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A GUIDE TO DEVELOP AN AWARENESS OF GOOD FOOD HABITS

GIRL SCOUTS OF CENTRAL MARYLAND 4806 Seton Drive Baltimore, MD 21215 410-358-9711 or 1-800-492-2521 www.gscm.org

04-501 06/06

32 1 The MANY FACES OF FOOD, a guide to develop an awareness of good WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU! food habits, was developed with the invaluable help of many Brownie, Please fill out this page and mail to: MANY FACES OF FOOD, Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, 4806 Seton Drive, Baltimore, MD 21215 Junior, Cadette, Senior and Adult Girl Scouts.Camp Shadowbrook Please contact the GSCM store for patch prices & information: 410-358-9711, ext. 202 campers and staff, who tested activities and commented on plans and manuscript. Your Name: ______Your Address: ______City, County, State ______A special thanks to the original developers of this publication: Check age level of your troop: Arlene A. Bartlow Brownie Junior Cadette Senior Ambassador Charlotte R. Blum What activity did you choose to do? ______Ethel M. Spencer Why did you choose this activity? ______Carol Loomis ______Mary Anne Reese What new things did you learn? ______M. Madeline Warren ______Lisa Meszaros ______Anne Lane Were the websites listed in “Food for Thought” useful to you? ______Pam Stratton ______Mrs. Frances Haussner ______and Did you “Dig Deeper”? Yes No Which project did you do? ______Members of Community Section, Md Dietetic Assn. ______

What would you say to others about MANY FACES OF FOOD? First printing 1975 Second printing 1983 ____Exciting ____O.K. Revised June 2006 ____Fun ____Didn’t learn new things ____Made me think ____No fun ____Waste of time

2 31 “Food for Thought” is a list of informative and fun websites. Many useful TABLE OF CONTENTS resources may be obtained from these sites.

Consumer Information Center - www.pueblo.gsa.gov

American Dietetic Association - www.eatright.org

Maryland Dietetic Association - www.eatwellmd.org ...... HOW TO READ A FOOD LABEL 4 U.S. Dept. of and Human Services - www.healthfinder.gov FACE TO FACE WITH FOOD ...... 5 National Dairy Council - www.nationaldairycouncil.org ...... American Diabetes Association Youth Zone - www.diabetes.org/wizdom SOMETHING TO CHEW ON 7

American Heart Association Recipes - www.deliciousdecisions.org MANY FACES OF FOOD ...... 8

National Dairy Council - www.nutritionexploration.org LET’S DIG IN —DEEPER ...... 21 Gateway to Government Food Safety Information - www.foodsafety.gov FOOD PYRAMID ...... 28 United States Dept. of Agriculture - www.usda.gov/news/usdakids

Partnership for Food Safety Education - www.fightbac.org SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT ...... 29

Facts, games, and info to teach about the benefits of maintaining a balanced EVALUATION FORM ...... 31 - www.schoolmenu.com

Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations PhotoFile- www.fao. org

30 3 SAMPLE FOOD LABEL How to Read a Food Label

The "Nutrition Facts" printed on the side of every food label are standardized by the FDA. Here's how to understand them.

Here's How:

• Read the . The FDA requires that serving sizes reflect amounts customarily consumed for a food item and mandates that all like-products use the same serving size. • Determine total per serving: must be listed.

• Divide total 'Calories from ' by total calories per serving and multiple Some Food the result by 100 to determine the percent from fat. • Determine ratio of : polyunsaturated fat : monounsaturated fat. Daily accumulated ratio should consist of no more than 1/3 from saturated fat.

• Determine if the cholesterol amount is less than the budgeted 300 mg per for day.

Tips: • Determine sodium intake. While the average American gets more than his/her share of sodium, the daily value is set for 2400 mg. Daily Values (%) indicate an estimate of how the food meets the daily requirement • Find total . To determine what percent of total calories for each nutrient based on a come from carbohydrate, multiply grams of carbohydrate by 4, divide Thoughtuuu 2,000- diet. result by total calories, and multiply by 100.

According to most major health • Find fiber, , and other : consume foods higher in organizations, fat should be fiber. no more than 30% of total Calories. Total carbohydrate is normally • Find total . To determine what percent of total calories come from recommended between 55- protein, multiply grams of protein by 4, divide result by total calories, 65% and protein between and multiply by 100. 12-15% of total calories. • A, , , and levels are listed as percent of It isn't necessary to eliminate a daily values required for each. food just because it is high in fat. The key is to balance • Read the ingredients. The first ingredient listed is the most plentiful by less healthy foods with weight.

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FOOD PYRAMID

Food has many faces, just like people. Some make us happy, Some do not. Some look “different,” Some cost a lot.

Many people never see all these faces. For them, food is what they like, or what they don’t. It is what they have time for, or what they eat in a hurry. Most people only see this little bite. They don’t know how interesting food can be.

28 5 When we come face to face with food, however, we see and smell and taste and LET’S LOOK AT THE FUTURE! Interview or invite to a troop/group meeting a “Career Panel” of three to feel something new. We look “behind the scenes” and find out things we never five people who work in a field of food and nutrition. Ask them how they knew before, such as... got interested in their careers, what kinds of training and experience they needed, what they do on the job, and what they like best about their work. (You might include a restaurant or cafeteria manager, a hospital , someone who works for a company that manufactures or _ how food affects our bodies . . . (are we really what we eat?) processes food products, a home economics teacher or an extension worker, someone who does food research, a public health nutritionist, etc.).

_ Which of the “Faces of Food” does each career involve? _ how to plan foods for ourselves, our families, and groups in our community.

LET’S DO YOUR THING! Develop your own project using the guidelines in the introduction. _ how people from other cultures enjoy different foods. Choose a theme that you like and present it in a way that will interest you and those with whom you will share it. _ how food problems affect us, our families, our communities, and even our whole world. Some ideas might be — a film fair, a cookbook of recipes using new foods, a nutritional kaper chart, or . . . .let your imagination go wild!

This guide and the activities in it bring us face to face with food. They give us food for thought. Now let’s give some thought to food—and its many faces.

6 27 Something to Chew On Hi Girl Scout!

LET’S USE HAPPILY APPLEY! Do several activities that you like in this Girl Scout publication. You might want YOU are the reason this guide was written. to share what you have learned with your family, your troop/group, a community So . . . we want you to know how to use it. group, a daycare center or a senior citizens club.

First, look at one of the pages in Chapter 1, “Many Faces of Food.” Pick any page

_ How have changed people’s lives? that looks interesting to you. going down the left side of this page, you see three _ What food value do apples have? activities. these activities will help you explore three different faces of food: _ Compare cost of apples with other or other snack _ “Why We Eat The Way We Do” choices. _ “Food: More Than Just Something To Eat” _ “The Price Is Tight” If you do all three activities on any page in this first chapter, you can get the “Many Faces of Food” patch to wear. LET’S DO YOUR OWN HAPPILY APPLEY! Now, keep looking at the same page in Chapter 1. Look down the right side of the Select a food other than an appple and plan your own activities like those in the publication, HAPPILY APPLEY. You might use — page this time. You’ll see questions all the way down the page to go with each activity. After doing an activity, you and other troop or patrol members should compare and Curiously Carroty — discuss the questions. No one answer will be right for everyone. Several answers might be “right” for different people and groups. Understanding why many answers are Perfectly Peachy — possible is understanding the many faces of food. or Once you have finished three activities from a page in Chapter 1, you are ready to dig in deeper. You may now try one of the projects in Chaper 2, “Let’s Dig In . . . Deeper!” another or . Pick any project that looks good to you.

_ How has the fruit or vegetable you have chosen changed people’s lives? After you finish one of these projects, you can get a special addition to your _ What food value does your fruit or vegetable have? “Many Faces of Food” patch. It’s a smaller patch that, when sewn on the larger patch, will _ Compare the cost of your fruit or vegetable with another snack choice. look like you have taken a bite from the . This will show everyone that you have dug in deeper. The last chapter of this guide is called “Some Food for Thought.” It tells about informative and fun websites.

Now you are ready to discover the “Many Faces of Food.” HAVE FUN! ! !

26 7 _ If you have limited space, a window-box garden of or would be fun. With plenty of space, plant a regular garden. For either, find out what interesting meanings your plants have had to people in the past. CHAPTER 1 _ Have your plants been used for health treatments in the past? Look up the food value of the foods you grow. _ What economical recipes can you make with your plants? _ How much did it cost you to grow your crops? What would they have cost in a store?

LET’S LOOK AT SEASONS AND REASONS Many Faces Make a Maryland food calendar. On each month list the foods that are popular in Maryland during that month. Include such foods as crabs, oysters, tomatoes, apples, corn, etc. Include the nutritional value of these foods and how much they cost at different times of the year. You might want to include a recipe using the food.

_ Why are these foods popular? of _ Are they associated with any special occasions? _ Are they good sources of any particular nutrients? _ When do they cost less? Why?

LET’S HAVE A SHARING FAIR! Food Pick a theme and plan a troop/group fair to share recipes and information. Your fair could be about wild foods, world , nutritional labeling, etc. Invite another troop/group, parents or friends. Any fair should have a theme that would explore all faces. _ Do the fair activities explore interesting meanings or history or association of food? _ Does the theme present some nutritional information? _ Does the fair include cost information?

8 25 What will you do to help your audience understand your show? What do you want your audience to learn and remember about food? What do you want your audience to learn and remember about the cost of food? Tracking Down Snacks

WHY WE EAT THE WAY WE DO _ How many different kinds LET’S GO WILD! Keep a snack diary for a week. Write of food were there? Plan and serve some “far out” menus—for example, a that a family might down everything you eat between _ How many were sweet, have had in colonial times (no processed, convenience or imported foods); a meal , the day, time and mood you were salty, crunchy, liquid? with only foods that are grown or processed within 25 miles; a “Twenty-first in when you snacked - (happy, angry, stressed). At _ What do you think a snack Century” meal—(What do you think we will be eating in 2025?); a meal of “wild the end of the week, share your diary with your is? foods” (get an expert to help you choose any foods that are not cultivated). troop/group

_ Why did you choose the foods you did? _ Would you have these foods again? _ Was your menu well-balanced? FOOD: MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING TO EAT _ Do some foods belong to Use the snack diary you kept and see if you can Compare cost of this meal to a “traditional meal.” more than one group? place each item in a food category or . If _ Are there some foods that possible, use a food composition table of snacks and do not belong in any group? write down the , and calories that _ What did you learn about each snack contained. LET’S GROW WILD! your snacking habits? _ Do you think snacks are Plan and grow a window-box garden of spices or herbs, a jar of sprouts, or a important? backyard garden. Care for it well and at “harvest time” fix what you have grown in a meal for your family or friends.

Be ecology minded!—dry, can, freeze or share any extra food with friends. _ Which items cost the most? THE PRICE IS TIGHT Price each snack in your _ Which items cost the least? _ If you sprout —find out where sprouts are grown and snack diary. _ Which items could you have gotten for used as a food staple. What are the food value of the sprouts? less money somewhere else? Figure out the cost of a recipe using sprouts. _ Could you choose a food that costs less?

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24 9 Charting Chowtime

WHY WE EAT THE WAY WE DO _ Is a “meal” the same for everybody? Why? LET’S PLAY! Make up a day’s menu for your Why not? Plan a “Nutritional Game” party for your troop/group, or another level Girl family. Include three meals that your _ Were some families’ favorite foods Scout troop/group, a Senior Citizen’s group, a daycare center, neighborhood family likes to eat. Share your considered “yucky” by others? children, or for when you are babysitting. menus with other troop/group _ How do foods become favorites? _ Did the people at your party learn the same facts about food as you did? members. _ Why do people have different food likes and dislikes even when they live together?

LET’S EAT! Plan a nutritious luncheon or dinner with your troop/group or with your family. The meal could be made up from recipes from another country. You might like to dress up and decorate in a way that would be like that country. Make _ Does your menu have variety sure that the meal is well-balanced, that people will like to in color, texture, shapes of FOOD: MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING TO EAT eat it and the cost is not too high. Fix the meal and then DIG food, and tastes? Look at the “family menu for the day” that you IN!!! _ If your menu does not contain made up. Put each food on the menu in the proper vitamin “A”, calcium, iron food group. The menus many people choose are and vitamin “C” which you What did you have to think about in choosing the menu to short in the calcium, iron, vitamin “A” and vitamin need, what foods could be make it appropriate? Did your menu have foods from each “C” they provide. You could take a table of food added? composition and find out how much your menu provided.

LET’S ACT! Share what you have learned about any face of food by writing and THE PRICE IS TIGHT _ How could the meal be putting on a skit or puppet show about it. Each patrol could perform for Visit at least two stores that sell food products made cheaper? (supermarkets, corner grocery stores, suburban _ Would you lose needed the whole troop. Or, your troop/group could perform for a school, a grocery stores, city grocery stores, etc.) Compare the nutrients by these changes? daycare center, a senior care facility, or another troop/group. Some titles quality, the price and the available choices in the _ How does the Food Stamp for skits might be ...... different stores you visited. Program help a family on a low budget meet its VITA-MAN D AND THE SUNSHINE GIRLS Add up the cost of the day’s menu you planned for nutritional needs? SUPER SHOPPER vs JUNKMAN your family. AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY MEALS—Be creative—think of one on your own. If you serve refreshments, be sure they are nutritious and inexpensive.

10 23 Special Diets Putting The Faces of Food Together

(Project Ideas) WHY WE EAT THE WAY WE DO _ Do you know someone who is a Find out what people eat on “different” vegetarian? Someone who is diets, such as: low-salt, diabetic, reducing? Who is on a special diet reducing, or vegetarian. for illness? Who is allergic to some A food-fun project can help your troop/group share what they have learned foods? about nutrition with others—(with all the girls in the troop/group, parents and _ What did she/he eat yesterday? family, or others in the community). The purpose of a project should be to _ Does her/his food needs cause any give you a chance to show that you really do have new attitudes about food, problems? Explain. because you can use them in a different situation, or explain them to someone _ How much would you have to else. change your family’s menu if this person came to dinner at your This project should provide a chance to put the three “faces of food” house? together around one topic. When you are deciding exactly what your project will be, make sure you have thought about what its purpose will be. For example, you might decide to have a Scandinavian smorgasbord FOOD: MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING TO EAT _ If you do not in order to explore what part food plays in this northern European Look at the diet of the person you interviewed who is on a drink , how country. Or, you might decide to make and write a puppet show in order “special diet.” See if the diet was short in servings of any of can you get the to teach preschool children the importance of eating raw fruits and the food groups. calcium you need? . The more you know about any subject, the more interesting A dietitian is a specialist who helps people with food _ If you do not eat it is—so dig in as deep as you can and make sure the facts you are using problems. Interview a dietitian, if possible, to see how she/he , how can are correct. might have helped this person. If no dietitian is available, you get enough figure out for yourself how this person’s diet might be protein and improved if it is short of needed nutrients. iron?

A project for this unit can really be successful when it ...... lets all who take part use new facts in the right ways ...... THE PRICE IS TIGHT _ How much difference is there involves sharing new learning with others ...... Choose 10 items from the “diet shelf” of the in the cost? provides a chance to think about all three “faces of food” ...... supermarket. Compare the price of each item with _ How much difference is there gives YOU a chance to have fun! ! ! the price of the same kind and amount of food in the ingredients and the from the regular shelf. Reading the nutritional nutritional value? labels on each food will help you compare the _ Could you make any of the nutritional value as well. diet items from regular ingredients at home? Would it cost less to do this?

22 11 Mechanical Munchies CHAPTER 2

WHY WE EAT THE WAY WE DO _ Why do you buy these foods? Make a list of foods that you and your _ Which foods do you like best? Let’s Dig friends buy from food vending _ What other foods would you like to machines. see in food vending machines? _ When and where do you buy foods from vending machines? _ How else could people get “snack” foods? In—

FOOD: MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING TO EAT Take the list of foods available from food vending machines and see if you can put each into a “food group.” Take a food composition table and find the number of calories in as many of these items as possible. Grade them “good,” “fair” or “poor” with regard to nutritional value and low calorie content. Deeper!

Now make a list of foods that you think could be sold in food vending machines that would be rated “good” and that you would like to buy.

THE PRICE IS TIGHT _ What would these snacks cost if you Write down the price of all the items you bought them in a supermarket? found in the food vending machines. _ What could you buy with that same amount of money that you would like, but it would have more nutritional value?

12 21 Hunger Here and Now Rise and ♦♦♦ Dine

WHY WE EAT THE WAY WE DO _ Have you ever been hungry? Hold a poster contest in your _ How did you feel? How long did you go WHY WE EAT THE WAY WE DO _ What did each girl eat? troop/group, or even in a local without food? Keep a breakfast diary in your troop/ _ When did most girls eat school to make people more aware _ When you were hungry, were you willing to group for one week. Each girl should breakfast? Who fixed it? of hunger. After doing this, hold a eat food you usually don’t like? write what she ate each day, the time she _ How many different foods were troop discussion about personal _ What does being hungry mean to you? ate it, and who fixed it. listed? experiences with hunger. _ What should a “breakfast” be? _ Why did people make the choices they did? Was it time, money, appetitie, or other reasons? FOOD: MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING TO EAT _ Did you eat more or less than Keep a record of everything you ate or you needed? drank in two or more days. From nutrition _ What does it mean to be books, figure out the amounts and kinds of malnourished? FOOD: MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING TO EAT _ How many breakfasts food you need each day. _ Can you be “malnourished” and Take a look at your breakfast survey. Decide what food matched your idea of Compare what you need with what you ate. not hungry at the same time? groups should be in a “breakfast.” Write several menus what a good breakfast _ Can you be overweight and for “different” breakfasts and have a breakfast-tasting should be? “malnourished” at the same party to try some of your menus. Make a list of _ What changes would time? Explain. nutritious foods that might taste good to people who do you suggest so each not like to eat breakfast. breakfast would be “good”?

THE PRICE IS TIGHT _ Do quickee breakfasts THE PRICE IS TIGHT cost more than those that _ Are there any changes your family are Add up the cost of each girl’s breakfast in your Find out and write down how much food is take longer to fix? willing to make to cut down on waste? breakfast survey. wasted in your home for two days. Include _ How can we save money _ Are there ways your family can make food wasted in the kitchen during on breakfast without use of its usable waste at another preparation, food on people’s plates that is giving up nutrients or time? not eaten, and unused food in the amounts? refrigerator. Record as usable waste and _ Is there one your family is willing to non-usable waste. Discuss your findings try? with your family _ Share what you found out with other troop members.

20 13 Try It ♦♦♦ Food for Many

WHY WE EAT THE WAY WE DO _ What did you like the best? WHY WE EAT THE WAY WE DO _ How are things prepared Have a food-tasting party. Try foods you have Why? Visit a place that serves lots of meals differently at home? never eaten before—new snacks, meat _ What did you like the least? at one time—such as a hospital, _ How did seeing all that food substitutes, vegetables or fruits, different forms Why? school, restaurant, senior-care facility, make you feel? of milk, many kinds of , or whatever _ Which food was gone first? daycare center, meals-on-wheels or a _ What did you see that made you think the people liked or did not your troop/group wants. Perhaps the foods _ Which food had the most left catering kitchen. like the meal? could even be from different countries. over? _ Which foods would you like to eat again? FOOD: MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING TO EAT _ How would the ways Write down the meal you saw being prepared food is prepared in and served. If everyone did not eat the same large quanities change FOOD: MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING TO EAT food, write down what one person ate. the nutritional value? _ Did your tasting party include Put the foods in your tasting party into the basic _ Why is it harder to foods from each food group? food groups. plan meals for many _ Which snacks belong in more people than for a than one food group? family? _ Which food belongs in no food group? Why?

THE PRICE IS TIGHT _ When your family figures out the Talk to the dietitian or food budget, do they include the person in charge of food same costs? THE PRICE IS TIGHT _ Do the foods you like and that are preparation at the place you _ What costs are included Put a price per serving next to every food nutritious cost more? If they do, is it visited. Find out how much somewhere else in your family prepared for the tasting party. If it is a worth the extra cost? Why? it cost to prepare this meal. budget? mixed dish, calculate the cost of all _ Are there less expensive nutritious Your list should include the _ Considering all these factors, does ingredients in the dish. Compare the foods foods that you would like? What are food cost and the cost of your family spend more or less you liked best and would eat again with they? other items, such as— than a place that prepares food in the nutrition they contain and the amounts _ How should you take care of the electricity, salaries, cooking quantity? they cost. leftover food? fuel, etc.

14 19 A World of Food Dining Out

WHY WE EAT THE WAY WE DO _ Were there any new sights, _ How different are these WHY WE EAT THE WAY WE DO Plan meals you would like for special times meals from what you usually Visit a specialty food store or supermarket new smells or new experiences for you? when you can’t be in the kitchen. For have? aisle to see for yourself the different foods example-plan a nosebag lunch for a hike, a available in your community. Some _ How did you react to them? _ How does the place where possible foods might be kosher, deli, _ How many of these foods backpack supper for overnight, a day’s you prepare and eat affect Italian, soul food, Korean, or Mexican. were new to you? Would you meals for a canoe trip, a one-pot supper to your food choices? See how many others you can find. like to try them? cook over an open campfire, etc. _ If you tasted any, would you like to try them again? _ What foods do your family or other families that you know FOOD: MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING TO EAT _ Was there any food not eat because of religious Identify the number of servings of each food group group missing? beliefs? included in your meals. _ Was the correct number of servings from each food group provided? FOOD: MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING TO EAT _ What are the different ways _ Is there another form of Choose one food from each food group that was the new food can be the food or another food new to you in the specialty store/aisle you visited. prepared? from the same food Compare this to a similar food that you know. Find _ How do these ways differ group that could be out how the new food is prepared and served. from ways that you would substituted? prepare a similar food? _ What is the difference in the nutritional value of the “new” food and your food? THE PRICE IS TIGHT _ Would this meal cost more or less How much does this special meal if prepared in your kitchen? Why? cost? _ What did you have to do to make sure this meal was safe to eat? THE PRICE IS TIGHT _ Are the foods in the specialty store/aisle more _ Do you need to plan more or less Price the specialty food chosen in or less expensive? time for preparing this meal out of section two above. Price the item _ Can you list advantages for buying foods from your kitchen? Why? (s) used to do your specialty places? comparison. _ When would you buy foods in a specialty store/aisle? Why?

18 15 The Natural Cook Lots and Lots of Eats

_ What are “natural” or “health” foods? WHY WE EAT THE WAY WE DO _ What foods do you see that you could Visit a “natural” or “health” food store. also find in the supermarket? WHY WE EAT THE WAY WE DO _ How are things prepared Talk to the owner or a salesperson about _ what foods are new to you? Visit a place that produces food products in differently from at home? how her/his products are different from _ Why do some people prefer to shop large amounts—a bakery, a dairy, a meat _ How did seeing all that food foods in other grocery stores. Look at the here? packing plant, a factory, etc. make you feel? kinds of products the store sells and the _ Why might some people prefer not to _ How do they know what people who shop there. shop here? people will buy? _ How do you feel about eating these foods after seeing them prepared?

FOOD: MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING TO EAT _ What foods did not fit into Choose several foods that are new to you and try any food group? Why? FOOD: MORE THAN JUST SOMETHING TO EAT _ Which items listed are to assign them to the right food group. _ What new information did Choose a product seen on your trip. Read and record unfamiliar to you? you learn about these foods? the ingredients listed on the label or ask for and make a _ Find out what these items list of ingredients. are and what they do in the product. _ do any of these items improve the nutritous value of the product? THE PRICE IS RIGHT Compare the cost of several food _ Which food items are more expensive at THE PRICE IS RIGHT items in a “natural” or “health” the “health” or “natural” food store? _ Could you make this food at home? food store with the price in a _ Which food itmes are cheaper? Talk to someone at the place you _ Would this food cost less if you made supermarket. Be sure you are _ What makes the price of food you buy at visited who would know what is it? Why? comparing equal amoounts. See if one store different than that you buy at included in the cost of producing _ How would you decide whether to foods are packaged or stored another store? one product. Compare this to the make the product at home or buy it? differently in a “health” or price you pay for the product. _ Would there be any special precautions “natural” food store than in a you should take to keep this product supermarket. safe if you made it?

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