Misnomer

Pistachio-almond is one of Baskin Robbin's classic 31 flavors.

Upon closer inspection, two oddities emerge.

First, the product's official description is: "a nutty combination of pistachio-flavored ice cream and roasted almonds."

That's right, the nut pieces you see are almonds, not pistachios.

Then there's the ingredient list, from which pistachios are entirely missing:

"Cream, nonfat milk, almonds, sugar, corn syrup, natural & artificial flavor, blue 1, yellow 5, cellulose gum, mono and diglycerides, guar gum, carrageenan, polysorbate 80."

It's not just ice cream chains pulling this trick.

I recently stopped by a well-known New York City vegan restaurant and ordered a delicious-sounding spinach-almond-banana-soy milk smoothie to go.

As I watched the smoothie man concoct my beverage, I was slightly crushed to see it didn't contain actual almonds, but rather a few drops of almond extract.

I think I now understand how Milli Vanilli fans felt when the lip-syncing scandal broke...

Pistachio SOS

This handy website -- courtesy of the Food & Drug Administration and California pistachio growers -- provides a list of pistachio products and brands that are safe to consume in light of last week's recall.

While you're at it, bookmark the ever-growing list of products and brands containing peanut butter that should be avoided.

I briefly corresponded with Marion Nestle late last week about the peanut butter recall, and specifically asked her when she thought it would become a thing of the past.

Citing the ingredient's long shelf life (certainly much longer than, say, beef), she predicted several more months of careful treading until supermarket shelves are in the clear.

Numbers Game: Answer

How many pistachio nuts make up a 1-ounce, 158-calorie serving?

Answer: 49

That's more than double the amount of almonds that make up a 1-ounce serving!

Although all nuts are wonderful additions to a diet and share similar caloric values per ounce (between 140 - 150 calories), pistachios stand out because it takes a LOT of them to add up to that weight.

They are particularly helpful for people cutting back on total calories who psychologically need to see a lot of food in front of them to feel "properly full."

Consider this: you can get the same amount of calories in 49 pistachios in just three Oreo cookies! It also doesn't hurt that you get 6 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber, and 7% of the Daily Value of iron.

Numbers Game: Strength In Numbers

How many pistachio nuts make up a 1-ounce, 158-calorie serving?

a) 17
b) 49
c) 26
d) 30

Leave your guess in the "comments" section and come back on Friday for the answer.