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Australia-based Costa Berries broke a Guinness World Record by growing a blueberry that weighed .72 ounce. (Photo courtesy of Costa Berries) March 14 (UPI) -- An Australian berry company broke a Guinness World Record by growing a Ping-Pong-sized berry that weighs .72 ounce. A Guinness adjudicator examined the blueberry grown by Costa Berries in Corindi, New South Wales, and confirmed it was the world's heaviest blueberry. Brad Hocking, head of the team that grew the berry, said it was picked in November last year and kept frozen while the company communicated with Guinness World Records. The blueberry is the new...

The foods we eat can go a long way in boosting our moods. Here are our favorite snacks for happiness, according to science. Achieving happiness is top of mind for many people, and we'll try just about anything to get it. Whether it's therapy, exercise or meditation, we all want to bring more peace and joy into our lives. When we think about what makes us happy, our diet isn't usually at the top of the list (unless your favorite fast-food joint brings joy to mind). The foods we eat actually play a major role in how we feel. Studies...

Put together two environmentally conscious professionals — a product designer and a pharmacist by trade — and you wind up with biodegradable prescription bottles that are getting traction with consumers. Health sciences startup Parcel Health Inc. of Bellevue has been piloting biodegradable pill bottles at 10 drug stores in eight states, including Pennsylvania, replacing the ubiquitous dark orange plastic bottles used by pharmacists to dispense drugs for decades. Consumer reaction at a West View drug store where they have been introduced has been positive, said Kyle McCormick, founder of Blueberry Pharmacy. “Patients love it,” Mr. McCormick said. “It’s a pretty...

Last week I was going through a big sheaf of recipes that I’d clipped or printed-out over the years but never tried. I found an America’s Test Kitchen recipe for Chicken and Shrimp Jambalaya, and decided to try it. I’d never had Jambalaya, and I suspect that this is a mild, basic version – it turned out very well, though we thought it should have been ‘hotter’. This was probably because our supermarket Andouille was probably not as hot as the more authentic, ‘artisanal’ ones are. We altered the original recipe slightly, using two peppers, one red and one green;...

The benefits of blueberry consumption have been demonstrated in several nutrition studies, more specifically the cardio-protective benefits derived from their high polyphenol content. Blueberries have shown potential to have a positive effect on everything from aging to metabolic syndrome. Recently, a researcher from Texas Woman's University (TWU) in Denton, TX, examined whether blueberries could play a role in reducing one of the world's greatest health challenges: obesity. Shiwani Moghe, MS, a graduate student at TWU, decided to evaluate whether blueberry polyphenols play a role in adipocyte differentiation, the process in which a relatively unspecialized cell acquires specialized features of an...

Fake blueberries are usually plastic and can be found with other fake fruits in decorative arrangements or on bizarre hats. Now, apparently, they can be found in food. A range of fake blueberries are in a number of retail food items that contain labels or photos suggesting real blueberries were used in the products, according to an investigation. Sigh. As if it's not hard enough to include fruits in your diet. Now you have to watch for fraudulent food. The nonprofit Consumer Wellness Center reported Thursday that its investigation found "blueberries" that were nothing more than a concoction of sugar,...

Conventional drugs used in the treatment of liver diseases inevitably have side effects. An increasing number of natural substances have been studied to explore if they have protective effects on the liver. Blueberries have unique effects on human retinal, brain and tumor cells, but reports about the effects of blueberries on liver diseases are lacking. A research article to be published on June 7, 2010 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team led by Ming-Liang Cheng, MD, from Department of Infectious Diseases, Guiyang Medical College, Guiyang, presented some data from their research on the effectiveness...

Seven days after the new fiscal year began, the state of California still appears to be far from a budget solution. Disabled protesters, angry over cuts to vital services, were arrested outside the Capitol on Tuesday; inside, lawmakers bickered about fruits and juices. A war of words developed between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers over the fruit-related focus of three new bills. "The governor is not against condiments. The governor's not against fruits of any kind," said spokesman Aaron McLear. "But he believes we ought to be focused on solving our budget crisis first and foremost." Assembly bill 606 creates...

Summer is half over. Know why? Because Maine's blueberry harvest is underway. And blueberry growers are expecting a pretty good crop this year. University of Maine experts expect an average or slightly above average yield of 80 million to 100 million pounds of berries, thanks to adequate rain in May and June. Blueberry specialist David Yarborough says the hot, humid, but largely dry first few weeks of July stressed crops to some degree. But he says recent showers are refreshing them. Love to head out and pick the little blue bubbles of yummy, juicy goodness? If you are in southern...

Each autumn, Terhune Orchards in Lawrence holds Apple Day, a celebration of that season's favorite fruit. Last weekend, July's most popular berry got its own celebration when Terhune held its first Blueberry Bash. A cheerful crowd picked and ate buckets of blueberries and piles of blueberry baked goods, testimony to the growing fervor for the native New Jersey fruit, which is rich in cancer-fighting antioxidants and high in vitamin C. The public's interest in blueberries, which are in high season now in central New Jersey, has not gone unnoticed by local growers. "There is definitely an increase in interest with...

(BRICK)—Governor James E. McGreevey signed legislation into law today that will make the Vaccinium corymbosum, more commonly known as the blueberry, New Jersey’s official state fruit. The Governor signed the legislation at Veterans Memorial Elementary School in Brick, where fifth graders (then fourth-graders) were actively involved in the legislative process. “New Jersey has a strong history as the Garden State,” said McGreevey. “Naming the blueberry as our official state fruit is a fitting tribute to our culture and heritage, especially because it was first cultivated here in Whitesbog. “If it weren’t for the commitment and civic involvement of the students...

When Mom put the three youngest kids in the big black baby buggy, we never knew where the journey might take us. Sometimes we found our way up the road a quarter of a mile to the neighbor's house. Sometimes we just went around and around, following our circle driveway until all of us were asleep. But when she put her big kitchen pots in with us, we knew it was time to go blueberry picking. She hauled us out to the back of the pasture using the old cow path. As we bumped along with squeaking wheels hitting uneven...

- Some scientists hope blueberry burgers will be coming to a restaurant, supermarket or school cafeteria near you. Al Bushway, a food scientist at the University of Maine, says his lab has been stirring blueberry puree or blueberry powder into beef, chicken and turkey patties. The researchers are trying to boost the nutritional value of burgers and help farmers improve their berry sales. Blueberries add cancer-fighting antioxidants to the patties and may slightly reduce the fat content of burgers. The Agriculture Department has encouraged researchers to blend fruit with ground meat to make healthier burgers to serve to the 27...