Salon.com > Aviva Shen

So you want to start a food truck?

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:01:00 +0000

It's become a familiar story: poor working stiff is unhappy with life in cubicle. Poor working stiff has an epiphany. Poor working stiff can't take it anymore, quits his job, finally opens that adorable chicken-and-pie shop and takes the world by storm. It's got all the elements to seize our imaginations -- a quixotic dream, a rebellion against The Man, and a happy ending: a tangible, delicious product that is as different from an Excel spreadsheet as could be.

How did Mr. Stiff do it? For most of the 20th century, corporate drones wanting to jump ship have had a pretty reliable road map to culinary glory: You started at the bottom, maybe as a dishwasher somewhere, and worked your way up to line cook, to sous chef, to positions at steadily fancier and more expensive restaurants. Or, you enrolled in cooking school. Either route helped you build up the broad, deep culinary repertoire you need.

But the rules are changing.

Do food dyes cause hyperactivity?

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:31:00 +0000

The Food and Drug Administration will hear a panel today to examine a possible link between artificial food coloring and hyperactivity in children. Though no one actually expects the FDA to ban the dyes, the panel provides a great opportunity for reporters to dig up hand-wringing parents ... and strike fear into the hearts of many more.

According to the New York Times, the petitioner, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, is seeking either an outright ban or, at the very least, a prominent warning label. European companies have had to put warning labels on artificially colored products for years, and many have switched to natural dyes, such as from beets. Should the U.S. follow suit?

The dye debate has been raging since the 1970s, with very little conclusive evidence to settle for either side once and for all. The FDA previously stated that there was no reason to fear the dyes, but since the use of artificial coloring has skyrocketed in recent years, scientists have been examining this claim, with little success. The most convincing evidence comes from a 2007 study headed by University of Southampton professor Jim Stevenson. In the study, children were fed a daily fruit juice containing different concentrations of dyes and the preservative sodium benzoate, and noted a small effect on behavior. It isn't clear whether the dyes, the preservative or the combination caused the effect.

How do “natural” non-sugar sweeteners stack up?

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:01:00 +0000

Now that the artificial sweetener aspartame (Nutrasweet) has attracted suspicion, you might be thinking twice about that daily Diet Coke or Splenda (sucralose) in your coffee. Not that this is surprising; even without the stroke and cancer warnings, the word "artificial" alone conjures up images of shadowy figures in lab coats concocting solutions destined for your stomach. Much more reassuring are images of freshly plowed farms tucked in the mountains, like the one on the jar of Lundberg Family Farms' organic brown rice syrup.

Brown rice syrup is just one of many "natural" sweeteners that have taken off in the wake of the backlash against artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose, which, of course, were invented to defeat the dietary axis of evil -- refined white sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Once confined to Berkeley communes, these not-refined-sugar, not-man-made substances pose a huge marketing opportunity, since most people who avoid sugar don't want to get cancer but also aren't ready to commit to a joyless, dessert-free existence. Natural sweeteners are the perfect answer to this conundrum. Right?

Coca: The next health food craze that won’t be

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 20:43:00 +0000

Walk into a supermarket in Bolivia and witness the unfolding of what might have been the world's next big food fad. The aisles are lined with boxes of cereals, cookies, candies, granola bars, soft drinks and even flour tinged the earthy green color of the exalted coca leaf. One dubiously neon-lime liquor, Agwa de Bolivia, advertises "a coca leaf way of life." A new soft drink, Coca Brynco, was launched with government support on Jan. 18. Touting extraordinary health benefits, including both energy-boosting and appetite-suppressing properties, these sweet, nutty-tasting coca products are burning hot in South America. Coca is even making inroads in fine dining; South America's most famous chef, Peruvian Gaston Acurio, uses the leaf to season meat and shellfish, and to make Andean-style cocktails. But, unfortunately, without a plane ticket, you probably won't be enjoying one of his coca sours any time soon. Outside of the Andes, coca isn't really known for its culinary and medicinal uses. It's mostly known as the raw source of cocaine.