Kitchen Table Tidbits #7

For this installment we have a free book on bugs in your food, a great guide to roadfood, the huge overlooked settlement in the “pink slime” case, and some political analysis from a food perspective.

1. FREE HANDBOOK IDENTIFIES BUGS IN YOUR FOOD: Did you know that there is a government handbook, available free, that tells how many bugs are allowed in your food? Well, there is. Layla Eplett, an anthropologist writing in Scientific American suggests that we eat one to two pounds of bug parts a year in our food, allowable under FDA guidelines. Allowable bugs include thrips, aphids, mites, maggots, fruit flies, insect eggs, rodent hair, excreta and a couple of types of caterpillars and worms.

Some bugs are there on purpose, such as the Dactylopius coccus, a little bug that produces a vibrant red color when crushed. It is used to color stuff like strawberry jam. Due to vegetarian protests, Starbucks agreed to quit using it and switched to a coloring derived from tomatoes. Insects are popular food in various cultures, from caterpillars to ant eggs.

You may now know as much as you want to know about this subject, that would be understandable. So I won’t go on. If you want to know more, you can find the guidebook at this FDA site. 

2. A BELLY FULL OF VACATION: Jane and Michael Stern do a great job scouting out road food, I don’t believe you can scroll through a page or three of their restaurant reviews from around the country without getting the itch to hit the road. Award-winning authors and Public Radio presenters, the Sterns visit diners, small-town cafes, seaside shacks, drive-ins, barbecues, and bake shops. I have a couple of their cookbooks and would heartily recommend “Roadfood: An Eater’s Guide to More Than 1,000 of the Best Local Hot Spots and Hidden Gems Across America.” You can get a taste at their web site. 

3. MEGA-MILLION SETTLEMENT IN “PINK SLIME” SUIT: I reported some time ago that Beef Products Inc. sued ABC News (a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company), reporter Jim Avila and others under South Dakota’s Agriculture Defamation Act, seeking $1.9 billion with the potential for triple damages, which would have been $5.7 billion. BPI claimed it was damaged by a month-long series of reports by ABC News about “lean finely textured beef” (LFTB) ABC referred to the product, used as a less-expensive component in ground beef, as “pink slime” more than 350 times. A settlement was reached but it was kept secret. Food Safety News now reports that the settlement included the maximum amount of Disney’s insurance coverage for such cases plus an additional $177 million “out of pocket.. The owners of BPI apparently were quite happy with the result and may reopen some of their closed plants and perhaps rehire or otherwise assist about 750 employees who were let go.

4. APPETITES LEFT AND RIGHT: Today’s political climate is a bit testy, there is a vast gulf between left and right, but distinctions have existed at other times as well. In the early 1900s in France it was found that the Right favored a traditional wood-cooked cuisine, slow cooking, and products from the garden or market. The Left preferred a quick and simple cuisine, an omelet and a slice of ham. The Left…happily maintained that canned green beans were as good as fresh ones. (from Sacred Cow Mad Cow, a History of Food Fear by Madeleine Ferrieres).