Bring on the balance with probiotics

 By Maj. Karen E. Fauber, DeCA dietitian

 
          
  FORT LEE , Va. – Do you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome or IBS, a condition causing distress and discomfort, not to mention embarrassment at times? If so, you are not alone: As an estimated 45 million Americans, or about as many as one in five people, have IBS. During IBS awareness month in April, DeCA wants you to know that your local commissary has products that contain probiotics, which help to bring on the balance in your digestive system.

            Growing evidence shows that foods with probiotics added to them, and those high in fiber, can help your digestive system to work like clockwork. There is hope for those that have IBS as it can be managed with making healthy lifestyle changes including stress management and diet.

 What is IBS?

            IBS is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders as seen by doctors. It is described as a brain gut condition that triggers these symptoms:

            ·  Abdominal pain or cramping

            ·  A bloated feeling

            ·  Gas 

            ·  Diarrhea or constipation

            If you are concerned that you have IBS, see your doctor and get a physical exam. Lab tests can be done to rule out other digestive problems.

            One way to help to bring on the balance to your diet is to pay careful attention to what you eat. Your commissary has all the items that can help keep your digestive system in working order. Look for yogurt and yogurt drinks that contain Bifidus Regularis, a probiotic or good bacteria. Enjoy the health benefits of calcium, protein and the probiotic in these foods and others in your commissary at savings of 30 percent or more.

            For a little variety with that yogurt, try making a fruit smoothie to delight your taste buds. Try this fruit smoothie recipe: one 8-ounce cup yogurt with Bifidus Regularis, one-half cup low-fat milk and one cup strawberries. Add the three ingredients to a blender, blend it up, and enjoy! You can also add other fruit in place of the strawberries.

 Go for the fiber

·        Add one-half cup high fiber (more than 9 grams per serving) cereal to your yogurt to help you on your way to the 25 to 35 grams of fiber needed daily.

·        Have vegetables with lunch and dinner like broccoli, carrots, spinach and others.

·        Eat bread with 3 grams of fiber or more per serving.

          Help your gut get the good stuff and bring on the balance by choosing foods that are good for you today while in your commissary. IBS can be successfully managed so that you can enjoy life.

          See you in the commissary!

            For more information about healthy food choices and other nutrition topics, visit Ask the Dietitian at http://www.commissaries.com and post your questions on the DeCA Dietitian Forum and be sure to look for other useful information in The Dietitian’s Voice archive.

Commissaries highlighting food safety  

 By Kevin Robinson, DECA

 

            FORT LEE, Va. – The Defense Commissary Agency considers food safety such a priority that its 259 stores will be highlighting this message throughout the month of April.   

            The April campaign is part of DeCA’s yearlong efforts to demonstrate what the commissary does to be a source of safe food, said Rick Page, DeCA acting director and a staunch advocate of food safety throughout his three decades as a military grocer.  

            “Recent events in food borne illness outbreaks have caused many consumers to wonder if their food supply is safe,” Page said. “Our customers can be confident that we employ higher standards of safety and security to protect the food sold in commissaries.  

            “Nationwide, food safety awareness is observed in September,” he added. “However, DeCA’s emphasis on food safety is such that we want to do this twice a year – it’s that important.”

            During April, customers will learn more about how commissary products are safeguarded during delivery to the store. Also, DeCA will announce its participation in Be Food Safe, a government program involving a group of nearly 30 retail grocery chains, to help educate consumers about the four steps of preventing food borne illnesses in the kitchen: cleaning, separating, cooking and chilling foods. Customers will begin seeing Be Food Safe posters in the stores and information linked to DeCA’s Food Safety Web page at Commissaries.com.

 

            These measures and more are all part of DeCA’s daily vigilance to help safeguard the products sold in its commissaries, said Army Col. Perry Chumley, DeCA’s top food safety officer. 

  

            In the store, DeCA has a group of employees who are trained to examine products upon delivery, looking for any evidence of issues such as improper temperature during transport; condition of packaging materials; cleanliness of the carrier; and product exposure to any potentially harmful elements. As products arrive to the store, they are subject to inspection, as necessary, by military food inspectors, from both Air Force Public Health and Army Veterinary Service. In situations involving higher threat levels, DeCA works with installation security officials to check delivery vehicles before they enter a base. 

            “What we do in food safety goes well beyond anything you’d experience in the commercial sector,” Chumley said. “Our store employees and the military food safety inspectors are part of a combined effort to ensure that we deliver a quality commissary benefit that is safe and secure.”


‘Be Food Safe’ helps prevent foodborne illnesses

 By Kevin Robinson, DECA

 

            FORT LEE , Va. –Clean, separate, cook and chill: A new twist on an old message will be rolling out to commissary customers as part of Be Food Safe, a new government-sponsored program to help prevent food borne illnesses in the home.

 

Be Food Safe brings the Defense Commissary Agency and 27 commercial retail grocery chains together in participating with the Partnership for Food Safety Education and its government liaisons – the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The goal is to help consumers become more aware of proper food-handling measures in the home, said Rick Page, DeCA’s acting director.

 

“If you take a moment to practice Be Food Safe’s four simple guidelines and read the instructions on the product label, you can dramatically reduce your chances of getting a foodborne illness,” Page said. “When our customers visit any of our stores or the DeCA Web site, Commissaries.com, they will see information to help them keep their food safe.”

 

To help introduce this yearlong campaign to its customers, DeCA will begin to unveil a series of posters, flyers, circular ads and informational brochures that echo the four core food safety practices of “clean, separate, cook and chill”: 

·        Clean – Frequent cleaning can reduce spread of bacteria on hands, cutting boards, knives and kitchen countertops. Always wash hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds before and after handling food.

·        Separate – To avoid cross-contamination by bacteria, keep raw meat, poultry and seafood and their juices away from ready-to-eat foods.

·        Cook – Improper heating and preparation can allow bacteria to survive. Use a thermometer to ensure food is safely prepared according to the product’s cooking instructions. 

·        Chill – By chilling food properly, you can reduce the risk of food borne illness. Bacteria spread fastest at temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

The lessons of Be Food Safe are not new, said Col. Perry Chumley, DeCA’s director public health, safety and security. However, what is new is the public’s growing concern about food safety. 

            “A growing number of people view food-related illness as a serious threat to their health,” he said. “Be Food Safe reinforces information we have promoted all along such as reading the warning labels that show you how to safely cook your meat products.”

            Chumley also said that throughout the year customers will periodically see commissaries demonstrating proper food-handling steps. Customers can learn more about the Be Food Safe by visiting http:/commissaries.com.


DeCA announces Best Commissary nominees 

By Kevin Robinson, DECA

FORT LEE, Va. – DeCA has announced this year’s nominees for its Best Commissary awards. Nominees in their respective categories are:

·        Scott Air Force Base, Ill., best superstore

·        Fort Lewis, Wash., best superstore

·        Fort Huachuca, Ariz., best large commissary, United States

·        Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., best large commissary, USA

·        Naval Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, best small commissary, USA

·        Rock Island Arsenal, Ill., best small commissary, United States

·        Camp Humphreys, South Korea, best large commissary, overseas

·        Schweinfurt, Germany, best large commissary, overseas

·        Camp Kure, Japan, best small commissary, overseas

·        Izmir Air Station, Turkey, best small commissary, overseas

These annual awards recognize overall excellence in commissary operations and service. Selection of nominees is highly competitive and is based on operation, performance and accountability.

This year’s 10 finalists are subject to an unannounced inspection of their entire operation by the DeCA Inspector General’s office and an unannounced command visit.

Winners will receive their awards at the DeCA/American Logistics Association 2007 Training Event and Conference to be held in Richmond, Va., in April.


Operation 
"Touch of Home"

Commissary goods go down range

 

Adapted by Bonnie Powell, from an article
by Gerri Young, DeCA European Region Public Affairs


FORT LEE, Va.  - Operation Touch of Home. It may sound like a marketing cliché, but the Defense Commissary Agency is literally providing a "touch of home" to members of the armed services deployed overseas.

While commissaries might not be the most visible suppliers of troops down range, many of those cookies, bottles of hot sauce and zip-lock bags in down-range exchanges made the trip across the ocean and into Bahrain, Kuwait, and aboard Navy ships, thanks to support from DeCA Europe's central distribution centers.

"DeCA has a very real mission to the men and women called to serve during conflicts, as well as to their families at home," said DeCA Director Maj. Gen. Michael P. Wiedemer. "And we're ready to serve them by making sure they have a steady supply of the familiar products that can help make their time away from home as comfortable as possible." DeCA's European Region has been filling large grocery orders, over 129,000 cases through March 21, for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) and Navy ship stores. Those products are ultimately finding their way into the hands of U.S. service members down range.

DeCA Europe buyers like Gerlinde Smith are responsible for managing most of the line items being ordered for the AAFES main store at Camp Doha, Kuwait. "The orders cover everything from hot sauce to ham to chewing gum and lots of things in between," said Smith. What's most in demand? There are hundreds of items on the deployed service member's shopping list, but canned meats such as chicken, sardines and sausages; jerky; crackers; fruit cups; snack mixes; nuts; gum; a variety of candies, puddings, cookies, chips, granola bars, pastries; coffee, sugar, and drink mixes are among the most wanted. "We've been increasing our orders on items of interest to down-range customers," said DeCA's Steve Armbruster, chief of the European Region's merchandising branch. "And while we have plenty of merchandise in the normal delivery pipeline, it can't get here fast enough."

The additional demand, coupled with regular commissary shopping by thousands of families stationed in Europe, recently necessitated a high priority grocery order and the airlift of 32,000 cases of grocery items to resupply DeCA's European central distribution centers.

This unusual aspect of  "Operation Touch of Home" delivered 170 tons of groceries to Germany in less than two weeks by air, rather than the normal 40 days by sea. "Everyone has been very proactive, from the buyers to the suppliers" said Donna Starkus-Ward, manager of CONUS distribution and overseas support. Although many suppliers and manufacturers require several weeks' notice, most pulled together huge orders in less than a week. "This is all pretty phenomenal," said Arlene Ripp, chief of DeCA's traffic support division. Less than a week after the order was given, more than 13 truckloads of product were delivered to a major airport for airlift to Germany. Since product didn't arrive all at once at MDV Nash Finch, one of DeCA's distributors, said Ripp, "we didn't wait for a full load. We shipped product as it was ready to move."

Once the product touched down in Europe, it was trucked to one of DeCA Europe's central distribution centers in Germany. "Between that and the larger orders by our buyers," said Armbruster, "we'll be able to continue to take good care of the troops, and the families at all our European bases." DeCA's European Region Director Bonnie Kanitz recently visited the USAREUR (U.S. Army Europe) deputy commander and made him an offer. "I told him we are more than just the grocery store for the families left behind. I read all the down-range articles and letters from troops and I wanted the general to know that DeCA Europe is ready and able to get the troops whatever products we carry - and put them where they need them."

Stories of increased commissary support to the troops are varied. The 1,000-bed hospital ship USNS Comfort received an order of bouillon cubes and a variety of instant beverages, health drinks and soup - all for patients with jaw injuries, should the need arise. At Rota, Spain, Chris Gomez, store administrator, is well-known to seagoing customers like the USNS Big Horn, a supply and refueling vessel. Rerouted to another destination instead of going home, the ship was running low on items it had been unable to get elsewhere. With a very short window to restock, the supply officer aboard the Big Horn e-mailed Gomez at the Rota commissary asking to buy over a thousand pounds of fresh produce, 120 pounds of bread flour and a quantity of frozen turkeys. When the ship pulled in, the order was waiting. 

An emergency order of 18,000 granola bars for deploying troops from Vicenza, Italy, was filled with just one day's notice through the commissary in Aviano, Italy. The Ansbach, Germany, commissary filled an order from the local military health clinic for 37,800 individual resealable sandwich bags to be used in the small pox inoculation process. Additional savings over normal commissary prices were provided through coupons. "These efforts represent just a few of the many ways DeCA provides increased support to members of the armed services," said Wiedemer. "It's a great reminder that we are there for our customers - every time, every place."

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