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The War On Drugs, Err, Raw Milk

Time Magazine's Wendy Cole, on how law enforcement is cracking down on raw milk suppliers: Richard Hebron, 41, was driving along an anonymous stretch of highway near Ann Arbor, Mich., last October when state cops pulled him over, ordered him to put his hands on the hood of his mud-splattered truck and seized its contents: 453 gal. of milk.Yes, milk. Raw, unpasteurized milk. To supply a small but growing market among health-conscious city and suburban dwellers for milk taken straight from the udder, Hebron was dealing the stuff on behalf of a farming cooperative he runs in southwestern Michigan. An undercover agricultural investigator had infiltrated the co-op as part of a sting operation that resulted in the seizure of...

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2 Comments | Posted by Lia Bulaong, March 20, 2007 at 1:03 PM
Tagged: food hysteria, food trends, milk, raw milk

The (Unnecessary) Big Chill

In Salon this morning, Regina Schrambling is frustrated by how we refrigerate so many things that would do just fine on the pantry shelf: In an informal e-survey of roughly 20 friends in six states, some of whom eat for a living, I found the same pattern. A number did know what foods go rancid in the pantry: nut and olive oils in particular (only corn and sesame oils have never turned on me) and fresh peanut butter (salmonella is not the only threat). They knew real maple syrup can go moldy at room temperature, and that true grits, cornmeal, wheat germ and other grains susceptible to spoilage actually benefit from the cold.Still, all but one refrigerate scores of other...

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Post a Comment | Posted by Lia Bulaong, March 20, 2007 at 11:02 AM
Tagged: food hysteria, food myths, refrigeration, Regina Schrambling, spoilage

Rats: Gross, But Less Dangerous Than Our Unwashed Hands

eGullet's Steven Shaw has a strong op-ed in the New York Times today arguing for a more rational response to rats in restaurants than the current hysteria: Rats move freely from building to building: adult rats can, like the superhero Plastic Man, compress themselves to fit through spaces as narrow as half an inch. Their mobility makes them as easy to miss as they are to find. A rat-free city is no more possible than a germ-free or risk-free society. We can hope to manage rodents, roaches and other intruders down to an acceptable level, but they’ve always accompanied, and may outlast, human civilization.Rats in restaurants, while distasteful, are more a distraction than a disaster for public health. As...

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Post a Comment | Posted by Lia Bulaong, March 16, 2007 at 3:24 PM
Tagged: disease, food hysteria, gross, health codes, hygiene, NYC, rats, salmonella, Steven Shaw

Trans Fat Fight Claims Butter as a Victim

Cities like New York have already banned artificial trans-fat for health reasons, although scientists think natural trans fat might actually turn out to be beneficial. Because of an FDA ruling that says products with half a gram or more of trans-fat "can’t be called trans fat-free, even if butter is the only fat," companies like Starbucks are making their suppliers cut out butter to make their product labeling ("no trans-fat!") easier. From Trans Fat Fight Claims Butter as a Victim, by Kim Severson of the New York Times: This is an important issue because anything made with animal fats will have trans fats and make it impossible to claim trans fat-free,” said Marion Nestle, nutrition professor at New York University....

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Post a Comment | Posted by Lia Bulaong, March 7, 2007 at 9:27 AM
Tagged: food hysteria, food labeling, food trends, trans fats