Indian Superstar Hrithik Roshan exposed his body on Men's Health Cover !!!

No PETROL , NO FUEL , NO CNG !! Now Vehicles will operate on WATER !!!

So Here It is , WATER KIT !!!! Pakistani Engineer Agha Waqar invented a WATER KIT which can be applied insted of CNG kit or Petrol in a car !!!! Its first ever invention in the world!!! And the matter is taken to the Cabinet... I.A soon it will be commercialized!!!  
The water used in it is Distilled water.
No alteration in Engine or design is made. 
1 liter of distilled water gives 40 km drive [ upto 1600 cc hp].
1 liter of Distilled water can operate an Electric generator of 1KV for 2 hours.


Those who Understand Urdu Language  can refer to this links for further details ....


http://www.paktvnetwork.com/vid/tube.php?v=_ogUbIf5sA0&feature=youtu.be 

Malaika ( The Munni of Bollywood ) in Gorgeous outfits !!

 Malaika Arora Khan, known for her item numbers ,is mostly found in short skirts or tight bandages dresses. Those outfits give the Item Number Queen a hot sizzling look but the outfit which she is wearing in these pictures look completely perfect and reflects how good she can look !!!

    

Pakistan Vs Australia 2012 !! Series Schedule Announced

Ek Tha Tiger !! Hot New Poster

Come Back of Champions!! Imran Nazir, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal

    

PCB chairman, Zakka Ashraf is really doing great for Pakistan cricket. He has adopted the policy of strictness and letting Pakistani team to strengthen again. Come Back of Imran Nazir, Abdul Razzaq and Kamran Akmal has really given Pakistani nation something to rejoice and jubilate.

Most of the cricket lovers in Pakistan were wondering about the selection of Imran Nazir . He had been doing a really fantastic job in all his counties and leagues, he participated in. Same is the case with Kamran Akmal. In my opinion , Kamran Akmal is a very talented batsman and had made many unforgettable contributions in Pakistan team  in really hard times ,making his team’s way from doom to victory. If we talk about the match winners from Pakistani side, then Abdul Razzaq is among those players who really is a match winner for his side. So the come back of these three champions have made the Pakistani team hot favorite to win the t20 World Cup 2012. 

Rare Clicks Of Cricketer's ! ! !

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Salman Khan's looks variations

Which is your favorite ??

Most Awaited Films 2012 !!

 Which is the most awaited movie you are eager to watch ???

First Look !!! Poster of Raaz 3

Best Dressed up Stars this Week!!

There were not much Award functions or Carpets’s Scenarios like Red Carpet ,but the stars really came out with some fabulous and evolutionized dresses. Some of our favorite celebrities showed us the power of being dressed up nicely. Some of them enhanced the beauty of their dresses by simply adding some fun accessories to their frocks, which immediately groomed their personality, Sometimes these fun accessories means a lot to your dressing.

So , checkout the Week’s best dressed stars.

Does Proper Spelling Still Matter?

"I before e, except after c." If you've ever repeated this rhyme to yourself, you know all about the mental spell-check required before sending out messages. But these days, spelling has become shorter and more laconic, as we find ourselves using 'u,' 'ur' and depending on auto-correct.

But this doesn't mean we should put our heavy dictionaries away -- the benefits of spelling are endless. ""Correct spelling, indeed, is one of the arts that are far more esteemed by schoolma'ams than by practical men, neck-deep in the heat and agony of the world." -- Henry Louis Mencken, The American Language.

But what about when we age, does it really matter? We are shortening our conversation as much as we can. Instead, some people are so reluctant about typing that somehow they make their spellings look so worst that the reader gets frustrated. You're more likely to type 'min' instead of minute or say ATM as opposed to automated teller machine in a conversation.

"Spellings in standard form enables readers to understand writing, to aid communication and ensure clarity. Period. There is no additional reason, other than affectation, for spelling rules.Electronic media like smart phones,computers,mobiles are igniting the adoption of more casual way of communication -- texting is closer to speech than letter writing," says Anne Trubek, an associate professor at Oberlin College in an article for Wired Magazine.

Sometimes, spelling errors don't always make you look so causal. In May, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney had a misspelling experience when hiscampaign's iPhone application spelled 'America' as 'Amercia,' according to USA Today. And then of course, there was Dan Quayle's famous problemwith potatoes, which has probably helped an entire generation remember how to spell the plural form of the word.

Misspellings may be due to lack of knowledge of spellings or may be unknowingly. So here is a list of 30 most common misspelled words I've come across.

Great mistakes in politics – Dan Quayle misspells potato

It’s quite reasonable to say that Dan Quayle hasn’t had the luckiest of careers as a politician. When he was elected as George Bush Sr’s running mate for the 1988 election, several anchors in the media raised questions whether he was a suitable candidate to be Vice-President of the United States. On his victory, Quayle seemed to go out his way to prove that the critics flamed upon him were right by making a series of widely mocked statements, including:

“I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy – but that could change”

“I have made good judgements in the past. I have made good judgements in the future”

“I was known as the chief graverobber of my state”
“When you take the UNCF model that, what a waste it is to lose one’s mind, or not to have a mind is being very wasteful, how true that is”

“In 1988 the question is whether we’re going forward to tomorrow or whether we’re going to go past to the back”

Among the most memorable is when he misspelled the word ‘Potato’. This incident occurred on June 15th 1992 while he was visiting a school in Trenton as part of his official duties. He participated in a spelling bee where several students had to spell out words on a blackboard. When it was twelve year old William Figueroa’s turn he had to spell the relatively simple word ‘potato’ which he duly did. At this point Quayle stepped in to point out that, “You’re close, but you left a little something off. The e on the end”. William, acceded to the Vice-President of the United States did as he was told an added the e. The media immediately jumped on his mistake and very quickly it was all over the news.

Later in his defence Quayle rightly pointed out that he was working from the cards he’d been given by the school, where potato had been spelt with an e. As you might expect the press didn’t accept this as an excuse and the gaffe became a national joke (It also became a powerful political weapon in the 1992 election for the Democrats). Even several years later, Quayle devoted an entire chapter of his autobiography to the incident in an attempt to defend himself. When so many politicians have made moral or financial mistakes it seems slightly harsh to remember a man for his spelling errors but this seems to be the case here.

Here is a video of Dan Quayle during the spelling bee:

Windows 8 Releasing October 26

 It's official: After months of speculation, Microsoft has set an official release date for Windows 8, its first update to the Windows operating system in almost three years.

After teasing that Windows 8 would be available toward the end of October, Windows President Steven Sinofsky officially announced that the next-generation of Windows will be released on October 26. That's when you'll be able to download it to your PC or purchase a new computer with Windows 8, according to a post on the official Windows Team Blog.

Microsoft had previously announced that an upgrade from Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 will cost $40 for a digital-only download.

For Microsoft, October 26th is set to be a big day: Windows 8 is one of the most ambitious overhauls of Windows in years, perhaps ever. It features two separate interfaces: the traditional desktop version, with a start bar and icons, as well as a radical new touch-friendly "Metro" interface with the large, fluid live tiles of the Windows Phone operating system. Many key apps, including Internet Explorer, have been redesigned to run in Metro, while others, such as the recently unveiled Microsoft Office suite, will function as desktop apps.

It is unclear how the general public will react to this radical design change; early reviews have been mixed, which is not a good sign for a Windows user base that has been typically resistant to change. (It took until October 2011 for Windows 7, released in 2009, to surpass Windows XP, released in 2001, as the most used Windows OS). With Windows 8, Microsoft is certainly hoping to avoid another Vista-like revolt.

In the days before Halloween 2012, Microsoft will begin to learn whether it has a fan favorite or a dud in its new operating system. Too, the Microsoft Surface tablet should also be out around October 26th, as Microsoft execs had promised that its first foray into hardware would be out concurrently with the new operating system; we'll also start seeing how well that tablet can sell, up against Apple's market-leading iPad (and perhaps a new iPad Mini).

October 26th, in other words, is one of the biggest days in Microsoft history. Mark your calendars.

Youth Prefers Texting !!!

Texting Dominates As Teens And Young Adults Make Fewer Phone Calls

Kids, you've heard of phone calls, right? Did you know that there's an app on your smartphone that lets you talk out loud to family and friends? Ask your grandparents about it.

We're being facetious, but it's true that the stereotype of a chatty teen or young adult spending hours talking on the phone is fading. Those interactions are being replaced by the image of a kid hunched over a handset, tapping out texts, emails, or Facebook messages.

Two new pieces of research highlight just how common that image has become.

A British study conducted by independent media regulator Ofcom found that among 16- to 24-year-olds, phone calls are being superseded by texts or other e-messages. Per the research, 96 percent use some form of text-based communication -- either though social networks (73 percent) or through traditional texting (90 percent) -- on a daily basis. By comparison, only 67 percent of that age group talks on the phone daily. Overall, total time spent on the phone declined 5 percent for Britons of all ages, the first such drop since the 1990s, according to The Guardian.

And new research from Pew finds similar trends among teens stateside. As NBC News explains, 63 percent of teens text every day, compared to only 39 percent making or taking cell phone calls daily. And it seems social networking (29 percent daily use) and instant messaging (22 percent) are increasingly taking up U.S. teens' time, too.

Taken together, these studies appear to foreshadow a time in the not-so-distant future when text-based messages are the norm and phone calls are thought of as a quaint, nonessential way to get in touch.

In fact, that day may come sooner than you think, if the chief executive of one of the largest American phone carriers is to be believed. "I'll be surprised if, in the next 24 months, we don't see people in the market place with data-only plans," AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said at a conference in June. "I just think that's inevitable."

Consider it the beginning of the end of the phone call as we know it, with teens leading the trend.

Barack Obama Proposes $1 Billion Effort To Boost Students' Achievement In Math, Science

             Master Teacher Corps

  

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration unveiled plans Wednesday to create an elite corps of master teachers, a $1 billion effort to boost U.S. students' achievement in science, technology, engineering and math.

The program to reward high-performing teachers with salary stipends is part of a long-term effort by President Barack Obama to encourage education in high-demand areas that hold the key to future economic growth — and to close the achievement gap between American students and their international peers.

Teachers selected for the Master Teacher Corps will be paid an additional $20,000 a year and must commit to participate multiple years. The goal is to create a multiplier effect in which expert educators share their knowledge and skills with other teachers, improving the quality of education for all students.

Speaking at a rally for his re-election campaign in San Antonio on Tuesday, Obama framed his emphasis on expanded education funding as a point of contrast with Republican challenger Mitt Romney, whom he accused of prioritizing tax cuts for the wealthy over reinvestment in the nation.

"I'm running to make sure that America has the best education system on earth, from pre-K all the way to post-graduate," Obama said. "And that means hiring new teachers, especially in math and science."

The administration will make $100 million available immediately out of an existing fund to incentivize top-performing teachers. Over the longer term, the White House said it plans to launch the program with $1 billion included in Obama's budget request for fiscal year 2013.

But the House and Senate both voted down Obama's budget earlier in the year, making it far from certain that Obama will be able to get congressional approval to spend $1 billion on master teachers.

An aide to Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, noted that the federal government already has more than 80 teacher quality programs and said it would be foolish to pump money into programs that may be duplicative or unproductive.

"Republicans share the president's goal of getting better teachers in the classroom," said Kline spokeswoman Alexandra Sollberger. "However, we also value transparency and efficient use of taxpayer resources."

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said he expected the two parties to come together to support achievement in areas of high demand.

"This initiative has nothing to do with politics," Duncan said. "It's absolutely in our country's best long-term economic interest to do a much better job in this area."

A report released in February by the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology found that the U.S. must increase by 34 percent the number of students receiving degrees in science, math and related fields to keep up with economic demand.

The program will start with 2,500 teachers divided up among 50 different sites, the White House said, but will grow to include 10,000 teachers over the next four years. Obama, in partnership with a coalition of groups including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, has set a goal of producing 100,000 additional math and science teachers over the next 10 years.

How Blind Photographers Like Chris Holmes Are Overcoming The Odds To Produce Stunning Images

At first it sounds almost like a oxymoron: if photography is the art of capturing a visual moment, how can someone who is blind be a successful photographer?

Yet a growing online community is full of examples of precisely that, as visually impaired snappers share their experiences of producing quality work against the odds.

But how, and why?

Chris Holmes became blind almost overnight at 14, due to a genetic eye disorder. A photographer since childhood, Holmes also happens to be one of Great Britain’s most successful Paralympic swimmers and a nine-times gold medalist.

A photograph by Chris Holmes of his dog Lottie in his office, preparing for the Olympics.

“It’s always marvellous to think about what you can do with a camera, how you can capture the essence of a moment”, he says.

Holmes talks a lot about the importance of the “energy stored within a moment” - it’s clear that for him, photography’s ability to freeze time is what's most important.

“We got underwater cameras when I was in pre-games training camp ahead of the Sydney games. I was lying on the bottom of the pool. You really get that sense of a different angle, I wanted to capture what it really was to be a swimmer in training, preparing for the Olympics.”

Without sight, Holmes uses his awareness of light, emotion and experience to take a shot.

“The light you get in Australia was a really sharp, bright light. When I was underwater, that light was captured and refracted and I saw the swimmer coming over the top of me as I caught the shot. It just made such a beautiful image. It had a real sense of liquidity to it - an image of the swimmer at one with the water.”

Paralympian Holmes takes his own self-portrait

There may not be many other Paralympian blind photographers out there, but the wealth of groups on sites like Flickr show Holmes is not alone in being visually impaired and snap-happy.

Visually-impaired photographers in the UK and Blind Photographers are two online go-tos for people to discuss and share their work online.

The latter has over 300 members, all of whom subscribe to Blind Photography’s Group Rules - namely, introducing yourself and sharing your own story.

he photos are as good and as varied as you'd find in any other Flickr trawl. Of some 10,000 items, domesticated holiday snaps mix with impeccable nature shots and atmospheric sepia landscapes. There’s more braille than in other groups, but otherwise it’s near-impossible to tell these photos have been taken by people who are blind.

Reading through the site’s forums shows the scale of the impact groups like this can have - the nature of photographers’ visual impairment is no more relevant than the lenses they prefer or favourite subject matter.

A user called Renaessance, who takes photos of live performance art, posts saying the group is a blessing to find, after “often feeling like an anomaly growing up as a visually impaired kid who wanted to make art.”

Kim Parkinson undertook an art history degree before being registered visually impaired, she says her condition means she lives “in a beautifully abstracted and tonally biased world, a bit like my light documents.”

The group’s founder is Timothy O’Brien, a legally blind photographer who “started the group out of curiosity with little expectation.” Within weeks, Blind Photographers had several active members and continues to grow.

The New York skyline, as shot by Chris Gampat, one of Blind Photography's members.

O' Brien says via email: “The community plays several positive roles. First and foremost, it is a source of support, both technical and personal, for members of the community. We can share experiences showing that challenges can be overcome and how.

"Secondly, we help the broader community understand what it means to be visually impaired and break the traditional stereotypes of blind people.”

This, it seems, is the nub: part of understanding blind photography is understanding the concept of blindness.

“Blindness, and visual impairment in general, encompasses a much wider spectrum of 'vision' than is generally understood," O’Brien explains.

"Some blind people have absolutely no sight, but many are able to perceive some visual information. I use my limited sight to build a mental image before I use the camera, a process I call stitching.

"Walking around the scene and interacting with the subject give me a feel for what the lens will see when I snap the shutter. So the major challenge for me is to make that mental image as accurate as possible so the camera can capture what I want it to.”

Blind photography may seem like a contradiction in terms, but for many, it’s as much of a hobby as if they had the benefit of sight. Commenting on the difference between using a camera before and after his blindness, Holmes says the intentions have always been the same: to try to catch essences, elements and moments.

Perhaps, it is the blind photographers that prove Dorothea Lange’s statement about the art true: The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera - or, in this case, vision.

5 Tips To Stop Wasting Food And Start Saving Money

 I am guilty of letting some things “go” in my fridge. I don’t finish all my salad greens, so they wilt and I throw them out or I find blue fuzzy mold in the sour cream, so I toss it. A little waste here and there feels harmless, but I certainly wouldn’t ever throw dollar bills in the trash can and, in a roundabout way, that’s what I’m doing when I throw out rotten food.

I bet if I figured out how much food I wasted over the course of a year, I might be a little more aggressive about using it all up. The average American wastes more than 200 pounds of food a year -- that’s a lot of wasted dollars too! Here are a few tips that may help you and me stop wasting food and money:

1. Check expiration dates before you buy: This may seem like a no-brainer, but often you’ll find varying expiration dates on identical products. Stores use expiration dates to indicate freshness, moving the newer products to the back of the shelf with the older ones within grabbing distance. If you want the ultimate in freshness, check the products behind what’s directly in front of you -- you may find fresher ones hidden there.

Find Out: How Closely Do You Need toFollow Food Expiration Dates?

2. At the meat counter ask for the freshest cuts: The meat behind the counter may look good (and chances are it probably is), but you can’t tell by looking how long it has been on display. You could ask the butcher how long it’s been there or you could ask for a fresher cut from the back. Your eyes and nose never lie -- meat starts to color after it’s been cut, so if beef looks dark or pork looks a little gray, avoid it and get another piece. It may be hard to smell if your meat is packaged, but if it has a strong odor, avoid it.

3. Store your food properly: Proper storage is key when it comes to making food last. Store raw meat in the meat drawer away from cooked food to avoid contamination and to keep the temperature consistently cold. Dairy items should be kept in the back of the fridge -- not on the door. Even dry goods don’t last forever. Canned and boxed foods are best kept in a cool, dark pantry away from heat; store things like nuts and whole-wheat flour in the fridge or freezer.

Read More: 5 Vegetables You Shouldn’t Keepin Your Refrigerator

4. Inspect food before you buy it: Ever come home and wonder why you bought an apple with a bruise on it? Or bread or berries with fuzz growing on them? It’s because you were shopping on autopilot. Take some time to look at what you are buying. Giving it a once-over will help you avoid disappointment (and save you time rebuying or returning the item) when you find flaws after your purchase.

5. Make a date with your refrigerator: Once your food is home, keep tabs on it. Move your perishables in plain view so you know what you have. Check the fridge before you go to the grocery store so you don’t purchase something new that you already have. Pick a day of the week to go through your fridge and see what’s in there and try to plan your meals around the stuff that’s nearing its expiration date.

How Closely Do You Need to Follow Food Expiration Dates?

Some people have a fear of snakes. Others are afraid of heights. For me, it’s spoiled food. I’m not claiming that this fear of mine is at all rational, but do I really need to be concerned?

There comes a time when everyone has to face their fears. And that’s going to start with a little digging into expiration dates. Do I really need to throw food away by the date printed on the carton? If not, how long do I have before it really goes bad? And what does “going bad” really mean? Is it unsafe?

Don’t Miss: 10Rules for a Healthy, Safe Kitchen

Here’s what I found that may surprise you:

1) Expiration dates aren’t required
I assumed that there is a regulatory process involved with expiration dates—hard and fast rules. This is not the case. According to the USDA, there is “no uniform or universally accepted system used for food dating in the United States,” although some states do require it, and there are dating regulations when it comes to infant formula.

2) Different dates have different meanings
“Sell-by” “Best if used by” and “use-by” have similar, but slightly different meanings. “Sell-by” is geared more toward the retailer, indicating to them when they should rotate product off the shelves. “Best if used by” is an indicator of quality (the food will not be “bad” after that date) and “use-by” is the last day the manufacturer recommends using the product based on quality, not safety.

3) How long will my food last if it goes past the expiration date?
That depends on what it is and how it was handled. The USDA recommends using products that display the “use-by date” by that time. For sell-by dates that go past at home, you can continue to store the food for a short amount of time depending on what it is. Some common products are: ground meat and poultry (1-2 days past the date), beef (3-5 days past the date), eggs (3-5 weeks past the date).

Related: WhichMilk Is the Best to Buy?

4) Could food lose its nutritional value before it’s expired?
That depends on the food. Take orange juice, for example. One cup of OJ can offer a full day’s dose of vitamin C. But after it’s been open for a week, it loses all antioxidant benefits from exposure to air and light. (And that could happen even before it reaches its expiration date.) 

 5) Is food safe after it expires?
Expiration dates refer to quality, not safety. For example, if a refrigerated product was kept below 40 degrees and was well packaged and handled, it may look and smell a little funny, but would not necessarily be considered unsafe. If it was left out on a warm counter for hours or contaminated by something else, it may harbor harmful bacteria that could cause food-borne illness. (Perishable foods should never be thawed on the counter for longer than 2 hours because, while the center of the food may remain frozen, the outer surface may enter the Danger Zone, the range of temperatures between 40° and 140°F, in which bacteria multiply rapidly.) For this same reason, you should never eat meat, poultry, eggs or sliced fresh fruits and vegetables that have been left out for more than 2 hours (1 hour in temperatures hotter than 90°F). But this could happen to any food and is not related to expiration dates.

5 Vegetables You Shouldn’t Keep in Your Refrigerator

1. Tomatoes

 

OK, a tomato is technically a fruit, but taste-wise, it’s closer to a vegetable. If you’ve ever grown tomatoes, then you know that they love the heat and hate the cold. Turns out even after they’re plucked from the vine, they still hold their aversion to cold. The fridge is not the ideal place to store tomatoes. Store them there and your perfect tomatoes turn into a mealy disappointment. They’ll still be good for cooking, but not the best for eating fresh. Instead store them on your counter (not in direct sunlight) and enjoy them when they’re ripe.

2. Basil                                    

Tomatoes and basil go well together on your plate and it turns out they have similar needs in the storage department too. Like tomatoes, basil loves the heat, so extended periods of time in a cold environment like a refrigerator causes it to wilt prematurely. Basil will do best if it’s stored on your counter and treated as you would fresh cut-flowers. A fresh bunch of basil can be stored for in a cup of water (change it every day or two) away from direct sunlight. Covering it loosely with a plastic bag will help keep it moist (but make sure the bag has an opening to allow for some fresh air to seep in).

3. Potatoes  

Potatoes like cool, not cold temperatures. They do best at around 45 degrees F, which is about 10 degrees warmer than the average refrigerator. Most of us don’t have a root cellar (a cool, dark place to store root vegetables like potatoes), so keeping them in a paper bag in a coolish spot (like a pantry) is best. Why paper? It’s more breathable then plastic so potatoes won’t succumb to rot as easily. And why not the fridge? Storing potatoes at cold temperatures converts their starch to sugar more quickly, which can affect the flavor, texture and the way they cook

4. Onions  

Onions don’t come out of the ground with that protective papery skin. To develop and keep that dry outer layer, they need to be “cured” and kept in a dry environment like a pantry, which is not as damp as the refrigerator. Also, lack of air circulation will cause onions to spoil, as will storing them near potatoes, which give off moisture and gas that can cause onions to spoil quickly. Store onions in a cool, dry, dark, well-ventilated place. (Light can cause the onions to become bitter.) Scallions and chives, however, have a higher water content, bruise more easily and have a shorter shelf life, so store these alliums in the fridge.

5. Avocados  

Avocados don’t start to ripen until after they’re picked from the tree. If you’re buying a rock-hard avocado, don’t store it in your refrigerator, as it slows the ripening process. On the other hand, if you have a perfectly ripe avocado that you’re not ready to use, storing it in the refrigerator may work to your advantage by prolonging your window of opportunity to use it before it becomes overripe. So the bottom line on storing avocados is store hard, unripe avocados on your counter and store ripe avocados in your refrigerator if you’re not going to eat them right away.

10 Rules for a Healthy, Safe Kitchen

1. Use a “refrigerator thermometer” to keep your food stored at a safe temperature (below 40°F).

Cold temperatures slow the growth of bacteria. Ensuring that your refrigerator temperature stays at 40°F or colder is one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of foodborne illness. You can buy a “refrigerator/freezer thermometer” at appliance stores, home centers (e.g., Home Depot) and kitchen stores—including online ones, such as cooking.com.

2. Defrost food in the refrigerator, the microwave or in cold water, never on the counter.

Perishable foods should never be thawed on the counter for longer than 2 hours because, while the center of the food may remain frozen, the outer surface may enter the Danger Zone, the range of temperatures between 40° and 140°F, in which bacteria multiply rapidly. If you’re short on time, use the microwave—or you can thaw meat and poultry in airtight packaging in cold water. Change the water every half hour (so it stays cold) and use the thawed food immediately.

3. Always use separate cutting boards for raw meat/poultry/fish and produce/cooked foods.

Bacteria from uncooked meat, poultry and fish can contaminate cooked foods and fresh produce. An important way to reduce this risk is to use separate cutting boards for raw meat/poultry/fish and produce/cooked foods.

4. Always cook meat to proper temperatures, using a calibrated instant-read thermometer to make sure.

One effective way to prevent illness is to use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of meat, poultry and egg dishes. The USDA Recommended Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures are as follows: beef, veal and lamb (steaks and roasts), fish, 145°F; pork and ground beef, 160°F; poultry, 165°F. In the EatingWell Test Kitchen we often recommend cooking meats like roasts and steaks to lower temperatures, closer to medium-rare, so that they retain their moisture. However, we recommend that those who are at high risk for developing foodborne illness—pregnant women and their unborn babies and newborns, young children, older adults, people with weakened immune systems or certain chronic illnesses—follow the USDA guidelines.

5. Avoid unpasteurized (“raw”) milk and cheeses made from unpasteurized milk that are aged less than 60 days.

Raw milk is milk from cows, sheep or goats that has not been pasteurized (heated to a very high temperature for a specific length of time) to kill harmful bacteria that may be present. These bacteria—which include salmonella, E. coli and listeria—can cause serious illness and sometimes even death. The bacteria in raw milk can be especially dangerous to pregnant women, children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. Raw-milk cheeses aged 60 days or longer are OK, since the salt and acidity of the cheesemaking process make for a hostile environment to pathogens.

6. Never eat “runny” eggs or foods, such as cookie dough, that contain raw eggs.

Even eggs that have clean, intact shells may be contaminated with salmonella, so it’s important to cook eggs thoroughly until both the yolk and the white are firm. Casseroles and other dishes containing eggs should be cooked to 160°F (use an instant-read food thermometer to check). In the EatingWell Test Kitchen, we don’t always recommend cooking eggs fully. However, we recommend that those who are at high risk for developing foodborne illness—pregnant women and their unborn babies and newborns, young children, older adults, people with weakened immune systems or certain chronic illnesses—follow the USDA guidelines. If you can’t resist runny eggs—or sampling cookie batter—use pasteurized eggs. They’re found near other eggs in large supermarkets.

7. Always wash your hands in warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds before handling food and after touching raw meat, poultry or eggs.

You can pick up a lot of bacteria out in the world, so it’s important to always wash your hands before you eat or prepare food. You should also wash your hands after touching any uncooked meat, poultry and fish or eggs, as bacteria from these foods can contaminate cooked foods and fresh produce. Use soap and warm water and wash thoroughly—for at least 20 seconds.

8. Always heat leftover foods to 165ºF.

The USDA recommends heating all cooked leftovers to 165°F in order to kill all potentially dangerous bacteria.

9. Never eat meat, poultry, eggs or sliced fresh fruits and vegetables that have been left out for more than 2 hours (1 hour in temperatures hotter than 90°F).

If you leave perishable foods out of the refrigerator or freezer for more than 2 hours they may enter the Danger Zone—the unsafe temperatures between 40° and 140°F, in which bacteria multiply rapidly.

10. Whenever there’s a food recall, check products stored at home to make sure they are safe.

You should discard any food that’s been recalled because it’s associated with the outbreak of a foodborne illness. But according to a survey conducted by Rutgers University during the fall of 2008, only about 60 percent of Americans search their homes for foods that have been recalled because of contamination.

Which Milk Is Best to Buy?

As surprising as it may seem, considering I’m a dietitian and nutrition editor of EatingWell Magazine, my preferred variety of milk is the chocolate kind, especially after a workout. It delivers the mix of protein and carbohydrate our bodies need to recover energy supplies after an intense workout.

But at the grocery store, my choices don’t just stop at plain versus chocolate milk. There’s also fat content to consider and milk labeled organic, RBST-free and lactose-free. And beyond the grocery store, there’s the raw milk versus pasteurized milk debate. With so many choices, how do you know which one you should buy? This guide will help you cut through the confusion.

      Whole milk, reduced-fat milk, low-fat milk or nonfat milk?

Consider whole milk—which delivers 150 calories and 8 grams fat (5 grams saturated) per cup—a once-in-a-while treat. Nutrition experts recommend drinking low-fat (1%) milk (100 calories, 2.5 grams fat) or nonfat milk (80 calories, 0.5 gram fat) to limit intake of the saturated fats that boost risk of heart disease. Infants under age 2, however, who need extra fat to support a developing brain, should drink whole milk.

And don’t be fooled: reduced-fat (2%) milk is not a low-fat food. One cup has 5 grams fat, 3 of them the saturated kind. You won’t miss out on milk’s nutritional boons when you opt for low-fat or nonfat milk (sometimes called “skim”): per cup, all varieties deliver about one-third of the recommended daily value for calcium and at least 20 percent of the daily value for riboflavin, phosphorus and vitamin D.

Organic or not?

Polls suggest people associate organic milk with superior nutrition, better treatment of animals and a healthier planet. But there’s no evidence that organic milk is more nutritious. While preliminary research has suggested that grass-fed cows produce milk with more vitamin E and heart-healthy omega-3 fats than cows fed grains, organic standards don't require that cows be solely grass-fed. (Farmers must use organic fertilizers and pesticides and may not give cows preventive antibiotics or supplemental growth hormones; animals must have access to the outdoors year-round and at least 120 days per year of grazing.)

rBST-free or not?

The claim “rBST-free” indicates milk produced without using the artificial growth hormone recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST. Giving this hormone to a cow boosts its milk production by about five quarts per day. Some consumers believe that treating cows with the supplemental hormone is inhumane, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maintains that treating cows with rBST does not harm the animals—or significantly affect the hormone content of milk. In fact, all milks—even from cows not treated with rBST—contain naturally-occurring hormones. Note: All organic milks are rBST-free, but not all rBST-free milks are organic (i.e., farmers may use pesticides, fertilizers, etc.).

Lactose-free?

This type of milk is basically regular cow’s milk minus lactose, the natural sugar in milk. It provides all the same healthful nutrients (e.g., protein and calcium), just not the sugar that stokes digestive problems for up to 50 million Americans.

Raw vs. pasteurized?

During pasteurization, milk is heated to high temperatures (>161°F) then rapidly cooled to kill harmful bacteria, including salmonella, E.coli 0157:H7 and listeria. While raw-milk enthusiasts claim heating milk destroys its natural enzymes and beneficial bacteria, studies show that the nutritional differences between pasteurized and raw milk are slight. What’s more, public health experts warn that drinking raw milk is like playing Russian roulette. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that raw milk accounted for 1,007 illnesses and two deaths between 1998 and 2005. And when USDA scientists collected raw milk samples from 861 farms in 21 states, nearly a quarter of them contained bacteria linked to human illness, including 5 percent that tested positive for Listeria—a bacterium that results in a foodborne illness, listeriosis, and has a 30 percent mortality rate.