eyeliam via flickr

The kids-in-restaurants issue always seems to cause one of the most ferocious debates surrounding dining. Parents feel as though restaurants are unwelcoming to families; diners without children feel as though kids are likely to ruin their meals at adjoining tables. And don't even get started on what servers think.

A restaurant in Virginia has taken the bold step of simply denying entry to anyone under 18. The Sushi Bar, a restaurant that opened this week, won't allow kids at all. The reasoning is that the owners feel as though if parents need a night out, away from their own kids, then it's not fair to make them deal with other people's children once they're at a restaurant.

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Kraft

Capri Sun comes in 14 flavors, not including Moldy

What's grosser than gross? When you open your Capri Sun and find five types of fungus in it!

A recent examination of the unexpected contents of the popular kids drink was spawned by reports of consumers finding mold -- we're talking mats of fungus consisting of millions of cells -- in the beverage, Yahoo News reports.

While absolutely disgusting, the fungi probably aren't harmful to most people, said study researcher Kathleen Dannelly, associate professor of microbiology at Indiana State University.

"Probably, those of us with healthy immune systems, we could even eat that, and that wouldn't be a problem," Dannelly said, referring to the fungal mats.

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E. Dwass

Disclaimers on TV commercials are common these days. From car ads warning us "do not attempt," to a toothpaste spot cautioning consumers to "use as directed," there's a lot of fine print accompanying the spiels. There's even one for mascara informing us that the lush lashes depicted onscreen are actually the result of false eyelash inserts, not the product being pushed.

But the ad disclaimer that worried us the most is for Cuties, the very popular seedless citrus fruit. No doubt you've seen the current campaign, which uses adorable kids to sell produce. The four spots promote the idea that Cuties are kid-friendly: "Kids love Cuties. Because Cuties are made for kids." But one of the ads in the series seems to represent a major mistake.

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Flickr/bingbing

Children's favorite salty snack?

In the "duh" study of the week, Medpage Today reports that kids and teens who eat salty foods are more likely to crave sugary drinks, potentially raising their risk for obesity, according to Australian researchers.

The study of 4,283 Australian children ages 2 to 16 found salt consumption was positively associated with drinking sugar-sweetened beverages, according to Caryl Nowson, Ph.D., of Deakin University in Victoria, Australia, and colleagues. It also increased their obesity risk by 26%.

And -- now this is stunning -- the more salt they ate, the more sugary drinks they drank! For every 1 gram of salt consumed, kids drank 17 grams of sugar-sweetened beverages. The findings were published in the journal Pediatrics.

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via Hasbro

Easy-Bake Oven

Are Hasbro's Easy-Bake Ovens just for girls? Their pink and purple color scheme might suggest so, along with ads and packaging that show only girls playing with the classic toy. Of course, that hasn't stopped generations of pie-curious boys from experimenting with baked goods at a young age.

But now, New Jersey 13-year-old McKenna Pope is petitioning Hasbro to release a gender-neutral version of the Easy-Bake Oven, due to her little brother, 4-year-old Gavyn Boscio, who loves to bake but is turned off by the current Easy-Bake Oven because "only girls play with it."

A petition that Pope filed on Change.org last week has already gained 30,000 signatures, plus the support of several high-profile chefs nationwide (including Bobby Flay). A video released this morning by PR firm Bullfrog and Baum shows several other chefs getting in on the action, including some from Los Angeles. Watch the video below, and watch for cameo appearances by Stella Rossa Pizza chef Jeff Mahin and Joshua Whigham of The Bazaar.

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Frito-Lay

A special new version of the iconic snack

In the third sign of the Apocalypse (Paul Ryan was the first, Frankenstorm second), PepsiCo.'s Frito-Lay has come out with a new caffeinated version of Cracker Jack called Cracker Jack'D.

We'll give that a moment to sink in.

The new Cracker Jack'D Power Bites (Cocoa Java or Vanilla Mocha) flavor contains as much caffeine in each 2-ounce serving as a cup of coffee -- 70 milligrams, the FDA limit for a 12-ounce serving of cola. That could mean kids could get an overdose of caffeine if they consume more than one serving at a time (highly likely), warns the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit nutrition activist group based in Washington, D.C. that is going absolutely apeshit.

"Whether or not they are advertised directly to children, it is certain that young children will consume Cracker Jack'D ... and sometimes consume it to excess," CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson wrote executives at Frito-Lay and parent company PepsiCo.

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Courtesy Garden School Foundation

The 24th Street Elementary School garden.

A quest to win over the hearts, minds and palates of young Angelenos? Maybe so. In collaboration with the Garden School Foundation and its new Kickstarter campaign to publish a guide to garden-based learning, chef Michael Voltaggio (ink., ink.sack.) will pitch in at the GSF's next community workday at the 24th Street Elementary School tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 17.

Voltaggio will be on hand from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. for a cooking demo using produce grown in the school's stunning garden, which in no small part derives its own character thanks to the consistent hum of the 10 freeway a few feet away and downtown L.A. clearly visible a few miles to the east. This one acre-plus plot is a study in contrasts and how cultivated dirt beats acres of blacktop concrete schoolyard jungle; in other words, it's a model of a needed refuge in the heart of the city that also functions as a living classroom.

And as for the kids? They love it, naturally.

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Flickr/hiwarz

A potentially deadly PBJ

Rich kids raised in hyper-clean homes are more likely to develop peanut allergy, a preliminary study suggests.

The researchers said their findings support the theory that lack of exposure to germs during early childhood increases the future risk of allergies, U.S. News & World Report says. This "hygiene hypothesis" holds that living in an overly hygienic home may suppress the normal development of a child's immune system.

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Flickr/Calgary Reviews

A bowl of Flamin Hot Cheetos

School districts in California, New Mexico and Illinois are trying to ban the popular snack "food" Flamin' Hot Cheetos because they say it is a health hazard to students. That includes elementary schools in Pasadena -- the principal of Andrew Jackson Elementary there told KTLA News that if students are caught bringing Flamin' Hot Cheetos to school, the snacks will be confiscated. (And "stored" in the teachers' lounge?)

What's the beef? Each snack-size bag contains 26 grams of fat and a quarter of the amount of sodium recommended for an entire day. On top of the enticing artificial coloring and flavoring, some experts say that the high fat and salt content makes the Cheetos "hyperpalatable," meaning highly addictive. Kid crack, in other words.

"Our brain is really hardwired to find things like fat and salt really rewarding and now we have foods that have them in such high levels that it can trigger an addictive process," Ashley Gearhardt, a clinical psychologist at the University of Michigan, told ABC News.

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Flickr/Ben Sutherland

Broccoli, or Tiny Tasty Tree Tops

Kids, kids, kids. If Tom Sawyer told you it was fun to paint a fence, would you do it for him while he kicked back? Clearly, you would.

A new study suggests that spicing up the names of vegetables, such as calling broccoli "Power Punch Broccoli," will get kids to eat them more, ABC News reports.

The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, exposed more than 1,000 kids in seven New York elementary schools to lunchtime vegetable choices with and without innovative names like "Silly Dilly Green Beans," "Tiny Tasty Tree Tops" and "X-ray Vision Carrots."

Kids exposed to the "re-branded" veggies ate twice as many compared to vegetables listed only as "Food of the Day." Marketing manipulation starts young!

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