Dark chocolate may cut your risk of Type 2 diabetes: Study
A new study has revealed a secret ingredient may help lower the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. New research published in the British Medical Journal revealed consuming at least five small servings of dark chocolate each week could lower the risk by 21%.
Flavonoids, natural compounds in cocoa, are the key. They have powerful antioxidant properties that help protect cells from damage.
The study’s lead author tells Straight Arrow News the potential of flavonoid-rich foods, like dark chocolate, to improve long-term health when eaten in moderation.
However, there are a few things to consider. The recommended serving size is just one ounce and must be dark chocolate. Milk chocolate doesn’t deliver the same benefits.
In fact, milk chocolate can lead to weight gain. It’s a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes, due to it containing less coca than dark chocolate.
The study’s publication comes at a time when the amount of people diagnosed with diabetes is expected to go up. A Global Burden of Diseases study projects the number of diabetes cases to rise from 529 million in 2021 to 1.3 billion by 2050.
While this research focused primarily on non-Hispanic white adults over 50, it underscores how small dietary changes can significantly impact health outcomes.
So, for those planning a “new year, new you” health kick, indulging in some dark chocolate might be a sweet way to start. Just remember: Moderation is key.
Calif issues statewide recall of raw milk after H5N1 found in retail samples
The latest hotspot for the bird flu in the United States, California, announced on Tuesday, Dec. 3, that it is expanding a recall of raw milk products to cover the entire state. The voluntary recall comes after recent tests reportedly detected H5N1 in two more samples from the nation’s largest raw milk dairy, Raw Farm, based out of Fresno, California.
The California Health Department says the products include all milk and cream from Raw Farm. The company’s owner estimates the company produces 70,000 gallons of milk weekly from more than 1,700 cows.
California health officials say they put the company’s operation under quarantine. They’ve also halted any distribution of all of its products, including cheeses and butter, made on or after Nov. 27.
Last month, the state issued two voluntary batch-specific recalls for raw milk produced by Raw Farm. The recall came after bird flu was discovered at the company’s bottling and retail sites.
The California Health Department urges anyone working with raw milk or potentially infected cows to wear protective gear.
The Golden State is the epicenter of the avian flu. California has reportedly 31 of the nation’s 57 confirmed cases of bird flu. The state is also home to 500 of the United States’ more than 700 infected dairy herds.
So far, no human cases have been linked to raw milk consumption in California. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that people avoid drinking raw milk due to the risk of bird flu and other illnesses associated with its consumption.
Health officials also warn pet owners not to feed their animals Raw Farm products, citing cases of cats on farms with infected cows developing brain damage and some dying after drinking contaminated raw milk.
The FDA maintains that pasteurized milk is still safe to drink as it says the pasteurization process kills the virus.
Chi-Chi’s to reopen restaurants after shutting down 20 years ago
The Mexican restaurant chain Chi-Chi’s is planning to once again open its door starting next year, 20 years after shuttering all of its locations according to its parent company on Wednesday, Dec. 4. The restaurant brand is looking to make a comeback as it hopes to attract customers searching for a taste of nostalgia.
Michael McDermott, the son of the chain’s co-founder, struck a deal with Hormel Foods, which owns the Chi-Chi’s trademark. Chi-Chi’s closed its last restaurant in 2004 following a series of ownership changes and a hepatitis A outbreak. The outbreak was linked to four deaths and sickened more than 600 people.
We have seen the impact our restaurant has had on individuals and families across the country.
Chi-Chi’s was founded by restaurateur Marno McDermott and former Green Bay Packers player Max McGee in 1975. The chain reached more than 200 locations nationwide during its heyday.
“I still have fond memories of growing up in the Chi-Chi’s restaurants that my father built throughout their time, instilling in me the passion and determination to pursue my own career in the restaurant industry,” McDermott said. “We have seen the impact our restaurant has had on individuals and families across the country and believe there is a strong opportunity to bring the brand back in a way that resonates with today’s consumer – an updated dining experience with the same great taste and Mexican flavor.”
Despite no physical locations over two decades, the Chi-Chi’s name has been on packaged chips and salsa at supermarkets. Specifics on the new menu items and locations for 2025 have not yet been revealed.
CDC declares end to McDonald’s E. coli outbreak tied to Quarter Pounders
The CDC has given an important all-clear about eating at McDonald’s. The public health agency says the outbreak of E. coli affecting sliced onions on the chain’s Quarter Pounders is over.
Since the investigation began in October, the CDC and FDA identified 104 cases in 14 states, mostly in the Midwest and Mountain West. They found 34 hospitalizations, including one death of an older adult in Colorado.
Investigators traced the outbreak to a single distributor, California-based Taylor Farms. McDonald’s only used the contaminated onions on the Quarter Pounder with cheese.
After news of the outbreak emerged, McDonald’s temporarily pulled the Quarter Pounder off the menu in the affected states.
The FDA said in its announcement about the end of the investigation that, “there does not appear to be a continued food safety concern related to this outbreak.”
The news comes on a big day for McDonald’s and its menu.
Tuesday, Dec. 2, marks the latest return of the McRib, the famous barbecue pork sandwich, to the menu.
The McRib is a niche fan favorite among McDonald’s customers. The chain has brought it back nationwide for limited runs in each of the past five years, usually around the end of the year.
Informal studies have suggested McDonald’s may choose its timing of when to bring back the McRib based on pork prices, as a way to capitalize when prices are low.
Like previous runs, McDonald’s has said the McRib will only be available for a limited time.
Cargill also confirmed the move on Monday, Dec. 2, to CNN, that it plans to let go of an estimated 8,000 employees as a result of falling profits.
The trading giant says workforce cuts will take place this year as it streamlines its organizational structure after missing its internal earnings goals. The move is reportedly part of Cargill’s 2030 strategy.
The corporation maintains “impacts to our operations and frontline teams will be kept to a minimum” as the business continues delivering products to customers.
Cargill distributes grains, meats and other agricultural products around the globe. The company reportedly has more than 160,000 workers.
Cargill pulled in record profits during the COVID-19 pandemic, as inflation and conflicts around the world drove up the price of farm products.
With an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, and as inflation slows, the company’s profits reportedly fell to $2.4 billion in the fiscal year ending in May 2024, which is less than half of the record $6.7 billion the company made from 2021 to 2022, and its lowest profit since 2016.
Adding to troubles, Cargill has reportedly invested heavily in one of the largest beef processors in North America as the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports the number of cattle across the United States is down.
Mexico’s president refutes Trump’s claim she promised to close the border
President-elect Donald Trump said Mexico has agreed to stem the tide of migrants flowing into the United States, but Mexico’s president is now saying that’s not quite accurate. And Amazon workers are using Black Friday to make a statement about their labor situation. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.
Mexico’s president refutes Trump’s claim she promised to close the border
As President-elect Donald Trump gets ready to return to office, he’s already making moves to follow through on some of his biggest campaign promises. After announcing this week his plans to impose tariffs on goods from China, Canada and Mexico, he turned his attention to another hot-button issue: immigration.
It’s a bit of a case of “he said, she said” after Trump had a call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday, Nov. 27. President-elect Trump posted on his Truth Social platform after the call saying Sheinbaum agreed to stop migration into the U.S. through Mexico, “effectively closing our southern border.”
Sheinbaum appeared to contradict Trump in a post of her own on X, saying in part, “Mexico’s position is not to close borders…”
She did, however, lay out Mexico’s “comprehensive strategy” for addressing the migration issue. In a separate post on X, Sheinbaum said during the call, she told President-elect Trump, “No caravans are arriving at the border because they are being attended to in Mexico.”
En nuestra conversación con el presidente Trump, le expuse la estrategia integral que ha seguido México para atender el fenómeno migratorio, respetando los derechos humanos. Gracias a ello se atiende a las personas migrantes y a las caravanas previo a que lleguen a la frontera.…
The two leaders also talked about how they’re addressing the U.S. fentanyl crisis.
The call was scheduled after Trump unveiled plans to slap 25% tariffs on all imports from Mexico to the U.S. as part of the effort to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S. through Mexico.
Not only would that impact the prices of avocados and agave — both very popular in the U.S. — Mexico’s economy secretary said Wednesday 88% of all North American pickup trucks come from Mexico. Sheinbaum then suggested Mexico could retaliate with tariffs of its own.
“I hope he rethinks it,” Biden said. “I think it’s a counterproductive thing to do. You know, one of the things you’ve heard me say before is that we are – we have an unusual situation in America. We’re surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and two allies: Mexico and Canada. The last thing we need to do is begin to screw up those relationships.”
Economists forecast Trump’s planned tariffs would increase prices for American shoppers, costing the average U.S. household about $2,600 per year, according to an estimate from the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Israel and Hezbollah both claim ceasefire violations
Barely three days into a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, both sides are claiming violations.
Yesterday, Hezbollah had a precision-guided missile manufacturing site—today, they don’t.
Hezbollah’s largest precision-guided missiles manufacturing site, 1.4km wide and 70m underground, was struck and dismantled by IAF fighter jets yesterday.
Lebanese authorities also said two people, who were trying to return to southern Lebanon, were shot and wounded by Israeli forces. Lebanon’s health ministry said they were civilians, but the IDF claimed they were suspected of violating terms of the truce.
The agreement, brokered by the United States and France, includes an initial two-month ceasefire during which Hezbollah militants will withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border.
Thousands of Amazon workers to strike from Black Friday to Cyber Monday
Amazon workers in more than 20 countries, including the U.S., are on strike on some of the busiest pre-Christmas shopping days across the world. It started on Black Friday, Nov. 29, a day for bargain hunters to score some of the biggest discounts from stores across the country as holiday shopping kicks into high gear.
Organizers told the United Nations the so-called “days of resistance” are to hold Amazon accountable for alleged labor abuses, as well as “environmental degradation and threats to democracy.” According to ABC News, the strike could delay holiday deliveries.
The organizers said this is their fifth year of labor action against Amazon during the beginning of the holiday shopping season.
In a statement, Amazon said the group that organized the strikes is being “intentionally misleading” and promoting a “false narrative.” Management said the company offers great pay and benefits.
Canada sues Google over control of online ads
Canada’s antitrust watchdog said it is suing Google over alleged anti-competitive conduct in the company’s online advertising business. They’re calling for Google to sell off two of its ad tech services and pay a penalty.
The Competition Bureau said it’s necessary because an investigation into Google found the company “unlawfully” tied together its ad tech tools to maintain its dominant market position. Google insists the online advertising market is a highly competitive sector and is fighting the allegations.
This comes just a week after the U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal judge to force Google to sell its Chrome web browser, saying it continues to crush the competition through its dominant search engine.
America facing a live Christmas tree shortage again
As millions of Americans get ready to begin their search for the perfect Christmas tree, growers are having historic challenges getting them to sale lots, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The day after Thanksgiving is usually the biggest day for live tree sales, but since Thanksgiving came so late this year, it’s a very short selling season. On top of that, a nationwide shortage is expected thanks to severe weather across the country this year, such as a northeastern drought and North Carolina floods caused by Hurricane Helene. North Carolina is the second-biggest supplier of Christmas trees in the country.
Shoppers bought roughly 21.6 million real Christmas trees in the U.S. last year, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. The Department of Agriculture said the number of trees harvested in the U.S. has declined 30% since 2002, while the American population has grown 16% over the same period.
Alaska native air drops Thanksgiving turkeys to families in remote areas
In the most remote parts of Alaska a Thanksgiving turkey is hard to come by. So, one woman made sure families in roadless parts of the state had their holiday feast.
Pilot Esther Keim calls it “Alaska Turkey Bomb.” She flies in a small plane to off-the-grid homes and air drops frozen turkeys for families to enjoy for Thanksgiving.
Keim said it’s a tribute to a family friend who did the same thing for her family when she was growing up.
She started the tradition in 2022 after somebody that she knew told her they did not have much of a holiday dinner — and no turkey at all. Since then, she has delivered 30 to 40 turkeys every year to families living in remote areas of Alaska.
1 in 4 Americans still carrying last year’s holiday weight
With Thanksgiving this week and the holiday season upon us, that tends to mean lots of family, friends, fun and food. That might have people dreading packing on the holiday pounds, unless they’re among the nearly 1 in 4 Americans who never lost last year’s holiday weight.
Half said they’re less healthy than usual at the end of the year and 43% said they even use the holidays as an excuse to put off eating healthy. Why? More than half said it’s because the end of the year is more enjoyable if you don’t worry about healthy habits or your weight.
But once 2025 hits, things should change. Two-thirds of those surveyed said they plan to start or pick back up healthy eating habits in the new year.
Trump’s proposed tariffs could violate his own trade deal with Canada and Mexico
Experts say President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to put 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada violates the trade agreement he negotiated during his first term. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA for short, fulfilled Trump’s 2015 campaign promise to terminate and replace NAFTA, America’s longstanding free-trade agreement with its neighbors.
Trump announced in a Truth Social post that on his first day as president, he’ll sign an executive order charging Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on all products coming into the United States.
“This tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” he posted.
“It is a violation of the USMCA. The U.S. just basically said, ‘Oops, we are going to impose these tariffs no matter what our treaty says,” said Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics specializing in U.S. trade flows and U.S.-China trade.
Lovely said Trump could try to unilaterally impose these proposed tariffs using the Emergency Powers Act.
“This would be a very unusual and certainly provocative application of that Emergency Powers Act,” she told Straight Arrow News. “Surely, it will go to the courts, but that seems to be the only route that he could do it given U.S. trade law in general and in particular, the promises we made under USMCA.”
Trump has no problem busting up trade agreements. It was a cornerstone of his candidacy that led to his first term, just as tariffs are for his second.
“It’s a disaster,” Trump said of NAFTA on “60 Minutes” in 2015. “We will renegotiate it or we will break it, because every agreement has an end.”
Is this the end of USMCA? Some are speculating that there is more behind Trump’s day-one tariff threat than meets the eye.
This constant threatening has a cost. It’s not a freebie.
Mary Lovely, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Trump supporter and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman cast doubt in an X post that Trump would even implement the threatened tariffs.
“@realdonaldtrump is going to use tariffs as a weapon to achieve economic and political outcomes which are in the best interest of America, fulfilling his America first policy,” Ackman posted.
“Trump sees an opening to push China further out of America’s backyard,” international relations expert Andrew Law wrote in his publication, The Mexico Brief. “This is less a policy declaration than a move to stir up more trouble amongst bickering allies. The goal? To extract even more concessions from Mexico and Canada on China. He’s throwing a cat amongst the pigeons to watch what happens. It’ll probably work.”
“It is a threat, obviously, and threats do get people to do things sometimes,” Lovely said. “The problem is that every time he threatens a trading partner, particularly free-trade-agreement partners, the rest of the world loses trust in the U.S. as a partner.
“Supply chains start to go around the U.S. rather than through the U.S., and that makes it more difficult for the companies in the U.S. that export,” she continued. “It also makes it more difficult for global companies that are trying to arrange supply chains to serve the United States. So this constant threatening has a cost. It’s not a freebie.”
In conjunction with tariffs on America’s neighbors, Trump also announced an additional 10% tariff on China related to the fentanyl crisis.
If the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada do go through, the question is, what will be impacted the most?
“Autos has to be number one,” Lovely said. “The U.S. auto industry is fully integrated with the industries in Mexico and Canada, so much that we don’t think about it as three industries; it’s one integrated platform. Some vehicles are said to go back and cross the border more than seven times before they hit car lots.”
On news of the threat, Detroit’s Big Three automakers traded down on Tuesday morning, Nov. 26. Ford started the day trading down 3%, GM went as far as 8% down, and Chrysler-owner Stellantis went down about 5%.
Food could also be set for a huge sticker shock. The guacamole is always extra, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture says Mexico provides about 90% of the avocados eaten in the U.S. More than half of all U.S. fresh fruit imports come from Mexico. On the northern border, oil is the top import from Canada.
The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with China, Mexico and Canada as its top suppliers, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. The U.S. is also the second-largest goods exporter after China. The top three recipients of U.S. exports are Canada, Mexico and China.
While the USMCA is not set to expire until 2036, there is a six-year review coming up in 2026. And China has more to do with North American trade than the acronym suggests.
“Many of us expect that the role of China in supply chains that serve the U.S. from Canada, but in particular, Mexico, would be on the table, would be an issue,” Lovely said. “Whether it is in this case I think is just speculation, since President-elect Trump said nothing about that in the social media post he made last night.”
Thanksgiving dinner will cost less for the second year despite bird flu
Inflation has been a major topic of discussion in recent years. While the rise in grocery prices has slowed down to a 1% increase over the last 12 months, the price of Thanksgiving dinner fell for the second straight year.
A Thanksgiving meal for 10 people will cost $58.08 in 2024, or $5.81 per person, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 39th annual Thanksgiving dinner survey.
The price of Thanksgiving fell more than 9% since reaching a record high of $64.05 in 2022. That said, the price of a feast for 10 is still 19% higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, it cost $48.91 to feed a group of 10 for the holiday.
Turkey remains the center of any Thanksgiving dinner. The average price of a 16-pound turkey is $25.67, a savings of 6% from last year. Despite the savings, the American Farm Bureau Federation says avian influenza is at play in 2024.
“The American turkey flock is the smallest it’s been since 1985 because of avian influenza, but overall demand has also fallen, resulting in lower prices at the grocery store for families planning a holiday meal,” AFBF economist Bernt Nelson said in a statement.
For those who aren’t fans of turkey, a 4-pound boneless ham will set consumers back $14.79, down $3.23 compared with last year.
Mashed potatoes are the second most popular Thanksgiving side. The price of russet potatoes, which gives the desired fluffy texture, fell nearly $1 to $2.63 per five-pound bag. The third most popular side is sweet potatoes and three pounds will cost $2.93 this year, saving buyers more than $1 over last year.
Campbell’s says green bean casserole is the fourth most popular holiday side. A pound of green beans is down $0.16 in 2024, but cooks will still need to add cream of mushroom soup and crispy fried onions to complete a casserole.
Pumpkin pie is the most popular Thanksgiving dessert, according to readers at The Pioneer Woman. Pumpkin pie mix is $4.15 for a 30-ounce package. That’s down $0.29 compared with last year.
Meanwhile, two pie shells are $3.40, only falling $0.10 since 2023. Pecan pie is the second most popular, followed by apple pie and then chocolate pie. Sweet potato pie did not make the list.
World’s thinnest pasta may be next step in nanofibers for medicine
The newest pasta on Earth is also the world’s thinnest spaghetti. It was recently created, not in a Michelin-star restaurant in Paris, but by a research team in England.
In a new paper published in the journal Nanoscale Advances, the research team from University College London said it was created because of the “wide-ranging uses that extremely thin strands of material, called nanofibers, have in medicine and industry.”
The team said nanofibers that are made of starch are especially promising and could be used in the future in bandages to aid wound healing, as scaffolding for bone regeneration and for drug delivery.
The nanopasta was made from a technique called electrospinning. The London researchers describe electrospinning as a process in which threads of flour and liquid are pulled through the tip of a needle by an electric charge.
This spaghetti is a pasta with one interesting origin. However, as a 2012 CBS News report told viewers, many other kinds of pasta have backstories that come with a twist, including tortellini.
According to the report, one of the most famous women of the Italian Renaissance, Lucrezia Borgia, was the inspiration behind the pasta.
The tale goes that Borgia stopped overnight at an inn. The innkeeper became smitten with her. When he went up to snoop on her room, he looked through the keyhole and saw her navel. That inspired the tortellini pasta.
Then there’s cascatelli, the pasta shape created by James Beard award-winning podcaster Dan Pashman. It took him three years, as chronicled on his podcast “The Sporkful,” to come up with his dream pasta that he considers to be the perfect shape for holding sauce, picking up with a fork and just eating.
Cascatelli, which means “waterfall” in Italian, was named one of Time magazine’s top 100 inventions of 2021. The pasta is being sold by companies including Sfoglini, Trader Joe’s and Banza (a chickpea version).
According to the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, there are over 350 types of pasta shapes out there. And now, thanks to researchers in London, there’s one more.
But remember that nanopasta spaghetti was not created for digesting.
As Professor Gareth Williams, co-author of the university’s study, said, “I don’t think it’s useful as pasta, sadly, as it would overcook in less than a second, before you could take it out of the pan.”