Batch of links

- Nutrition labels are about to change! The FDA’s new requirements are outlined here. The new labels, which most products should have by 2021, will distinguish different types of fats, will show the percentage of calories from added sugar specifically, and will update serving sizes as well as daily nutrient requirements. I’m most excited about added sugars because I’m hoping this will help me identify whether some products (yogurts come to mind) have either lactose or other types of sugar, in addition to limiting foods that I deem less healthy.

- I really enjoyed this article in Bon Appétit about how there’s an entire industry dedicated to making foods crispy.

- The same issue had an awesome spread on tacos, including recipes for duck carnitas tacos with radish escabeche and goat birria tacos with cucumber pico de gallo (I’d love to eat those, but I just don’t see myself buying a 10-lb goat leg).

- You can now get an 11-layer Christmas dinner in a can, complete with chocolate cake, but why would you want to?

- A neat video about how Trader Joe’s gets you hooked. So true.

- Had you heard that the average human temperature isn’t 98.6 °F anymore? It seems to be about a degree lower now, so that a “normal” read might actually be a fever. I don’t know if/when regular protocols will be updated, though.

- I talked about the importance of recognizing names last time, so I both enjoyed and was upset by this article titled Ottawa man caught in a 2-year tussle over birth name. This is essentially a case of discrimination, with the Government of Canada refusing to recognize French-Catholic tradition that has been in place in the country for hundreds of years.

- Why is it so difficult to get new glasses or contact lenses in the U.S.? This was eye-opening (pardon the pun).

- Finally, I’m all for voters being more informed, which is why I really appreciate Chris Evans’s newest project, A Starting Point. There was an article about it in Wired recently; in essence, Evans, along with partners Mark Kassen and Joe Kiani, are putting together a website where politicians have one minute to answer questions and explain their point of view on various topics. This includes politicians from all over the spectrum, and their answers are fact-checked before going online. That being said, I can see potential flaws with this idea, as this Daily Beast article was quick to point out. The site goes live March 14th, and I hope it works as planned.