Headlines & features

Government was wrong 30 years ago in banning saccharine; they approved it 20 years later. Angela Logomasini, writing for OpenMarket.org says the same may be the case for salt:

Detroit Salt's receipt of MSHA's Sentinels of Safety Award is featured in the December 13 edition of Crain's Detroit Business . Good story.

Big Apple-based Ray Sokolov, food editor of the Wall Street Journal , apparently didn't get the mayor's memo that His Honor wants to change New Yorkers' culinary lifestyle. Sokolov with its emphasis on small portions and a politically-correct mix of nutrients. Sokolov set out looking for hearty fare, reporting that "lately I have been craving an alternative to the mingy and the fleeting. I want big plates, single ginormous dishes designed to feed a crowd. And here in New York County, alias Manhattan, where satisfaction is only a non-maxed-out credit card away, I found them." First up: bo ssäm, an entire 8- to 10-pound pork butt coated in sugar and salt, roasted in a slow oven for six hours and then seared briefly in a very hot oven until it acquires a crisp caramel coating and the meat within has turned to shreds."

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Seattle learned their lesson after using sand last year and incurring the wrath of residents.

All-time record snows fell this week in southern Wisconsin, but the Wisconsin DOT was prepared, learning lessons from a "nightmare" failure to respond to a major storm February 6, 2008, reports Ben Jones on postcrescent.com .

Sea salt conjures up all manner of positive thoughts, this story on KOCO-TV recounts. The Salt Institute applies an overlay of factual information to help consumers make sense of the hype -- and learn to enjoy the benefits of salt.

Weather forecasters predict a mild, dry winter and local roads agencies have been working hard to lock up salt supplies for the coming winter, reports the Northwest Indiana Post-Tribune . As a result, agencies are finding salt companies offering lower prices and adequate supplies to meet requested bids.

Kevin Sack's news analysis on this week's turmoil as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force revised its evidentiary review on the frequency of recommended mammograms surfaced cultural values colliding as "the science of medicine bumped up against the foundations of American medical consumerism: that more is better, that saving a life is worth any sacrifice, that health care is a birthright."

The U.N. Children's Fund says 8.8 million children under age five die from largely preventable causes every year. A new report finds a few simple, cost-effective interventions, including use of iodized salt, could save the lives of many children currently dying from malnutrition related illnesses.

Oklahoma City snowfighting crews have been training on snowplows and salt spreaders. They're "almost looking forward to the first freeze" reports Brian Brus in The Journal Record .