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Olive oil, a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet renowned for promoting heart health, is now being highlighted for its potential to reduce the risk of life-threatening dementia, according to recent scientific studies. Additionally, its rich antioxidant properties and anti-inflammatory effects contribute to a holistic approach to well-being. As we delve into the research findings, let’s discover what scientists have uncovered about this versatile and health-promoting oil. Doctor’s orders: Half a tablespoon of olive oil a day The common saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” takes a new twist in light of the study referenced above, suggesting that...

Millions of people who have refused to get an experimental mRNA vaccine may soon be forced to consume the gene therapy in their food. Researchers at the University of California were awarded a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation developing technology that infuses experimental mRNA Covid-19 vaccines into spinach, lettuce and other edible plants. The team of nanobiotechnology experts is currently working on successfully delivering DNA containing mRNA BioNTech technology into chloroplasts, the part of the plants that instruct its cells’ DNA to replicate the vaccine material. The researchers are tasked with demonstrating the genetically modified plants can produce...

The unorthodox experiment concerns a relatively niche area of technology research known as plant nanobionics which combines nanotechnology with plant biology to achieve new things. The study, which was carried out by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), had initially focused on finding a way to use plants to detect explosives, but later evolved into using them to learn about the environment and to relay that information back to a mobile phone. Obviously we're not talking about having spinach plants type out an email in the conventional sense - instead the fusion of biology and nanotechnology has enabled...

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A Pennsylvania woman says she realized there was a bird in her can of spinach when she noticed a yellow beak in a lump of greens. "I immediately felt like I was going to vomit," Cherie Lyons, of Chambersburg, told the York Daily Record. "I was sick for the next whole day." Lyons said she found the bird June 14 after pouring the spinach into a bowl. Lyons told the Daily Record she felt mistreated after calling Del Monte. She was offered a $10 check and a request for the bird to be sent back.

Researchers have successfully used spinach leaves to build functioning human heart tissue, complete with veins that can transport blood. To tackle a chronic shortage of donor organs, scientists have been working on growing various tissues and even whole organs in the lab. But culturing a bunch of cells is only part of the solution - they simply won't thrive without a constant blood supply. It's notoriously difficult to build a working network of fine blood vessels (also called vasculature), especially when you get down to capillaries, which are only 5 to 10 micrometres wide. Blood vessels transport the oxygen and...

Food scientists at Cornell University have produced a strain of broccoli that thrives in hot environments, which may make it possible for states with stiflingly hot summers to grow the vegetable. California, where cool coastal fog is perfect for growing standard broccoli, currently produces more than 90 percent of the broccoli grown in the United States. If California were to disappear, what would the American diet be like? Expensive and grainy. California produces a sizable majority of many American fruits, vegetables, and nuts: 99 percent of artichokes, 99 percent of walnuts, 97 percent of kiwis, 97 percent of plums, 95...

ost people think that Springtime is the time to start growing that vegetable or herb garden. But there are many types of plants that should mainly be grown during the cooler months. Fall is a great time to try your hand at growing leafy greens, and that makes this a great way to save some money on produce. If you end up with a good harvest, you'll have a bountiful source of vegetables while other people are paying higher prices for greens at the grocery store. Here are 6 cooler weather plants you may want to try your hand at...

Remember Popeye? Mr. “I’m strong to the the finish cause I eats my spinach?” The cartoon hasn’t aired in the U.S. for several years now, but I bet you know who I’m talking about. Apparently, the classic tough guy can inspire kids to eat their spinach, too. A paper just published in the Australian journal Nutrition & Dietetics reports that four- and five-year-olds in Bangkok, Thailand doubled their vegetable intake during an eight-week study that involved watching Popeye cartoons. Of course, it’s hard to quantify Popeye’s influence exactly, because the kids in the study were simultaneously being exposed to hands-on...

Ingredients: 2 packages of chopped frozen spinach 1 14 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped 1 onion, chopped fine 1 stick butter 8 oz. cream cheese 8 oz. shredded monterey jack cheese 8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper

Far from being a food spoiler, the fluorescent lighting in supermarkets actually can boost the nutritional value of fresh spinach, scientists are reporting. The finding could lead to improved ways of preserving and enhancing the nutritional value of spinach and perhaps other veggies, they suggest in a study in ACS' bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Gene Lester, Donald J. Makus, and D. Mark Hodges note that fresh spinach is a nutritional powerhouse, packed with vitamin C, vitamin E, folate (a B vitamin), and healthful carotenoid antioxidants. Supermarkets often display fresh spinach in clear plastic containers at around 39...

A Denver-area woman says that she opened a can of spinach and found half a dead grasshopper inside. I just think it's very gross, Donna Labrador told the Denver Post. I will never eat another can of veggies again. Probably not spinach, anyway. Labrador planned to saute the spinach in olive oil to make a late dinner Wednesday to share with her 3-year-old daughter, Isabella. But she said the grasshopper was such a disturbing find she skipped dinner Wednesday and breakfast Thursday morning. She called the company that canned the spinach and got the promise of a mailer to send...

Disfigured fruits and vegetables could be allowed in stores after most European Union members voted to loosen restrictions on produce, officials say. Misshapen bananas and cucumbers could be in stores by next year if reforms on produce rules are carried out, The Telegraph reported Thursday. The Telegraph said produce standards are so strict, many edible foods are discarded by farmers. European agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said she thinks some regulations should also be thrown out for onions, garlic, cauliflower and spinach. In this era of high prices and growing demand, it makes no sense to throw (misshapen fruit and...

Metz Fresh, LLC announced it found traces of Salmonella bacteria in its spinach bags and is voluntarily recalling them, even though none has apparently been infected. This case comes nearly a year after a nationwide outbreak of illness was traced to a batch of bagged California spinach that was tainted with a deadly strain of E. coli bacteria. The spinach was sold to retail outlets and food service providers across the United States and Canada under the Metz Fresh label in 10-ounce and 16-ounce bags, as well as in 4-pound cartons and in 2.5-pound four-pack cartons, with tracking codes 12208114,...

WASHINGTON — A California produce company recalled bagged fresh spinach Wednesday after it tested positive for salmonella. There were no immediate reports of illness linked to the tainted spinach, distributed by Metz Fresh LLC of King City, Calif. The recall comes nearly a year after an outbreak of another pathogen, E. coli, in fresh spinach killed three people and sickened another 200. The recalled spinach was distributed throughout the 48 states and Canada and sold in both retail and food service packages. It covers 8,118 cases of spinach, although the company said more than 90 percent of that was on...

A Carmel congressman is seeking $25 million in disaster aid for spinach growers who had to pull products from grocery shelves after last September's E. coli outbreak. But Democratic Rep. Sam Farr's request could be a casualty of war - the war budget process, to be exact. Farr included his measure inside a proposed agricultural assistance package that totals $3.7 billion. That package in part of a $124 billion emergency supplemental spending bill that the House is scheduled to vote on at the end of the week. Outside watchdog groups have decried lawmakers' attempts to stuff the war spending bill...

California citrus farmers would get $20 million, spinach growers $25 million and salmon fishermen $60.4 million in an emergency war spending bill that passed a House committee Thursday. The money for citrus and spinach growers is part of $3.7 billion for farm disaster relief in the bill, including $1.8 billion for crop loss assistance and $1.48 billion for livestock compensation. Farmers in California and other states would be able to apply for that crop and livestock money. The relief comes as part of a $124 billion war spending bill - including $95.5 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq...

Investigators searching for the source of E. coli bacteria that contaminated fresh spinach resulting in a 26-state outbreak of food poisoning have found the suspect strain in the gut of a wild pig killed on the Salinas Valley ranch where the tainted produce was grown. The same strain of E. coli had already been found in cattle pastured on land surrounding the 50-acre spinach field. On Thursday, state officials said more samples of the strain were found: in the pig, in other cow manure samples, and in water from a creek located a mile downslope from that field. Investigators had...

It was always Popeye's favourite. But for generations of British diners, spinach has never been a vegetable of choice - until now.The influence of celebrity chefs and the continuing trend for healthy eating mean it is now a regular addition to our shopping lists. Increasingly used as a summer salad leaf and in Italian and Indian cooking, sales of the leafy green have soared by up to 30 per cent in the last year according to Tesco. Senior vegetable buyer for the supermarket Roy Maynard said: "For years, children have looked upon eating spinach as a form of torture after...

WASHINGTON - Wild pigs may have spread deadly bacteria onto a California spinach field, sparking an outbreak that killed three people and sickened more than 200 others nationwide, investigators said Thursday. State and federal investigators have narrowed their focus to the ranch, where boar trampled fences that had hemmed in a spinach field. Samples taken from a wild pig, as well as from stream water and cattle on the ranch, have tested positive for the same strain of E. coli implicated in the outbreak, said Dr. Kevin Reilly of the California Department of Health Services. Investigators continue to look at...

EL CENTRO, Calif. (AP) -- Spinach grower Jack Vessey sees dollar signs as the little green leaves of his winter crop sprout from the rich, desert soil of the Imperial Valley. But this year, he may struggle to break even if consumers remain wary about eating spinach after an E. coli outbreak killed three people and sickened nearly 200 others nationwide. The contamination was traced to the Salinas Valley -- more than 400 miles to the north of Vessey's fields. Even so, it threatens his bottom line as uncertain demand wreaks havoc with his growing schedule. "Right now, we know...