Canned coffee melamine scare: Hello Boss; Mr. Brown

UPDATE > On 22sep08, Taiwan News reported the maker of Mr. Brown, “King Car Food Industrial Co., one of Taiwan’s major food and beverage producers, said Sunday its popular coffee products sold in steel cans is free of melamine…” and that “its canned coffee drinks have consistently used milk powders from Australia or New Zealand that are free of melamine contamination.” (Article: “King Car’s canned coffee drinks free of contamination” http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=745003&lang=eng_news&cate_img=35.jpg&cate_rss=news_Business_TAIWAN) 

The FDA statement on the Mr. Brown recall was issued 26sep08.

So now, how comfortable am I with what Walong Marketing said about only sourcing from Australia? One detail from the FDA statement that may be relevant is that the contamination was in a non-dairy creamer ingredient. The varieties of Hello Boss coffee I have on hand (Iced Coffee; French Roast) don’t list non-dairy creamer, only milk.

Asian supermarkets like Ranch 99 have lots of choices of canned coffee and milk tea. Two of the most common are Hello Boss and Mr. Brown. Typically, these have milk or powdered milk as a key ingredient. In light of the melamine scare, my stockpile suddenly didn’t seem so appetizing, and sure enough the FDA has issued a recall on Mr. Brown products: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01891.html

Regarding Hello Boss coffee, I contacted the distributor, Walong Marketing, and was told they couldn’t make an official statement, but they believe their milk and milk powder comes from Australia. I imagine the FDA is checking other brands of canned coffee after identifying a problem with one of them. If you have further relevant information, please comment.

Also, looks like Hello Boss changed their logo. Wonder why…

 

Bergerac; Weymouth

Yahoo Travel – sep08

BERGERAC, FRANCE ~~~ Britt Karlsson: Cofounder of BKWine, with her husband, Per. The Paris-based company publishes wine newsletters and leads small-group gastronomy and wine tours throughout Europe (bkwine.com). ~~~~~ Born in Sweden and now living in Paris, Britt Karlsson spends half the year visiting about 200 wineries in Europe and South America in her roles as wine journalist, wine judge, wine consultant, and tour guide (on wine-themed trips, of course). ~~~~~ Bergerac is the name of both a wine region and a small city, but travelers often bypass both in favor of nearby higher-profile Bordeaux. And that’s a blessing, says Karlsson. Bergerac’s cobblestoned streets, inviting markets and shops, and location on the Dordogne River are so appealing that Karlsson now periodically includes the town as a stop—staying at the central Hôtel de Bordeaux—on her tours. ~~~~~ Karlsson recommends pairing a local sweet wine, such as a Monbazillac or Saussignac, with another of Bergerac’s specialties: foie gras. “The tenderness of the foie gras is perfect with the luscious sweetness of the wine,” she says. “Many small shops, like Godard, sell artisan-made foie gras, which is so much better than what you get at a supermarket. The foie gras entier mi-cuit is my favorite, but everything from the duck is good—the breast and the confit.” ~~~~~ Karlsson also raves about the grilled duck breast at L’Enfance de Lard, a reasonably priced restaurant overlooking a fountain and the main square. Even a winter visit comes with its rewards, because that’s the season for yet another Bergerac specialty: black truffles. ~~~~~ Information: Round-trip Ryanair flights to Bergerac from London, from $105, or round-trip train tickets from Paris, from $237; Hôtel de Bordeaux, 38 place Gambetta, hotel-bordeaux-bergerac.com, from $85; Godard, 29 rue des Conférences, 011-33/5-53-61-93-49; L’Enfance de Lard, 8 place Pélissière, 011-33/5-53-57-52-88, grilled duck breast $24.

WEYMOUTH, ENGLAND ~~~ John Chatterton and Richie Kohler: Scuba divers who inspired the books Shadow Divers and Titanic’s Last Secrets (johnchatterton.com, richiekohler.com). ~~~~~ Most people’s idea of the idyllic dive spot tends to involve turquoise water and colorful fish, but that’s not what John Chatterton or Richie Kohler has in mind. The scuba divers rose to fame through Robert Kurson’s 2004 best seller, Shadow Divers, which chronicled their quest to identify human remains in a sunken U-boat. That led to solving underwater mysteries around the world for the History Channel series Deep Sea Detectives. Their most recent investigation (which took them to Canada, Ireland, Greece, and two and a half miles under the surface of the Atlantic Ocean) is the subject of Brad Matsen’s Titanic’s Last Secrets, due out next month. Given their knack for uncovering hidden clues and treasures, it’s no surprise that the divers rank the once pirate-friendly port of Weymouth, England, as one of their favorite towns. ~~~~~ Weymouth’s cobblestoned streets, Georgian homes, and sandy beaches along the English Channel are magnets for British sunseekers. But for divers, its waters have their own attractions: “Wars and storms have been sinking ships here for more than 900 years,” Kohler says. “In one day, you can rub shoulders with Roman shipwrecks, 16th-century Dutch sailing fleets, and submarines from both world wars.” ~~~~~ When on shore, Kohler and Chatterton explore nautical antiques stores and old bookshops before sitting down with a pint at The Boot Inn, a 400-year-old pub that’s rumored to have been popular with 17th-century pirates. Today, the town’s stone quays host a mix of fishing boats—which sell sea bass, scallops, and lobsters—and high-speed catamarans. Since no trip to the English seaside is complete without fish-and-chips, a local introduced the divers to Marlboro Restaurant, where the Johnsons have been serving the dish for three generations. “It’s best enjoyed with liberal amounts of salt and malt vinegar,” says Kohler. ~~~~~ Information: Trains from London take three hours, nationalrail.co.uk, from $24; The Boot Inn, High West St., 011-44/1305-770327; Marlboro Restaurant, 46 St. Thomas St., 011-44/1305-785700, large fish-and-chips from $11.

Upside-Down House, Edinburgh – NYT

A Scottish House, Traditional Yet Modern – NY Times 16sep08

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/greathomesanddestinations/17gh-scotland.html

… the architects envisioned a house that combined the coziness of a Highland croft with the airiness of a Swedish or Danish modern home. The result? A pair of rectangular boxes, one perched on the other, with the sleeping areas downstairs surrounded by windowless 12-inch-thick white walls, and the light-filled living areas on top. Not surprisingly, the original owners called it the Upside-Down House.

Sea Power – update

Power From the Restless Sea – NYT 23sep08

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/business/23tidal.html

Roughly 100 small companies around the world are working on converting the sea’s power to electricity. Many operate in Europe, where governments have pumped money into the industry. Companies and governments alike are betting that over time, costs will come down. Right now, however, little electricity is being generated from the ocean except at scattered test sites around the world.

Scottish companies:

http://www.wavegen.co.uk/
http://www.pelamiswave.com/

Installing a Larson Retractable Door Screen

Gee, turns out to be a lot of work, although they say the result is pretty good.

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/doors/screen/retract/install.htm

Chronicle of Higher Education – Law Professors Rule Laptops Out of Order in Class

http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i40/40a00104.htm

The backlash appears to be primarily in the law schools, however. Law professors say the Socratic method, the cornerstone of a legal education, in which professors ask students to accept or refute a long series of questions, is under assault by the vast array of amusements available to students on their laptops. The learning method calls for focused interaction between students and professor, as he or she tests their assumptions. Laptops, psychologically and literally, get in the way.

NYTimes – Future cities on film: Metropolis Now

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/magazine/08wwln-lede-t.html?ref=magazine

For much of the past century, the job of imagining the worst possible outcomes of their good intentions — of assessing the radically dystopian implications of urban progress — has fallen to film directors and production designers. They invent the city of the future not as a model but as a cautionary tale; and their future is the only future we know firsthand.

NYTimes – Salmon: Sardines With That Bagel?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/opinion/09grescoe.htm?pagewanted=all

THE first chinook salmon from Alaska’s Copper River arrived in Seattle last month, for shipment to fish counters throughout the country. With the commercial chinook season in California and most of Oregon canceled for the first time in 160 years, Alaska chinook were going for record prices: $40 a pound for fillet.      . . .     What happened to the mighty chinook of the Pacific Northwest? Regional fisheries officials have blamed ocean conditions for a temporary decline in the plankton and small fish that juvenile salmon feed on. But most of the problem is man-made.

Businessweek – GM: Live Green or Die

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_21/b4085036665789.htm

General Motors’ green strategy is akin to a moon shot. It will cost billions to get the Volt ready by 2010 and fill out the fleet with hybrids, require GM’s 22,000 engineers to stretch like never before, and involve the top-to-bottom transformation of a culture wedded to big cars and horsepower. Other automakers, of course, must also hew to the new realities. Most, including GM’s two crosstown rivals, Ford and Chrysler, are rolling out hybrids, too. But the Volt is controversial in automotive circles because the technology is so new and unproven. And GM, bleeding cash and losing money in North America, is at a serious disadvantage compared with well- financed Toyota.

See also: GM-Volt blog - http://gm-volt.com/

NYTimes Op-Ed – Krugman: Stranded in Suburbia

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/opinion/19krugman.html?em&ex=1211428800&en=c5e436fc7042b50c&ei=5070

If we’re heading for a prolonged era of scarce, expensive oil, Americans will face increasingly strong incentives to start living like Europeans — maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of our lives.