Grumpy Editor

California's July 1 foie gras ban: more work for police?

Some editorial page writers in California should be busy over the next few days, prior to the banning of foie gras in state restaurants starting July 1, pointing out how police departments face another decision:  whether to haul in chefs who keep the delicacy on menus, notes Grumpy Editor.

Starting Sunday in the Golden State, producing or selling the engorged livers of forced-fed ducks and geese will be prohibited by law.  The law was passed in 2004 with a grace period that ends this week.

Restaurants that defy the ban will be subject to stiff $1,000 citations.

Pushing for the legislation were animal rights advocates who cited cruelty in fattening fowl by overfeeding them to produce fatty liver.

Talk among chefs, in skirting the ban, is to bring in the foie gras from outside California, such as Nevada, and serving it as a free side dish --- but charging for toast that goes with it.

But that could lead to some major action.

“We’re going to come down like a hammer on any chef or restaurant that wants to continue serving this very cruel product,” Bryan Pease, co-founder of the Animal Protection and Rescue League in San Diego, said in an interview with Bloomberg writer Alison Vekshin.

“If we find somebody still serving that product, the gloves are going to come off and we’ll use every legal means available to shut that place down, including lawsuits, protests and boycotts,” Pease added. “There’s just no reason to allow restaurants to do business in California that flout the law and torture animals for a table treat.”

However, major police departments in California --- already busy enforcing assorted crimes --- appeared reluctant to issue citations or handcuff law-breaking chefs. 

 

Burger King revs up to go public, adds bacon sundae

Will New York media ask mayor Michael Bloomberg --- who frowns on sugary sodas larger than 16 ounces served in restaurants, theaters, delis and vending carts --- what he thinks of today’s Burger King unveiling of a 510-calorie bacon sundae, wonders Grumpy Editor. 

The dessert is composed of vanilla soft serve with a mix of fudge, caramel, bacon crumbles, topped with a vertical slice of bacon. 

Along with its high calorie count, the dessert also contains 18 grams of fat and 61 grams of (attention: Mayor Bloomberg) sugar. 

Burger King today also is debuting several pork, beef and chicken sandwiches. 

Meanwhile, investors who remember Burger King on the New York Stock Exchange until it was taken private in October, 2010 by global investment firm 3G Capital, with offices in New York City and Rio de Janeiro, will have an opportunity again to buy into the world’s second largest hamburger chain later this month. 

That’s when 3G Capital expects to take Burger King public on the NYSE --- where traders, in celebrating the event, might be downing bacon sundaes against the mayor’s wishes.

 

Cartoonists, talk shows rake Bloomberg’s anti-soda plan

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed ban on large-size sodas gave newspaper editorial cartoonists and talk show hosts a field day on Friday and over the weekend, observes Grumpy Editor.

Bloomberg’s idea ran into a hornets nest. 

Look for it to get another round of heavy print/broadcast coverage when his proposal is introduced at a June 12 New York City Board of Health meeting. 

Apparently the mayor --- an independent for five years, after switching from Republican for six years after being a Democrat --- feels Gotham has no problems with crime, potholes, traffic, Wall Street or New Yorkers departing the tax-heavy area.

So citing the measure as a health issue, Bloomberg is turning his focus to curbing large containers of bubbly beverages like Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, Canada Dry and Mountain  Dew.  

His “Big Gulp” proposal bans sugary sodas larger than 16 ounces in most restaurants, theaters, delis and vending carts.  It could take effect as early as March.

But milk shakes are okay with Bloomberg. 

Editorial cartoonists, seeing it as something fresh to tackle, immediately jumped on the mayor. 

Among the first editorial cartoonists to spotlight the Big Gulp situation:  Jimmy Margulies who draws for the Record in Hackensack, N.J. 

His syndicated cartoon shows a King Kong-like character atop a skyscraper much like the Empire State building. 

The giant ape is holding a super-size beverage container with a long straw as a fleet of aircraft approach.  From one plane is the message, “You can stay.  It’s the soda we’re after…” 

With broadcast media, Sean Hannity, for example, on his Friday night program on Fox News channel sipped from and waved his large beverage container at TV cameras while discussing events of the day. 

Chatter on Bloomberg’s soda ban spilled over to Sunday talk shows. 

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola smacked the mayor’s proposal in a statement, “New Yorkers  expect and deserve better than this.”

 

Psst! Wanna munch on a free doughnut today? Read on

Since it’s the first Friday in June, that means it’s National Doughnut Day, reminds Grumpy Editor. 

In observance of the event, created by the Salvation Army in 1938 to honor women (known as “lassies”) who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I, some nationwide doughnut shops are offering free ring-shaped cakes --- the ones that are deep fried. 

Participating Krispy Kreme outlets are presenting patrons one free doughnut of any variety.  Dunkin’ Donuts also is marking the day with a free doughnut.  But it requires a beverage purchase. 

Some local doughnut shops also are getting in on the act. 

National Doughnut Day stems from the original Salvation Army doughnut that was included with home-cooked foods served in 1917 by the lassies, volunteers who visited soldiers on the front lines of Europe.

 

HGTV Magazine gets green light for additional issues

While many magazines are struggling to retain subscribers in a weak market, Scripps Networks Interactive Inc.’s HGTV and Hearst Corp. this week launch HGTV Magazine focusing on gardening, food, home and other lifestyle themes reflecting the cable channel’s programming, notes Grumpy Editor. 

The magazine, one of four issues planned this year, goes on newsstands following two test issues. 

Hearst and Scripps have gone against the tide before when they started Food Network Magazine, the print version of the popular Food Network.  That publication has more than tripled its circulation to 1.4 million since its debut in 2009. 

Scripps Networks Interactive’s other brands include DIY Network, Travel Channel, Cooking Channel and country music network Great American Country. 

Recently named HGTV Magazine publisher is Dan Fuchs, formerly associate publisher of O, The Oprah Magazine. 

Sara Peterson, HGTV Magazine’s editor-in-chief, says, “We wanted to strike a chord with Americans looking for a fun, approachable magazine about how they live their lives at home.”

 

Forget scandals, National Jelly Bean Day looms Sunday

While growing Secret Service and GSA scandals along with Washington political jousting continue to grab chunks of newspaper space, look for some editors to work in sweet stories on jelly beans on Sunday, predicts Grumpy Editor.

Why? 

April 22 is National Jelly Bean Day.  (Yes, it’s also Earth Day, but jelly beans are tastier than sand or soil.) 

Behind the tasty celebration is the Jelly Belly candy factory in Fairfield, Calif. which produces more than 150 sweet treats. 

Air in that neighborhood is filled with the aroma of chocolate, peach, cinnamon, pineapple, or whatever is being cooked up that day. 

Plant visitors can take a 40-minute walking tour where they learn it takes more than a week to make a single bean. 

The company boasts that only authentic Jelly Belly jelly beans, with the logo printed on each, is fat free, peanut free, dairy free, vegetarian, gluten free and OU kosher certified. 

Aside from munching on individual beans, among ways to celebrate National Jelly Bean Day, Jelly Belly cites: 

+  Any pastry from layer cakes to cupcakes can get a makeover with colorful jelly beans.

+  Put jelly beans in a vase as a decorative accent.

+  Place jelly beans around candles on a tray for a splash of color.

+  But most important, Jelly Belly says its beans come with instructions to eat them one at a time.  “Each flavor is so true-to-life, savor them one by one,” advises the company.

 

Oops! Food writers miss ‘pink slime’ ingredient in recipes

Grumpy Editor wonders why newspaper and magazine food writers didn’t raise eyebrows in preparing tasty meat recipes when one of the “hidden” ingredients --- used for two decades --- recently surfaced, branded as “pink slime,” a ground beef additive made from butchered scraps.

Perhaps food writers were too involved in getting the right amount of cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, chopped ginger, steamed snow peas or cilantro leaves into recipes. 

Furthermore, in most cases, ground beef bolstered by the filler then was treated for bacteria with ammonium hydroxide (two words normally not found as mouth-watering ingredients in recipes). 

The so-called pink slime recently made the rounds on the Internet, bringing it to light and triggering supermarket chains to proclaim they would phase out the ground beef containing the mysterious filler. 

Among them:  Safeway Inc., Kroger Co. and Supervalu Inc., which operates Albertson’s and Jewel-Osco. 

Despite this and knowing about the meat filler coupled with the ammonium hydroxide treatment, the U.S. Department of Agriculture maintained all was safe for the pink slime-laced ground beef highlighted in backyard barbecues and in preparing culinary delights when relatives visit.

 

New tests back up Dr. Oz’s apple juice/arsenic findings

With orange juice and its arsenic content back in the news, most print and broadcast media yesterday missed an important element that was spotlighted by Dr. Mehmet Oz 11 weeks ago on “The Dr. Oz Show” on television --- most apple juice distributed in the U.S. is imported, observes Grumpy Editor. 

In his September TV show, Dr. Oz revealed 60 percent of the juice concentrate comes from China.  He commented on arsenic content in apple juice after testing samples from some of the nation’s best-known brands.

The Food and Drug Administration at that time immediately disputed the findings. 

After Consumer Reports this week announced its own tests on several apple juice brands and called for stricter standards, the FDA said it will examine whether its restrictions on the amount of arsenic allowed in apple juice are stringent enough. 

Arsenic, not always regulated in other countries, is a toxic heavy metal known to cause cancer if consumed at high levels or over a long period. 

TV channels yesterday placed a variety of doctors, nutrition experts and medical/health correspondents before cameras.  But their apple juice comments focused on such things as sugar content, high calories, danger to waistlines, lack of fiber vs. whole fruit and tooth decay in small children. 

Deep in an Associated Press story in some newspapers today, Marilynn Marchione, AP’s chief medical writer, reported “only 17 percent of the apple juice sold in the U.S. is produced here” with the remainder coming from mostly China, Argentina, Chile and Brazil, according to the Juice Products Association. 

Indeed, a close look at apple juice containers’ fine print on labels will most likely indicate a foreign source. 

Sadly, the number of U.S. farms producing apples --- mainly in Washington State, New York and Michigan --- has continued to slide, tumbling from nearly 34,000 in the late 1990s to 25,600 in 2007, the most recent year tallied.

 

Turkey-minded Grumpy Editor is taking time off

Marking Thanksgiving, Grumpy Editor is getting away from his cluttered desk today to feast on turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

Turkey sandwiches will follow tomorrow.

Then, perhaps more leftover turkey dishes over the weekend.

He will return, a few pounds heavier, on Monday.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

Dr. Oz cites arsenic in apple juice, irks FDA --- and ABC

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor of the syndicated “The Dr. Oz Show” on television and coauthor of a daily newspaper column, stirs things up on TV with his findings on arsenic content found in mostly imported apple juice, observes Grumpy Editor. 

After testing dozens of samples from three U.S. cities, Dr. Oz discovers some of the nation's best known brands of apple juice contain arsenic, a heavy metal known to cause cancer. 

That brought immediate reaction from the Food and Drug Administration, disputing Dr. Oz’s findings --- and from ABC’s health and medical editor, Dr. Richard Besser. 

An exchange of Dr. Besser, a former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Oz on ABC’s “Good Morning America": 

Besser: “ I’m very upset about this.  I think this was extremely irresponsible, putting out this kind of health warning, manufacturing a health crisis based on faulty, incomplete data.” 

Oz:  “We did our homework.  We spent a lot of time making sure we got our numbers right.” 

Dr. Oz stresses most apple juice is not all-American, pointing out 60 percent of apple juice, made from concentrate, is imported from China.

Grumpy Editor, in efforts to determine the source of apple juice from concentrate distributed by Kroger Co., for example, finds one has to examine the container very carefully.  The information is not on the wraparound label indicating nutrition facts and ingredients but is in tiny, easy-to-overlook print directly on the plastic container about an inch above the label.

Sure enough, it reads:  “Contains concentrate from Argentina/China.”

Arsenic, banned in the U.S., is not always regulated in other countries where it may be in the water supply or used in pesticides contaminating the juice you're giving to your children, says Dr. Oz. 

To settle the argument, rather than running a pros and cons story (and probably again in a few months), a major U.S. newspaper, magazine, wire service or TV outlet should independently test --- as a public service --- for arsenic content in apple juice and promote the results. 

Meanwhile, see Dr.Oz’s findings and more information at:

www.doctoroz.com/videos/arsenic-apple-juice