Angels in America

Forget about today's Dining In, Dining Out section. Considering yesterday's posting, I felt the real foodie news was on the cover of the New York Times business section:

If food scientists can create a seedless watermelon, surely there must be a way to take the carbohydrates out of potatoes.

Now, I'm not thinking that I'll ever be able to attack the bread basket at Maloney & Porcelli while wearing a low-carb halo, but I still hold out hope:

In December, the Sara Lee Corporation's bakery group introduced a line of white and wheat breads that have 9 grams of carbohydrate a slice, compared with about 45 grams a slice in its regular breads. At Perfection Bakeries, based in Fort Wayne, Ind., which markets the Aunt Millie's brand of baked goods, bakers are making fewer traditional and low-fat products in favor of low-carbohydrate versions. Perfection is marketing six low-carbohydrate bread products and plans to introduce reduced-carbohydrate buns for hot dogs and hamburgers.

"If people are out there looking for low-carb and reduced carb, we'll do our best to give them what they're looking for," said Melissa Dunning, a Perfection spokeswoman. "We always want people to eat as much bread as they used to, and we like to tout the benefits of a balanced diet at the same time as we're trying to fill the market desire for low-carb."

Then again, it sounds like low-carb comes with it's own set of nasty problems:

Kimberly Park, the senior director of domestic promotions for the USA Rice Federation, has suggested that her organization introduce a marketing campaign detailing the top 10 reasons she thinks consumers should avoid low-carb diets. Her No. 1 reason? The diets cause bad breath, Ms. Park claimed.

She also said that low-carb diets can cause constipation, mood swings and clogged arteries.

Holy cow! (Please note: That was a politically correct comment, in light of the Atkins diet.)