Category: food

Listerine Agent Cool Blue is Ineffective

It is not too often that I feel a North American “off the shelf” health product in Canada is fraudulent. Bending the truth, some may be, but for true lying through your teeth, snake oil-type fraud, no, I have come across few. At a recent trip to my dentist with my little weed I discussed diagnostic aids with my dentist. If there were only some way I could highlight his bad technique I could help him brush better. I recalled in my youth some red tablets that you can chew. My dentist said these “disclosing tablets” are still available, and still used on kids. Newer disclosing solutions were now available from drug stores, much easier to use and fun for kids. I found Listerine Agent Cool Blue at Pharmaplus for $5.50CAD, “tints plaque for better brushing” it says right on the bottle, in glacier mint. I have found this solution to be not only ineffective, but fraudulent. It does not tint sufficiently to actually allow you to see plaque. For helping me improve my son’s brushing technique it is useless. Please do not purchase this product, as it is useless for highlighting plaque.

Listerine, made by Johnston & Johnston Inc. are a reputable brand and company, so I was surprised at the fraudulent nature of their claim. Note that packaging and claims on the bottle in Canada are different from the USA. On the back of the bottle it claims:

“LISTERINE AGENT COOL BLUE Plaque Detecting Rinse is effective in highlighting plaque to improve tooth brushing effectiveness in children.” CANADIAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION

Directions: Children age 6 years and older: Rinse twice daily before brushing showing you where to brush!

While the solution lightly tints the teeth and mouth, it insufficiently tints plaque and food buildup so that you see no difference between teeth that have no buildup and teeth that need to be brushed. If one looks incredibly hard with a magnifying glass, at the right angle of light I can see a shading difference between clean and dirty surfaces of the teeth, but I can do this without the solution as well. After two mouthfuls of rinse the tint is gone, or so light as to be indiscernible.

Listerine Agent Cool Blue does not tint sufficiently to identify plaque. It is totally ineffective and fraudulent as a dental diagnostic tool.

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China Jails Activist Dad due to Tainted Milk Scandal

Zhao Lianhai's 3 year old son was hurt by tainted milk, was jailed for 2.5 years for protesting

Confused, I am, when China has a scandal that hurts a lot of Chinese people, there is a government investigation, and those that protest and asked for the investigation, and their lawyers, are given long jail sentences. A world of hurt landed on the shoulders of Zhao Lianhai, the father of a 3 year old boy sickened by China’s tainted milk scandal in 2008, who just received a 2.5 year sentence for “inciting social disorder”. As a strong supporter of the People’s Republic of China, I question why they need to use a sledgehammer to kill a gnat. Zhao Linhai‘s sentence is unjust and casts China’s government as a bunch of thugs.

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Tips for Chinese Parents on Halloween in Toronto, Canada

Hallowed Eve, or Halloween is an interesting tradition in North America, where kids of all ages dress up in scary costumes, and knock on neighbour’s doors for candy and treats. The kids will exclaim “Trick or Treat” and will expect some kind of treat. Halloween is a North American farming tradition where ghosts and other scary monsters call on your house. They will leave you in peace and allow you a good harvest season if you give them a treat. Here are some guidelines to follow for Toronto, Canada for parents of Chinese kids.

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Jamie Kennedy’s haute cuisine French Fries

Jamie Kennedy french fries served at the ACC look great. Do not ask if this dish is healthy. It is not. $6.50CAD per serving.

Intriguing, this. If there ever was an oxymoron, haute cuisine french fries is it. Still, I remain open minded. Our family loves home cut french fries, which gives us a warm and friendly feeling in our house. There’s nothing “haute” cuisine about them; maybe “moyennes” but not “haute”. Still, when Jamie Kennedy, whom I now know is a chef, serves his french fries at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, I wanted to learn more. I think the ACC is where they have sporting events such as baseball, and hockey. The skinny: organically grown yellow potatoes from Ontario fried in sunflower oil, with two types of sea salt and a dash of thyme. Cider or chili mayonnaise sauce on the side. $6.50CAD a serving.

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Jiucai Growing at our Front Doorstep

Jiucai (garlic chives) in bloom, growing at our front doorstep, Sony H4, macro 4x zoom

This hardy Chinese herb seems to grow everywhere near our house in Toronto, Canada, self seeding without assistance. Jiucai is also called garlic chives. Put it into soup, stews, omelets, and jiaozi. You chop it down but leave the roots and it will grow back, multiple times in a season. Somehow this dainty little plant has moved to many sections of our backyard and have proliferated, but the most convenient is a clump near our front door. So handy yet tasty.

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A Doju Tale on Walkabout

If you have not heard about a Doju, this is unsurprising. This small creature roams through China and Asia, aimlessly walking in no certain direction, and getting into trouble as he goes. The Doju walks at different speeds, contemplating life as he goes. Small and hairless, people and other animals, for some reason, do not bother it and certainly would not try to eat it. This is a good thing for the defencless Doju is actually quite tasty.

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Canadian Tire Weekly Food Specials = Epic Fail

After an epic fail in selling food, will Canadian Tire now sell lingerie? Say it isn't so...

As a long time Canadian I consider it a tradition to shop at Canadian Tire. Unlike Walfart, Crappy Tire is, after all, Canadian. When I need a tool or something for the house I think of Canadian Tire first. This year, I am finding that the products I need are no longer advertised in the CT weekly flyer, and all the stuff I don’t need has taken its place. This has the result of me not visiting the local Crappy Tire as much as I used to, and therefore I am not spending the family’s cash in their stores. Going to the epitome of insanity, CT’s weekly food specials now gets attached to the weekly flyer. As my daughter often says, this is an EPIC FAIL.

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The Scary Monster is Not Shrek

McDonalds recalls Shrek glasses over fears of toxic cadmium levels

Fear not the monster Shrek, for he is not to blame. But if not Shrek then whom? The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warned consumers early Friday to immediately stop using the glasses available for purchase from McDonalds, on concerns about toxic levels of cadmium. Twelve million glasses are recalled. Who is to blame? There are at least three parties involved: McDonalds, ARC International, of Millville, NJ, and presumably the Chinese factory that produced the glasses. So common is the fact that China makes most of our products and the fact that so many toxic products have been traced back to China in the past makes this a very good educated guess.

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Kid’s Math Word Problems

These are math word problems for kids in grade 2-4. I collect them as I find them. I think that kids should be able to think about the situation and figure out the math question to solve. This is not as easy as it sounds, and kids can easily get confused. Practice makes perfect. I find that reading math problems in workbooks is not as effective as real life situations.

I bought a Singer sewing machine, which was made in August 1958. How old is it?
Bag one is 15 lb of potatoes and costs $1.99. Bag two is 10 lb of potatoes and costs $1.33. Which bag is cheaper per pound and why? Show your work.
A 5 lb bag of tangerines costs $3.77. A 12 lb box of oranges costs $4.99. Which one is cheaper per pound and why? Show your work.
You want to borrow the book “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, vol 2 from the library, so you place a hold on it. You are 473d out of a total of 701 holds. Each hold can be borrowed for one week. How long do you have to wait? Answer in years, months and weeks. You are 8 years old. How old will you be when you can borrow this book.
Your Big Sister sells Girl Guide cookies. She has 2 cases. Each case has 12 boxes. Each box has 12 cookies. How many total cookies does she have? She then sells 4 boxes. How many cookies does she have left? Show your work.
Heinz ketchup in a fancy bottle is on sale at $2.99 for 1.25L. No Name ketchup costs $1.99 for 1L. Which ketchup brand do you get more ketchup for you money. Do not base your answer on which ketchup tastes better. Show your work.
I bought 3 bottles of Gummy vitamins that contain 190 vitamins in each box. There are two kids in the family that take one vitamin each day. How long will the three vitamin bottles last?

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Delissio Pizza Review: VERY Salty

Delissio Pizza: easy to bake but extremely salty. "If it's not delivery it's Delissio, Oh, D'salt!"

If you know me, you know that we cook almost everything from scratch. This includes pizza. When Delissio pizza went on sale at a local big box grocer, 2 x 900g pizzas for $6CAD, I thought I would give their Deluxe a try. Overall impressions were that they are far inferior to home made pizza, but to my Little Weed an inferior pizza is better than no pizza at all. Of note was the fact that the pizza was so salty. I know salt is cheap, but if this pizza was so tasty why not let the ingredients speak for themselves?

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