Perhaps you've noticed this: some sections of supermarkets are morphing into restaurants. Cold food bars offer everything customers need to make a glorious salad. Hot food bars have soups, entrées, pastas, potatoes, cooked vegetables, casseroles, and more.  Everything is there, just awaiting your tongs or spoon, to enable you to take home an entire tasty dinner.  But, you may wonder, is all this exposed food safe?  Is it held at the proper temperature so bacteria can't multiply rapidly? Is it properly protected from consumers with a cough or unclean hands?  Is it maintained by employees in a sanitary way? We asked our Shelf Life Advice Board members (all scientists) to give concerned consumers tips on safe food bar usage.

At home and in restaurants, the pancake syrup you're using is probably not pure maple syrup but a highly processed product with flavorings that are likely to fool your taste buds into thinking the ingredients just recently left the tree. Is the real stuff better--tastier and/or healthier?  Which is the better buy? Let's compare the products in many ways and find out how they differ and which is the better choice.  Then let's discuss handling matters--should you refrigerate syrups?  How long can you keep them? Final question: What can I cook with syrups?