Seeing colorful, fresh and just plain beautiful fruits and veggies, like those in this ad for butter, tempts us to run to the market and stock up for our healthy eating endeavors - but what do you do when that produce nears its expiration date?

When seeking to understand some of the issues with today's school lunches, we thought we'd go straight to a top U.S. "lunch lady." Joni Davis, Child Nutrition Supervisor for the Sioux Falls, South Dakota School District accepted a Bronze Award in the USDA’s Healthier U.S. School Challenge as she attended a White House reception hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama to recognize the accomplishment. Best Food Facts spoke with Joni to get her thoughts on the importance of providing healthful diets for our school children.

Answer our latest poll - how much water do you drink? 

When it comes to sodium, Best Food Facts experts agree: we need to pay attention to sodium levels in the foods we eat. To decrease sodium consumption, experts encourage choosing foods closest to their natural state and checking labels for foods with less sodium.

Best Food Facts recently received a reader question from Margie asking, "Why is carrageenan added to so many dairy foods? My daughter is allergic."

To answer the question, we reached out to Dr. Roger Clemens, Adjunct Professor, Pharmacology & Pharmaceutical Sciences, USC School of Pharmacy.

We received the following inquiry from DeLyla regarding the white film on carrots:

"What is the scoop regarding baby carrots made from deformed carrots and then added bleach to them? Then, after a few days in your refrigerator the carrots get a white film on them? Is this chlorine and is it safe or does this cause health issues and or cancer?"

We’ve been seeing some recent articles touting pickle juice as an aid to reduce muscle cramping. And companies are marketing the juice as a sports drink. To determine whether pickle juice packs this kind of a punch, we asked nationally renowned expert on nutrition and fitness Dr. Liz Applegate, Director of Sports Nutrition at the University of California-Davis, to weigh in on the topic.