# Did you Know?



## laprise (Jan 4, 2006)

I would like this thread to be used for learning :

SO I will kick it off with this...

*It was proven scientificaly that chopped onions will caramelize faster if you had salt at the beggining.:smiles: *

Anyone else want to share knowledge with others??

Ciao,


----------



## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Almost 95%+ of Food Borne illness occurs in the home.

Panini
*Won't let me son step foot in a commercial kitchen*.


----------



## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

If you made Fig Newtons for a living and you wanted to know how many insects could get into your Newtons without your getting into hot water with the FDA, you could look it up on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Food Defect Action Levels Web site. Here you would learn that fig paste is allowed to have up to 13 insect heads per 100 grams.

You would then become sidetracked and further learn that approximately four rodent hairs are allowed in a jar of peanut butter, that an average of 60 thrips are allowed in 100 grams of frozen broccoli, that 10 grams of hops are allowed to contain 2,500 aphids and that 5 milligrams of rat excreta in a pound of sesame seeds is A-OK with the FDA.

We consume approximately 1-2 lbs. of rodent and insects parts yearly. Considering how light they may be, well, I'll stop now.
:talk: :talk: :talk: :talk:


----------



## aguynamedrobert (Oct 26, 2006)

Wow...I have heard things like that before but that does make ya think....now of course those are the limits so food places are not that bad, probably, but will we ever look at a jar of peanut butter the same? lol

Robert
www.chocolateguild.com


----------



## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

My grandmother used to say, "You eat a bushel of dirt in your life without knowing it, so don't worry about that little bit you do know about."

I guess the FDA concurs.


----------



## phoebe (Jul 3, 2002)

Here's a link to the FDA's site for listing "acceptable" levels of contamination and the levels above which they will take action.  http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dalbook.html#CHPTA

If the link doesn't get you directly to the beginning of the list, just click on #7 "Commodities and Defect Action Levels A-C"


----------



## jayme (Sep 5, 2006)

My husband used to work many, many years ago on a tomato harvester- he's told me some stories about the "things" and "critters" that end up in the tomato puree....... thanx Pan for making us all want to go live off the land, grow our own food, so we know exactly what is (or is NOT) in it! LOL


----------



## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

But you haven't covered spices yet! Anyone care to find out what the FDA's allowed amount of rodent, uh, droppings and hairs are allowed in whole spices?

And what BPW spices are? Broken, Punky, Wormy. Usually with nutmeg. This is favoured by a certain soft drink manufacturer, the worms break down the nutmeg so it can be more easily destilled to extract the nutmeg oil.

And did you ever wonder why whole in-the-shell Pistachios were dyed red up to about 15 years ago?


----------



## lynscal (Jan 13, 2007)

Thank you for sharing Pan. I knew we consumed 'some' rodent and insect parts, but honestly had no idea it was that much.


----------



## free rider (May 23, 2006)

And I thought I was a vegetarian.


----------



## lynscal (Jan 13, 2007)

LMAO!!! You just never know!! :beer:


----------



## jayme (Sep 5, 2006)

So Free, after all that "bonus" protein you have been eating all these years, ya ready for a steak now? LOL


----------



## laprise (Jan 4, 2006)

Most *employees* accross America, when asked about what did would like to change about their job, the number one thing was not more money, but a better schedule. SO, to all the chefs and futute chefs keep this in mind, the schedule is a great tool to retain your staff longer.

If you flex your schedule to allow someone to have a life outside of work that employee will perform much better for you!!


----------

