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Food Recall: Milk Allergy

The following recalls have been added to the CFIA’s Food Recall Report

Class 1
Reason for Recall: Allergen – milk
Product(s): Elite brand Bittersweet Chocolate
Recalling Firm: Foodfest International 2000 Inc
Distribution: Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec

Product details are available at: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2014-02-20/eng/1392945412440/1392945439020

Class 1
Reason for Recall: Allergen – milk
Product(s):  Oh Green brand Black Cereal beverage powder
Recalling Firm: Oh Green Biotech Ltd.
Distribution: British Columbia, Ontario

Product details are available at: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2014-02-21/eng/1393022399822/1393022401025

*The above food recalls are from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and brought to you by Anna Gofeld, RD at Form & Function

By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips

For the Love of Chocolate

The month of February is often associated with Valentine’s Day, an occasion often celebrated with chocolate. With its historic use as an aphrodisiac, ability to improve mood, and potential heart health benefits, it’s no wonder this dark delight has been strongly linked with the celebration of love.

Eating chocolate releases neurotransmitters in the brain that can help improve mode and libido. As well, its caffeine and threobromine content gives chocolate stimulant properties similar to coffee, which may help to improve alertness. This, in combination with the carbohydrate energy it supplies, makes chocolate a great snack for long romantic evenings.

Other health benefits of chocolate come from its flavonoid content. These antioxidants help repair damaged cells in the body and may reduce the risk of chronic diseases, including heart disease. However, since antioxidant content is not listed in the nutrition facts table, consumers have no way of knowing the flavonoid content of their chocolate and therefore its potential benefit. In general, less processed products—i.e. cocoa powder and dark chocolate—are higher in flavonoid content and potential health benefits. For the greatest benefit, choose dark or unsweetened chocolate that lists 60% or more cocoa solids on the label.

Despite some health benefits of chocolate, it also contains compounds that are detrimental to health. Cocoa butter—a saturated fat that can raise cholesterol—is a popular chocolate additive. As well, all chocolate is high in sugar, fat, and calories, which could all lead to increased weight and associated co-morbidities. Unfortunately, milk chocolate, white chocolate, or chocolates with any sort of additives (nuts, nougat, caramel, etc.) are low in flavonoid content and thereby lower in health benefit.

When weighing out the pros and cons, it is still best to enjoy chocolate in small quantities, particularly since research is insufficient to recommend chocolate for its health benefits. If you do choose to indulge, choose dark chocolate containing >60% of cocoa solids; use cocoa powder in beverages and baking to reduce the fat and calories content. The health benefit of flavonoids can also be reaped from consuming citrus fruits, apples, berries, nuts, grapes, green tea and onions. These foods provide also other nutrients beneficial to overall health and can easily be incorporated into the daily diet without the drawbacks of chocolate.

If you have any questions about healthy eating, weight loss, chocolate or any other foods, Registered Dietitian Anna Gofeld at Form and Function Health and Wellness Clinic will be more than happy to answer them for you.

Live, love, laugh, and eat chocolate in moderation

Un cuore nel cioccolato

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Ergonomic Tips

In our current society, more and more people are working at deskjobs. Although these jobs are mostly sedentary, there are inherent stressors that can lead injuries. Here is a brief overview of some physical stressors and ergonomics adjustments that can reduce your chances of developing injuries.

  • Wrist injuries: If you do a lot of computer typing or mousing, you are at risk of developing repetitive stress to your wrist muscles and tendons. To decrease the stress, try to keep your wrist neutral while typing or mousing. If you type or mouse with an angle to your wrist, you place extra stress on your wrist tendons. Some support at the wrist may help with keeping your wrist neutral if you have a high keyboard but be sure to not have constant pressure on your wrist all day.
  • Back injuries: Sitting can actually be more stressful for your back than standing. If you sit a lot during the day, be sure you have an adjustable ergonomic chair with good lumbar support. Your low back has a natural curve (concave) that is often reserved when sitting (convex or “slouching”) without good support. This can lead to increased stress on your back muscles and joints. If you have a good chair with lumbar support, make sure you sit back and support that natural curve to reduce stress.  If you do not have good lumbar support, try to find support with a different chair or back rolls. Also, be sure to take microbreaks every 30 mins. Stand up, stretch and then back to work!
  • Neck injuries: This is particularly important if you work on a laptop or multiple computer screens. Your neck is designed to sit on the vertebrate (neck bones) without leaning forward or turned for extended period of time. Often that is the case when working on computers. Our heads lean forward or turn to the side and place a lot of stress on the muscles and joints in our neck.  To reduce this, try to keep your main computer screen at eye level. If you use more screens, completely turn your whole body if you are working more than 5 mins on that screen. If you are using laptop for more than 30 mins, try to get an extra keyboard so you can place the laptop screen at eye level.

I hope these tips help with reducing your physical stress at work. If you have more ergonomic questions or if you are already feeling symptoms of pain at work, be sure to visit an healthcare professional at Form and Function. We can help relief your pain and address any other ergonomics questions or issues that you may have.

Manni Wong
Registered Physiotherapist

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Food Recalls: Salmonella, Milk allergen, and Other

The following recalls have been added to the CFIA’s Food Recall Report

Class 1
Reason for Recall: Health Hazard – Salmonella
Product(s): Ova Easy brand dried egg product
Recalling Firm: Vanderpol’s Eggs Ltd.
Distribution: National

Product details are available at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2014-02-17/eng/1392674639844/1392674648033

Causes of Food Poisoning – http://inspection.gc.ca/food_poisoning

Class 2
Reason for Recall: Allergen – milk
Product(s): Lajkonik brand crackers
Recalling Firm: European Fine Foods
Distribution: Ontario

Product details are available at http://inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2014-02-14-r8605/eng/1392663960145/1392663989974

Class 2
Reason for Recall: Health Hazard – other
Product(s): Various Tillamook Country Smoker brand beef jerky products
Recalling Firm: Crown Star Food Distributors Ltd., Wallace & Carey Ltd.
Distribution: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan

Product details are available at http://inspection.gc.ca/eng/1392692683945/1392692685102

*The above food recalls are from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and brought to you by Anna Gofeld, RD at Form & Function

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Food Recalls: Health Hazards and Allergens

The following recalls have been added to the CFIA’s Food Recall Report

Class 1
Reason for Recall: Health Hazard – Listeria
Product(s): Wilton Cheese Factory – Old Cheddar Cheese (White)
Recalling Firm: A.M. Jensen Ltd
Distribution: Ontario

Product details are available at: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2014-02-07/eng/1391771141778/1391771156482

Causes of Food Poisoning – http://inspection.gc.ca/food_poisoning

Class 1
Reason for Recall: Allergen – milk, wheat, gluten
Product(s): frozen meat pie and poutine products
Recalling Firm: Meat Pies Plus
Distribution: Ontario

Product details are available at: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2014-02-05/eng/1391667003185/1391667031405

*The above food recalls are from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and brought to you by Anna Gofeld, RD at Form & Function

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FOOD RECALLS: Egg, Chemical, Tree nut, Milk, Hazelnut

The following recalls have been added to the CFIA’s Food Recall Report

Class 2
Reason for Recall: Allergen – Egg, Chemical
Product(s): Bulik brand Jelly Cubes
Recalling Firm: Polfood Trading Co.
Distribution: Alberta, Ontario

Product details are available at: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2014-01-31-r8579/eng/1391542122100/1391542146791

Class 1
Reason for Recall: Allergen – Tree Nut
Product(s): Sicilian Ice Cream brand Bacio Tartufo
Recalling Firm: Sicilian Ice Cream Co. Ltd.
Distribution: Ontario

Product details are available at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2014-01-30/eng/1391443215650/1391443231464

Class 1
Reason for Recall: Allergen – milk
Product(s): Kinnikinnick Foods Brand products
Recalling Firm: Kinnikinnick Foods Inc.
Distribution: National

Product details are available at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2014-01-23/eng/1390523540077/1390523541124

Class 3
Reason for Recall: Allergen – hazelnut
Product(s): Dandar brand cookies
Recalling Firm: Wonderberry North America
Distribution: Alberta, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec

Product details are available at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/eng/1390238615929/1390238633671

*The above food recalls are from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and brought to you by Anna Gofeld, RD at Form & Function

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February is Heart Month

The leading cause of death in Canada is heart disease. It’s important to recognize that despite factors that can increase your risk of heart disease that are beyond your control, like genetics and age, there are many other lifestyle factors that you do have the power to change. These factors include:

• Poor nutrition
• Poorly managed stress
• Physical inactivity
• Smoking/chewing tobacco
• Alcohol
• Overweight
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• High cholesterol

Take a look at this list and identify which risk factors apply to you. Determine which risk factor you are willing to change first and take steps to remove that risk factor from your list.

An important part of addressing risk factors is to ensure you have accurate, safe and effective information, so seeking the guidance of a trained healthcare professional is recommended – especially if you already have an existing health condition.

If you are uncertain if you have any of the modifiable risk factors, a naturopathic doctor can assess your lifestyle factors, and create an individualized plan integrating heart healthy nutrition and supplements, stress management techniques including acupuncture and lifestyle counselling to keep you motivated.

Happy Heart Month!
Odette Bulaong, ND