Tidbits from the new book What to Eat

*There are 3,500 calories in a pound of body fat. It is estimated that carbohydrates and proteins yield 4 calories a gram, fats 9 calories a gram and alcohol 7 calories a gram.
*Seventy per cent of shoppers bring a list to the supermarket. Ten per cent stick to the list.
*French fries, potato chips and iceberg lettuce account for a third of the vegetables consumed in the U.S.
*Misters in the produce section can spread mould.
*Waxes on fruit and vegetables are a nuisance, but not a health problem. It is difficult to wash off all traces of wax.
*Snack calories account for a quarter of U.S. calorie intake.
*Good and bad news: an increase in the production of dairy foods is linked to high-fat products (cheese, ice cream) and to low-fat milk.
*Margarines are all basically a blend of soybean oil and food additives. Margarine was invented in 1869 after Napoleon III offered a prize to anyone who could invent a butter substitute for soldiers. It was originally a mash of suet and milk.
*All salad and cooking oils are from vegetable sources. Unidentified 'vegetable oil' is from soybeans.
*You should assume that all salmon and shrimp are farmed unless labelled wild.
*Farmed salmon are fed pellets. Their flesh is grey, so dyes are added to the feed.
*To get rid of half the PCBs in farmed salmon, score the flesh, grill or broil until juices run off and internal temperature is 175F, remove skin before eating.
*Profit margins on bottled water are 20 to 60 per cent. Forty per cent of bottled waters (plain, bubbly, coloured or flavoured) start as tap water.