#175 - unnatural causes.

as a society, we had to see it coming. we've been living pretty high on the hog for a while now, allowing our hedonistic, caffeinated alcoholic beverage-swilling ways to control our actions, but our collective national wild ride has finally come to an end. as of today, after five years on the market, the manufactured nectar of life known as four loko is officially GONE from the shelves of bodegas & convenient stores across the country. back on nov 16th, in anticipation of a government ruling, phusion products, the makers of four loko, announced that they were going to reformulate their beverages & remove the caffeine. the very next day, the FDA ordered four loko & three other manufacturers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages to pull their products from shelves by today's date, as the caffeine in them was ruled an "unsafe food additive."

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snackdown! - 3.12.10

this week, the entire food world was fixated on news out of nyc that klee's daniel angerer was making cheese out of his wife's breast milk. it's something that the village voice reported on almost ten days ago, but this week the story really picked up steam, getting national attention & a warning-of-sorts from the board of health. while it's made in a fashion that's similar to most other cheeses, the critics who sampled it thought it was "softer" & "more slippery" than regular cheese. regardless of what the critics thought, there's something about it that gives me the willies. on a related note, klee will be unveiling their spring cheese menu next thursday. breast milk cheese will not be on the menu. for that matter, it never has been, but it sure has created a lot of buzz for klee. luckily, the rest of the week's news wasn't quite so nasty.

• late last week, the FDA announced a recall of a ton of products containing hydrolyzed vegetable protein, a common flavor enhancer. this week, that list of products extended to include two meat-inspired pringles flavors--restaurant cravers cheeseburger & family faves taco night. while i've never tried the cheeseburger flavor, i polished off a tube of the taco night flavor a few weeks back & am happy to report that i didn't die as a result. i'm also happy to report that taco night pringles are strange but amazingly good. after all, they're inspired by tacos. (christian science monitor)


• on another taco-related note, austin's SXSW got under way this week & for attendees, they can rest easy knowing that when they wake up with the worst indie rock & tequila-inspired hangover known to man, they can nurse it with an austin delicacy--the breakfast taco. the ny times notes that "when it comes to breakfast tacos...austin trumps all other american cities." the breakfast taco, which is "inspired by mexico, but not mexican," is basically a tortilla filled with standard breakfast fare such as scrambled eggs, bacon & sausage. some places like torchy's tacos get creative & serve items like "migas tacos, made with a scramble of eggs and strips of fried corn tortillas, pocked with green chilies, capped with avocado slices, enveloped by flour tortillas." the best part? they're not just for breakfast. (ny times)


• with st patrick's day only five days away, it's time to start getting wasted & downing copious amounts of corned beef & cabbage, right? well, not entirely. you should still get wasted but it turns out that corned beef & cabbage, which has become shorthand for "irish food," isn't really an irish dish. in fact, most of the "irish food" you find in america, stuff like irish nachos & reuben egg rolls, has nothing to do with traditional irish fare. the reality is that a lot of traditional irish cuisine is rather bland & the stuff you typically find in irish pubs here in the u.s.--"burgers, chicken wings and pizza"--is often similar to what you'll find in pubs in ireland. there really is no "irish cuisine" to speak of. it's cool with me though. corned beef & cabbage sucks. (chicago sun-times)


• in a week where the producers of the academy award winning documentary the cove busted a restaurant in l.a. for serving endangered whale sushi, serious eats took a look at a more legal (& likely tasty) form of sushi--the sushi pizza. as they reported, a japanese tv show that profiles "wacky 'japanese' food" served at japanese restaurants in america" visited hyde park's edo sushi to try out their sushi pizza. to their surprise, they actually enjoyed the dish, which is made up of "a lightly toasted rice patty" topped with spicy mayo, chopped maguro, green onion & tobiko. sure it's not technically pizza, but it still sounds awesome. (serious eats)


• over the past year or so, nyc's become known for their vibrant food truck scene, but in the midst of all the food truck hype, not enough attention has been paid to another portable food trend that's on the rise--the pop-up restaurant. they're locales where chefs set up shop for a day or evening & hock their creations. since they're hip & trendy & only temporary, there are four lessons that the la times thinks are key to the pop-up experience: don't expect to stumble on a pop-up, expect to wait, stay current on twitter & go at opening time. if you keep those four things in mind, you'll be just fine. if not, they'll be gone before you know it. (la times)

nosh nook #152 - tuesday, october 13, 2009

obesity concerns spur calls to limit new convenience stores in south l.a. (link)
10.12.09 - l.a. times - by jerry hirsch

you live in south central? what's that? you've just been shot in the leg? oh wow. that's bleeding pretty bad. here. let me put a band aid on it...run along now. you'll be fine. band aid for a gunshot wound...that's essentially the approach to all the issues that plague south central, which is chock full of crime, poverty & drugs. the bloods & the crips started up there. the sweet gang filcks boyz n the hood & colors took place there. n.w.a., history's pioneering gangsta rappers, are from compton, a hood that's often considered part of south central.

you're not supposed to call the area south central any more though, because that name's synonymous with all that crime & whatnot. you're supposed to call it "south los angeles." anyway, south central's messed up & the city hasn't done much to tackle the core issue--that poor education & job opportunities for minorities have created a nasty environment to live in & that environment has spawned more of the same--but they are trying to tackle the TRUE evil...obesity.

as the l.a. times reports, as part of an expansion on last year's restrictions on fast-food restaurants, "the los angeles city council is set to consider a proposal that would limit the density of" convenient stores in south central. the rand corp. recently published a study that surmised that the high concentration of convenient stores selling junk food in the hood has led to a high obesity rate in south central ("26% of the residents of south los angeles are considered obese").

"the proposal...would prohibit such small neighborhood markets from being closer than one-half mile from one another unless they sold fresh fruit and vegetables." obviously, the convenient store industry's against the proposal, especially 7-11, which "has 50 stores within the los angeles city limits." there are "58 small food stores" in south central alone, compared to 14 in west l.a., but there are only three supermarkets in south central, compared to the ten in west l.a. no wonder gangs are always shooting each other up...they can't get a good basket of strawberries in their hood & that shit has to boil over somehow.

nosh nook #148 - wednesday, october 7, 2009

first look: calories on fast-food menus don't change choices (link)
10.07.09 - washington post - by jennifer larue huget

...so back in july of last year, as one of mayor bloomberg's many "we're going to stick our nose into your business" initiatives, nyc passed legislation requiring restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus. the thinking behind it was that once people were able to see how many calories they were consuming when they ate, they'd cut down on fast food & start eating healthier. thinking that this would be the result takes a bit of specious reasoning, as for many low-income citizens, being able to afford to eat usually takes precedence over being able to eat healthy. value meal!

as the washington post reports, the results of the first study measuring the effects of the legislation have come in & they're the complete opposite of what was expected. health affairs, a peer-reviewed medical journal "looked at fast-food purchases made in low-income areas of new york city...and, as a control, in nearby newark, new jersey, where no such requirement exists." they compared receipts & interviewed customers & found little difference between consumers' actions before & after the law went into effect. in nyc, the number of calories consumed actually went up. the post captures it best in the article's opening line, which is no more than the word "oops."

what went wrong? the study offers a few possible reasons. "the timing was wrong." "the sample size (was) too small." "maybe...there should have been a sign telling people that 2,000 calories is the most they should consume in a day." the post suggests that "maybe people just don't care--or would prefer to ignore--the number of calories they're consuming when they eat fast food." the study, the post & the mayor don't seem to be considering that other factor i mentioned. if you're a low-income mother looking to feed a family of five after getting home from a ten-hour shift & KFC offers you a deal on a twenty-piece bucket of chicken, you're going to take it, calorie count be damned. i guess when you're a medical journal, a 200+ year-old paper or a billionaire mayor, that scenario doesn't cross your mind.

nosh nook #134 - thursday, september 17, 2009

junk-food ban in hospitals puts snack cart before horse (link)
09.16.09 - the vancouver sun - by gerry bellett

true to its pacific northwest character, vancouver's a pretty progressive city. they've always been a leader in drug policy, whether it's their distinction as the first city to offer a safe injection center for heroin users or the police force's willingness to turn a blind eye toward marijuana. they love mass transit & there are no major freeways in their downtown area. the vancouver public library is a friggin work of art. their last mayor, sam sullivan, has been quadriplegic since age nineteen. it seems like a cool place. i should visit some time...check it out & stuff.

their progressive attitude extends to the world of junk food as well. as the vancouver sun's gerry bellett reports, last year george abbott (who was health minister at the time) raised a big stink about the fact that there was junk food in the vancouver general hospital's vending machines. eventually, the vancouver general hospital was declared a "junk food-free zone." abbott's since moved on to become the minister of aboriginal relations and reconciliation, but the policy's remained in effect.

here's the kicker though: "apparently nobody told the women of the hospital auxiliary." they run the gift shop & snack carts & have continued to offer "a couple of unhealthy things." luckily, the sun uncovered the injustice & told somebody at vancouver coastal health (who runs the hospital). in turn, they're "going to have to talk to the auxiliary about the changing food environment in hospitals." that's right! give those ladies a stern talking to about their "couple of unhealthy things." rules is rules, ladies. stop trying to game the system. congrats, vancouver sun. you sure blew the lid on that racket. investigative journalism yeah!