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October 2007
Cycle Your Way Through Wine Country, but Never Leave Your Front Door
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It had to happen. As a matter of incident, I’m surprised it didn’t come sooner.
Virtual tours may not be everyone’s idea of techo wizardry anymore, but virtually cycling your way through California’s wine country is at least a better way to burn calories than staring at a wall for 50 minutes.
Connect18, a techno-fitness company in San Francisco, has designed a series of six 45-minute cycling videos that allow the cycler to virtually tour wine country without leaving their stationary bike (or treadmill, or elliptical). Each class starts on the road to Connect18 music, then moves to vineyards and wineries, with interviews from owners and winemakers. The program will leave you fitter and faster, and with a working knowledge of cabernet sauvignon, syrah, chardonnay, viognier, pinot noir and zinfindel.
Can’t make it to the Connect18 club in San Fran? Order the DVD box set of six for $29 — it’s available December 15, just in time for Christmas. Go to www.connect18.com for more information.
Who’s in? Would you do this? Or is it the real thing or nothing for you?
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Sweet potato pie or pumpkin pie?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In this week’s Saving Southern Food recipe, contributor Eris Cosby Lancaster of Powder Springs talks about her grandmother, who, among other things, grew her own sweet potatoes for her sweet potato pie. After her grandmother’s death, family members shared a copy of the recipe and continue to make it at Thanksgiving. Another Thanksgiving dessert of similar character, pumpkin pie, is just as traditional for many people. What’s the tradition in your family? Do you prefer one over the other?
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How many calories are in that plate of pasta?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who regularly eats in Italian restaurants that enormous platters of cream- and cheese-smothered, breaded entrees aren’t the healthiest choices available.
In case you had any lingering doubts, though, the Center for Science in the Public Interest runs the numbers for you. (These are the folks who proclaimed fettuccini Alfredo “heart attack on a plate” when they examined Italian food in 1994.) They pulled information from restaurant web sites and sent dishes from Olive Garden to an independent laboratory to come up with their nutritional analysis.
At Romano’s Macaroni Grill, spaghetti and meatballs, a dish that sounds like a safe choice, contains 2,430 calories and close to three days’ worth of saturated fat and sodium. And then there are the usual suspects: fried calamari, tiramisu, pasta in cream sauce.
At Olive Garden, the spaghetti and meatballs also takes a drubbing: 1,260 calories and a day’s worth of bad fats, the equivalent of two Big Macs and a 21-ounce Coke.
Does learning that a favorite dish is loaded with unhealthy stuff change whether you order it? If you’re trying to eat more healthfully and you’re going out for Italian, what do you choose? Or do you go for Italian at all if you’re trying to eat healthfully?
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Halloween
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Okay, let’s hear it Atlanta: What crazy things are happening at your favorite spots this Halloween? Do you go out and eat? Or do you stay at home and give out candy? Who’s got a great Halloween restaurant caper?
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Are Chefs Cooking in Their Kitchens?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Seeger did it. Doty does it. So does Linton Hopkins, Joe Truex and Hector Santiago. Ditto Ford Fry and Chris Kinjo.
What am I talking about? Chefs who actually cook in the kitchens of their own restaurants. Who cooks? Who doesn’t? After all, a chef-owner has to get out from behind the line at some point to make sure all the trains are running on time elsewhere. How important is it that the chef actually cook all the time?
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How Are Restaurants Handling the Water Crisis?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I noticed a sign on the door at Flying Biscuit Midtown this morning that due to the drought they will not bring water to the table unless it is ordered.
As the drought worsens, we will all be called upon to conserve water. What do you think restaurants can do to help the water crisis? What restaurants in your area are already taking measures to conserve water?
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How do you like your catfish?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This week’s Saving Southern Food recipe features catfish, but not of the fried-with-hush-puppies-and-coleslaw variety. Reader Donna Franklin, who grew up in Statesboro, has fond memories of eating catfish mulldown, an old-fashioned layered stew, with her family. The recipe actually inspired chef Linton Hopkins of Atlanta’s Restaurant Eugene to create his own citified version. Have you ever tasted or cooked catfish mulldown? What’s your favorite method of cooking catfish? Fried, baked or some other way? Do any restaurants in town do catfish particularly well?
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Where Do You Head For a Hangover Cure?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A product called the “Cure” came to my desk yesterday — it claims to be the first healthy, all-natural hangover remedy to relieve the “negative” effects of alcohol.
It’s a powdered mix that’s added to water, to be taken one hour after your last drink. It purportedly purges toxins, rehydrates your system and restores vitamins. But I’m thinking: If you’ve had so much to drink that you need a cure for a hangover, how are you going to remember to take this drink?
And where’s the fun in THAT? I’d rather head to the Vortex for a burger — my body’s bonafide hangover cure. Where do you head for your hangover cure?
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How Far Will You Go for a Meal?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Elbulli? Per Se? Joel Robuchon? Spain, New York or Paris?
Who has the best restaurant in the world? Would you travel across the globe to eat at it?
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Should Restaurants Honor Lost or Expired Gift Certificates?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Reader Sherrie Nist-Olejnik emailed with a gift certificate dilemna. Her daughter purchased a $200 gift certificate to Watershed in Decatur for her and her husband back in June, but the couple inadvertently lost it.
They would like Watershed to honor the certificate, so much so that they emailed a copy of the transaction from their daughter’s debit card records.
Says Nist-Olejnik in her email: “I understand that we should have been more careful with it, but I also believe that if restaurants are going to sell gift certificates, they should have some responsibility as well. Even though we have proof that it was purchased, I’m sure Ms. Jones (Ross Jones, owner-operator of Watershed) is legally within her right not to honor it because we don’t physically have it, but I think it’s pretty poor business.”
Jones, in response, offered to buy the couple drinks and appetizers and to “personally take care of them” on their next visit to the restaurant, but will not honor the certificate.
“We treat gift certificates like cash transactions, and have no way of knowing if someone has cashed it in or not,” she explained to me by phone. “That’s a very intensive manual process to keep track of.”
Watershed recently moved to a card system for issuing certificates, operated by First Advantage. “It’s a much easier process for our accounting,” explains Ross, “but we still have no record of who uses the card. Fraud does occur from time to time with these types of transactions.” She added that she had “no doubt” that Nist-Olejnik was telling the truth, but that with no way of knowing if the card had already been used, and no way to void or stop payment of the certificate, she had to treat Nist-Olejnik as she treats everyone else — which means the card won’t be honored.
This is a sticky spot for a restaurant to be in. Who’s right? What would you do?
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Who Makes the Best Apple Pie
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s Fall, and I’m longing for a great piece of apple pie. Alon’s is usually cranking them out this time of year, and I love this Morningside bakery’s way of piling the apples high in the center, then covering them with a buttery mantle of crust before baking.
What bakery makes your favorite apple pie? Are traditional desserts such as pies and cakes getting harder to find at area bakeries?
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Do schools offer a healthy environment for kids?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When I join my second-graders for lunch, I walk through a cafeteria line where Honey Buns, chips, ice cream and cookies can be bought with funds that parents put into a lunch account.
Despite a school wellness policy that encourages healthy treats for classroom celebrations, teachers tell parents to bring cupcakes and pre-sliced chocolate chip cookie cakes to make it easier to distribute servings.
So when I report on a study that says more than half of Georgia’s fifth- and seventh-graders failed simple fitness tests, I’m not too surprised. Still, change is happening. The after-school program sent a representative to a county program this summer to promote better nutrition and fitness for children. Maybe next year they’ll serve fruit instead of Fritos or graham crackers as a snack.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports today that schools across the country have moved toward a somewhat healthier environment for children, with more banning junk food from vending machines, serving baked French fries instead of deep-fried ones and offering other, more nutritious foods and beverages. But the report also shows little change in the amount of physical education offered to students, and its authors say there is still much work to be done.
If you have a child in school, what’s the situation like there? If you’re involved with schools in other ways, tell us your thoughts on this issue.
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What Trends Have Made it to Your Neck of the Woods?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m noticing a few trends. Some, like the gastro pub TAP (and, truth be told, Five Seasons Brewery) are nationally inspired. Small plates — tapas, mezza, apps — whatever you choose to call it, is prevalent still, and the trend doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere soon (which makes it more than a trend, n’est pas?).
Locally, more and more chefs are jumping on the local bandwagon, and making sure diners know it by identifying local farmers and meat producers on their menus. Gnocchi and gnudi are hot. Crudo is hot. Sweet breads are hot. Sous vide is getting pretty luke warm; while pork bellies and bacon are blistering. Cocktails — especially made with gin or tequila — are big time.
What trends have you noticed when dining out? When you travel, what trends are you experiencing — and what would you like to see in Atlanta that isn’t here yet?
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How Often Do YOU Dine Out?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve gotten used to not eating at home anymore — but I miss it. Dining out five to ten times a week is a state of being for dining critics.
For most people, I would guess it’s often the opposite — they wish they could dine out more.
How often do you dine out in a week? Is it for business, or because you prefer it? If it’s the latter, do you take the whole family? Or do you only dine out for special occasions?
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Where has all the pan-fried chicken gone?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fewer and fewer restaurants are skillet-frying chicken these days, which makes us wonder: Is a piece of Southern culture in danger of being lost? Is deep-fried chicken as good or better than pan-fried, or is it a whole other bird?
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There’s Beer Joints and Then There are Pubs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fado Irish Pub is closing its doors this Saturday, October 20. Those of you who imbibe there frequently need not fret: you can get your craic (i.e. fun) on when the new location opens as part of the new Streets of Buckhead mixed-use community — a 500,000 square foot area bordered by Pharr and Peachtree Roads as well as East Paces Ferry and North Fulton Ave (just a block or so from the current location). The new pub will open in January 2008. Where’s your favorite pub? And I’m not talking beer, here. I’m talking pub — a place to eat, drink and be merry. Catch a game. Hang out and bitch. Mine? George’s in Virginia Highland.
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Can’t peel an apple? There’s a cookbook for you
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I wrote a story in today’s paper about three new basic cookbooks. One, “Anyone Can Cook,” is truly basic, starting with instructions on all sorts of cooking skills, like how to toss a salad, how to peel an apple, and how to store and shop for food.
Another, Alice Waters’ “The Art of Simple Food,” offers stripped-down recipes, too, for standards like beef stew and salad vinaigrette.
The third, Jamie Oliver’s “Cook With Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook,” assumes you know a little more. He assures that cooking isn’t hard or elitist, but after spending a couple of hours last night putting together a butternut squash risotto with fried sage leaves, crumbled amaretti cookies, 9 ounces of vermouth, two kinds of cheese, butter, a crushed cinnamon stick and a crushed red pepper, plus almost a pound and a half of expensive carnaroli rice, then stirring same for almost an hour, I felt like I’d had my workout for the day. It didn’t feel easy. It did smack, somewhat, of elitism. It wasn’t what I’d call basic.
So — how much does a cookbook need to spell out for you? Does anybody truly not know that fresh carrots are found in the produce section?
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Age Discrimination at Restaurants
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Have you ever brought your child (or perhaps your parents) to a restaurant and felt discriminated against because they were with you?
Reader Heidi Anderson emailed to let me know of a situation that occurred with her family recently at a popular local restaurant (which shall remain nameless since calls today to the restaurant were unanswered). Having brunch after church for Heidi and family proved a big mistake — there were no high chairs for their little ones, and she was actually told that they could bring their own or leave.
Have you ever experienced anything like this? On the other end of the age spectrum, have you ever felt that service was patronizing to senior citizens in your party?
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Scoop up unusual flavors, even beer, with this ice cream
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Slow Food Atlanta is sponsoring an ice cream tasting from noon to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, after the Peachtree Road Farmers Market closes for the week.
The lineup of churners includes David Larkworthy of 5 Seasons, known for his peanut butter and muscadine grape jelly swirl, as well as rutabaga ice cream; Carmen Cappello of JCL Global Culinary, and Doug Wiggins, owner of Hank’s Ice Cream, will bring Brewery Ommegang’s Three Philosophers Quadrupel With Candied Pecans, Terrapin Rye Pale Ale With Oranges and Mint, and other beer flavors. And Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene will also bring some frozen delights. Slow Food members also may be bringing homemade ice creams to sample.
$5 gets you in. The tasting is in the parking lot of the Cathedral of St. Philip, 2711 Peachtree Road N.W.
If you’re interested in how restaurants are going greener, check out George McKerrow’s interview on Tuesday, Oct. 16 on “Tastebuds,” Beci Falkenberg’s radio talk show. McKerrow started Longhorn Steaks, and now is a partner with Ted Turner in Ted’s Montana Grill. Among other actions, the chain just switched to greener light bulbs, and uses biodegradable straws rather than plastic ones. You can listen to the show at 11 a.m. at the Radio Sandy Springs web site or catch a replay.
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What’s Your Best new Restaurant
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Esquire” food and travel correspondent John Mariani has unveiled his picks for the annual Best New Restaurants list in this November’s issue of the magazine (on newstands October 16).
His picks for Atlanta? Shaun’s in Inman Park and Trois in Midtown. Mariani and staff also visited JCT Kitchen, Decatur’s Chocolate Bar and Kevin Rathbun Steak, as well as Tamarind Seed Thai Bistro and The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, downtown.
Lots of new spots have opened this year. What’s your favorite of the newbies?
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Do you have a little-known Southern food tradition?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In this week’s Southern food recipe entry, reader Alicia Anderson of Atlanta writes about her Tennessee grandmother’s stack cake recipe. “Stack cakes are a holiday tradition for as long as I can remember,” she says. “It’s my personal favorite since it’s not a super-sweet dessert. It’s very unique since not many folks make them.”
In the Southern Appalachian tradition, stack cakes were a group effort and were used in place of more expensive wedding cakes. Family members, friends or neighbors would bake a layer to be added to the final product. The more layers, the more popular the couple, or so the thinking went.
Stack cakes are strongly tied to regional Southern identity. Have you ever tried one or helped prepare one? Does your family have its own tradition of a special dish or dessert that you typically don’t find anymore?
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What About Burrata?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ve noticed burrata at several restaurants I’ve dined at lately.
Problem is, the cheese I’m eating seems more like mozzarella stuffed with cream than this incredible specialty from Puglia (the “heel” of Italy’s boot). The difficult process of making it is similar to mozzarella and involves heating cow’s milk with rennet until it coagulates, then breaking it up to release the whey. After the curds are boiled, they take on the shape of strings (called lucini). Traditionally, the cheesemaker actually blows a pocket into the lucini, similar to a glassblower blowing glass. This pocket is filled with more curds and cream, tied off, then wrapped in trademark asphodel (leek) leaves — their bright green color an indication that the cheese is still fresh.
The cheese, when pierced, should ooze an irresistible cream.
In the United States, burrata us usually served as mozzarella pulled and shaped around curds and cream, then shaped into the cheese’s characterisitic ball.
Who’s tried this wonderful cheese? Have you tried it someplace here, or in Italy? Could you tell a difference?
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How do you deal with a picky eater?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re swimming in squash and sweet potatoes, and every week brings more. They’re stacking up in my basement, dozens of them, outgrowing a tabletop and spilling over onto the big plastic toys waiting for their date with Goodwill.
The kids don’t like them. My husband and I can’t keep up with the flood. So I’ve started to flip through cookbooks with names like “The Sneaky Chef” and “Deceptively Delicious,” trying to find a way to disguise the vegetables so the kids will eat them.
It seems wrong to sneak healthy stuff into things like brownies (Jessica Seinfeld, yes, Jerry’s wife, adds spinach to hers) and just plain yucky to puree butternut squash and stir it into Sloppy Joes. After all, what happens when the kids realize what you’re doing?
On the other hand, maybe it’s the only way to get them to eat healthy food. Do you try to disguise food that’s good for kids? Or have you gotten busted on this? Is it OK to do this, or a sure way to teach your kids how to lie and deceive you one day?
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How Do You Make Reservations?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Making reservations is a complete nightmare for me — I can’t use my work phone or email address (for opentable.com) and many restaurants have kept my cell number on file, even though my ID is blocked.
What about you? Do you prefer to make reservations online using opentable.com or grabatable.com? Or do you book a table the old-fashioned way by phone?
Most important — do you find that the reservation is honored? Or do you still have to wait?
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Where is the best place for sweet treats?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WE WANT TO KNOW: Just in time for Halloween, where’s your favorite place for sweet treats?
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StarChefs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don’t forget Starchefs tomorrow evening!
FOOD EVENT
StarChefs.com Rising Stars Revue
7-9:30 p.m. Oct. 10. Georgia Aquarium, 225 Baker St., Atlanta. Tickets, $95 per person, available at www.starchefs.com/risingstars or by calling 212-966-3775. VIP tickets, $150, include a pre-gala champagne and caviar reception.
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Why Did It Close?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ever had a favorite spot — usually the nabe right around the corner — close the doors and roll down the window shades on you?
Carey Blalock, a reader in Canton, emailed to ask about a restaurant she and her husband frequented in Alpharetta, the Roasted Garlic. They made the drive only to find that it had closed. The restaurant’s phone number has been disconnected as well. Anyone know what happened to this spot?
What restaurant closing has you scratching your head and wondering why? Is there a place you used to call a favorite that you wish would come back?
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What’s Your Favorite Neighborhood Joint?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Part of each Dine Guide — Spring and Fall — is the inclusion of a list of neighborhood favorites (we call them NABES) we want to bring to your neighborhood’s attention.
Who did we miss? Whether it’s Cabbage Town or Cobb, what’s your favorite neighborhood restaurant?
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How did you learn to cook?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m putting together an article on some new cookbooks that start with the basics — and by basics, I mean, in one book, presenting information as simple as where to find fresh carrots in the grocery store and how to toast sandwich buns before moving on to the recipes, which are ranked by skill levels.
That book, “Anyone Can Cook,” is from Better Homes and Gardens and is intended as a starting point for novice cooks before tackling “The Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook,” which — at least, until now — has been a starter cookbook, one you give to college graduates and brides.
As I flipped through page after page of detailed photos showing how to roll out a pie crust, cut celery and shred cheese, I thought about the women who taught me to cut up a whole chicken and fry it, roast a turkey and bake a pound cake. My first cookbook, “Joy of Cooking,” provided recipes but not the kind of step-by-step guidance I got from cooks willing to share what they knew with a curious 11-year-old.
How did you learn to cook? What do you think of such simple cookbooks?
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Where’s Your Memorable Meal?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Now that you’ve had a chance to mull over the Dine Guide, what’s your most memorable meal at one of these restaurants?
Where you charmed by the chaat at Banaras? Did he pop the big question at Pura Vida? Have you had the life-altering experience of the bone-in ribeye at Bones?
Tell us your favorite memory of meal — why did it have such an impact?
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Fried pies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What makes a great fried pie? And who would you put in the Fried Pie Hall of Fame?
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What Do You Think of Restaurant of the Year?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How do you feel about the choice of Five & Ten — in Athens — as restaurant of the year?
There’s no doubt in my mind that Hugh Acheson and his team deserve the honor, and the restaurant defines destination. It’s chef owned and operated and honors what’s right about local cooking and good sourcing. And Acheson’s take on modern Southern cuisine is as welcome as rain would be right about now — a testament to community, not just neighborhood.
What’s your take? Who would you nominate as restaurant of the year?
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Harvest some farm fun at a festival this weekend
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It won’t be long before most of the farmers’ markets around Atlanta close for the season. The Suwanee Farmers Market is open through Oct. 13. The Peachtree Road Farmers Market shuts down Oct. 20. Markets in Woodstock, Piedmont Park, Acworth and East Atlanta Village close at the end of October. The market at Spruill Gallery in Dunwoody closes on the last Wednesday in November.
Chef Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene, who helped start the Peachtree Road Market, told me last week that the market has gotten the OK from the Cathedral of St. Philip to stay open year-round, but won’t do that this year. For now, there are three year-round markets in metro Atlanta, all inside the Perimeter: organic markets in Decatur on Wednesday afternoons and on Saturday morninngs in Morningside; and the Farm Stand at Star Provisions in west Midtown, open Thursdays through Saturdays (likely it’ll drop back to Fridays and Saturdays as we move toward winter).
So while the farmers are still harvesting, why not take a day — this Saturday, Oct. 6 — to celebrate the best of the season? Fields of Green, a benefit for Georgia Organics, is a day’s worth of food, music and farm scenery at Whippoorwill Hollow Farm in Walnut Grove, just north of Covington, about a 45-minute drive from Atlanta.
Family friendly ticket prices ($10 in advance, $15 at the farm, free to children younger than 12) make it a good choice for a day trip. Events include live music from noon to 10 p.m., chef demonstrations/food tastings from 1 to 4 p.m., and an organic market from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Among the chefs lined up are Michael Tuohy of Woodfire Grill, Anne Quatrano of Bacchanalia, Ron Eyester of Food 101, Todd Mussman of Muss and Turner’s, Scott Peacock of Watershed and Hugh Acheson of Five & Ten (named Restaurant of the Year by AJC dining critic Meridith Ford in this week’s Fall Dining Guide).
Did you go to Fields of Green last year? If so, what did you think? If you’re planning a farm visit somewhere this fall, where are you going? Apple-picking? Pumpkin patch? Corn maze?
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Farm to Table Finds
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s here! The “restaurant issue” of Gourmet magazine has hit the stands and this year’s topic is all about eating local.
It was thrilling to see three of the area’s restaurants listed as farm-to-fork ideals: Five & Ten in Athens, Floataway Cafe and the Farmhouse at Serenbe (though the magazine lists former chef Tony Seichrist instead of current chef Nic Bour). And Watershed chef Scott Peacock is credited for bringing artisanal Bobolink Dairy in New Jersey to the table - literally.
While it thrills me to know that a beacon of Gourmet’s stature has finally jumped on the eat-local farm wagon, it’s a little disturbing to think of who’s left off the list. I know — it would be impossible to mention all of our great chefs and farmers. But golly — Michael Tuohy of Woodfire Grill practically spearheaded the movement in Atlanta eons ago. Others that should’ve gotten a nod? Restaurant Eugene and the Globe.
It’s also a little bit of a personal peeve for the slow food movement to be chattered about in high-gloss print as a “trend” and to read that the “buzzwords of the moment are local, seasonal and sustainable.” While editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl does go on to call the “trend” a movement, it sickens me to think of a bunch of kaftan-coiffed ladies who lunch bandying these terms about over three martini lunches just to sound cool.
Water and our food supply are two of our biggest global issues. Global issues start locally. Sustainability cannot be a trend.
What’s your favorite eat-local restaurant? Who’s your favorite Georgia farmer?
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Where’s Your Favorite Italian?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You talkin’ to me? Yeah — I’m talkin’ to you. Atlanta has never been known for its contribution to Italian cuisine, but all of a sudden-like joints are poppin’ up all over the place — Allegro is scheduled to open October 3; Via (in Buckhead) and Valenza (in Brookhaven) have already opened. What gives?
Have we suddenly got a penchant for all things Paesano? Where’s your favorite spot for nibbling on real Italian?
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Should raw milk be dyed to discourage drinkers?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Raw milk is either a dangerous source of bacteria or one of the most wholesome foods around, depending on whether you’re talking to health officials or to people who cherish the unpasteurized milk for its fresh-from-the-farm appeal.
For years, an underground industry has operated in Georgia, selling raw milk labeled as pet food to people who reserved it for themselves, not Fido or Fluffy. Until now, the Georgia Department of Agriculture has tolerated the practice as long as the milk was labeled for pet use.
Not anymore. (Read my AJC story about proposed changes.) Following in the footsteps of North Carolina, the Georgia agriculture department is proposing a rule change that will require the milk be dyed to discourage consumers from drinking it. That comes after several Murray County residents were sickened this summer with campylobacter traced to raw milk.
Should the government be able to alter food to make it unappetizing to discourage sales to protect public health? Or should consumers have the right to decide what they and their children will drink?
Permalink | Comments (23) | Categories: Food safety
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