Monthly Archives: March 2009

Accepting food infestation: how do you like your insect filth?

Mammalian excreta, rodent filth, insect filth, mould, rot, insects, larvae, mites, insect eggs, sand and grit, mildew, parasites: an unappetising list, but the US Food and Drug Administration publishes a useful handbook detailing the acceptable amounts of such contaminants in a range of foods.
US consumers are told to expect to find up to 60 aphids / thrips / mites in every 100g of frozen broccoli (but only up to 30 in frozen Brussels sprouts), up to 60 insect fragments in a 100g chocolate bar, up to 4 rodent hairs in 25g of curry powder, and a “copepod accompanied by pus pockets” in 3% of their red fish fillets. These are the specified action levels, below which there is “no inherent hazard to health”.

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A week’s twittered morsels: Bangladeshi aubergines, biochar, farm MRSA, thirsty food, food prices up and down…

Morsels of news, information and observation: Bangladeshi aubergines, biochar, farm MRSA, thirsty food, food prices up and down, Ashmeads kernel apples, anonymous food, agricultural yields, oldest allotments, blended rosé, untraceability, what we eat…

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Supermarkets mixing British and imported beef

Supermarkets are mixing cheaper imported beef with British, says the National Beef Association. Taking advantage of reduced prices for beef from the Republic of Ireland, several retailers are now mixing imported beef with British beef to avoid increasing prices for home-produced beef.

Only Morrisons, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Co-op, Budgens sell 100% British. Tesco’s sales of British beef have dropped from 98% to 90% since 2007, while just 60% of ASDA’s beef is British. Anyone wishing to buy British beef should certainly avoid Netto, which imports all its beef. Despite these varied sourcing policies, surprising results emerge from price comparisons.

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It’s March – eat some hedge garlic

Hedge Garlic (Alliara petiola) is one of the earliest fresh spring greens of the hedgerow, its bright green garlicky leaves appearing from February and at their best as the plant flowers in April and May. Also known as garlic mustard or Jack-by-the-hedge, it has a more delicate, but distinctly oniony, aroma and flavour than the better known wild garlic or ramsons.

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