Text 5094, 147 rader
Skriven 2010-12-19 06:17:00 av Dave Drum (48781.cooking)
     Kommentar till en text av Glen Jamieson (48770.cooking)
Ärende: INDEPENDENT TESTING
===========================
-=> Glen Jamieson wrote to Dave Drum <=-

 -> That is the sort of exposure that our "Choice" magazine does well, and
 -> I appreciate.

 GJ> USA has a similar consumer supported and supporting magazine which
 GJ> gives independent reports about products.  I forget its name...

 DD> Consumer Reports - as stated on their web site
 DD> (web.consumerreports.org) "We are a non-profit organization that is
 DD> supported by the subscriptions to our web
 DD> site and magazine. To maintain our independence, we do not accept any
 DD> outside advertising and any free test samples."

 GJ> The Australian "Choice", to which I have been subscribing since it
 GJ> first started up over 50 years ago, has been steadily expanding its
 GJ> product investigations, and recently has been investigating and
 GJ> comparing bank charges.  That has resulted in some bank policy changes
 GJ> to the benefit of borrowers.  Some contraversial food aspects, such as
 GJ> the use of palm oil, have been covered very well, with data from all
 GJ> sources presented in a balanced way, so that consumers can make their
 GJ> own dietary decisions.

 DD> On the other hand -- The Centre For Consumer Freedom cavils "Big news

 GJ> Is that another independent organisation?  I haven't heard of it.

From their web presence: "Founded in 1996, the Center for Consumer Freedom is a
nonprofit organization devoted to promoting personal responsibility and
protecting consumer choices. We believe that the consumer is King. And Queen.

"A growing cabal of activists has meddled in Americans’ lives in recent years.
They include self-anointed "food police," health campaigners, trial lawyers,
personal-finance do-gooders, animal-rights misanthropes, and meddling
bureaucrats.

"Their common denominator? They all claim to know "what's best for you." In
reality, they’re eroding our basic freedoms—the freedom to buy what we want,
eat what we want, drink what we want, and raise our children as we see fit.
When they push ordinary Americans around, we're here to push back.  
 
"The Center for Consumer Freedom is supported by restaurants, food companies
and thousands of individual consumers. From farm to fork, from urban to rural,
our friends and supporters include businesses, their employees, and their
customers.

"The Center is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. We file regular statements
with the Internal Revenue Service, which are open to public inspection.

"Many of the companies and individuals who support the Center financially have
indicated that they want anonymity as contributors. They are reasonably
apprehensive about privacy and safety in light of the violence and other forms
of aggression some activists have adopted as a "game plan" to impose their
views, so we respect their wishes.

Telephone # 202.463.7112 ext 115 (country code 0011 + 1 + three digit area code
+ seven digit telephone number) Web site www.consumerfreedom.com  
 
 DD> this week from Consumer Reports, the toaster-testing periodical that
 DD> occasionally masquerades as a reliable source of food-safety advice: If
 DD> you serve chicken medium-rare, someone might get sick. Whew. Thank
 DD> goodness we subscribe. Consumer Reports has previously issued baseless
 DD> warnings about genetically modified foods and acrylamide. Its claim
 DD> that pregnant women should stop eating all canned tuna was a high
 DD> watermark of public health irresponsibility. And now the magazine is
 DD> trying to scare Americans about bacteria in uncooked chicken, a
 DD> phenomenon which every competent chef (including "chef mom") already
 DD> understands. It's called hand-washing. Check it out. It wipes out bird
 DD> flu too.

 DD> "Based on her magazine's sample of 525 chickens, Consumer Reports
 DD> scientist Urvashi Rangan warned CBS News viewers yesterday about an
 DD> "astronomical rate of pathogen contamination." To its credit, the
 DD> U.S. Department of Agriculture fired back almost immediately. "There
 DD> is virtually nothing or any conclusion that anyone could draw from
 DD> 500 samples," USDA spokesman Steven Cohen told a Reuters reporter.
 DD> "They're passing along junk science and calling it an investigation."
 DD> Cohen also noted that Consumer Reports failed to distinguish between
 DD> the various types of salmonella. At least one very common strain, it
 DD> turns out, doesn't make people sick.
 
 DD> "Bottom line: Cook your chicken. Wash your hands. Pick up a copy of
 DD> Consumer Reports when it's time for a new vacuum cleaner or dishwasher.
 DD> But leave food safety to the experts."

 GJ> Who are the experts?  "Choice" certainly doesn't indulge in such
 GJ> hysterical ravings as the above, but does investigate public concerns
 GJ> in a balanced, objective way.  If you wish, you could see their web
 GJ> page at www.choice.com.au.

Apparently the person cited in the op-ed piece Urvashi Rangan is one. But
Rangan had to have the support of Consumer Reports. It's just another one of
the "viewing with alarm" pieces using junk science (so labelled by our US
Department of Agriculture) and sensationalising an issue that should be dealt
with by common sense.
 
Read "Top five dumbest food cop proposals of the decade" an Op-Ed piece in the
Las Vegas Review Journal available at http://tinyurl.com/FOOD-KOPS 

Given some of the idiotic proposals I have seen floated by people who should
know better wanting to protect us from ourselves it must have been a Herculean
task to winnow them down to just five.  Bv(=

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

      Title: Undescended Twinkies
 Categories: Deserts, I scream, Fruits, Citrus
      Yield: 4 servings

      6 oz (2 boxes) Orange Jell-O
      1 c  Boiling water
    1/2 c  Pineapple juice
      1 qt Vanilla ice cream; softened
      7 oz 7-Up lemon-lime soda
      8    Hostess Twinkies
 
  Dissolve Jell-O in boiling water. Add pineapple
  juice, ice cream and 7-Up. Mix thoroughly (In a
  blender if necessary to dissolve ice cream), and
  pour into a deep pan, approximately 9" square.

  Chill until mixture begins to set. Lay Twinkies,
  flat side down, in two rows of four across the top
  of the chilled gelatin. If the gelatin is properly
  chilled, it will resist the Twinkies. You will push
  them in and they will slowly rise. Remember you don't
  want them buried. Just semi-descended in the ooze.

  Chill until fully set and serve.
 
  From: http://www.recipesource.com

  Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives

MMMMM

ENJOY!!!

From Uncle Dirty Dave's Kitchen
Home of YAHOOOOAHHHH Hot Sauce & Hardin Cider 

 

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