues.

Strawberries may be frozen whole, sliced, crushed, or pureed, depending on their intended use in recipes. Rigid plastic containers and canning jars make good freezer containers. Frozen whole strawberries are best served with a few ice crystals still remaining – if thawed completely, the berries will be mushy. Syrup and sugar packs produce higher quality frozen strawberries with a better flavor and texture, than berries packed without sweetening.

Enjoy!

Dairy Trivia Facts

Dairy Trivia Facts

June Dairy Month is here. Enjoy these facts about the dairy industry in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin's Signature Industry Dairy is the largest segment of Wisconsin agriculture. Total Ag = $59.2 billion; dairy = $26.5 billion
Wisconsin Leads in Cheese Varieties Wisconsin cheese makers produce over 600 varieties, types and styles of cheese. runner-up comes in second with 250 varieties.
Wisconsin Milk 90% of Wisconsin's milk is made into cheese and 90% of that famous Wisconsin Cheese is sold outside of the state's borders.
One Ounce A one-ounce slice of Wisconsin Cheese contains about the same amount of protein as an 8-ounce glass of milk.
Cheese Consumption American per capita cheese consumption was 33.5 pounds in 2011. Our average consumption of cheese has nearly doubled over the last 30 years.
Pizza Americans eat about 350 slices of pizza per second. That's enough to cover more than 90 football fields a day.
Anne Pickett In 1841, Mrs. Anne Pickett started the first home cheese factory in Wisconsin near Lake Mills. Mrs. Pickett used milk from her neighbors' cows to produce butter and cheese in her log cabin. This procedure continued until 1845, when the level of production and demand grew too large for her kitchen. By 1869, Wisconsin produced over 3 million pounds of cheese, and that number would more than quadruple within 10 years.
Ice Cream Flavors According to the NPD Group's National Eating Trends In-Home Database, the top five ice cream flavors are vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, chocolate chip, and butter pecan.
U.S. Yogurt Consumption Americans eat an average of 13.7 pounds of yogurt per person every year, nearly double the 7.0 pounds per person Americans consumed just ten years ago.
Ten Pounds It takes ten pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese.
Mozzarella Mozzarella cheese is the biggest-selling cheese variety, followed by Cheddar.
Eating On average, each American eats 33.5 pounds of cheese every year. That adds up to more than a ton of cheese during a lifetime.

NIH Launches Dietary Supplement Label Database

NIH Launches Dietary Supplement Label Database

Searchable collection contains product information and ingredients from labels of dietary supplements sold in U.S.

Researchers, as well as health care providers and consumers, can now see the ingredients listed on the labels of about 17,000 dietary supplements by looking them up on a website. The Dietary Supplement Label Database, free of charge and hosted by the National Institutes of Health, is available at http://www.dsld.nlm.nih.gov.

The Dietary Supplement Label Database provides product information in one place that can be searched and organized as desired. "This database will be of great value to many diverse groups of people, including nutrition researchers, healthcare providers, consumers, and others," said Paul M. Coates, Ph.D., director of the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS). "For example, research scientists might use the Dietary Supplement Label Database to determine total nutrient intakes from food and supplements in populations they study."

For consumers, the My Dietary Supplements (MyDS) app from ODS is already available, at https://myds.nih.gov. The app is an easy way to keep track of vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other products you take, and has science-based, reliable information on dietary supplements.

Dietary supplements, taken regularly by about half of U.S. adults, can add significant amounts of nutrients and other ingredients to the diet. Supplements include vitamins, minerals, herbals and botanicals, amino acids, enzymes, and more. They come in many different forms, including tablets, capsules, and powders, as well as liquids and energy bars. Popular supplements include vitamins D and E; minerals like calcium and iron; herbs such as echinacea and garlic; and specialty products like glucosamine, probiotics, and fish oils.

By law, any product labeled as a dietary supplement must carry a Supplement Facts panel that list its contents and other added ingredients (such as fillers, binders, and flavorings). The Dietary Supplement Label Database includes this information and much more -- such as directions for use, health-related claims, and any cautions -- from the label.

The Dietary Supplement Label Database offers these features:
-- Quick Search: Search for any ingredient or specific text on a label.
-- Search for Dietary Ingredients: An alphabetical list of ingredients is also provided.
-- Search for Specific Products: An alphabetical list of products is also provided.
-- Browse Contact Information: Search by supplement manufacturer or distributor.
-- Advanced Search: Provides options for expanding a search by using a combination of search options including dietary ingredient, product/brand name, health-related claims, and label statements.

Hundreds of new dietary supplements are added to the marketplace each year, while some are removed. Product formulations are frequently adjusted, as is information on labels. "The Dietary Supplement Label Database will be updated regularly to incorporate most of the more than 55,000 dietary supplement products in the U.S. marketplace," said Steven Phillips, M.D., director of the National Library of Medicine's Division of Specialized Information Services.

Help Your Picky Eater Become a Vegetable Eater

Help Your Picky Eater Become a Vegetable Eater

Somewhere between the ages of two and five, many young children become “fussy eaters,” temporarily refusing to eat all but a few favorite foods and rejecting other choices--especially vegetables.

If a child suddenly turns down all but a few favorite vegetables like French fries and corn, it’s important for parents and caregivers to respond thoughtfully.

With patience and persistence, adults can help children learn to eat and enjoy a wider variety of vegetables.

Research shows that familiarity is a key factor that determines whether children accept or reject vegetables and other nutritious foods. A new study from The Pennsylvania State University’s Center for Childhood Obesity Research shows that young children tend to like a new vegetable more after they have tasted it six different times. In those experiments, children were told they needed to taste a certain vegetable of the day, but they were not pressured to actually eat the new vegetable if they didn’t want to.

Based on this study and other research on children’s flavor preferences, here are some tips to help your child like more kinds of vegetables.

--Don’t offer bribes such as dessert and don’t force children to eat something they don’t want. Research shows that bribery increases children’s preference for the reward rather than for the food they are pressured to eat. It’s OK to show children they are expected to taste new foods, but it will work best if the encouragement is kept low-key and the overall mood stays calm and pleasant.
--Be a good role model. If you seldom eat vegetables or only eat peas and carrots, your child will not learn that a variety of nutritious vegetables are part of any good meal.
--Accept partial success. For genetic reasons, some children detect bitter flavors in certain vegetables like broccoli or green onions. Some children prefer their vegetables raw or served with dip while others like them better cooked. If your child shows a strong and enduring dislike for a specific vegetable’s flavor or texture, no amount of tasting is likely to change that. But over time, almost all children can expand the variety of vegetables they are willing to eat and enjoy.
--Get your child involved in selecting and preparing vegetables. The idea is to make the vegetables interesting and fun. At the grocery store or restaurant, let children choose a new vegetable to try that week. At home, ask them to help peel, wash or arrange the vegetables on a serving dish.

Source: Susan Nitzke, Professor Emerita and UW-Extension specialist in nutritional sciences at UW-Madison

Be Smart When Choosing Yogurt

Be Smart When Choosing Yogurt

Everyone knows yogurt is nutritious, especially if it’s made from low-fat or fat-free milk and fortified with vitamin D. Like the milk it’s made from, yogurt contains calcium, potassium and many other vitamins and minerals. And yogurt with live, active cultures has the added benefit of probiotic microorganisms that help promote digestive health.

But smart consumers know some brands of yogurt have more nutritional benefits than others. Many yogurt choices are high in added sugar, including several types of yogurt that are marketed as “kid-friendly.”

Examples of yogurt varieties that are likely to have added sugar include flavored yogurts, squeezable yogurt tubes, yogurt parfaits, frozen yogurt, and yogurt with sprinkles or other toppings.

Figuring out how much sugar is added to yogurt can be confusing because there is some naturally occurring sugar (lactose) in plain yogurt. Although lactose from milk is slightly reduced in the process of making yogurt, an 8-oz. cup of plain or artificially sweetened yogurt usually has roughly 15 grams of sugar in the form of lactose. If sugar, corn syrup, honey, or evaporated cane juice are listed among the first three ingredients, the product is relatively high in added sugars.

What about Greek yogurt? Most Greek yogurt products are strained to remove much of the liquid whey. In addition to being thicker than traditional yogurt, the extra straining process tends to concentrate yogurt’s protein and reduce the content of calcium and lactose, or sugar. Its reduced lactose content makes Greek yogurt a popular choice among people with lactose intolerance.

For more information on yogurt and healthy eating,check out the following fact sheet from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6442471030

Source: Susan Nitzke, Professor Emerita and UW-Extension specialist in nutritional sciences at UW-Madison

Children Serve Themselves More Food When They Use Bigger Dishes

Children Serve Themselves More Food When They Use Bigger Dishes

Adult dieters have heard the advice many times – Using smaller plates is a visual cue that helps prevent overeating. But does that principle apply to young children? To find out, DiSantis and colleagues asked first graders to serve themselves a school lunch entrée and side dishes using either small or large plates and bowls. The smaller, child-size plates in this experiment were 7.25 inches in diameter and the small bowls held 8 ounces, while the larger, adult size, dishes were twice as large in surface area/capacity. Half the children used the larger dishes in the first half of the experiment and vice-versa for the other half. Serving spoons and bowls were kept uniform and each child was given a standard portion of milk and bread. After an introductory practice session, each type of food was served twice for both halves of the experiment for a total of eight lunches per child. Researchers also collected demographic data (household size, race/ethnicity, parent’s education/employment, food security), heights and weights, and food-liking scores. Of the 42 children in the study, all were African American or mixed-race/ethnicity, 25 were female and 19 were overweight or obese. Two-thirds (68%) of the parents were employed and 24% were college educated.

When the children used larger dishes they served themselves an average of 90 more calories. The type of entrée was found to be important – children served themselves an average of 239 more calories with larger plates when the food was in pieces (chicken nuggets) vs. amorphous (pasta with sauce). Children also served themselves an average of 104 calories more for foods they rated as “yummy” vs. foods that were rated “yucky or just OK.” The largest differences were found with entrees and similar but smaller differences were observed for fruit. Differences in self-served vegetables were not statistically significant. Body mass index was not a predictor of self-served calorie levels, but food insecurity was a significant predictor (food insecure children served themselves 34% more calories with large dishes vs. 18% with the other children). Although the food insecure children served themselves more food, they did not eat more than the other children. Plate size did not directly predict the amount eaten, but there was an indirect effect of plate size because children who served themselves more food ate more calories at the meal. Specially, for every additional calorie that children served themselves, there was a 0.43 calorie increase in calories eaten.

In addition to internal feelings of hunger, many factors in the food environment affect the amount of food a child eats. For example, the ChooseMyPlate.gov website includes a number of parent/caregiver practices that affect preschoolers’ food environment and help them learn to eat the right amount for their level of hunger:

• Letting children serve themselves and have more later if they are still hungry.
• Avoiding praise for a clean plate.
• Rewarding children with attention and kind words, not food.
• Not being overly restrictive about certain foods.

References:
Disantis KI, LL Birch, A Davey, EL Serrano, J Zhang, Y Bruton, JO Fisher. Plate size and children’s appetite: Effects of larger dishware on self-served portions and intake. Pediatrics. 131(5):e1451-e1458.

Develop healthy eating habits: Help them know when they’ve had enough fact sheet from ChooseMyPlate.gov for Preschoolers (http://www.choosemyplate.gov/preschoolers/healthy-habits/know-when-they-had-enough.html)

By Susan Nitzke, UW-Extension Nutrition Specialist and UW-Madison Professor Emeritus

A Dairy Good Time to Celebrate in Wisconsin

A Dairy Good Time to Celebrate in Wisconsin

 Wisconsin is America’s Dairyland, and the Dairy Days of Summer have arrived. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) encourages everyone to celebrate this June Dairy Month.

Wisconsin is known around the world for our productive dairy farms, extensive dairy processing and quality dairy products. 
Wisconsin is home to nearly 11,000 dairy farms, more than any other state in the country. Last year, Wisconsin’s dairy cows set a record, producing 27.2 billion pounds of milk, a 4% increase over 2011.

What really sets the state apart is the quality of its dairy products. Approximately 90% of Wisconsin milk is used by our dairy processing plants for cheesemaking. Wisconsin’s nearly 1,200 licensed cheesemakers produce more than 600 types, styles and varieties of cheese. Wisconsin leads the nation in the production of specialty cheeses, such as Feta, Blue, Gouda and more.

The results of Wisconsin’s success are in the books. At the 2013 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest, Wisconsin won gold medals in 47 of the total 81 categories judged. That is more than any other state or nation.

The impact of the dairy industry benefits the entire state. Wisconsin’s dairy industry contributes $26.5 billion to the state’s economy, which circulates throughout our local communities. Dairy means more to Wisconsin than citrus to Florida, $9.3 billion, or potatoes to Idaho, $2.7 billion.

The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board offers a website to help plan your June Dairy Month at http://www.dairydaysofsummer.com/. The interactive calendar allows you to search by date or location for a farm breakfast or dairy event. Use this resource to find a new tasty recipe to complete your family meal.

Wisconsin’s dairy industry is not just part of our state’s history. It’s our future. With an infrastructure second to none, Wisconsin’s dairy industry will continue to thrive, and that is something to celebrate.

Source:  Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection

Milk Choices for Toddlers and Young Children

Experts generally recommend that babies be given whole milk when they stop drinking breast milk or formula after their first birthday, and then switch to fat-free or low-fat milk after their second birthday. But a new study from the Archives of Diseases of Childhood shows that toddlers who drank low-fat (1%) or non-fat (skim) milk tended to gain more weight over a two-year period than toddlers who drank whole (full-fat) milk.

This new study is important because it includes data from a large group of children for two years. However, she points out that the researchers did not measure other important factors affecting weight gain such as exercise levels or total calorie intakes.

A critical question left unanswered by this study is ‘do low-fat milk drinkers gain more weight than whole milk drinkers--or do parents of children who tend to gain weight rapidly switch them to low-fat milk earlier than parents of children who gain weight less rapidly?

In some cases, the switch to lower-fat milk may be recommended before age two, according to Frank Greer, pediatrics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Recent publications from the American Academy of Pediatrics are moving towards recommending low-fat milk for children between 12 and 24 months of age if they are at risk for overweight or obesity.

Young children need about two cups of milk per day because it is a major source of important nutrients including protein, calcium, vitamin D, and potassium. Whole milk has more calories and saturated fat than lower-fat milk.

Discuss your child’s nutritional needs with a doctor, dietitian or other medical professional. Whether you choose nonfat, low-fat, reduced fat, or whole milk, it is important to include milk in your child’s daily diet and minimize intakes of soda and other sweetened beverages.

Parents who do not want to continue giving cows’ milk to toddlers or older children should be careful label readers and choose nutritious substitutes such as low-fat yogurt and cheese or fortified soy beverage (often called soymilk), that is fortified with calcium and vitamin D.

For more information on making nutritious choices of milk and dairy foods, see the “Got Your Dairy Today?” fact sheet on the ChooseMyPlate.gov website: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/TenTips/DGTipsheet5GotYourDairyToday-BlkAndWht.pdf

Susan Nitzke, Professor Emerita and Extension specialist in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison