At the digital kitchen table, today's hot topics include five fruits that fight the germs we're exposed to in the winter, plus how being featured on a food-related TV show can bring crowds to a restaurant; plus a startling list of ingredients in a McRib sandwich.
An apple a day keeps the flu away: During fall and winter, a lot of people come down with the flu. To prevent getting sick, you can get a flu shot and take vitamin supplements. But you can also fight off the flu by paying attention to what you're eating. Men's Health has a list of five fruits that battle the flu bug, giving you one more reason to toss more produce into your grocery cart. The fab five: Apples, papaya, cranberries, grapefruit and bananas. Eating this combination gives you a powerful dose of antioxidants, vitamin C, probiotics and flavonoids. On top of that, they taste good.
What TV exposure is worth: Appearing on a Cooking Channel or Food Network TV show is big-time exposure for small restaurants, and being on shows like "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" or "Unique Eats" will certainly drum up business. Too much, in some cases. Grub Street talks to restaurants that have experienced the surge, and in some cases, they weren't prepared for the volume of customers that would pour through their doors.
They put what in a McRib?: McDonald's cult sandwich McRib is back in stores, and you've probably seen the TV ads trumpeting its return in recent weeks. But before digging into one, you should know that there are more than 70 ingredients that go into each one, including something called azodicarbonamide, a flour-bleaching agent that is most commonly used in the manufacture of foamed plastics like in gym mats and the soles of shoes. Grist has the rundown of what's really in a McRib. It's startling.