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Front-of-the-box nutrition logos are supposed to help you make healthier choices. But the Food and Drug Administration wonders if they're just misleading.

Amid those concerns, a national nutrition labeling program called Smart Choices, which had been embraced by big food companies, announced it was suspending operations. The program rolled out in August and awarded a green check mark to foods that met low fat, sugar or sodium content. But alarm bells sounded when sugary cereals got the green check, too.

Now the FDA is studying ways to regulate varying front food label nutritional facts from manufacturers and grocers.

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Some people actually like it. Others, of course, feel it violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

Stanford University pediatrician Alan Greene, the author of "Feeding Baby Green," nonetheless insists that drinking carrot juice and consuming other healthy stuff during pregnancy can help overcome children's classic resistance to vegetables.

Parents of children with wheat allergies take note: Unilever is recalling tubs of ice cream sold throughout the United States because it may contain undeclared wheat.

According to a release from Unilever, the parent company of Breyers, the packages of ice cream were mislabeled. The lid of the tub says the ice cream inside is "Breyers All Natural Cookies and Cream," but the tub itself, which is what most of us see when we're looking straight into a grocery store freezer, describes the contents as "Breyers All Natural Mint Chocolate Chip."

The latest nutritional bogeyman is partially hydrogenated oil, also called trans-fat. Hello, increased risk of heart disease!

But what about salt, that evildoer of yesteryear that seems to have disappeared from our list of worries?

Have we been lulled into a false sense of security when it comes to the white stuff? Or is salt -- whether regular, iodized or sea salt -- actually a perfectly safe flavor-enhancer?

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Choline is a nutrient similar to Vitamin B that has been found to have a positive effect on early development. The human body produces some choline and it is also found in breast milk, many common foods and is available as a dietary supplement.

How Choline interacts with other nutrients is yet to be fully understood, but it is believed to help produce the neurotransmitter that sends signals from nerve cells to other cells, a function essential for memory and other brain functions. In addition, Choline has been found to have a positive effect on the liver by protecting it from accumulating fat and possibly even reversing certain types of damage.

Researchers are currently studying Choline to determine if it might help prevent memory loss associated with aging, lower cholesterol levels and protect against some types of cancers. Choline may also help minimize sleeping problems, reduce chronic inflammation and prevent heart disease and stroke.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has yet to determine a recommended daily allowance for choline, but the National Academy of Sciences has established and made available guidelines for adequate intake. Too much choline in the diet has been found to cause low blood pressure, diarrhea and a fishy body odor.

Choline can be found in many foods, including beef liver, eggs, cauliflower, peanut butter and tofu.

Baby food maker Plum Organics has issued a voluntary recall of a portion of the Apple and Carrot Baby Food in Portable Pouches currently on shelves.

According to a company press release, an incorrect mix of the apples and carrots in one particular batch of the food created a risk for botulism contamination.

Food-borne botulism represents 15 percent of the cases of botulism in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it can be fatal. Often associated with home canning mishaps, the creation of Clostridium botulinum, the bacteria which causes botulism most often crops up when low-acid content foods are canned. Although Plum Organics' food scientist Dr. Paul Gerhardt said there was a minimal risk in this case, he admitted this batch does not meet the FDA's guidelines for proper acidity level.

A voluntary Plum Organics Baby Food recall has been announced by Plum Organics in cooperation with U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Some batches of its Apple & Carrot Portable Pouch baby food may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium that can cause botulism.

The Plum Organics Baby Food recall applies only to the 4.22 oz. Apple & Carrot Portable Pouch baby food with a "best by" date of May 21, 2010. The recalled packages have the universal product code (UPC) #890180001221 located on the bottom of the package and were sold individually at Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us locations nationally.

There have been no illnesses reported in connection with the Plum Organics Baby Food recall and no other products are affected. In addition to the recall, Plum Organics has tested every other product manufactured prior to and after this batch and found them to be safe.

Consumers affected by the Plum Organics Baby Food recall should return their product to any Toys-R-Us or Babies-R-Us store for a full refund. For more information, contact Plum Organics at 888-974-3555 between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm PST, or email them at info@plumorganics.com.

Visit AOL Health learn more about food poisoning and food safety and the 10 dirtiest foods you're eating. Plus, visit ParentDish's Alerts and Recalls for more information and updates.

A 4-month-old baby boy whose weight is in the 99th percentile is being denied health insurance because he is "obese."

Alex Lange weighed 8 and 1/4 pounds when he was born, but on a diet of breast milk this healthy baby now weights about 17 pounds and is 25-inches long, which puts him in the 99th percentile for both height and weight.

And for that reason alone he is being denied health insurance, according to The Denver Post. Alex's parents, Bernie and Kelli Lange, sought a new health insurance carrier when their current plan's price increased by 40 percent. They never expected that their healthy family would be denied because of Alex's size.

Bernie Lange, a a part-time news anchor at KKCO-TV in Grand Junction, Colo., told the newspaper that the broker they hired to help them find a new carrier delivered some shocking news.

"'Your baby is too fat,' she told me," the dad said.

What 5-year-old doesn't love a tea party? But there is caffeine in tea ... which seems like an iffy idea for little ones. No?

Hmmm, well ... is a little spot of tea for children bad, and if so, how bad? To find out, I phoned Mommy Advisor Christine Palumbo, a nutritionist in private practice in a Chicago suburb, who's an adjunct faculty member at Benedictine University.

"Weak [caffeinated] tea is fine," said Palumbo, "Or, if a mother is concerned about caffeine she can always purchase decaffeinated tea." Palumbo had other ideas to get the nutritional nod of approval.

No treats for you!

The New York City Department of Education has banned bake sales during school hours. Why? Because the kids are too fat, they say.

According to The New York Times, "Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has made both public health and public education centerpieces of his tenure, and the changes in the schools' food are an outgrowth of his efforts to curb trans fats, salt and other unwanted food additives."

That's all well and good. But the idea that not allowing cookie sales during school hours is kooky.

What makes more sense is taking the junk food out of vending machines, which is another piece of the new regulations. I actually don't understand why vending machines are present in schools at all, although my guess is that it makes money for the school.

What is going on with sugar? We're suddenly being inundated with ads for soft drinks and other products touting that they use "real sugar!" Is sugar not so bad then, at least when compared to the near-ubiquitous food additive high-fructose corn syrup? And what about honey, pure maple syrup, and agave nectar -- are these natural sweeteners ("natural" because they all contain some form of real sugar) a healthier option for you and your kids?

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Sugar: Too much sugar can lead to not only tooth decay, but type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity and depressive symptoms. Cut way back and you'll be putting yourself and your kids on the road to better health. Drink water instead of soft drinks. Eat fruit instead of snack cakes. Buy plain yogurt and add your own fruit and nuts. Little changes like this add up.

The peanut-butter aisle used to be a simple place. In fact it wasn't an aisle, there were just a few jars -- the kind Mom used to use, and the other kind. But now there's a panoply of peanut (and other nut-) butters, none of which my regular-peanut-butter-loving children will eat.

And if we're telling the truth, does anyone relish the separated kind of peanut butter where the oil floats on top and gets all over your hands as you try in vain to stir it without having it run down the side of the jar? But the natural kind looks so ... healthy. It seems like the peanut butter that gets you an A+ in lunch-making.

But is it wrong to give the kids what they want, which incidentally is the same brand Mom used to buy?