BoPL » Food

Food Regulation

Paul — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:04:50 +0000

In the UK there is no law controlling the nutritional information shown of packaged foods. There are guidelines that allow at least +/- 20% leeway for each component (so an item with 10g of fat could actually have 8g or 12g), and being guidelines it doesn’t matter if it’s more.

That’s disappointing, of course, but what’s more surprising is that animal feed is tightly regulated; if cows ate Sainsbury’s prepared curry it would have to follow pretty closely what it said on the pack (to protect us, the ultimate consumer of the cow), but if we’re eating the curry, or the cow, it need not.

Dodgy Headlines

Paul — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:18:36 +0000

Man cuts off penis in restaurant.

I bet he took the last After Eight as well. Some people have no class.

Cake

Paul — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 10:04:04 +0000

We had a cake for my son’s birthday a couple of days ago, and I was reminded of one of the benefits of living in the UK – decent cake. It is, as with so many other things, possible to get good cake in the US, but you have to know where to go as the default is a kind of blown polystyrene block garnished with milky sugar. And not in a good way. In contrast Sam’s cake, from the local supermarket, had chocolate icing that tasted of actual chocolate, slathered over a sponge that tasted of sponge-cake, rather than just sponge.

Man I’m hungry.

More euw than it might first seem

Paul — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:08:40 +0000

The BBC tells us that Sainsbury’s has withdrawn some of its own-brand muesli (that’s granola for you colonial types) from the shelves following the discovery of moth parts in the mix. Pretty unpleasant, of course, but presumably one of those things that happen from time to time when you’re selling food that looks like moth parts. But hidden in the article is a clue to the true unpleasantness involved here (emphasis mine):

“As soon as the issue was identified through an increase in customer complaints, the product was withdrawn from stores.”

One wonders what the baseline is for moth part complaints.

Limon

Paul — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 08:35:22 +0000

Joy of joys, you can now buy Fanta Limon in the UK. Admittedly it’s called Fanta Lemon, which isn’t so exotic, but now every day can be a holiday!

Good News

Paul — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 11:14:02 +0000

We’ve solved world hunger! Now admittedly that’s just on average, but it seems churlish to quibble over such a minor detail.

Free Lunch

Paul — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 06:07:57 +0000

I watched a drama a couple of days ago that featured a young woman on her lunch break from her burger-chain job, talking to her boyfriend.

Him: Where are you?

Her: Having my free lunch at Betty’s Burger Bar, which just goes to show that there is no such thing.

Mmm

Paul — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 11:09:17 +0000

A scant fortnight before I leave the country of pig-flavored fat, and I discover The Bacon of the Month Club. My timing is peccable, once again.

And Counting…

Paul — Wed, 03 May 2006 17:00:22 +0000

Approximately one kajillion people have pointed this story out to me, so I thought I’d pass it on:

White middle-aged Americans are less healthy than their English counterparts, research suggests.

Americans aged 55 to 64 are up to twice as likely to suffer from diabetes, lung cancer and high blood pressure as English people of the same age.

The healthiest Americans had similar disease rates to the least healthy English, the Journal of the American Medical Association study found.

Have I mentioned that we leave for the UK in July?

Easter Turducken

Paul — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 17:43:13 +0000

You know what’s good? Cadbury’s creme eggs. You know what sucks? Hollow Easter chocolates (bunnies, eggs, whatever). Oh, and peeps, too. But in combination…