Radioactive Communist Zombies

The Nanny State is After Your Food, Still

Back in April we reported on efforts to reduce salt in processed foods. At the time the reductions were voluntary.  I speculated it wouldn't be long before they were mandatory.  Now the FDA is taking action to achieve that end.  As Cato-on-liberty reports:

With little publicity, the federal Food and Drug Administration has begun laying groundwork for one of the more audacious regulatory initiatives of the Obama administration: mandatory reductions in the salt content of processed foods in the supermarket aisle and at restaurants . . .Among the specific ideas [the FDA] has in mind: setting federally prescribed “targets” for “stepwise” reductions in the amount of salt allowable in various foods, the phased nature of the reductions indicated because consumers’ “taste preference for sodium is acquired and can be modified.”

Yes, your tastes can be modified by government diktat.

This is yet another example of government agency "mission creep."  Like the EPA regulating dust, regulating salt is no where in the FDA's mandate to prevent adulterated food.  Salt is not an adulterant.  Some think it is unhealthy (but as Cato points out, there's a growing body of evidence it is in reasonable* quantities harmless):

[R]eports have begun to come out that the salt panic has been exaggerated and may even pose some health dangers of its own. “New review questions benefit of cutting down on salt,” reported Reuters about a new review of more than 160 scientific studies published in the American Journal of Hypertension. “It’s time to end the war on salt,” per a July Scientific American article by Melinda Wenner Moyer.

But, of course, the "science" of the government is behind the time (heck, they are still fighting this "global warming" thing).

Is it going to come down to having to go to a street corner in the scary part of town to get your sodium chloride?

Meanwhile, the FDA is looking at setting a National Maximum Bed Time for all adults of 10:00 P.M.  Okay, that's a joke, but if they can control what you eat, why not how much you sleep?

*I have to say "reasonable" because someone will say "If you eat 10 pounds of salt it'll kill you."  Sure, and if you drink 10 gallons of water quickly it'll kill you.

Those that Forget History are Doomed to Embarrass Themselves (and the Nation)

From 1911 until the end or World War II, Korea was a Japanese "colony" ran with various degrees of brutality.  When Japan invaded China, Japan turned the Korean peninsula into a war-production factory to supply its army.  Among atrocities suffered by the Koreans at the hands of the Japanese is the use of "comfort women". Resistance movements were bloodily put down.  Koreans are still smarting from the Japanese occupation.

So when South Korean President Lee Myung Bak comes for a state dinner, what does the Obama White House serve at the state dinner?  Japanese food!

Well, all those Asians look alike, anyway, I guess they must like the same kinds of food, right?

This is just another example of "smart diplomacy" from this uneducated, uninformed, and just plain dumb administration.

May Nanny of the Month

It's time once again for Reason TV's "Nanny of the Month."

Culture Shock

When I visited Peru a few years back (okay, 2007; my how time flies), in a very nice restaurant there was guinea pig on the menu on their page of traditional Peruvian dishes.  Our host's college-age daughter said, "So good but too many bones."  I said, "You realize guinea pigs are pets in the U.S.?"  And she looked at me as if I'd claimed the Moon is made of green cheese.  I shrugged and ordered a beef dish.

I figure minor cultural differences such as dietary choices are no big deal and in fact fun and interesting.  (Of course, if your culture denigrates women, hangs gays, and thinks killing Jews is mandated by God, that's a different story.)  I don't think everyone in the world has to be Americanized.  Or at least only Americanized to the point where they stop having honor killings and blowing themselves up in the name of their religion.

Today Drudge is linking to a story out of China about the rescue of dogs that were destined to become people food:

Hundreds of dogs set for the slaughterhouse have been saved from the dinner plate by animal welfare activists in China.

The dogs were being transported behind cages on a truck when they were spotted - and an online call for help rescuing them was put out.

Activists surrounded the truck and paid around $17,000 for the dogs after a 15-hour stand-off.

What's interesting is the activists were Chinese, and so where the people planning to kill the dogs for food.  Apparently some Western ideas are seeping into the Middle Kingdom.

I have no problem with folks wanting to eat dog.  Americans eat animals all the time.  It's just that we consider dogs special (more so than the anonymous cow that provided your last burger).  But apparently, some Chinese citizens are developing the same attitude toward canines.  The one thing about this story that bothers me is the inhumane conditions the dogs were kept in:

Many of the animals were dehydrated, injured and suffering from a potentially deadly virus - and at least 68 have had to be hospitalized.

The dogs were left lying down in cramped metal crates in the back of the truck, barking and whining after the ordeal.

'They were squeezing and pressing on each other and some were biting and fighting, and I saw some were injured or sick,' said Li Wei, manager of the Capital Animal Welfare Association who were involved in the rescue.

The least we can do if we're going to eat animals (yummy, tasty animals) is treat them humanely and kill them as painlessly as possible.

If more Western ideas invade China, perhaps we won't have to worry about their ability to compete economically.  They'll get unions and lazy kids who don't want to study hard but play video games.

But in the meantime, if they want to eat dogs, I say let 'em.

Lipidleggin'

Today I was watching a Reason.TV video on YouTube about banning fast food restaurants in Los Angeles, and it reminded me of a short story I read something like 30 years ago.

So I did a google search for it, and found it. It's called "Lipidleggin'" and you should read the whole thing.

More on Eating Bugs

Back in September we asked "Are bugs the next sushi?"  And the answer was "yuck."

Bugs are back again at the Wall Street Journal (sub probably required):

As the global population booms and demand strains the world's supply of meat, there's a growing need for alternate animal proteins. Insects are high in protein, B vitamins and minerals like iron and zinc, and they're low in fat. Insects are easier to raise than livestock, and they produce less waste. Insects are abundant. Of all the known animal species, 80% walk on six legs; over 1,000 edible species have been identified. And the taste? It's often described as "nutty."

And the "ick" factor:

Insects have a reputation for being dirty and carrying diseases—yet less than 0.5% of all known insect species are harmful to people, farm animals or crop plants. When raised under hygienic conditions—eating bugs straight out of the backyard generally isn't recommended—many insects are perfectly safe to eat.

Okay, so it's safe.  But still, the "ick" factor:

The vast majority of the developing world already eats insects. In Laos and Thailand, weaver-ant pupae are a highly prized and nutritious delicacy. They are prepared with shallots, lettuce, chilies, lime and spices and served with sticky rice. Further back in history, the ancient Romans considered beetle larvae to be gourmet fare, and the Old Testament mentions eating crickets and grasshoppers. In the 20th century, the Japanese emperor Hirohito's favorite meal was a mixture of cooked rice, canned wasps (including larvae, pupae and adults), soy sauce and sugar.

Okay, people aready eat insects, but the "ick" factor:

Will Westerners ever take to insects as food? It's possible. We are entomologists at Wageningen University, and we started promoting insects as food in the Netherlands in the 1990s. Many people laughed—and cringed—at first, but interest gradually became more serious. In 2006 we created a "Wageningen—City of Insects" science festival to promote the idea of eating bugs; it attracted more than 20,000 visitors.

Well, ick.  I am sure in my life I have eaten insects (I recent inhaled a gnat and was forced to swallow it).  But I just don't want to.  But perhaps in the future we'll all be eating insects:

Not long ago, foods like kiwis and sushi weren't widely known or available. It is quite likely that in 2020 we will look back in surprise at the era when our menus didn't include locusts, beetle larvae, dragonfly larvae, crickets and other insect delights.

All I can say is: Yuck!

Are Bugs the Next Sushi?

There was a time when I thought I would never eat sushi.  Couldn't imagine eating it, had no desire to eat it, and knew I never ever would.  First of all, I generally didn't like to eat fish as the taste (especially of the trout my father tried to foist on me as a child) was not to my liking.  And hating the taste of cooked fish I couldn't imagine eating it raw. 

I don't remember exactly when I started eating sushi but I think it was around 1996.  I first tried maki sushi (rolls) and eventually graduated to nigiri (raw fish on top of beds of rice) and finally sashimi (raw fish, no rice).  And I really like sushi and sashimi.  When it's good it's heavenly.  When it's not so good, it's still pretty good.  I just wish the local place in town did it better.

So, how I used to feel about sushi I currently feel about eating bugs.  Front page article (sub probably required) in the Wall Street Journal yesterday about how some people are trying to make eating bugs the next culinary fad:

For Mr. [Marc] Dennis, a 45-year-old painter and Elmira College associate art professor, the challenge is convincing those around him that bugs are tasty, and good for you, too—high in protein, low in fat, cheap and good for the environment. "I think it's what sushi was 20 or 30 years ago," he said. "Now it's time for bugs."

Seems to me you'd have to get past the ick factor, somehow.  But some people still have those feelings (Ick!) about sushi.  Perhaps a a sample menu is in order:

To start, there were "ento-teasers": waxworm potato fritters; kalamata hummus with crickets and a dung beetle garnish; bamboo worm guacamole, and "pokies"—a sliced cucumber with pickled ginger, topped with a Jing Leed cricket from Thailand boiled in Chinese Lapsang Souchong tea, with a dollop of agave nectar.

Uhm . . . yuck.

And do bugs have that cool multi-cultural vibe like sushi?

So if you can't imagine yourself eating bugs (and I can't), remember, people eat Brussels sprouts.

And that's something I could never imagine eating.

Government: Less Na for You

Well, when government starts paying for health care it's only a matter of time before they start to want to control your health.  And already the FDA is thinking you consume too much sodium (Na to us chemistry geeks).  That's right, the FDA wants to cut back on the amount of salt you consume (mostly in the form of NaCl).  AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard reports: 

On Tuesday, the prestigious Institute of Medicine said the food industry has made little progress in voluntarily reducing sodium. The advisers urged the FDA to set maximum sodium levels for different foods in a stepwise rollback, so that eventually average consumption would drop by about half a teaspoon

But the FDA wants to start with voluntary reductions of sodium in processed foods.  Later they'll become mandatory, I'm sure.

"This needs to be a mandatory standard," said Dr. Jane E. Henney of the University of Cincinnati, a former FDA commissioner who headed the IOM's study. Because salt is so "ubiquitous, having one or two in the industry make strong attempts at this doesn't give us that even playing field over time. It's not sustainable."

Of course, some foods are meant to be salty (pickles, jerky).  Don't know what's going to happen to them.  Maybe just outright ban them.  That'll work.

The great nanny state is upon us.  What's next?  Making sure we get to bed on time?