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Your diet goes mobile

Chinese products out

Trader Joe's officials announced last week that the California-based grocery chain will stop offering some Chinese-grown food products because of customer concerns about safety. Garlic, frozen organic spinach and other "single ingredient" food items from China will be phased out by April 1, although products that include ingredients from both China and other sources will remain. China's exports have come under intense scrutiny in the past year after lead or dangerous chemicals were found in goods ranging from dog food to toys and toothpaste. Trader Joe's has stores in Cary and Chapel Hill.

Be like Mike: Cook

You can take the superstar out of the South, but you can't take the South out of the superstar, it seems. In the March issue of Bon Appetit, Michael Jordan answers a few questions for "Feedback," the magazine's last page column. The basketball star-turned-restaurateur responds to a query about his North Carolina roots by saying, "When I was living in Chicago while playing for the Bulls, I found people didn't cook. In the South, everybody cooks. So I'm very accustomed to down-home cooking and preparing whatever your household enjoys."

Last week, Diet.com launched Nutrition on the Go, a text-messaging service that lets you check out the calories, carbs and fat of common items at 1,700 places. Send a text message to 34381 with the name of the restaurant and the item you plan to order. The results can be shocking: A tuna sandwich on honey wheat bread at Panera has 720 calories, 43 grams of fat and 50 grams of carbs, for example. The system has some bugs, and draws blanks at times. Want to test it online? http://diet.com/mobile/.