Sauerkraut’s being touted as a wonder food these days, maybe even an antidote to avian flu. First came the Polish Women’s Health Study, showing an association between sauerkraut consumption and a reduced risk of breast cancer.

Then came the discovery that kimchi, a South Korean cousin to sauerkraut, may fight off bird flu; after 13 bird flu-infected chickens were fed kimchi for one week, 11 of the birds appeared to recover. The buzz about sauerkraut’s benefits sent sales soaring in the U.S. and Britain.