Comments on Dizzy Thinks: Food for Thought?

I read that headline as "Israel At 60, What a wast...

2008-05-09T18:34:00.000+01:00

I read that headline as "Israel At 60, What a waste!".

Some might think so, I couldn't possibly comment!

You know, I travel around Asia quite a bit... and ...

2008-05-09T02:14:00.000+01:00

You know, I travel around Asia quite a bit... and I'll always choose to eat where (and what) the locals eat.

So picture this: Searing tropical heat, flies, wonky stand at the roadside, meat left hanging in the sun, bottles of propane, water jacked from a nearby mains, chef with fag hanging out of his mouth, no hat or apron. The UK Health and Hygiene people would have a fit here...

But you know what? I've never been ill (even slightly) and nor are the hundreds of people eating at the same roadside outlet everyday of their lives and neither are the hundreds of thousands eat elsewhere.

Now I'm not saying this 'third world' catering would suit everyones palete but you gotta ask yourself why it is that we with our dated food, fridges, freezers, boil-in-the-bag, timed cooking and anti-baterial surface cleaners are always falling ill?

Those of an older generation might also wonder why they didn't all die back in the days of pantries and absent food inspectors?

Strange world we live in, hey?

I remember a Food Programme edition on Worcestersh...

2008-05-09T00:29:00.000+01:00

I remember a Food Programme edition on Worcestershire Sauce, they're legally obliged to put a use by date on the bottles, but apparently the stuff never goes off, it just matures, like whiskey.

Great stuff? And I wonder how many of today's youn...

2008-05-09T00:23:00.000+01:00

Great stuff? And I wonder how many of today's younger generation know how to check if an egg is off or not? All you have to do is stick it in a bowl of water and if it floats, it's off. If it stands upright on the bottom, it's OK but not the freshest, and if it lies on its side then it's not ten minutes out of the hen's arse.

AFAIK 'best before' and 'use by' are part of the s...

2008-05-08T23:01:00.000+01:00

AFAIK 'best before' and 'use by' are part of the same system, not a recent escalation in nannying.

'Best before' is given for items that chemically degrade as they get old, like tinned/dried stuff.

'Use by' is applied to food that biologically degrades - ie when those few listeria particles have turned into a few billion.

I agree entirely that it's unnecessary regulation, however. AFAIK they don't have such nonsense in the U.S.

I daresay Euro leftists think that creating jobs for bureaucrats with unnecessary regulation is 'good for the economy'. Morons.

Excellent post! These socialists won't be happy un...

2008-05-08T15:43:00.000+01:00

Excellent post! These socialists won't be happy until we have to ask them for permission to have children ....

But where's the comedy classic line or reference??????

Incidentally, I note that this report has been com...

2008-05-08T15:35:00.000+01:00

Incidentally, I note that this report has been compiled by WRAP.

Wasn't that the same organisation that Tim Worstall tore apart on his blog for including banana/potato peel and teabags in a report as 'waste food'.

Wonder if they are doing it again for this one....?

You've just summed up my view on journalists- alwa...

2008-05-08T14:55:00.000+01:00

You've just summed up my view on journalists- always complaining, no solutions.

And then of course we are told to eat five types o...

2008-05-08T13:19:00.000+01:00

And then of course we are told to eat five types of fresh fruit/vegetable per day- I wonder how much of the problem is caused by this being bought for a family that doesn't in fact want to eat it?

Pat

I argue in my own post on the matter that we make ...

2008-05-08T13:18:00.000+01:00

I argue in my own post on the matter that we make poor choices despite being told what to do by nanny. There was an interesting debate on 5 Live this morning involving people who eat out of other folks bins!

I remember (back in the day) when mother picked sm...

2008-05-08T13:13:00.000+01:00

I remember (back in the day) when mother picked small bits of mold off of a slice of bread and then stuck it in the toaster.

"...most people just read the date, check the cale...

2008-05-08T13:06:00.000+01:00

"...most people just read the date, check the calendar, then chuck it."

Not me! I check it, use my sense of smell and taste, and cook it properly (adjusting for my own over rather than blindly following the packet guide) and I'm still here.

The "anonymous" whose teenage children have no con...

2008-05-08T12:38:00.000+01:00

The "anonymous" whose teenage children have no concept of food "going off" clearly hasn't been doing much to teach them. It's not good enough simply to blame the existence of these date-stamps and then complain that we're being infantilised by them. Just don't be infantilised. Use your nose.

They even put use-by dates on salt. Salt! It's a mineral, it will happily keep fresh for millions of years. Madness.

It's a bit like telling pregnant women they can't have a sip of wine, for fear that some won't be able to tell the difference between the odd glass and a 4-hour binge on vodka. The only way to cope with these people is to ignore them. After all, the government is quite happy to ignore scientific advice about cannabis, so why should the rest of us feel obliged to take any notice?

Use By dates are one of my pet bug-bears. From a s...

2008-05-08T11:42:00.000+01:00

Use By dates are one of my pet bug-bears. From a shopkeeping family I know that tins of fruit and stuff used to have a shelf life of literally years, that was the whole frigging point of tinning stuff for fucks sake.

Now look, buy a tin of beans or soup or something and you have to (well you are ordered by the 'use by' date) use it by this autumn. Fucking ludicrous!

Zorro

We could save trees by banning publication of the ...

2008-05-08T09:53:00.000+01:00

We could save trees by banning publication of the Daily Woe Woe and Thrice Woe

I tend to ignore use by dates and work on the basi...

2008-05-08T09:24:00.000+01:00

I tend to ignore use by dates and work on the basis that if it smell and looks Ok then it is OK.

However it is all I can do to stop my wife throwing out bananas that are slightly black on the outside. I have been known to pick one out of the recycling bin and eat it, much to the horror of the kids and even the dog.

Absolutely correct and a good post. My teenaged ch...

2008-05-08T09:14:00.000+01:00

Absolutely correct and a good post.

My teenaged children have no idea of the concept of food going 'bad' - they would be lost without the date, and they think that eating fresh eggs, after the date printed on the egg, is extremely dangerous!

Seems a bit sad that people can't tell if somethin...

2008-05-08T08:51:00.000+01:00

Seems a bit sad that people can't tell if something's off. Most foods change colour or smell when they go bad. Damn nature imbued us with some (and I emphasise some) sense about what is safe for us.