Pathetic Gesture in FDA Legistlation Puts People Last

The House passed a very weak and pathetic food safety bill. It was supposed to help the FDA get some teeth, resources and authority after the beef, spinach, pepper and peanut calamities of the last 2 years. It was supposed to help prevent food borne illness from spreading. Food borne illness that killed kids and seniors in the case of the peanut paste recall. We should be trumpeting this, except...

WASHINGTON -- The House passed legislation to give the Food and Drug Administration more authority and resources to prevent food-borne illnesses after a string of outbreaks involving peanuts, spinach, hot peppers and other foods.

The 283-142 vote came after lawmakers from rural districts won concessions that would exempt farms from paying a registration fee, curb the FDA's access to farm records and limit its ability to set production standards to only the foods most likely to be contaminated.

The legislation also exempts farms and food facilities regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Senate isn't expected to act on similar legislation until later this year.

So let me get this straight, the FDA can't...
inspect farms
inspect farm records
and is limited in setting any production standards for farms and food facilities
and can only inspect foods and facilities that are most likely to be bad? And who determines that?

Meanwhile big industrial food companies grow and grow, factory farms are free to keep up their unhealthy practices. Be ready for a new recall or scandal soon ladies and gents. This bill will do very little to change anything, and the system as it stands in unsustainable.

cross posted from FL

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Poison Peanut Round Up

I've been following the PCA Recall of Peanut Paste etc. with great interest (and shock and horror.) The story gets worse at every turn. There are now some 500+ people who have gotten sick, at least 8 have died. And the recall will be the largest in American history.

We are looking at some 30 Million lbs of product so far.

and in the latest round up of reporting on the issue...

Products sent to our troops being recalled to the tune of 50,000 meals.

It turns out that the FDA waited on announcing the recall until the company responsible, Peanut Corp of America, cleared the wording of the announcement?!? That's right, we had to ask the criminals first before we could take care of getting the tainted product off the shelves.

You can download an excel sheet or visit the FDA site for the HUGE and growing list of recalled products. In case you haven't checked your cupboards yet, do so asap-- and remember they have pushed the date of the beginning of the recall back to products from 2 years ago till now.

In addition to the salmonella issue it appears that PCA had products rejected by Canada for containing METAL in their peanut paste.

Grandparents and children Half of the folks that got sick are under the age of 10 and all of the people who have died from the salmonella laden products are over the age of 59.

The FDA has to be better funded and better run. New news is breaking that Parnell, the CEO of Peanut Corp was actually given the job of heading the Peanut Board at the FDA. Insane.

PCA has a second plant that was never even licensed, but has been operating for decades.

The AP has video of this plant, and quotes from President Obama on the need to revamp the FDA.

As I have said before and will continue to say-- it is long past time to take a good long look at the industrial food chain and what we have come to accept as the food business. It is long past time to turn to more local and sustainable solutions. It is long past time to go back to eating food and not food products.

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More Bad Beef

E.Coli Magnified Photo From HealthNews-Stat.com

Two more E. coli related beef recalls. The most serious effecting kids at a scout camp. The second is a recall of beef sold in June in Whole Foods stores. People have gotten sick on ground beef purchased from Whole foods in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

At least 73 people who attended the popular camp at Goshen Scout Reservation in the Blue Ridge Mountains have reported falling ill, Virginia officials said. So far, the E. coli infection has been confirmed in one adult from Maryland and 21 children from Virginia. Eight were hospitalized.

The outbreak began between July 20 and July 26, and may have continued into the next week, health officials said.

The first week, 1,647 scouts, leaders and staff members attended the camp, with 1,310 participants the next week, according to the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Boy Scout officials closed the camp Sunday.

Since spring 2007, more than 19,500 tons of E. coli-tainted beef have been recalled in more than 30 separate incidents, according to Seattle attorney and food safety expert William D. Marler.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced Monday that it was investigating six cases of E. coli that might be linked to a multi-state outbreak involving tainted meat from Nebraska Beef of Omaha. So far, at least 50 people have been sickened.

"Nobody I've talked to has any idea why we're seeing an increase, though everybody has a different theory," Marler said. "The meat industry basically has no answers. It's pretty frustrating -- there'll be some hand-wringing, a bunch of lawsuits and nothing will be done until three months later, when it all happens again." -- Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

So when are we going to really investigate all these industrial food safety incidents? When are we going to crack down on corporate perpetrators of unsafe, unsanitary practices? This is the kind of thing that people just don't really get their heads around and yet this food is in our fridges, at our restaurants, at the summer camps where we send our kids.

I will say it again, there needs to be a MAJOR overhaul of our food system and our food safety monitoring institutions. The Marler quote above says that no one knows why this stuff is happening more frequently?!

WTF? Gut departments that are responsible for health and safety and then put incompetent people in the driver's seat for 8 years and you wonder why this is happening?! I know exactly why it is happening more often. What I want to know is what are we going to do about it?

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Bennigan's Liquidates in Huge Restaurant Chapter 7 Filing

Chicago Tribune photo by Tom Van Dyke / July 29, 2008

Bennigan's, Steak and Ale To Liquidate as Glutted Restaurant Industry Shakes Out

After filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the parent company of national chains Bennigan's and Steak and Ale on Tuesday shut hundreds of restaurants, putting thousands of employees out of work.

The filing marked one of the largest Chapter 7 bankruptcies of a restaurant chain in recent history, according to restaurant consultancy Technomic, and is the most extreme sign yet of how midprice, sit-down restaurants are undergoing one of their worst periods in decades. Challenger, Gray & Christmas says the resulting layoffs constitute the sixth-largest mass job cut of the year.--JEFFREY MCCRACKEN and JANET ADAMY

This is bad in so many ways. While I am no fan of big chains the 9,000++ folks that just lost their jobs are going to be hit hard. Students, struggling families, these are the folks busting their asses for minimum wage. And according to the story staff were given no notice at all of the shut down.

Bennigan's, owned by privately held Metromedia Restaurant Group, collapsed in a particularly dramatic fashion Tuesday. Managers of restaurants across the country were awakened by midnight phone calls telling them to shutter their stores immediately, according to interviews with several restaurant managers.--By Michael Hughlett

That part pisses me off even more. No chance to go try to find other work. No warning at the end of the month with rent due and bills to pay. I know in my restaurant this year has been tough. But my staff and I are working together to get the company and ourselves through difficult times. I wonder if Bennigan's had more respect for their employees and communities-- they might have been able to avoid this liquidation?

Anyway, this is just the beginning. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the F&B business is the canary in the coal mine during a bad economy. People struggling to pay bills, or in danger of losing their homes are going to stop eating out as a first line of defense. And so the dominoes begin to fall.

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Salmonella Saintpaul Continues to Infect Americans; FDA and CDC Still with No Answers

More on the Tomato-Cilantro-Pepper Ban and Salmonella Saintpaul.

Since April, 1090 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada.

Only 6 persons infected with this strain of Salmonella Saintpaul were identified in the country during April through June of 2007. The previous rarity of this strain and the distribution of illnesses in all U.S. regions suggest that the implicated food is distributed throughout much of the country. Because many persons with Salmonella illness do not have a stool specimen tested, it is likely that many more illnesses have occurred than those reported. Some of these unreported illnesses may be in states that are not on today’s map--from the CDC

Following this closely and I remain of the opinion that this kind of thing is going to become more common and more dangerous unless we look at our entire industrial food chain and make radical changes.

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Big Macs

In utterly trivial news; If you just lost your life savings because of IndyMac, at least you can still afford a Big Mac.

Big Macs were invented 41 years ago, in 1967, but rolled out across the franchise in 1968--- which means the Big Mac is celebrating it's 40th Birthday. (last year AND this year)

Big Mac's are now served (pushed on) to people in over 100 countries around the world.

The inventor Jim "MJ" Delligatti is 89 years old, from Pennsylvania and he and his family opened up a BIG MAC MUSEUM last year which goes on my House of Bottles list for sure.

Your captions sought for the above photo.

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A Sandwich Can Kill You

The world is a strange place. When life is grim, tense-- and dangerous, one response is often humor. AND another response is to laugh and then profit from a circumstance. This story in the heart of Hezbollah territory caught my attention.

Lebanese feast on 'buns and guns' in Hezbollah fiefdom"
Behind a barricade of sandbags, Ali devours a "Magnum 357" as his friend Hussein tucks into a giant "B52". Welcome to "Buns and Guns" restaurant in the heartland of south Beirut controlled by Lebanon's Shiite militant movement Hezbollah. Lebanon's political crisis, Hezbollah's war with Israel in 2006 and worsening tensions have become a source of inspiration for a restaurant in a country marked by violence.

A sandwich can kill you," reads a slogan on the wall of Buns and Guns, where the decor evokes a barracks decorated with a veritable cache of weaponry -- in plastic -and photos of Israel's main battle tank, the Markava. An "offensive" menu, which includes "chicken camouflage", "Dragunov (sniper rifle) steak" and roast "M16", is offered to clients who need little explanation of the military terms.

The servings are huge and that could kill you, good though they are," says Youssef Ibrahim, the 27-year-old owner of the restaurant. "I wanted to offer a new concept of a restaurant, and the tense situation in Lebanon was partly what inspired me."

I am not a fan of theme restaurants ever, mostly because such a restaurant rarely has good food. But life is getting too strange when instead of a Hard Rock Burger we end up with "Chicken Camouflage". My first reaction is kind of a sick, sinking feeling-- which is not the normal reaction I have to food as you all know. But there is also something noble about being able to laugh in the face of terrorism. Something strong about not being afraid of the violence that is an every day part of so many lives in the middle east.

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GNB Food Moment

At my restaurant, we change the lunch specials every week. One new plate lunch, one new curry 52 weeks a year. Doesn't actually repeat, though we play with variations on a theme. The cool thing is, all the line cooks (not just the top chef) get to take turns coming up with the specials.

This week we are serving this...



Grilled Marinade Pork Loin on Mushroom Pumpkin Quiche with Sweet & Sour Mustard Sauce

I tried it today and it was damn tasty. Why am I sharing it? Cause I was thinking that the way we serve up lunch every week is a good way to work with people. Empower creative thinking, give everyone a moment in the spotlight, share their skill and bounty with the community, and then do it again next week. Every monday we also send our weekly special in the form of lunch boxes to an area food bank for distribution to a shelter. We serve them what we sell to our customers, not leftovers- or things we wouldn't want to eat ourselves. Not profound, but simple good common practices.

Itadakimasu.

Recipe

Marinate a pork loin in
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Oregano and Paprika

Grill on charcoal till it is cooked through and has great color!

Sweet & Sour Sauce
combine and bring to a boil
50g grain mustard
40g cornstarch
60g ketchup *homemade is best
150ml soy sauce
210ml sushi vinegar
210ml simple sugar syrup (we make it ourselves)

Quiche
1/2 pumpkin and 1/2 onion slices stir fried with butter and salt
Carrots
Shitake Mushrooms
800ml cream
200ml milk
tbs salt
tbs pepper
tbs nutmeg
8 eggs

Bake together till golden brown on top, in a greased baking pan (no crust) cut in squares and serve with pork on the same plate. Drizzle whole plate with Sweet and Sour Sauce

garnish with Mizuna and Curly Parsley (chopped)
Feeds a Bunch of Folks!

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FDA Still Has No Idea-- Adds Cilantro and Peppers to the Watch List

No closer to knowing what is making people sick... maybe tomatoes, maybe not. Now cilantro and peppers go on the watch list. And people are still getting sick.

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration appears no closer to finding the source of a mysterious salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 900 people nationwide. The FDA is not even 100 percent sure that tomatoes are the cause — adding peppers and cilantro Saturday to its list of foods under investigation in the outbreak.-- MSNBC

Meanwhile; by the numbers
In addition to the 900 people who have gotten sick...

The USA Tomato Industry has sustained a more than a 100 million dollar loss.

More than 12,000 tons of tomatoes are rotting in warehouses.

And we still don't know anything.
Bon Appetit!

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In Praise of Being a Localvore

lovely farm and nature paintings/etchings by Art Hansen

Locovore/localvore (both spellings found)
the practice of eating food that is grown locally in order to support small business, build community and reduce greenhouse gases as local food does not require shipping across countries and continents.

We've talked about this kind of stuff before-- but it is a topic that I never tier of. Fancy diets, big companies trying to turn organic, eating more vegetables and less meat, all have been proposed to be kinder to the earth and our bodies. Many of these things intimidate most people who are in a hurry- and don't want to think that much about their food.

Turns out the easiest way to eat healthy and clean up the planet is to do our purchasing from companies who make what grows and lives close to home. The time of the small farmer and of homegrown garden is coming again. (amazing how things come back into fashion) Our ancestors did this out of necessity and common sense. Seems like those two motivators are ALSO coming back into fashion.

Eating local is easy, and if you changed even 20% of your purchasing power over to supporting local food growers the impact would be enormous. PLUS it tastes better and is generally better for you. Winning all around.

First steps to being a localvore-

*Find a farmer's market or csa in your area
*Plant something yourself- bucket tomatoes, a kitchen window herb garden, a fruit tree for your yard... something.
*Share your bounty with others- trade tomatoes with a friend who grows great eggplant, that sort of thing... mini co-ops!
*Look through your phone book in your area for small businesses producing food. You'll be surprised at how many entrepreneurs are in the food growing and creating business.
*Buy from smaller local groceries, and read your labels. When you go out to eat, choose mom and pop restaurants, bakeries etc. not chains- and ask where stuff comes from.

These steps are all simple and fun. By purchasing locally you will generally eat a more seasonal and earth friendly diet. PLUS like I said, it is all Much More delicious!

Eating is one of the most intimate things we do. And we all do it so it is also a great common denomimator. (I know all your internet traditions) Learning to really appreciate and enjoy what you eat brings a tremendous richness to life.

Tell your localvore story here;
Who makes what delicious treat in your area?
What is your area's seasonal bounty?
What is the best local eating joint in your town?
Do you have a farmers market? Have you visited a farm in the last 5 years?

Share please; I am starving to hear your stories!

Great reading/resource list about all things Localvore here.
Local Locator resources here.

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Where Can we Go for our Cup-a-Joe?

Starbucks to close 600 stores in response to world wide slow down.



This is not new news, but pretty big news, especially if you are like me and work in the business. The thing is-- when people start worrying about gas prices and even worse home foreclosures-- one of the first things to go when tightening the belt is discretionary food and beverage spending. That $4.00 cup of coffee starts to look a bit too needlessly extravagant. This slow down in F&B has been world wide and started to really take root just after Feb. 1st as the depth and breadth of the subprime market crisis started to become more clear.

Sadly people who work in and run most food and beverage establishments are among the hardest working, lowest paid people you are going to find. Many people were probably working part time jobs in these Starbucks outlets to pay their rent or go to school. This 600 store closure is going to be equal to approximately 12,000 jobs minimum. And industry analysts say we are just beginning to see the slow down. It will get far worse before it gets better. No restaurants or cafe owners will be spared.

On top of fewer customers basic food costs are going up. Most estimates put the rise in food costs for basic ingredients between 20-40% in the last 18 mons. Base costs rising, customer count falling... going to be a bumpy ride, mostly downhill.

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