By JULIETTE ROSSANT The saying goes: the way to a man's heart might be through his stomach - the way to a politician's brain just might take the same path. Last weekSuper Chef reported (see Obama's Pukka Lunch at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen) that the UK's Gordon Brown would be dining with Barack and Michelle Obama at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant in London. That turned out to be a hoax, but not far from the truth. It turns out that Jamie will be cooking for all the G20 leaders, including the US president, in London next week at the prime minister's residence at 10 Downing Street. He's been asked to make a "credit crunch lunch" with his cook apprentices from Fifteen with ingredients available on any British"High Street". The idea is to avoid the egg-on-the-face situation that the Ministers encountered last year when they were caught dining on a lavish feast while discussing the world food shortage. Jamie is known for cooking healthy meals using locally-sourced ingredients - which is sure to appeal to the Obamas: I'm hoping that the menu I'm working on will show that British food and produce is some of the best in the world but also show that we have pioneered a high quality apprentice scheme at Fifteen. Fifteen is also a model for what the Ministers will be talking about - creating jobs. Apprentices at Fifteen are young people from broken homes, or who have been in trouble with the law or involved with drugs. The restaurant, supported by a charity, turns them into cooks and chefs. Newspapers quoted Jamie as saying: "Many of these young chefs were unemployed a couple of years ago. But in a few days they will be cooking for the Prime Minister and the President of America." Let's hope Jamie also has a chance to highlight his work transforming British school food, and tackling the poor quality of the nation's food supply. Eat well and pay attention to the message and the messenger who cooks your meal. Previous articles: Obama's Pukka Lunch at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Jamie Oliver: Recipease American Road Trip What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver Branding: Jamie Oliver - Watching the Salt Jamie Oliver & Paul McCartney: - Anti-Landmine Campaign Jamie Oliver Label: Sainsburys v. Tesco Jamie Oliver: Chicken Out! Jamie Oliver: Jamie At Home Jamie Oliver: Cook with Jamie Jamie Oliver Cartoon By Aardman Jamie Oliver Betters British School Food FOOD PIX: Jamie Oliver Fat Suit Nora Sands: Nora's Dinners Jamie Oliver Signs Sainsbury's Jamie Oliver New Year: School Lunch Jamie Oliver on Vodafone Live! Jamie Oliver: Real Guts Fat Lady Sings Jamie Oliver Jamie Oliver: School Lunch [Chefs & Branding - complete] [Chefs & Politics - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks, cookbook reviews, Jamie Oliver --> back to Super Chef |
Food scientists that I-ve interviewed recently say that every major manufacturer of food products in the U.S. has either its own in-house team evaluating the use of nanotechnology or has contracted with outside experts for the knowledge.
The race is on to create these manmade nanoparticles - the size of atoms and molecules - and modify them to enhance the safety, taste, color, texture, nutritional value and shelf life of food.
Many food scientists are working on nanoparticles that will kill microbes that spoil or taint food, and I-m told that at least three labs in Europe and Japan are reportedly pursuing similar technology to signal the presence of salmonella, listeria and even E.coli.
My acquaintances in the Food and Drug Administration and on various Congressional committees say the government is doing little or nothing to ensure the safety of this technology.
I was at a conference two years ago when Mitchell Cheeseman, then-deputy director of FDA-s Office of Food Additive Safety, said the agency needed help in identifying potential safety concerns from nanotech food additives and dietary supplements. One researcher in the food additive office told me today "not much has happened because the nanotech wheel is not squeaking."
The rest of the world appears to be taking it seriously.
For instance, food products using nanotechnology will not be permitted for sale in Ireland until the risks to consumers is better known, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland recently told our FDA.
Just this week, the European Parliament called for caution to be used before food being produced using nanotechnology processes marketed.
According to a statement from the European Parliament, the European Food Safety Authority has been ordered to ensure the safety of all food produced with nanotechnology processes, and "specific risk assessments" must be approved and completed before the products can be sold.
In addition, the organization ordered labeling instructions that I won-t live long enough to see in the U.S.
They require that: "all ingredients present in the form of nanomaterials shall be clearly indicated in the list of ingredients. The names of the ingredients shall be followed by the word "˜nano- in brackets."
On the other side of the world, Australian food safety activists call for increasing "scant regulations governing the use of potentially harmful nanotechnology in food and food packaging," reported the Australian Associated Press.
A new report from the consumer group "Choice," quoted by the Australian news agency, says an estimated 150 to 600 nanofoods and 400 to 500-nanofood packaging applications are in use around the world.
Nanotechnology involves structures as small as molecules, 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, which can have new and unexpected properties because their small size brings quantum effects into play and their larger relative surface area makes them more reactive.
Choice said there is also a lack of research into how nanoparticles in food react once inside the human body.
The government agency Food Standards Australia New Zealand does not require manufactured nanoparticles to be specifically labeled, the food safety group said.