Meat

Don't be a turkey. If a big bird is too much trouble or too much food for your needs, that's no reason to forgo a favorite Thanksgiving treat, not with all the turkey products on the market. For the "new" turkey is the ultimate convenience food -- nutritious, tasty, versatile, economical and quick-cooking.Today there are more than 30 types of turkey products available. Boneless and bone-in turkey breasts, cutlets, steaks, tenderloins, wings and wing drumettes are popular white-meat items.

It is irresponsible to claim, as the letter writer from Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) does, that eating meat is equivalent to smoking cigarettes ("Unhealthful foods kill more Americans every year than tobacco," May 13). In moderation, eating meat is perfectly fine. Studies of the supposed link between meat and cancer regularly find statistically weak or no associations. That's nowhere approaching the level of risk from cigarettes on lung cancer, which range upward of 20-fold.

Giant Food, the region's largest grocery chain, became the latest area supermarket Thursday to declare it would stop selling meat with the additive known as pink slime. The Landover-based company is among a growing number of supermarkets pulling the product from its shelves because of concern from shoppers, even though food regulators say pink slime, also known as "finely textured beef," passes food safety standards. "While the USDA … has indicated this product is safe for consumption and complies with all applicable standards for lean beef, many of our customers voiced concern regarding finely textured beef," Giant said in a statement.

Letter writer Gilbert Ross implies that there is no comparison between eating pizza and smoking ("Eating a slice a pizza is not the same as smoking a cigarette," May 10). As a physician, I disagree. Both tobacco and processed meats increase risk for cancer, heart disease and premature death. In fact, processed meat and other unhealthful foods kill more Americans annually than does tobacco. But this isn't just my opinion. A large body of research supports the link between processed meat and poor health.

How sad that Ellen Cutler can't look past the taste of a meal when examining her beliefs about food ("Food for thought," Commentary, Aug. 14). She congratulates herself on buying expensive meat, full of the "extra flavor" associated with extra cost, yet she readily admits she has no interest in the creatures that brings her such delicacies. Instead, she would rather bury her head in the sand - or a plate of moussaka - and spout clichés about how eating an expensive lamb meal is an "expression of natural order" upon which her "survival" depends.

The number of Americans considered obese is expected to rise from the current 34 percent to 42 percent by the year 2030, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and discussed at Monday's "Weight of the Nation" conference in Washington. Diabetes, kidney failure, heart disease, and other obesity-related ailments account for countless premature deaths and as much as 18 percent of the $2.6 trillion national cost of medical care. The leading causes of obesity are consumption of fat-laden meat and dairy products and lack of exercise.

Outdoors Girl grew up believing that sweet potatoes were glorified pig food and bear meat was an unchewable lump of greasy protein. Folks with a contrary point of view always said the dislike was directly tied to not having those foods prepared the right way. After much experimentation, she still thinks sweet potatoes are pig food, but the outdoors writer at the Cumberland Times-News turned her around on bear. Mike Sawyers counsels: For bear stew, all I do is use a packet of McCormick Beef Stew Mix, perfect for a Maryland bear since McCormick is a Maryland company.

Need to get something off your chest? Tell us and you could see your rant in a future issue of b. Send your rants to Twitter ( @bthesite ), text "RANT" to 70701 or call the hotline at 410.332.6660. I wanna say thank you to the person who found my license and mailed it back to me. Good to know somebody here has common sense. Have you noticed Subway commercials always make it look so good? And advertisers on the radio talk about “meat piled up,” but when you get there, they don't want to give you any meat.

Wegmans Food Markets Inc. said today they will also stop selling meat with an additive known as pink slime. Thebyproduct comes from fatty scraps leftover after steaks and roasts are cut from a cow. The meat bits are heated to soften them and then spun to remove the fat and separate the meat. Ammonia is used to kill bacteria. The filler is sometimes mixed into fattier meat to create a leaner product. The USDA said pink slime passes food safety standards but many retailers have been pulling it from shelves because of concern from shoppers.

I never make New Year's resolutions. Not my thing. But this year I made one: In 2010, I am resolved to eat less meat. This will not be easy. I'm an unapologetic carnivore. Whether one believes in evolution or God (or both; they are not mutually exclusive possibilities) the incisors in my mouth would seem to be there for the sole purpose of chewing meat. I enjoy meat of almost every variety -- chicken, pork, beef -- and in all forms, whether it comes off the grill, on a potato roll with lettuce and a slice of red onion, or rolled up in a tortilla.

The number of Americans considered obese is expected to rise from the current 34 percent to 42 percent by the year 2030, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and discussed at Monday's "Weight of the Nation" conference in Washington. Diabetes, kidney failure, heart disease, and other obesity-related ailments account for countless premature deaths and as much as 18 percent of the $2.6 trillion national cost of medical care. The leading causes of obesity are consumption of fat-laden meat and dairy products and lack of exercise.

Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis says that her mother would make frittatas, the Italian egg dish, with whatever leftovers she had in the refrigerator. " That was the joke," she tells viewers in segment of her cooking show. "What's in the frittata today, Mama?" What better dish to serve Mom on Mother's Day? A frittata is quick and easy, and the kids can help. As a bonus, Mom wakes to a clean fridge. An omelet without the fold and a quiche without the crust, the frittata has its own selling points: It can be sliced and eaten, hot or cold, with a fork or fingers.

Comfort food makes us all feel good, but it's usually not so good for our health. But there are ways to tinker with classic recipes to make them a little healthier. This week's recipe, from Bethenny Frankel of the Skinny Girl franchise , does just that. It's her more nutritious version of turkey meatloaf. She describes it as: The comfort of meatloaf without the calories. Hope you like it. If you have a healthy recipe you'd like to share send to andrea.walker@baltsun.com and I'll post it on this blog.

Among the knives, real and toy pistols, and other dangerous weapons seized at BWI Marshall Airport, this one stood out: A curving 7-inch arc of jagged teeth with a brass knuckle-style grip. A blogger for the Transportation Security Administration coined the nickname "debrainer" as he enshrined the nasty-looking utensil in the TSA's informal hall of fame. That's the weirdest thing officers said they have confiscated in recent months from carry-on baggage at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, used by more than 22.2 million passengers last year.

Some home-grown heavy hitters are joining the line-up Oriole Park. For the 20th Anniversary season at Camden Yards, the Orioles and its second-year concessionaire, Delaware North Companies Sportservice, have powered up the local presence at the yard. The new 3-4-5 hitters are Gino's Burgers and Chicken, Stuggy's and Dempsey's Brew Pub and Restaurant, named for and partly owned by Rick Dempsey. Word that Gino's Burgers and Chicken was coming to the Oriole Park leaked out in January . But the news about the addition of Stuggy's, a maker of specialty sausage and hot dogs based in Fells Point , has been simmerlingly quietly in management's steam pan. And although there had been word of a new brew-pub moving into the Camden Yard warehouse, fans are only learning Monday that the joint will be named for the lovable longtime Oriole Rick Dempsey.

Wegmans Food Markets Inc. said today they will also stop selling meat with an additive known as pink slime. Thebyproduct comes from fatty scraps leftover after steaks and roasts are cut from a cow. The meat bits are heated to soften them and then spun to remove the fat and separate the meat. Ammonia is used to kill bacteria. The filler is sometimes mixed into fattier meat to create a leaner product. The USDA said pink slime passes food safety standards but many retailers have been pulling it from shelves because of concern from shoppers.

Mike Tidwell ("Local action, global lesson," April 22) makes some great points about how incentives are key to changing behaviors. I absolutely agree. But his question about which policy change is best for stimulating rapid climate improvements is off-target. As individuals, 95 percent of us have the power to drastically reduce our carbon footprints, right here and now, without waiting for new legislation, policy changes, improved enforcement or construction of renewable energy projects.

If you shopped at BJ's earlier this summer, here's a reason to check your freezer. The USDA has announced a recall of 8,500 pounds of ground beef that was repackaged for sale at retail locations including 26 BJ's Wholesale Clubs, such as the location in the White Marsh Retail Center, due to possible E. Coli contamination. The original packages, each containing three 14-pound chubs, had a use or freeze by date of July 1, 2010. There have been three reports of illnesses --- two people in Maine and one in New York --- due to this meat, prepared by Cargill Meat Solutions Corp.

Giant Food, the region's largest grocery chain, became the latest area supermarket Thursday to declare it would stop selling meat with the additive known as pink slime. The Landover-based company is among a growing number of supermarkets pulling the product from its shelves because of concern from shoppers, even though food regulators say pink slime, also known as "finely textured beef," passes food safety standards. "While the USDA … has indicated this product is safe for consumption and complies with all applicable standards for lean beef, many of our customers voiced concern regarding finely textured beef," Giant said in a statement.

A Chestertown man pleaded guilty this week in a New York federal court to trafficking live snapping turtles that he processed in Queen Anne's County and then sold as turtle meat. Michael V. Johnson, 57, faces a maximum of one year in prison for turning the wildlife into food at his business in Millington called Turtle Deluxe Inc., according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York in Buffalo. During 2007 and 2008, the statement said, Johnson purchased common snapping turtles — considered protected wildlife under New York law — from sellers in several states, brought them back to the Turtle Deluxe facility to sort and weigh and then paid the vendors based on weight.