Pizza Trivia

Quick--who marketed John’s Original, the first brand of frozen pizza (1949)? Time’s up: His name was Anthony J. Pizza.

You’re Not Leaving the Table Till You Finish Your Radicchio

Germany is the most health-food-oriented country in Europe, buying nearly half of all the health foods sold there (especially diet foods and nutritional supplements); next comes svelte-conscious France. Least interested in health food are the Italians. Just can’t talk them into eating any more garlic, olive oil, bread, seafood and vegetables than they do.

No More for Jumbo Here--He’s Had a Snootful

Women don’t break alcohol down in the stomach as completely as men. As a result, they don’t get as red in the face--the redness is caused by a breakdown product called acetaldehyde--and because more alcohol enters their blood streams intact, they get tipsy and fall asleep faster. A recent article in the medical journal Alcohol suggests that the reason for all this may be to protect women against high acetaldehyde levels, which are dangerous to unborn children.

The scientists had some trouble, though, in getting animals to test their theories on. Apart from human beings, only two mammals positively like alcohol, and the scientists were not eager to work with drunken pigs or elephants.

It’s Tofu All Over

“Pizza is from Italy, but it’s not called a foreign food. Tacos are from Mexico but aren’t called foreign,” the owner of the Dae Han, Inc. tofu company told the Portland Oregonian. “It’s tofu’s time to overcome the foreign label.” Dae Han is now marketing Smoked Tofu, Teriyaki Tofu and Cajun Tofu Burgers.

The Plot Broils Over

The race is on: Arby’s now has a “smart oven” that signals when roast beef is done; Southbend manufactures an infra-red broiler that can cook 72 quarter-pound burgers in 2 1/2 minutes.

Fair Play for Ramen

The Japanese buy lots of American organic farm products. And how do we repay them? Since Japanese noodles don’t contain eggs, the Food and Drug Administration requires Japanese noodle companies to market their product either as Oriental Noodles or Imitation Noodles.

Thai Cob

You probably know the United States is the world’s biggest corn exporter, with an 81% share of the market. Bet you can’t guess the next three biggest corn exporting countries: China (9%), Argentina (5.8%), Thailand (1.3%).