Bigger Fork= Smaller Meals

Kids inherit reaction to unfamiliar foods, new study says

(NEWSER) - Don't chide your kids for their picky eating habits—they may be as much your fault as the length of their noses. In a study of identical and fraternal twins, UK researchers found children inherited nearly 80% of their “food neophobia,” hinting that that tongue-out reaction to unfamiliar eats might be in the genes. More»

Alicia Silverstone's practice offers benefits similar to breastfeeding

(NEWSER) - Alicia Silverstone's video of herself chewing her baby's food last week prompted disgusted comments, but she may actually be doing little Bear Blu a favor. Our ancestors did the same, and plenty of non-Western cultures still do it, Life's Little Mysteries notes. Like breast-feeding, "pre-mastication" offers benefits to a baby. The tiny quantities of germs in a mother's saliva prompt a baby's immune system to produce helpful antibodies. More»

Care for some fertilizer with your burger?

(NEWSER) - Duck feathers, human hair, fertilizer: These are among the ingredients you may be ingesting every time you chow down on fast food. That's because the FDA has deemed certain additives to be "generally recognized as safe," even though it may creep you out to learn of them. On Mother Nature Network , Melissa Breyer runs down eight of the most disturbing:

• Duck feathers and human hair: These two unappealing things are the most common sources for an amino acid, l-cysteine, used to make dough easier to process. McDonald's uses l-cysteine, the duck feather kind, in its apple pie.
• Fertilizer: Ammonium sulfate is also commonly used, as "yeast food for bread," in fast food bakery products. But it can also act as a fertilizer for alkaline soils.

Don't feed them pureed meals: study

(NEWSER) - Babies may face a lower risk of obesity if they feed themselves finger food when they're first learning to eat solids, a study suggests. Researchers found that babies who were spoon-fed pureed food developed more of a propensity for sweets than did their finger-fed counterparts; the kids who munched finger food, in a process known as "baby-led weaning," showed more interest in carbs like pasta and rice, AFP reports. More»

In just half an hour

(NEWSER) - Competitive eating legend Takeru Kobayashi wolfed down 337 chicken wings in half an hour today in Philadelphia, shattering the previous record of 255, set just last year. Some 20,000 spectators turned up for Wing Bowl XX, and Kobayashi took home a $20,000 cash prize, the AP reports. It was Kobayashi's first year at the Bowl, the Philadelphia Inquirer notes. "I could probably eat another 100 wings or so," he said afterward. More»