YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

Life near fast food restaurants unhealthy

New research in the USA says it is unhealthy to live in areas with lots of fast food restaurants. A study by the University of Michigan said people who live within walking distance of fast food restaurants have a 13 per cent higher chance of having a stroke. Lead researcher Dr. Lewis Morgenstern and his team analyzed the social status of the 1,247 people who had strokes in an area of Texas over a three-year period. The area was home to 262 fast food restaurants. The team compared the stroke victims’ social status with how close they lived to the restaurants. He concluded there was a strong relationship between the distance someone lived to fast food restaurants and their chances of having a stroke. A stroke is similar to a heart attack, except it attacks the brain. Strokes are among the biggest killers in the USA. Many are the result of unhealthy eating. A diet that has a large amount of fast food and other junk food increases the chances of having a stroke. Dr. Morgenstern’s research found that there could be up to 33 different fast food restaurants in an area. This puts people living nearby more at risk of a stroke. Dr. Morgenstern said he didn’t know whether it was the actual fast food that increased the risk of stroke. He said fast food restaurants are more common in poorer neighbourhoods where people are less educated and generally have unhealthier and more stressful lifestyles.

NYC restaurants must put calories on menus

Restaurants in New York City that have 15 or more outlets must now put calories on their menus. The decision, made by Judge Richard J. Holwell, will affect around 2,000 different eateries, including big-name chains such as McDonalds and Starbucks. This figure makes up almost ten percent of all the restaurants in the city. The city’s Department of Health believes the new rule on posting calories will help it achieve its goal of reducing obesity, which is one of the biggest health problems in America. Judge Holwell said: "It seems reasonable to expect that some consumers will use the information disclosed…to select lower calorie meals…and these choices will lead to a lower [rate] of obesity." New York’s health commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden stated the decision was a victory for New Yorkers. "It will give people information they need, where they need it," he said.

Many of the restaurants affected by the new ruling are not happy. New York State Restaurant Association official Chuck Hunt said it should be up to restaurants to decide if they want to include calories on their menus. He said: “Our problem was the government…forcing them to do it. We think restaurants should be able to determine from their customers how they want to get the information." He added: “We continue to say that each restaurant should make decisions about the best way to provide this nutritional information to their customers.” He also highlighted that: “Most of the restaurants that are being affected were already providing this information, but in a different format.” Dr. Frieden disagreed, saying: "McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken are desperate to keep this information out of the hands of their customers."

Food companies targeting kids online

Greedy marketing executives have found a new way of selling their products to children - Internet games. The world’s junk food makers are trying to sell their burgers, chocolate and soft drinks to children who play games online. A new report says more than eighty percent of the world’s food companies are using this sly new method. The report was created by America’s Kaiser Family Foundation. It is called “It's Child's Play: Advergaming and the Online Marketing of Food to Children”. It is the first major analysis of how food companies advertise to children on the Web. It highlights the tactics of companies such as Mars, Hersheys and McDonalds in targeting kids. The report says online ads are more effective than TV ads at hooking children.
Sadly, the report brings a new word into the English vocabulary – the “advergame”. This is a technique to get kids hooked while they are having fun online. In addition, many other marketing tactics are used to get kids to spend long periods of time online. The food companies fill the games with logos and advertisements. They encourage children to e-mail their friends about products and brands. They also recommend children join special clubs related to the games. Children can increase their chances of winning games by buying the products and typing in special codes found inside the packaging. Many people are worried about the role food advertising plays in childhood obesity.

Fish and chips

With more than 250 million fish and chip shop meals (featuring fish) sold a year, the traditional dish of fish and chips is still top of the league of Britain's favourite fast foods. It is difficult to resist the tasty combination of fish and chips and fortunately there are around 10,500 fish and chip shops in the UK.

Delicious, nutritious and close to the nation’s heart
What is it about fish and chips that makes them the number one takeaway in the UK?  Is it the wonderful aroma, their unrivalled flavour, the warm comforting feeling that they provide, or simply their natural golden good looks?

Fish and chips from fish and chip shops are freshly prepared from natural products.  Fillets of fish, mostly haddock or cod but sometimes plaice and whiting, are covered in batter, fried until golden and served with freshly chipped potatoes.  Fish and chips are a wholesome dish and lower in calories than many of their fast food rivals.  They have been recommended by doctors for pregnant women and were one of the only foods not to be rationed during the war.  Historians even argue that fish and chips helped us to win the Second World War.

Britain’s favourite accompaniment to fish and chips is salt and vinegar but depending on the region, others are just as popular… mushy peas, tomato ketchup, curry sauce, gravy, or even a bottle of stout.  Strange but true, the Chinese are so sweet on our fish and chips that they serve them with sugar.

   

British food best in the world

A British restaurant that serves bacon and egg ice cream has been voted the best place in the world to eat. The Fat Duck restaurant, near London, was at the top of Restaurant magazine’s list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. The owner and head chef Heston Blumenthal opened his restaurant ten years ago. He has quickly developed a reputation for experimental and unique dishes. His menu includes leather, oak and tobacco chocolates, sardine on toast sorbet, snail porridge, and mousse dipped in liquid nitrogen. He taught himself how to cook and is now famous for this new style of cooking, which is called “molecular gastronomy”. It mixes chemistry, physics, food and flavour to make unusual taste combinations. Britain, the home of fish and chips, is famous for tasteless and boring food. However, it seems things are changing: in addition to the Fat Duck’s award, London was named in March by Gourmet magazine as the Gourmet Capital of the World.
Top ten world restaurants:
1. The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire
2. El Bulli Montjoi, Spain
3. The French Laundry, Yountville, California
4. Tetsuya’s, Sydney, Australia
5. Gordon Ramsay, London
6. Pierre Gagnaire, Paris
7. Per Se, New York
8. Tom Aikens, London
9. Jean Georges, New York
10. St John, London

 

 

 

 

 

Hestons Pizza Sauce 

 

How to make a tuna omelette


Miss Platnum (Give me the food )

Give Me The Food
You know, people always say women should be thin
They should be on diet
But I don't care
I just enjoy eating!

I like my coffee with a lot of cream
I like to eat late at night
I like scrambled eggs after a sweet dream
I like potatoes deep fried
I like some sugar in my lemonade
I like hot chicken wings
I like thick cheesecake, but homemade
I like the long-lasting lunch break

Give me the food, I said give me the food
Give me no fruit if you love me
Give me the food, I said give me the food
Give me no fruit if you love me

Some girls may think, "This chick's a little big,"
Slim girls don't understand--I don't care
Some guys may say, "It's her curves that I dig"
They like the tight pants that I wear

I am Romanian
I love to eat
It's in my genes
I can't control
Look at my curvaceous curves
Those models can't compete
I am a woman
No skinny doll

Give me the food, I said give me the food
Give me no fruit if you love me
Give me the food, I said give me the food
Give me no fruit if you love me
Give me the food, I said give me the food
Give me no fruit if you love me
Give me the food, I said give me the food
Give me no fruit if you love me

You know, people say women should only eat yogurt and strawberries
Ha ha ha ha!
They say a lot of things, but you know--

I don't care what people
Say about my weight
So if you want to take
Me out for a date
Make sure there is enough
Good food on my plate
And maybe I'll let you get
A taste of my cake

Give me the food, I said give me the food
Give me no fruit if you love me
Give me the food, I said give me the food
Give me no fruit if you love me

Interesting links

Go to the idioms links below and find the meaning of the following idioms related to food and drink:

It's as easy as pie; To be pie-eyed; To have a finger in many pies

He's a bad egg; Don't put all your eggs in one basket; He's got egg on his face

It's a hot potato; A carrot and a stick; Like two peas in a pod

It's not my cup of tea; I wouldn't do it for all the tea in China; It's as good as a chocolate teapot

To be full of beans, I haven't got a bean, to spill the beans

To go bananas; It's a case of sour grapes; A second bite of the cherry.

idioms pie 

idioms egg
idioms vegetables
idioms tea
idioms beans
idioms fruit

FOOD AND DRINK POEMS
A Drinking Song

Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at, and I sigh.
William Butler Yeats

The Song Of Right And Wrong
Feast on wine or fast on water,
And your honor shall stand sure
If an angel out of heaven
Brings you something else to drink,
Thank him for his kind attentions,
Go and pour it down the sink.
G.K. Chesterton

from Don Juan
But man is a carnivorous production
And must have meals - at least once a day;
He cannot live, like woodcocks, upon suction,
But, like the shark and tiger, must have prey.
Lord Byron
 
Roast Beef of old England
When mighty roast beef was the Englishman's food
It ennobled our hearts and enriched our blood--
Our soldiers were brave and our courtiers were good.
Oh! the roast beef of England.
And Old England's roast beef.
Henry Fielding