Minister Reilly gives ultimatum?
The fat and calorie count must show or else
CALORIE COUNTS ARE TO GO ON IRISH MENU’S says Reilly
Health Minister James Reilly loves a nice round figure. Last week, the roly-poly Health Minister warned the country’s restaurateurs that they have six months to list the calorie content of the food they serve or he will introduce legislation obliging them to do so.
The six-month deadline is completely arbitrary, a number plucked out of the air. This is appropriate because the same can be said about calorie counts.
The argument for explicit labeling in restaurants is persuasive. People eat with their eyes, and menus with detailed calorie counts would undoubtedly deter some from pigging out with their eyes closed.
A report by the Food Safety Authority (FSA) identifies restaurant calorie counts as an important tool in efforts to tackle the obesity epidemic. Ireland is the second-most obese nation in Europe, with rates (and indeed chins) doubling among women and trebling among men over the past two decades.
The FSA report reveals that, when we can be bothered lifting our snouts from the feeding trough, 96pc of us support calorie labeling in food outlets.
The hospitality trade’s resistance is doomed. Hysterical claims that the cost involved in calculating and publishing calorie counts would “cripple” an already enfeebled sector cut little ice with consumers who still regard Irish eateries as grotesquely overpriced.
The strongest argument against the introduction of calorie counts is concern about their reliability, and this was the line of attack favoured by Adrian Cummins of the Restaurants Association of Ireland: “Any chef will tell you that menus in restaurants vary from day to day and therefore calorie counting would be highly inaccurate anyway,” he insisted.
This is true. Chefs are neither bean counters nor number crunchers. The expertise required to add ingredients, for maximum flavour, is very different from the expertise required to add them up. Nevertheless, there is a rich, corn-fed irony about the spectacle of restaurant spokesmen arguing against labeling on the grounds that labeling is untrustworthy.
The modern food industry is an enterprise built almost entirely on bewildering claims — and, more often than not, the creation of bewilderment is intentional. In supermarkets and restaurants, the emphasis is on selling the sizzle rather than the steak.
Food that is demonstrably fattening or junk-laden is routinely presented as a miraculous breakthrough in healthy eating. Then, there are the foodie vogues and novelties, most of which seem designed to lighten the wallet rather than reduce the waistline.
Take the extravagant boasts made on behalf of organic food. Many restaurants take great pains to advertise the unique purity of the produce used in their dishes. The vegetables are spoken about with quasi-religious reverence, as though they had sprouted in the Garden of Eden itself.
As scientific exploration of the comparison grows, however, it has become clear that there is no evidence of any difference in either nutrition or taste between organic and conventionally produced foodstuffs. Where there is a startling difference is in the price charged to the consumer.
When it suits their purposes, restaurants are happy to provide lengthy lists detailing the professed qualities of the food they sell. Ironically, in an age when alarmism about poisons and toxins has become endemic, these lists frequently outline the many things that the meals don’t contain — no sodium, no fructose, no MSG, fat-free, carb-free, sugarless, flourless and so on. With each ingredient that isn’t included, of course, the price increases.
Food fights between health authorities and commercial interests have become a staple of contemporary culture. Given the scale of public expenditure eaten up by the treatment of chronic diseases, almost all of which are influenced by obesity, governments are justified in intervening. Unfortunately, their interventions are often faddish, ill-informed and counter-productive.
Restaurant calorie counts are, at best, a rough guide. In reality, the calorie content of a specific meal is of no real significance. Good nutrition stems from a variety of factors including balanced diet, portion size and the avoidance of excessive sugar.
Food is a treacherous minefield, especially for those who come to the table armed only with a knife and fork. Nobody on either side of the propaganda wars, neither the health nuts nor the bread-heads, can be trusted. It is up to each individual to acquaint him/herself with the facts, but this is easier said than done.
All Ireland’s intercity trains now fitted with free Wifi
Ireland’s train journey for customers should be wireless friendly for many passengers from this week after Irish Rail announced all its intercity trains are now equipped with free wifi.
The company introduced the service, which offers download speeds of up to 3.5 megabytes per second, on the Dublin-Cork service on a trial basis in 2010 before rolling it out on all services between the two cities last year.
Irish Rail now plans to introduce wifi on the Dart and commuter fleet over the course of the summer with the support of the National Transport Authority.
The Belfast Enterprise train will be online by the end of the year.
“One of the great benefits of rail travel is that you can use your travelling time productively . . . and giving our customers free wifi will only add to this,” a company spokesman said. Another improvement has seen carriages with plug sockets fitted at every seat so passengers can charge devices.
Record 50,000 turnout at Galway’s ocean event
Mist, rain and northerly winds failed to deter up to 50,000 spectators as they streamed down to Salthill’s promenade, Mutton island causeway, or took to the water in Galway Bay to get a close look at the big racing yachts that took part in the Volvo round the world race.
They were staging an in-port race exhibition for the benefit of the big crowds who had welcomed the fleet to Galway after its circumnavigation of the globe.
Out on the shoreline, there were moments when the voluntary marshals, working with the Naval Service, Garda Water Unit and Irish Coast Guard may have felt like they were running with the bulls in Pamplona, as boats of every size, paddle boarders, sea kayakers and wind surfers tried to get as close as they could to the big sail boats.
Most of the 60 marshal ribs (rigid inflatable boats) had been offered by Galway and Mayo sailing clubs, but some had voyaged from Howth, Dún Laoghaire and Fenit – or “God’s country”, as Derrynane’s Damian Foxall of overall winning boat Groupama calls his coastline.
However, just to keep Kerrymen in check, the US-flagged Puma Mar Mostro, with crew wearing Irish rugby shirts, were first over the line on the 8.2 nautical mile course, followed by the Spanish/New Zealand Camper and Spanish Telefonica.
“It tastes very sweet,” Puma skipper Ken Read said. The day before, Read had agreed with fellow skippers that it would have been a “sham” if the overall 39,000 nautical mile race result had not already been decided offshore.
After the in-port, the Air Corps, Naval Service ship LE Niamh and Irish Coast Guard participated in flight manoeuvres and air/sea rescue displays.
Galway City Council street cleaning staff, who were described as “magicians” throughout the past week by city councillor Niall McNelis (Lab), were out in the early hours yet again, as the host port forecast that visitor numbers could exceed 800,000 in total.
Eamonn Fox, better known as Druid Theatre company’s production manager, was one of several seasoned Galway professionals hired to ensure the success of the State-funded event.
Fox confirmed that Saturday was the busiest day with 111,000 visitors to the docks and 33,4000 attending the global village – many of whom would have crossed between the two locations by the temporary bridge erected over the Claddagh.
Insp Ernie White of Galway gardaí said the week had been “very busy at night”, but with “no major incidents”.
David Harris, who took 10 days off his job with the Brothers of Charity in Clarenbridge, Co Galway, to offer his services, paid tribute to the Army for its support.
Harris is a Special Olympics coach and a 2009 Volvo Galway volunteer, whose main task was to mind the trophy and deal with queries. “When it’s in your blood, it’s what you do.”
Fellow volunteer Mary Deane was “exhausted but running on adrenalin” all week. “You had students out there getting soaked handing out tickets, and yet they were still smiling,”she said.
While peripatetic pupils with the Volvo race school were reclaiming fathers, some professional crew flew straight out to other contests, including Corkman Justin Slattery, who was on a winning Volvo Ocean Race crew in 2006.
The Spanish skipper of Telefonica, Iker Martinez, represents his country in the London Olympics, while Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Ian Walker, formerly of Green Dragon, is delivering his boat back to England. He said his next focus would be on his 11-year-old daughter’s participation in the British Mirror dinghy nationals.
Up on Lough Foyle, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness joined Derry City Council officials to witness Saturday’s departure of the Clipper round-world yacht fleet on their next race leg to Den Helder in the Netherlands.
Chimp stuck up a chimney?
Do not call the fire brigade please
Fire-fighter's had to rescue a chimp stuck in a chimney
Firefighters should not be called out to rescue animals, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) has said.
Fire crews in the capital had to help 620 animals last year, a 60% increase over six years.
The LFB has said if an animal is stuck somewhere the public should always call the RSPCA first.
It said unusual rescues include a chimp in a chimney, a parrot trapped in its cage, an iguana stuck on a roof and a hamster trapped in a disabled lift.
Fire crews have also captured a snake at a retirement home and rescued a kitten with its head stuck in a bongo drum.
‘Old stereotype’
The brigade said it has had to deal with more calls in the first half of this year than the same period in 2011.
London fire commissioner Ron Dobson said: “It is time to dispel the old stereotype about firefighters rescuing cats from trees: our crews are highly trained emergency service personnel.
“What’s worrying is that when firefighters are out rescuing animals, they’re not available to attend real emergencies.
“Each animal rescue costs money and, in these tough financial times, many people question why their taxes are being spent on some of the animal rescues we’ve highlighted today.”
Klare Kennett, of the RSPCA, said the animal welfare charity advised people to call them first and if they needed help they would call out the brigade.
She said: “If you see a cat up a tree, we’d advise you to leave it for 24 hours before calling the RSPCA as they usually manage to get themselves down.
“After all, when was the last time you saw a cat’s skeleton up a tree?”
In the past five years London Fire Brigade has been called to:
- Rescue an iguana from a roof in Tower Hamlets
- A parrot trapped in its cage in Waltham Forest
- A dog stuck in a wheelchair in a flat in Richmond
- A puppy with its head stuck in an exercise machine in Hillingdon
- A kitten with its head stuck in a bongo drum in Newham
- Capture a snake at a retirement home in Hounslow
- Two dogs in a toilet in Bromley
- A chimp in a chimney in Tower Hamlets
- A hamster trapped in a disabled lift in Greenwich
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