Beyond Trans-Fatty

We’ve all heard how the trans-fatty acids in margarine are as bad for your cholesterol as the saturated fats in butter. Now there’s a trans-fatty-free margarine--thickened with xanthan and guar gum rather than by hydrogenation--made from canola oil. Spectrum Spread spreads pretty much like butter and can be used in baking (though pie crusts will be “fluffy” rather than flaky) and low-temperature sauteing and sauce-making, but not in frying. Available in 10-ounce tubs at natural food stores.

Zappable Maple

Warm maple syrup means “meltier” butter and pancakes and waffles that stay hot longer. Knott’s now markets a maple-flavored syrup (3% maple) in a microwaveable jar with a pour spout and an insulated label for easy handling. A 16-ounce jar heats up in 60 seconds in the microwave. In Southern California supermarkets.

For Secret Garlic-Eaters

Kyolic, the venerable odorless garlic pill, has broken out of the health store ghetto and is now available in supermarkets and drug stores. You can also get a free sample by writing to Kyolic, c/o H/K Communications, 244 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016.

I’ll Have the Catfish Burger With Bacon

La cuisine de Arkansas has hit Washington big time, reports the Wall Street Journal: Catfish, Arkansas ham and hickory-smoked bacon are drifting onto menus at the Palm and other Capitol dining spots. And then there’s the new restaurant called Slick Willie’s (no offense intended, says the owner)--which specializes in burgers, of course.

Put On Weight Without Calories!

In East Sepik Province, New Guinea, children and pregnant women often eat a particular kind of fine-textured clay. Sometimes it’s smoked over a fire before eating, which is said to give it a delicate chocolaty flavor.

The New Miracle Material: Wood

The New York Times reports that wooden cutting boards, long thought less sanitary than plastic because bacteria could soak into the fibers, are actually safer. When microbiologists at the University of Wisconsin contaminated both wooden and plastic boards with food-poisoning bacteria such as Salmonella, Listeria and Escherichia coli , they found that 99.9% died off on the wooden boards within three minutes, but none died on the plastic; the reason is still unknown. “Small lapses in sanitary practices are not as dangerous on wood as on plastic,” concluded Dr. Dean O. Cliver, but he warned that cooks should still wash cutting surfaces after cutting meat, chicken or fish, no matter what the material.

Banana Lite

Chiquita Brands’ research showed regular bananas were too long for the lunch box and too heavy for a snack, so they’ve been introducing Chiquita Jr. around the country; it’s roughly half the size of the standard nine- to 12-inch banana. Company spokeswoman Carolyn Weitsett is quick to add, “There’s nothing strange they do to make them small. They just grow them closer to the ground.”