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?

Congress Proves They Can Be Pushed to do Something of Value

In a move that proves Congress can be as productive as they want to be (especially if pushed hard enough), a Senate committee has unanimously passed the Food Safety Modernization Act, successfully bringing food safety laws out of the stone age and into the 21st century.

“This is another milestone on the path to fixing our badly-broken system for food safety,” said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports. “The Senate bill was passed unanimously by committee members on both sides of the political aisle. The bipartisan support for this bill is strong, and momentum is building.”

This law will allow the FDA to do things that you’ll be shocked to find out they didn’t actually have the right to do before. For example, order a food recall instead of just asking the manufacturer to order one. That’s like politely asking your new, untrained puppy not to piddle on the carpet and actually expecting them to listen and follow through.

The bill’s in the home stretch but there are a couple of issues yet to be resolved between the version that passed the House and this one that cleared the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee. The biggest difference is that the House’s version calls for fees on food facilities that would go toward supporting the FDA’s food safety inspection efforts. So what’s the problem, Senate? If the money has to come from somewhere, it might as well be from a source that will now have more than just the moral incentive to keep the food they produce safe.

Salmonella Sounds like Salmon, Mmm–Or At Least That’s What a Pistachio Manufacturer Would Like You to Think

So apparently you can’t eat anything anymore ever. Because more likely than not you will get salmonella and die.

Since the contaminated spinach chaos in late 2006, we’ve learned that salmonella has evolved to become an equal opportunity contaminator.. either that, or the FDA’s regulatory practices have become so lax that maybe the government should take the heavily taxed AIG bonuses to do some real work at the FDA.

Setton Farms, the second largest pistachio processor in the nation, is recalling 1 million pounds of pistachios, now added onto the list of food to fear along with many varieties of peanut butter.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/30/health/main4905228.shtml

And joining the crew are Uncle Chen’s spices produced by the Union International Food Company (a California-based company; coincidentally, so is Setton Farms).

http://www.kcra.com/news/19053047/detail.html

Either this is a huge conspiracy amongst the little microbes to take over the world like the Keebler elves have tried to do for so long or the FDA is finally shedding light (by pretending to do something) on how unbelievably corrupt and useless they have been all these years. Though the prior would make for a great Family Guy episode, the latter is probably more accurate.

The truth is, the food industry is one that will always continue to grow and, unless we outsource all of our food production, will most likely never need a bailout because.. well, people need to eat. I’m sure the people that had to take two weeks off of work after getting sick from salmonella are thrilled that the government has found the one division of itself where the truly incompetent remain employed.