What’s in a Grade? Reporting on Report Cards

KitchenBitch salutes Mayor Bloomberg for finally implementing the long overdue restaurant grading system but, while the FDA and USDA continue to rule with a snap bracelet (the first step toward a big stick is the Food Modernization Act which still remains stalwart in the Senate—they must all be Jewish and observing the high holidays), questions surrounding the simplicity of reporting over precision remain a hot topic.

The proverbial A-F grading system classically demonstrates achievement or failure in shades of grey in a way everyone can relate to. But is this enough? Regardless of how health conscious New Yorkers may claim to be, many are too busy (read: lazy) to scour the NYCDHMH’s website for restaurant inspection results and decipher the consumer unfriendly yet more descriptive points system (health and safety violations earn a restaurant points so less is better).

The New York City chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association believes a restaurant can be deemed safe enough solely based upon a pass/fail system.

“We feel a restaurant is either sanitary enough to serve the public, or it is not, and if it is not, action should be taken,” says Andrew Rigie, director of operations for the New York City chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association.

What if we put educating our nation’s children on the same scale? Where’s the incentive to strive for an “A”? Is the safety of the food we eat not as important to be graded on a higher level? Mr. Rigie must have never read Kitchen Confidential, one of many books, articles and documentaries chronicling the disdainful practices of some of our coveted eateries.

The current points system, which is used to derive the letter grades, should be plastered on the front door of every restaurant over its much simpler and sometimes misleading alphabetic counterpart. This gives knowledgeable power to the consumer to know what’s up and make an educated choice.

KitchenBitch is on a mission: to garner the same fervor for food safety among New Yorkers as is generated Yelping around for the latest hip, delicious restaurant where a drugged up celebutante was spotted “eating” at last Thursday.

Bloomberg Doesn’t Practice What He Preaches, Breaks Mold of Typical Politician/Billionaire Arrogance

Our salt crusading mayor is never one to disappoint for a great demonstration of hypocrisy, seen here devouring a neatly packed bundle of nitrates with a Brit.

Click here for video.

I’ll Have the Crabcake, Hold the Oil

It’s been a Today Show segment for as many days as the oil spill debacle itself, so naturally the federal government decided it was time to do something about the diminishing food supply in the Gulf. Vice President Joe Biden, among his many responsibilities as Vice President (a.k.a. none), visited the Gulf last week (for the first time since the spill as clearly all planes, trains, and automobiles have been physically barred from entering the region over the last 2 months) and announced a joint effort by NOAA and the FDA to test the seafood coming from the region and let us know which areas are Kosher (figuratively) to fish in.

“Eric Schwaab, assistant administrator at NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, said in an announcement of the new effort:

No single agency could adequately ensure the safety of seafood coming from the Gulf following this tragedy, but in working together, we can be sure that tainted waters are closed as appropriate, contaminated seafood is not allowed to make it to market, and that closed waters can be reopened to fishing as soon as is safe.

The agencies will be coordinating with state officials to close fishing and shellfish harvesting areas in the Gulf of Mexico that have been or are likely to be exposed to oil from the spill.”

FYI, Biden braved Jay Leno’s wrath on Friday, July 9th, his third appearance since running for office. Good to know he’s been spending his time wisely and for the benefit of his constituents.

Bloomberg Must Be a Fan of Kitchen Bitch

Restaurants take note: your report card will be plastered on the proverbial refrigerator for all to see. When I started this blog over a year ago, one of my first posts discussed LA’s restaurant grading system and how, after many hair sandwiches, I couldn’t believe NYC had nothing more than some inspection info buried deep within the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website. No more. Hopefully the salt wizard will back this one too.

“Restaurants will be graded on food safety starting at the end of July, city officials said Tuesday. The NYC Health Department announced it has drawn up plans to begin assigning grades of A, B or C to the city’s over 24,000 restaurants.

Restaurants with 0 to 13 “violation points” will receive an A. Scores of 14 to 27 points are a B, and 28 or more results in a C.

…According to the NYC Department of Health, Los Angeles’ implementation of letter grades resulted in twice as many restaurants receiving the highest food safety standards: 40 to 80 percent.”

A pseudo-fast food, surprisingly popular Indian restaurant around the corner from my apartment, Curry in a Hurry, closed down for 1 week last month because they failed their food safety inspection. Had there been a “C” grade posted on the front door, the cheap prices would not be enough to keep grossed out customers from deciphering where violation points were accumulated (was it the curry or the hurry?)

Finally, a way for New Yorkers to gain some control over the food we eat and a lot more accountability for restaurant owners. No more blaming poor regulation for rat infestations in Taco Bell or the painfully indifferent “my workers wear hair nets” response I once received from the manager at Lyric Diner after finding and clearly displaying to him a short, curly dark hair in my chicken wrap. Sorry Mr. Rude Dude, they clearly don’t.

For those of you who will continue to frequent restaurants where the food and environment reminds you of a gym sock, enjoy the pleasure of building up immunity to various food-borne bacteria. For the rest of us, let’s embrace the power of choice.

Starting Off With the Anomaly…

Then off to reality… Many Americans (including this author) prefer or at least appreciate the increasing mandates for calorie disclosure, lower sodium in the foods, and slew of other potential regulations. Others find complaining to be the best supporter of their lazy lifestyles. They throw out unsubstantiated concerns about regulations turning the FDA (and the government) into the dreaded Big Brother, while continuing to gluttonously pack on the pounds and dangerous health issues associated with them.

While I’m not one to judge which category or shade of gray in between you may fall under, the Washington Post wants you to stop eating processed foods and stick to ones that have “curves.”

The CSPI made a list of heart attacks on a plate a.k.a. winners of their bad food awards:

• Bob Evans’ Cinnamon Cream Stacked & Stuffed Hotcakes – 1,380 calories and 34 grams of saturated fat. Syrup adds another 200 calories for every four-tablespoon serving.
• California Pizza Kitchen’s Tostada Pizza with Grilled Steak – 1,680 calories, 32 grams of saturated fat, and more than 3,300 mg of sodium.
• California Pizza Kitchen’s Pesto Cream Penne – 1,350 calories, 49 grams of saturated fat, and 1,920 mg of sodium.
• Five Guys’ Bacon Cheeseburger – 920 calories and 30 grams of saturated fat. A large order of French fries at Five Guys adds 1,460 calories.
• P.F. Chang’s Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo – 1,820 calories and 7,690 milligrams of sodium.
• The Cheesecake Factory’s Pasta Carbonara with Chicken – 2,500 calories and 85 grams of saturated fat.
• The Cheesecake Factory’s Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake – 1,670 calories and 48 grams of saturated fat. 

• Outback’s New Zealand Lamb – 1,820 calories, 80 grams of saturated fat, and 2,600 mg of sodium.
• Chevys’ Crab & Shrimp Quesadilla – 1,790 calories, 63g of saturated fat, and 3,440 mg of sodium.

Is Paula Dean the chef at ALL of these places?

Danger! High Cholesterol and Diabetes Ahead

Just as the “Smart Choice” label might make you more inclined to buy a product, the Korea Food and Drug and Administration is looking to label more than 70 percent of hamburgers and chocolate as unhealthy (read: danger!).

“The Korea Food and Drug Administration revealed a draft plan for its system, under which depending on the amount of unhealthy ingredients in food products, three labels — colored red, yellow or green — will be attached to the packaging of food items.

“It is the minimal standards that we ‘recommend.’ We will see whether it is an effective measure or not. We will, then, decide whether to make it mandatory or further expand it. We have tried to solicit opinions from companies,” Park [Hye-kyung, director of the nutrition policy division at the KFDA] said.

Called the “traffic light label system,” the plan focuses mainly on the amounts of fat, saturated fat, sugars and sodium contained in certain products.”

How can the health of the population not be mandatory? What’s the point of passing the legislation in the first place? Why wouldn’t you give U.S. FDA inspectors carte blanche to recall contaminated food rather than the motherly slap on the wrist. The Food Modernization Act, currently stalwart in the Senate, would give the FDA power to force a recall and avoid disasters like the recent bagged lettuce E.coli catastrophe.

Not only should the U.S. adopt a similar labeling system as the above, it should be mandatory for every food manufacturer that receives FDA approval.

The general trend is that, the lower your household income, the more likely you are to eat fast food or other processed foods because they provide a much larger calorie punch for the buck… Fair enough. But for those Americans who choose to eat unhealthily, sit on welfare and drain our tax dollars for medical expenses simply due to the fact that they are not responsible enough for themselves and their children to have healthy eating habits, perhaps an “Avoid” label would help those that need help make better diet decisions.

As If The Food Weren’t Bad Enough..

We go to the hospital for treatments, checkups, surgeries, and emergencies with the trust that the nurses, doctors, and staff know what they’re doing and have our best interest in mind. As if you aren’t sick enough when admitted, the food might make you.

“State health officials suspect food poisoning caused the deaths of three patients this weekend at Pineville’s Central State Hospital..

Two patients of the state hospital remain hospitalized Saturday night at Huey P. Long Medical Center in Pineville. A total of 11 patients and four staff members were treated at Huey P. Long for possible food-poisoning symptoms.

‘At the moment our hearts and our prayers go out to the three folks that we’ve lost,’ Levine said. ‘Our mission and our goal is that we want to serve people and make their lives better. Obviously, we are all heartbroken when you have an outcome like this.’ ”

Test results in the next few days will determine if the deaths were related to foodborne pathogens and Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine said that they believe this is an isolated incident since the food came from a local source.

Officials are speculating that an ingredient in the chicken salad could be to blame. My comment above might be controversial, but, whether it’s the local producer’s fault or the hospital’s for improper storage of the food/preparation/etc., three people died. If food poisoning really is to blame, then the current FDA reform bill in the Senate will need to include serious oversight and consequences for those who don’t care enough to take the necessary food safety measures, especially when serving food to the (at least briefly) immunocompromised.

Let Them Have Toys(?)

First come the threats to take away America’s favorite creepy clown. Now this? The poor kids can’t catch a break.

“Any fast food kids’ meal that packs more than 485 calories cannot include a toy promotion, according to a new ordinance passed this week in Santa Clara County, California. It’s the first county in the nation to approve such a ban.

Any meal that has more than more than 485 calories, more than 600 milligrams of sodium, more than 35 percent of total calories from fat or more than 10 percent of calories from added sugar, or any individual food item more than 200 calories cannot include a toy under the ordinance. Violations would be punishable by fines of as much as $1,000 for each meal sold with a toy.”

Critics’ ads have snickered “Who Made Politicians the Toy Police?” From a kid’s point of view, the Happy Meal toy is the flower on top of the icing on the cake. It totally makes the experience better, but without it, a child would be just as content scarfing down their milkshake and cheeseburger immediately followed by a dunk in the ball pit.

Officials that passed the law are hoping to break the link between unhealthy food and prizes.. fair enough. But, extenuating genetic circumstances aside, childhood obesity is 100% the fault of parents. If a parent feeds their children fast food on a regular basis, kitschy toys (more often which are haphazardly tossed and lost in the minivan abyss on the car ride home) aren’t enough to entice a child to choose the happy meal with apple slices and milk over the glamor shot of French fries and chicken nuggets staring them in the face. It’s the satiety value sugar and fat provide that kids—and adults—crave.

While this effort is noble, a more realistic step forward might be to emulate the efforts of McDonald’s franchises in the U.K. Jamie Oliver, the Naked Food Revolutionary, surprisingly praised McDonald’s to the British press last week.

“McDonald’s in the U.K. is very different compared to the U.S. model,” Oliver said at a press conference. He cited “the quality of beef, [that] they only sell free-range eggs, [that] they only sell organic milk, [and that] their ethics and recycling is being improved and improved.”

Improving the quality of ingredients instead of making children suffer for their parent’s poor dinner decisions? Maybe Santa Clara County can take a hint.

One Politician on a Mission

Although I might disagree with using his money to buy and re-write the NYC lawbooks, Mayor Bloomberg is quite the pioneer of the salt crusade. Anything Governor Patterson touches died of dysentery back in Albany (like the soda tax did last year, let’s hope it doesn’t suffer the same fate in 2010), but Bloomberg is fulfilling his healthcare platform manifest destiny and actually gaining some ground.

“Sixteen food companies plan to cut the amount of salt in bacon, flavored rice, and dozens of other products as part of a national effort to reduce Americans’ sodium consumption by 20 percent.

Mars Foods said it would cut the salt in its Uncle Ben’s rices by 25 percent over five years.

Lanette Kovachi, corporate dietitian for Subway, said the sandwich chain has cut sodium by 30 percent in its European outlets and is working on reducing salt in its US restaurants..

Heinz had announced it would reduce sodium by 15 percent in all the ketchup it sells in the United States, starting May 1. Heinz said the move is part of an ongoing commitment to sodium reduction. Heinz has cut sodium in Bagel Bites snacks 20 percent, for example.”

Salt for Thought: Diets high in sodium increase blood pressure that, in turn, increases the risks for a stroke or heart attack. This classic preservative, essential electrolyte, and craving tamer, surprisingly, occurs enough in foods naturally that any added salt, whether it’s by a food manufacturer or at the kitchen table, is superfluous.

Mayor Bloomberg: One Uber-Powerful Politician to Rule Them All

Command and you shall receive, Mayor Bloomberg. Just like you demanded (and paid for) the third and unprecedented term as mayor of our great city, your tenacity in the salt lowering crusade has convinced the FDA to plan unprecedented measures to slowly reduce sodium and eventually implement the first legal limits to the amount of salt allowed in foods.

“The government intends to work with the food industry and health experts to reduce sodium gradually over a period of years to adjust the American palate to a less salty diet, according to FDA sources..

‘This is a 10-year program,’ one source said. ‘This is not rolling off a log. We’re talking about a comprehensive phase-down of a widely used ingredient. We’re talking about embedded tastes in a whole generation of people.’

Currently, manufacturers can use as much salt as they like in products because under federal standards, it falls into the category deemed ‘generally recognized as safe.’ Foodmakers are merely required to report the amount on nutrition labels.”

GRAS seems to be the allspice of terminology for the FDA because almost every additive is listed as such including caffeine, high fructose corn syrup, tons of chemical additives and, ironically, allspice.

In other news, Reuters feels the top hit for news related to this story should be “Majority of American’s distrust the government” (see picture above). Have yee of little faith in the FDA, Reuters? Let’s hope the government can prove them wrong, never too late to start.