It's important for food companies to disclose relevant information to the public so that consumers can make informed decisions about what they eat.

For example, Cap'n Crunch should make it abundantly clear that the berries in its cereal are not real fruit so that Californian Janine Sugawara can intelligently balance her diet.

News 10 in Sacramento reports that Sugawara filed a class-action lawsuit against the makers of Cap'n Crunch cereal last June because one product's label misled her. She bought Cap'n Crunch cereal for four years because she thought the Crunch Berries were real fruit.

Federal Judge Morrison England, Jr. dismissed the suit, saying, "a reasonable consumer would have understood the product packaging to expressly warrant only that the product contained sweetened corn and oat cereal, which it did."

"As far as this court has been been made aware, there is no such fruit (Crunch Berries) growing in the wild or occurring naturally in any part of the world," England wrote.

England also noted that Sugawara's lawyer, Harold Hewell, filed a simliar suit against Fruit Loops that was also thrown out of court.

Fresh off a bout of viral food poisoning that was miraculously cured by a penicillin shot to the butt, food buffoon Gordon Ramsey told a cooking session at the Good Food and Wine Show in Melbourne that a doctored picture of a woman with the features of a pig and multiple breasts was similar to television journalist Tracy Grimshaw. Ramsey called her a pig woman and a lesbian.

"I had an interview with her yesterday - holy crap. She needs to see Simon Cowell's Botox doctor."

Grimshaw, an interviewer with A Current Affair, said,

"I'm not going to sit meekly and let some arrogant narcissist bully me. … Obviously Gordon thinks that any woman who doesn't find him attractive must be gay. For the record I don't and I'm not.”

Last week, the Wall Street Journal profiled street food vendors throughout the U.S. highlighting the popularity of mobile/temporary/cart foods. It appears that the segment of foodservice is increasing in popularity as consumers want more than just hot dogs and sausages.  Many of the operators profiled by WSJ have online ordering, text message support and tweet (on twitter) to better connect with customers and provide speed and convenience.

With more complex foods (other than just reheating cooked meats) comes more complicated (and potentially risky) preparation and handling steps. Multiple raw ingredients need to be kept at the right temperature, operators have to avoid cross-contamination and, keep bacteria and viruses off of their hands. All within the confines of a cart or trailer.

Operators must know (and care) about the risks associated with the products they sell. Health inspectors are part of the solution, but a good street vendor manages the risks before the inspector points them out.

The WSJ also reported back in April that the strictly street meat industry is booming as well-- hot dog cart sales for some manufactures have doubled.

Sales of carts, which start at about $2,000 new, have heated up in the past year. "Every model is...taking off," says Joel Goetz, owner of American Dream Hot Dog Carts Inc. in St. Petersburg, Fla. Since January, he has sold about 25 carts a week, 15 more than usual.

"Business is really off the charts," says Dan Jackson, a division manager at Nation's Leasing Services in Newbury Park, Calif. Leases for hot-dog carts account for about three-quarters of sales, and revenue is triple what it was this time a year ago, he says.

Some of the problems that can arise with mobile vendors were exemplified by the good folks at Seattle & King Co. Health. The Seattle Times reports that the health authorities closed a bistro-style mobile restaurant (which was profiled in the WSJ piece), operated out of an Airstream trailer by Skillet Street Food, after finding several health code violations.

The department found several issues — including no water in the hand-washing area, no cold storage for food and no arrangements for restrooms — and shut it down.

The trailer also reportedly didn't have a license to operate (while a sister trailer, which remained open, did). 

In a follow-up article, chef-owner Josh Henderson tried to explain the situation:

"We have one trailer not fully approved," explained Henderson as he readied for tonight's game. "The original trailer people see every day was having some mechanical issues, so we were forced to bring out the one that's not approved."

Forced?

"We signed a contract with the Mariners for the season, saying we'll be out in that lot." It was a choice between not operating and potentially having a breach of contract, he said, or not having a permit for the night and hoping they could get away with it. "We made a bad choice."

Henderson went on to say: 

"We're a young business. We've invested money. We're struggling to pay bills. We don't have deep pockets and large investors. When it comes down to paying payroll and operating a business, sometimes these risks are outweighed by other stuff. That's the reality."

Yeah, not so sure that potentially making a bunch of people sick so you can honor the terms of your contract the best risk to take. If something goes wrong you're probably out of business (and not fulfilling that contract with the Mariners).

Stop tweeting, get some water and wash your hands.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a Sydney restaurant is considering legal action against the NSW Food Authority over its controversial name-and-shame website.

Satasia opened in Balmain 28 years ago and has become one of the most popular restaurants in Sydney's inner west.

The owner, Andrew Lum, says that reputation is in tatters after his eatery was fined by the Food Authority, then included on its name-and-shame list alongside rat- and cockroach-infested restaurants.

The database was launched in July to try to improve hygiene standards.

But Mr Lum and other restaurateurs argue its format is unfair.

Several businesses, including Satasia, have consulted lawyers about suing the State Government.

But the Food Authority appears to be immune from legal action, including defamation, under section 133G of the 2003 Food Act, which states: "No liability is incurred by the state, the minister or the Food Authority, for publishing in good faith any information contained on a register."

A University of Sydney senior law lecturer, David Rolph, said,

"The Food Authority clearly takes the view that when you balance it out between the rights of the trader and the right of the public not to consume food prepared in unsafe places, public interest has to prevail."

Lavender Blue Cafe, at McMahons Point, joined the list in November after receiving a fine for a broken probe thermometer. The manager, Andrew Menczel, said: "The list is a good idea in principle but to lump everyone together is wrong. There should be clearer categories for different offences.”

David Acheson M.D., associate commissioner for foods with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Silver Spring, Md., (right, pretty much exactly as shown) took to the letters page of The Contra Costa Times this morning to say,

“… we recognize that recent problems in food safety represent a clear need for change and a modernization in approach.

That's why we're working more closely with state and local officials to quickly respond to food-borne dangers, such as the recent problems with contaminated pistachios.

The FDA is increasing the number of audits of state inspection programs. Looking forward, the agency is developing a bold new approach that will support states as full partners, not as contractors.

President Barack Obama's budget request for this year includes historic increases for food safety. As a lead participant of the President's Food Safety Working Group, the FDA's focus is on the development of a new national system focused on prevention.”

For the past few weeks my morning routine has involved listening to the radio while making myself presentable, and it seems like every morning the same songs play. One of the radio-repeat songs is titled “I’m Yours” and is sung by Jason Mraz, a fellow blogger.

In an attempt to save the planet, Mr. Mraz provides tips for using less toilet paper,

- Start small. Challenge yourself to use only 8 squares in your session. We’ve all been in that place where it’s close to the cardboard roll and you have to be MacGuyver to make a clean get-away. This will force you to get creative while taking good care of each square.

- Use both sides. I mean that. I bet some people are afraid to look at or get close to their own skid-marks. But I say it’s better to know how your body’s handling the business of your health. Fold the paper again and again using a clean angle from the very same square. There’s a lot of real estate wasted on each sheet when you only wipe once.

- Should you find the paper too thin and become the victim of too many breakthroughs, try using a stronger material as a backing. This worked when I was camping. The paper wasn’t holding up in the dampness of camp, so I used a leaf to give the paper more strength from behind. Plus the leaf was textured, which handled the job with far more efficiency than just the paper by itself.

Though I found Mr. Mraz’s post quite entertaining, I wish he would have mentioned the importance of handwashing post-wipe, especially when one of these MacGuyver techniques fails and you get a bit of breakthrough. Oh, and the picture, right, is what he originally posted on Myspace.

That first pizza was so delightful and light, I made another during the second period, modifying cooking times and adding a few asparagus spears.

Amy said the asparagus tasted “green” and not in a good way.

The crust was much better but still need to adjust the cooking times. Sorenne is almost 6-months-old and is interested in everything we eat. We have introduced several solids – orange wedges, sweet potato, banana, peas – but a bit early for pizza, homemade or not (below, left).

Amy says Detroit goalie Chris Osgood really needs to control his rebounds. Doug says he needs to position better, and maybe have some defensive help. Amy says, Osgood sucks -- and she's a Detroit fan.

Pittsburgh up 4-2 after two periods.

Amy and I (right, exactly as shown) cuddle and have PDAs (public displays of affection) all the time, even with baby Sorenne. But at bedtime, there’s a sleeping position rule: no up close face-to-face.

She says she doesn’t like to breathe used air.

Can’t fault her with that.

But maybe this will help.

Tel Aviv University researchers have come up a pocket-size breath test which lets you know if malodorous bacteria are brewing in your mouth. A blue result suggests you need a toothbrush. But if it's clear, you're "okay to kiss."

Until now, scientists believed that only one population of bacteria (the Gram-negative ones) break down the proteins in the mouth and produce foul odor. But Prof. Mel Rosenberg and Dr. Nir Sterer of TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine recently discovered that the other population of bacteria (the Gram-positive ones) are bad breath's bacterial partner. These bacteria appear to help the Gram-negative ones by producing enzymes that chop sugary bits off the proteins that make them more easily degraded. This enzymatic activity, present in saliva, serves as the basis for the new "OkayToKiss" test.

Prof. Rosenberg, international authority on the diagnosis and treatment of bad breath, who co-developed the kit with Dr. Sterer, published their findings this past March in the Journal of Breath Research.

It’s one of my favorite journals.
 

In her first appearance before Congress as commissioner, Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (below, right) told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health that a safety overhaul sponsored by several leading Democrats was “a major step in the right direction,” but that her agency would need more money to carry it out."

The New York Times reports that legislation, still in draft, blends provisions from bills offered by several top Democrats and includes requirements that all food manufacturers write and carry out safety plans, pay an annual registration fee of $1,000 to the F.D.A. and keep track of the distribution of all food products.

The agency would be required to inspect every food facility in the country at least once every four years, with high-risk ones being inspected every 18 months.

Despite her support for the legislation, Dr. Hamburg said the registration fees “will, sadly, not be enough to implement those targets.”

Pamela G. Bailey, president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, in what appeared to be some kind of Orwellian-speak, told the committee,

“Our industry is ultimately responsible for the safety of its products,” Ms. Bailey said in a written statement, “but securing the safety of the food supply is a government function which should be largely financed with government resources.”