February is American Heart Month, dedicated to the serious matter of monitoring and taking care of our beating hearts. This is important because while heart disease has claimed fewer lives in recent years, it is still the nation’s number one killer — responsible for 616,000 deaths annually. However, almost as if to prove that no good intention goes unpunished, February is also National Snack Food Month. And America truly “hearts” its snack foods. In spite of the recent disappearance of Twinkies and Ho Hos, there are about 570 snack food manufacturers across the country in the $25 billion a year business of testing America’s willpower or lack of it. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.