Peking Duck a Lifesaver?

Apparently.

This is especially confusing given the carcinogenic qualities of other red dyes in food (do you remember all the schoolyard urban legends surrounding the color of ketchup chips? They chilled my eight year old bones).

But red yeast rice, that lends peking duck its appetizing burnished color, dramatically cuts the risk of heart disease and cancer in patients according to a recent study in the American Journal of Cardiology. In fact the red yeast even outdoes statins at the job.

Crazy talk. I know. 

Except that red yeast rice has been used by the Chinese for over a thousand years as a herbal medicine and spice. If a country has the smarts to invent noodles, don’t you think they can figure out when a flame colored yeast keeps illness at bay? I do.