Are
you drinking enough water?
Feeling lethargic?
Have a headache, muscle aches or cramps? According to DeCA
Dietitian Maj. Karen Fauber, these symptoms can be the result
of dehydration. An estimated 60 to 70 percent of the human
body is comprised of water, which is used to carry waste from
our organs and nutrients to cells. We lose water through
perspiration, respiration and the elimination of body waste.
How much fluid do you need each day? Men need about 3
liters (13 cups) a day and women need about 2.2 liters (nine
cups) a day.
Exercise less than an hour and
you’ll need about one or two extra cups of water. Exercise
more than an hour and you’ll need at least two to three
extra cups of water. Replace fluid after exercise; water
is the best choice for fluid replacement. Drink 16
ounces of water per pound of body weight lost during exercise
as a general rule. Drink more if you are sweating a lot and
the weather is really warm. During intense, long exercise
periods it’s a good idea to use a sports drink containing
sodium to replace the sodium lost in sweat. If you have
questions about fluid replacement or other nutrition topics,
you can post them and get feedback from Maj. Fauber on “Ask
the DeCA Dietitian” at commissaries.com.
Kevin
L. Robinson, DECA
FORT LEE
,
Va.
– In
response to an alert from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, the Defense Commissary Agency is advising its
customers not to eat any bagged fresh spinach. The FDA alert,
dated Sept. 14, warns that the bagged spinach “may be a
possible cause” of the confirmed outbreak of E. coli.
“The
health and safety of our patrons and employees is always a top
priority with the Defense Commissary Agency,” said DeCA
Director Patrick B. Nixon. “We urge everyone to take this
alert seriously and avoid any consumption of bagged spinach.
We also advise everyone to continue to monitor their local
media and the Food Safety area of our Web site – http://www.commissaries.com
– for more information.”
As
a precaution, in light of the FDA advisory, DeCA has directed
its commissaries to immediately remove from their shelves all
fresh spinach and any salad mix that contains spinach as an
ingredient.
E.
coli O157:H7 can cause diarrhea and in some cases lead to
kidney failure through a condition known as Hemolytic Uremic
Syndrome. HUS particularly affects young children and the
elderly. In more severe cases, HUS can lead to serious kidney
damage and possible death. Thus far, one death and eight cases
of HUS have been linked to the E. coli outbreak. In all, some
50 cases of illness have been reported to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
The
FDA has identified the outbreak in eight states:
Connecticut
,
Idaho
,
Indiana
,
Michigan
,
New Mexico
,
Oregon
,
Utah
and
Wisconsin
.
Anyone
who feels they may have symptoms of illness related to eating
bagged spinach should contact their local health care provider
immediately.
The
Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of
commissaries providing groceries to military personnel,
retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping
environment. Authorized patrons purchase items at cost plus a
5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new
commissaries and modernizing existing ones. Shoppers save an
average of 30 percent or more on their purchases compared to
commercial prices – savings worth about $2,700 annually for
a family of four. A core military family support element, and
a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries
contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life
for America’s military and their families, and help recruit
and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their
country.
Commissary
meat products reflect customer
demand, industry standards
By
Rick Brink,DECA
FORT LEE
,
Va.
– Commissary meat departments continue to post outstanding
customer savings marks with service that keeps customers
coming back while effectively adding new products and services
to keep up with consumer trends.
“Commissary
shoppers saved more than 40 percent on their meat purchases
last year according to a price comparison study of commissary
and retail prices. It’s the greatest area of customer
savings in our stores,” said Patrick B. Nixon, DeCA’s
chief executive officer and acting director.
Nixon
said because meat departments are a huge draw for customers,
changes made in the level of service or types of products
offered in the stores are the result of careful study and
analysis. Right now, it’s a winning formula that gets
tweaked from time to time to keep up with evolving industry
standards and consumer trends.
“One
thing is certain, we’re not about to go to a mass-retailer
type of operation, using solely case-ready beef, either now or
anytime in the future,” Nixon said.
Case-ready
refers to a meat processing industry service that prepares
cuts of beef at a processing plant, wraps them for sale, and
sends them to stores, where they are priced and placed on
display for customers to purchase. This service can minimize
processing services rendered by store employees, such as
grinding their own hamburger or preparing and packaging
certain cuts of beef.
Where
it makes sense, and customer demand warrants it, the agency is
offering some case ready beef products at stores. Ground beef
chubs, vacuum-packed tubes of ground beef that come in various
sizes, fall in this category as do pre-packed, bacon-wrapped
tenderloin steaks. Nixon called the tenderloins a
“value-added” product – having the steak already wrapped
with bacon saves the customer food preparation time.
Commissaries in
Europe
have featured vacuum-packed beef for several years because of
differences in overseas food logistics.
Processing
hamburger at the stores continues to be a service our
customers enjoy – that’s because the stores process at
least two types of hamburger based on leanness, which is a
major selling point, Nixon said.
“We’ve
got a super great deal going for our customers with our meat
department operations, and we’re out to make it even
better,” Nixon said.
Air
Guard family learns how to shop under the bright lights of CNN
By
Bonnie Powell
FORT
LEE, Va. – Shopping at the commissary is not normally a
newsworthy event for military families. But when you have CNN
cameras and the executive chef from Cooking Light following
you around – that’s a shopping trip worth talking about.
Wyoming Air National Guard air traffic controller Capt. Pedro
Rampolla and Denise Rampolla, a Wyoming Air National Guard
family readiness and support services coordinator for the 153d
Airlift Wing, are among the few who have bragging rights. As
they get healthy through a regimen of diet, exercise and
lifestyle adjustments, the Rampollas are enjoying their fair
share of fame on CNN’s “American Morning.”
The couple was one of three chosen from thousands of
applicants for a health makeover as part of the morning
show’s “New You Resolution” segment. CNN cameras and
Billy Strynkowski, the executive chef for Cooking Light
magazine, were recently on hand to follow the Rampollas around
the F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., commissary for some
guidance on healthier food choices to satisfy a busy family of
six.
During an “American Morning” interview introducing the
couple, Capt. Rampolla, who recently returned from a tour in
Iraq, declared the family was probably eating too much fast
food because of their on-the-go lifestyle. “We’ll probably
be shopping more frequently at the commissary since we’re
changing our habits,” said Denise Rampolla. Change means
less fast food – and more fresh food.
Coincidently, commissaries worldwide kicked off the new year
by launching shelf signs with dietary tips as part of the
Defense Commissary Agency’s ongoing “It’s Your Choice,
Make it Healthy” campaign. “We’re excited that our
initiative to be the nutritional leader of the military ties
in so well with a military family’s participation in CNN’s
‘New You’ segment,” said Patrick B. Nixon, chief
executive officer and acting director of the Defense
Commissary Agency.
“Commissaries offer fresh produce, lean meats and health and
wellness products, and lots of healthy snack alternatives,”
Nixon said. “We want to encourage military shoppers to fix
more of their meals at home instead of eating on the go, and
take advantage of opportunities to choose healthier products
by reading labels at the commissary.”
“The commissary always helps me with outreach to our Guard
families and it really is ‘our’ store,” said Denise
Rampolla, who is also an active representative and member of
the board of governors of the National Military Family
Association. “Chef Billy thought the commissary was amazing.
He told us that with the quality of the produce and meats in
our commissary, we should never be preparing meals from
ingredients in bags and boxes!”
The determination to shop healthy is part of the “New You”
blog on CNN’s Web site, where Denise Rampolla declared the
commissary trip with “Chef Billy” to be “an educational
shopping trip unlike any other trip for family groceries.”
“We bought fresh fruit, vegetables, and fresh fish and even
went for the buffalo meat instead of ground beef,” she
wrote. “I’m excited to experiment with all the new options
and recipes for healthier, fresh family meals. Our children
are embracing the changes remarkably well. Veggie chips
instead of potato chips for instance, wheat bread instead of
white.” She is also bringing her lunch to work – instead
of eating nothing, or a handful of candy.
The blog, which will be continually updated by the Rampollas,
can be found at http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2006/new.you/blog/
and the “New You” segments air Tuesday mornings on CNN and
can also be found on their Web site. Information about
“It’s Your Choice, Make it Healthy” can be found at the
DeCA Web site at http://www.commissaries.com.
Commissary
shoppers win one for the kids
By
Bonnie Powell, DECA
FORT LEE
,
Va.
– Thanks to commissary shoppers who purchased national brand
laundry products, 10 military installations hit “home
runs” in a recent national retail contest. Two
installations,
Fort
Benning
,
Ga.
, and
Fort Belvoir
,
Va.
, won the top prizes – “dream” fields for their youth
baseball programs, plus a visit from baseball “Hall of
Famer” Cal Ripken Jr. The fields are each valued at $10,000.
The appearance by Ripken? Priceless.
“We’re
excited that military installations benefited from this
national competition,” said Patrick B. Nixon, chief
executive officer and acting director for the Defense
Commissary Agency. “Through their purchases, commissary
shoppers helped earn prizes that go directly back to the
community, and the Cal Ripken appearances are certainly
creating a lot of excitement and anticipation.”
Fort
Benning
is planning to hold the grand reopening of its refurbished
field on April 29 starting at 10 a.m. with Ripken as the
special guest. The
Fort
Belvoir
event has not been finalized.
“We’d
like to recognize the support received from commissary
personnel and military families during the ‘2004 Win a Dream
Field from Wisk’ contest,” said Sharon Shipley, military
sales director for Unilever, makers of Wisk. “We’re
delighted that 10 military youth baseball leagues were among
the deserving winners nationally, and we’re particularly
proud to award two fields and the Cal Ripken appearances to
the
Fort
Belvoir
and
Fort
Benning
communities.” At a recent Unilever sales event in
Phoenix
, Ripken personally thanked military sales for “really
getting behind this program.”
In
addition to the grand prizes, three military installations won
second-place prizes worth $5,000 each, and five installations
won third-place prizes worth $1,000 each. Winners receive
prizes in the form of gift certificates to be used for
uniforms, bats, balls, helmets and other gear to kick off the
2005 baseball season, according to Shipley.
Fort Knox
,
Ky.
, Naval Air Station Oceana,
Va.
, and Eglin Air Force Base,
Fla.
, are second-place winners. Naval Air Station Jacksonville and
Patrick Air Force Base,
Fla.
,
Fort
Bragg
,
N.C.
, Naval Weapons Station Charleston, S.C., and
Fort
Stewart
,
Ga.
, are third-place winners.
The
“Win a Dream Field from Wisk” competition was open to any
grocery store, not just commissaries. Customers, volunteers,
or community organizations collected and returned proof of
purchase medallions from product containers. Just like the big
leagues, team standings were tracked during the summer of
2004. Commissaries came through for local Morale, Welfare and
Recreation programs by securing 10 prizes out of 57 available
nationwide, including the two top prizes. More than 1,400
communities participated in the competition nationwide. The
total prize value to military youth programs was $40,000.
The
contest dovetails with the “America Needs Dirt” program (http://www.americaneedsdirt.com),
which encourages kids to get out and play, whether it’s in
their own backyard or on local ball fields across
America
. The program is endorsed by Ripken and supported by Wisk.
The
Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of nearly
275 commissaries providing groceries to military personnel,
retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping
environment. Authorized patrons purchase items at cost plus a
5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new
commissaries and modernizing existing ones. Shoppers save an
average of 30 percent or more on their purchases compared to
commercial prices – savings worth about $2,700 annually for
a family of four. A core military family support element, and
a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries
contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life
for America’s military and their families, and help recruit
and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their
country.
"The
grillin’ season is upon us"
By By Herb Greene
FORT LEE, Va. – The acrid smoke wafting across the
neighbor’s fence; the sizzle and aroma of a thick steak
hitting a hot grill; the sounds of laughter and delight as the
backyard chef yells, “Come and get it!” These culinary
assaults on the senses are a dead giveaway that the grilling
season is upon us. What to do?
Head to the commissary for charcoal, lighter fluid, paper
plates, napkins, soft drinks, snacks and, of course, the great
selection of meats, fish, poultry, fresh produce and other
things to barbecue – all at 30 percent savings!
Don’t have a grill? That’s not a problem. At most
installations, exchanges will have all types of grills ranging
from the small simple grill for a couple of bucks to the
considerably more expensive and impressive propane-powered,
multi-level grill with electronic ignition and a set of gauges
that would stop a flight engineer in his tracks. Either way,
it’s about the food and the technique, not the hardware.
Don’t know how to grill? Again, it’s not a problem. Just
ask your gourmet chef next-door neighbor for some words of
wisdom or check out a self-help book from your library. In the
meantime, here are some helpful tips to make the grilling
experience more enjoyable:
Place the grill outside at least ten feet away from the house
and anything that can burn.
When lighting charcoal briquettes using charcoal lighter
fluid, apply the fluid and let it soak in a minute or two.
When using an electric charcoal starter, be certain to stand
on dry ground before plugging it in. It will be hot after use
so place it where no one can touch it.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use gasoline to light charcoal!
Prevent cross-contamination of harmful bacteria by keeping
raw meat separate from cooked meat. Do not use the same plate
or utensils for raw and cooked meat.
Cook hamburgers and other ground meats until they are well
done and their centers are no longer pink. Because of
potential serious bacteria contamination, the heyday of the
juicy rare burger with a pink center is over.
Experiment with sauces and marinades. Marinating or basting
will add a deep, flavorful taste to meats. Be careful to avoid
cross-contamination: Do not baste meat on the grill with
marinade that was used on uncooked meat.
Try grilling vegetables. Get unique taste sensations by
grilling ordinary vegetables basted in sauces and sprinkled
with dry herbs.
Tenderize pork chops and chicken by
micro waving them for a
couple of minutes and soaking them in a barbecue sauce for
about 30 minutes.
Try grilling corn-on-the-cob. Wrap the ear of corn in foil
along with a pat of butter and a touch of barbecue sauce.
Place the corn on the grill for about seven to ten minutes.
Don’t overcrowd the grill. If you do, the foods will just
steam and not cook properly.
Prevent scorched food by extinguishing fire flare-ups with a
clean spray bottle of water kept near the grill.
Remember two things to ensure a safe cookout. The “danger
zone” for growth of harmful bacteria is 40 degrees
Fahrenheit to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, so keep cold foods cold
and hot foods hot and use them within two hours or throw them
out. Hand washing is a necessity for safe food preparation;
wash hands thoroughly before handling food and frequently
throughout the cooking process.
Now you have a head start on a safe, successful, fun and
delicious grilling season. Oh, and don’t forget to invite
your neighbors!
