Bi4-Umcww Farming, Saturday. November 26, 1994
ADC Si
ouse Pro
Label-Readin
Eas
And Cake Decoratin
Julie Mayer, center, examines food labels with women in
her group to determine if the item is a healthy choice.
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
Confused about the new food
labels?
Perhaps you can read the labels
but you’re unsure of of the guide
lines for determining if a high
nutrient food is worth the calories.
Now the National Dairy Council
has an easy method to help con
sumers evaluate food labels.
During Atlantic Dairy
Coooperative’s annual meeting,
Pat Kennedy, nutritionist with
Dairy Council Inc., taught a ses
sion on Label-Ease.
It’s a new method of evaluating
a food by using your fingers on one
hand to count the pros and cons of
a product.
Sound confusing?
It isn’t if you follow this easy
method:
Raise a finger if the food has:
••10 percent or more vitamin A
• 10 percent or more vitamin C
• 10 percent or more calcium
• 10 percent or more iron
• 10 percent or more protein
• 10 percent or more fiber
Lower a finger if the food has
either:
• 10 per cent or more total fat
• 200 calories or more.
If any fingers remain up after
this little test, the food is nutritious.
Perhaps that sounds a bit con
fusing at first, but if you try read
ing some labels from items in your
cupboards, you will find it is quite
easy.
At least that is what participants
at the session found when they
Alice Emmons, light, of Stockton, NJ. won the cake that
Rosie Rohrer decorating during a spouse session at ADC.
Cooking In the ’9os
ram Includes
Method
divided into groups to read labels.
“It’s fast and simple. You
become a smarter shopper when
you use this method,” Kennedy
said.
When shopping, she advises
being discreet about finger count
ing. You can hold your hand inside
your pocket to count instead of
holding up your fingers for other
shoppers to se£.
When using this method disre
guard the bottom section of every
label as this same information is on
every label to list daily recom
mended amounts.
The middle section of the label
is the place to concentrate for the
good nutrients. This lists the nutri
ents for which many people do not
consume enough. It is the part
where you should start to finger
count
The top part lists the fat content
or the negative aspects that result
in lowering a finger when using the
label-ease method.
Take a soft drink label. It has no
fat, and no cholesterol, but neither
does it have any food content For
its 168 calories, the beverage is not
considered worthy of the calories.
This does not mean that you can
never eat a food that isn’t nutri
tious, but it does help determine if
it is a good choice.
“There are 14 pieces of informa
tion on the new labels. You get a
distorted picture if you look at only
one part of the label,” Kennedy
said.
Nutrient dense foods means that
a lot of nutrition is provided for the
amount of calories. This can be
determined by using this method
The
Crow,
ADC spouse
chairperson;
of evaluating the food.
Although the new labels are
much easier to read than the old
ones, a drawback to the new labels
is that it does not distinquish
between natural and artificial
sugar.
With this method, cereal is usu
ally considered a nutritious choice.
That is because most cereals are
vitamin fortified.
Kennedy pointed out that cereal
is not regulated as a food but as a
drug because of its fortified
vitamins.
Another aspect to consider
when reading labels is to ask your
self if the food can be eaten as it is
or is other food needed to make it
an edible item?
For example, the label listing.for
a pancake mix must be read with
the addition of eggs and milk if
used. What use is powdered pan
cake mix?
Another feature of the women’s
session was a demonstration on
Sanso Receives Extension Award
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Doris M. Sanso, head sec
retary of the Lycoming County
Extension Office, was recognized
at the annual meeting of the Alpha
Omicron Chapter of Epsilon Sigma
Phi on November 15. The event
was held at the Nittany Lion Inn,
at the Pennsylvania State Univer
sity. Sanso was one of five receiv
ing state awards from this national
honorary extension fraternity.
Lycoming County Extension
Director William E. Messersmith
cited a long list of Sanso’s qualifi
cations before presenting her with
the Certificate of Meritorious Ser
vice. Also in attendance were her
parents, Anna and Lawrence
Smith, RR 4, Montoursville.
The 1994 extension secretary
was selected for excellence in the
areas of responsibility, quality of
work, attitude toward clientele,
extracurricular activities, in-ser
vice training, extension activities,
supervisory skills, cooperation
with coworkers, and knowledge
of extension goals. Sanso has
worked in the Lycoming County
Extension Office since Octo
berl9B6, and holds the position of
office manager. A long-time resi
dent of Dußoistown with her hus
band Gene, Sanso brings a knowl
edge and awareness of the area to
her job.
committee Includes, from left,
Debi Hacked. Sandy Wilkes,
cake decorating.
Rosie’s Creative Cakes
Farm wife Rosie Rohrer of
Manheim demonstrated cake
decorating during the spouse prog
ram at ADC.
Some fundamentals of cake
making include the following;
• Always sift confectioners’
sugar before using. The number of
x’s tells the number of times the
sugar was presifted. For example
6-X sugar was sifted six times;
10-X sugar was sifted 10 times.
• Use pure cane sugar
• Butter gives a good flavor to
frosting, but you cannot have a
white frosting from it. The Crisco
brand works best for frostings
made with shortening.
• Add popcorn salt instead of
regular table salt to frosting. Pop
corn salt is finer and dissolves easi
ly. Table salt gives icing “a case of
the zits” shortly after a cake is
frosted.
• Don’t overheat icing.
• To keep cakes from rising
Doris M. Santo, right, receives the prestigious 1994
Epsilon Sigma Phi Pennsylvania Extension Secretary
Award from William E. Messersmith, Lycoming County
extension director.
0 MUC.IT DOES A BODY GOOD.
MIDDLE ATLANTIC MILK MARKETING ASSOCIATION, INC.
Arlene Wilbur, Evie Landis, Sue
and Joyce Uhland.
more in the middle than on the
sides, take strips of terry doth
soaked in cold water and fasten
around the outside of the cake pan
while baking. The cloth will not
bum.
• A item called a cake leveler is
an easy way to trim a hump from
the cake.
• Dap icing on the center of the
board to keep the cake in position.
• When doing a layer cake, the
centers should be put together
since the bottoms of the cake are
easier to frost.
• Icing consistency is the most
important essential for successful
cake decorating. The right consis
tency is learned through
experience.
• Pressure control when decorat
ing must not be too slow or icing
will glob.
• Do not use liquid coloring in
icing. Use paste or powdered
colors.
• Pound cakes carve better and
are easier to frost.