

November/December 1989


High Ozone Levels Found in Rural Air


Gene Migration from Super Crops to Monster Weeds


Dutch Cow Curfew


One-Third of World Landmass Estimated Wild


Eating Smart Guides: Additives, Fast Food, Fat


Energy Efficiency Career Training


Short Stature Linked to Reduced Cancer Risk

"Short stature is associated with reduced risk of cancer, particularly in men," reads a report by researchers from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health. In a study of over 12,000 people divided into four height categories, the shortest 25% had about 50% less cancer over a 10-year period than the three taller groups. The study suggests that height may be an especially significant risk factor in colon cancer among men: The tallest 25% were more than twice as likely to get colon cancer as the shortest group.

Frozen Corn Flavor Improved by Hole in the Cob

If you've ever eaten frozen corn on the cob, you may already know that the corn can have an odd, cardboardlike flavor if it has been in the freezer for more than a few months. But C. Y. Lee, a Cornell University food scientist studying the chemistry of enzymes blamed for bad taste in frozen corn, has discovered a unique solution: drilling a hole through the middle of the cob before blanching it. Lee found that the taste-tainting enzymes, peroxidase and lipoxygenase, are mostly on the outside of the cob and in the bottom portion of the corn kernels. When corn on the cob is prepared for freezing, it is blanched for several minutes—but not long enough to deactivate the offending enzymes, which therefore remain able to influence the corn's flavor. Longer blanching times help, but also make the corn unappetizingly soft. A hole drilled lengthwise through the cob before blanching allows the corn to be cooked quickly, from both sides of the kernels, and the enzymes' flavor-wrecking abilities are destroyed. Taste testers who compared drilled and undrilled corn on the cob consistently preferred the bored variety.