Jamie Oliver: The Message of Food for the G20

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

Inadequate Records Keeping Blamed For Food-Borne Outbreaks

Every day you hear about a new food recall, and outbreaks of food-borne bacteria such as salmonella, E. coli, and botulism are the main culprits that can cause severe injuries and can be fatalities. On March 26, 2009, a government investigator declared that a lot of food handlers in the United Stated do not keep proper records to track products such as milk and oatmeal, making it extremely challenging to identify the source of a food-borne outbreak. The U.S. food supply system has come under scrutiny in the wake of high-profile recalls. In the latest outbreak some 700 people became ill after eating salmonella-contaminated peanut products, leading to the largest food recall in U.S. history. An assessment by the inspector general-s office in the Health and Human Services Department found 59% of foodmakers, transporters, warehouses, retailers and other facilities in the study failed to meet requirements to keep records about sources, recipients and transporters of food. A quarter of the firms were unaware they were required to do so by the FDA, according to the review, which was based on a traceback test of 40 products, including milk, oatmeal and leafy vegetables. "These findings demonstrate that more needs to be done to protect public health and to ensure the FDA has the necessary resources and tools to respond to a food emergency," Daniel Levinson, the inspector general at HHS, told a House of Representatives Appropriations subcommittee. "These factors would also limit FDA-s ability to respond quickly and effectively to a food emergency," he said. The traceback test found in most cases the facility that "likely" handled the product was identified. Five items were traced throughout the entire supply chain, while investigators had trouble identifying who handled four of the products. The Bioterrorism Act of 2002 requires produce processors and distributors to keep track of where food goes and has arrived from, enabling the FDA to use the records to track a product when there is a serious health threat. Restaurants and farms are not covered by this requirement. The downsides of the system were exposed last year when health officials took months to locate the source of a salmonella outbreak. After first pointing to tomatoes as the source, the strain was later identified as coming from Mexican peppers. The FDA defended that investigation, saying the process was delayed by poor record-keeping and delays checking paperwork. But critics called for a national tracking system. "Traceability today is simply not good enough," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, chairwoman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the FDA. "It-s inconsistent, unreliable and these findings confirm what many in Congress already believe: That we need to do better," said DeLauro, who has introduced a bill that would improve food supply tracking. Requiring a firm that handles a food product to maintain records of every facility or farm that handled the product and allowing the FDA to request a firm-s record any time are among recommendations made by Levinson to strengthen the system. Food groups told Congress they supported a tracking system but using technology acceptable to the industry. The United Fresh Produce Association, which represents 1,500 companies, is working on a coding system to track produce across the supply chain. Tracking programs are used by some produce firms, but they are voluntary and different. "We ask that Congress set the goal that we need to achieve, not mandate the process," said Tom Stenzel, the association-s president. This entry was posted on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 6:58 am and is filed under Accidents & Personal Injury, Food Poisoning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Traceability in the Food Supply Chain

Traceability in the Food Supply Chain (PDF; 619 KB)

Browse > Home / World News / EU concerned by œmargin gap between farm-gate and retail prices EU concerned by margin gap between farm-gate and retail prices The European Parliament is set to take a closer look at the food supply chain, which will ensure price trends are monitored over time. Correcting the market inequalities, and improving direct relations between consumers and producers, in order to guarantee reasonable prices for the former and profits for the latter, are at the centre of a report adopted by the European Parliament on the difference in price between production and consumption in the food chain. High food price volatility, which has caused œsignificant prices rises, had a major impact globally last year. In Europe, consumer prices are now on average up to five times more than the farm gate price, the report noted. MEPs are consequently calling on the Commission to launch a report, as soon as possible, to investigate the œmargin share in the production and distribution chains. œThis price gap is a major problem which is causing concern for the two extremities of the food chain,†Katerina Batzeli, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), said. œProducers and consumers are suffering from the effects of the drive for profits, which is at the origin of the failing food market. It is time to put in place a long-term plan and to adopt interventions at a European level so as to face the financial crisis, which is weighing heavily on households and farmers. Market dominance and anti-competitive practices According to MEPs, the price transmission mechanism and the gap between consumer and producer prices increase in concentration across the food supply chain. They are particularly concerned by the increase in market share of a number of processors and manufacturers, who are abusing their dominant position to force down œprices paid to suppliers to unsustainable levels. The report notes that a survey by the Commission on Food Prices in Europe œfails to include the abuse of the dominant position observed at the retail stage, and MEPs are particularly concerned by anti-competitive practices which include the selling of goods below cost. In the long-run, pricing below cost benefits neither the consumers nor the food market as a whole and, consequently, MEPs are calling for European-level action to be taken. European monitoring The report endorses the Commission™s proposal to establish an œefficient European market monitoring system, which will allow price trends and input costs to be monitored across the whole food supply chain. This should allow a more transparent system and will allow for a cross-border comparison system on similar products. MEPs believe that this measure should be supported by an investigation and evaluation by competition authorities at national and European level to ensure competition rules are respected and that price drops are passed on to consumers. Similarly, they are calling for any price increases to be passed on to producers much more quickly than is happening at present. Increasing transparency MEPs are also calling on the Commission to establish a Europe-wide database, easily accessible to European citizens, which will give greater transparency regarding the cost structure of product prices. This should be carried out in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organisation who, in turn, can monitor this data at an international level. Enforcing the power of producer organisations and the idea of local produce The report believes that in order to shift the balance of power within the food chain, producers™ organisations should be encouraged, as this would help to increase farmers™ negotiating powers. In turn, this would help to shorten the marketing channels to consumers and would offer greater added value to their products. The concept of local foods was also emphasised, with local retail shops to help bridge the gap between producers and consumers.