Slashfood

• Does MSG cause weight gain?
  

  Filed under: Science, MSG, Health & Medical

  
  MSG has long been a contentious ingredient. It is often vilified, as a lot of people believe that they are allergic to the stuff. Recently, though, MSG has had its reputation partially restored as it is thought to be a source of Umami, the much-heralded fifth taste.
  
  A new study has raised the possibility that MSG might once again losing its good standing. A group of scientists have recently finished a study linking MSG to higher...
  



• Are you getting the fish you're paying for?
  

  Filed under: Science, Fish, Newspapers

  
  Lots of people love a good piece of sashimi and nigiri sushi, and most of us are willing to pay more for a higher quality fish. The only question is whether or not you're getting what you paid for.
  
  Last week there was an article in the New York Times about two teenage girls and their fish-y experiment. The students got 60 different samples of fish from 4 sushi restaurants and 10 supermarkets and sent them off to a lab in Canada. About 60% of the fish were mislabeled, and in general...
  



• Hospital food a la carte
  

  Filed under: Science, Health & Medical

  I imagine that hospital food administration is one of the toughest, most thankless jobs in the world. While most chefs have to deal with poorly-trained waiters and difficult customers, hospital kitchens have to deal with untrained orderlies and patients who are, probably, at their worst. Chefs may have to work with ingredients that are less than ideal, but hospital kitchens have to try to make palatable, mainstream food out of relatively healthy ingredients, often in the absence of oil, salt, and other staples. If a chef gets a complaint, it might mean a poor review or a torn up check; if a hospital kitchen gets a complaint,...
  



• Michael Phelps' diet: Eat like a champion!
  

  Filed under: Science, Health & Medical, Celebrities, Food News

  One of my favorite early Saturday Night Liveskits was featured John Belushi as an Olympic athlete. The scene opens with clips of Belushi doing a high jump and running around a track, then cuts to a shot of him at the breakfast table. Clutching a cigarette, Belushi looks into the camera with complete gravitas and tells about his secret to staying fit: "I downed a lot of donuts. Little chocolate donuts. They taste good and they've got the sugar I need to get me going in the morning."
  
  The commercial played off the classic "Wheaties" ads, which...
  



• Alton Brown finds the science in cooking and the magic in science
  

  Filed under: Science, Television/Film, Health & Medical, Celebrities

  When I was in high school, I had a love-hate relationship with science classes. Geology was fine, biology was okay, and chemistry...well, chemistry was hell. Mrs. Olech, the troll who taught the class, regularly flunked half her students and had a teaching manner that made Alan Greenspan seem bouncy and exciting.
  
  Ironically, while I flunked chem, I aced my cooking classes. Even at the time, I thought that this was a little weird; after all, what is cooking if not a chemical process? The subtle adjustment of flavors, the cultivation of certain bacteria, the measured combination of leavening chemicals...
  



• Hebrew University study shows that red wine can increase your longevity!
  

  Filed under: Wine, Science, Beef, Poultry, Did you know?, France, Health & Medical, Food News

  Over the past few years, as wine has undergone repeated studies, it has started to seem like the modern-day fountain of youth. According to its various supporters, it can fight off streptococcus bacteria, reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, and flush one's system with antioxidants. Still, all of these pale beside wine's greatest claim to fame: the so-called French paradox.
  
  For years, scientists have wondered how the French, who have one of the most saturated-fat rich diets in the world, manage to have such...
  



• Low (available) calorie wheat may soon be available
  

  Filed under: Science, On the Blogs

  
  I love bread, but I don't let myself eat too much of it. The reason? Like so many other people in the US, I am concerned about my waistline. Don't get me wrong, I eat bread. I just try to eat it in moderation. However my days of limited bread consumption may soon be over, as cereal scientists are working on creating a kind of wheat that produces flour with fewer available calories.
  
  When I first saw this article at Inventor Spot, I was mighty skeptical. The title and early portion of the article...
  



• Food scientists on the decline worldwide
  

  Filed under: Science

  
  Do you want to save the world? Dr. John D. Floros, President of the Institute of Food Technologists, believes that if that's the case, you should look into becoming a food scientist. In his opinion, in the coming years food scientists are going to play a huge role in figuring out how to feed the ever-growing world population.
  
  However, the number of food scientists is declining worldwide. According to an article in Confectionary News, numbers are down in Australia, South Africa, the UK, and elsewhere. In the U.S., it is a common misconception that...
  



• Hormones to blame for sugar-cravings, study finds
  

  Filed under: Science, Sugar, Health & Medical

  
  As someone with an insatiable sweet tooth, I was fascinated when I found out that hormones in our body affect how we perceive and crave sweetness. They do this according to our body's nutritional needs. Since I have a pretty bad sweet tooth, does this mean my body needs more of it? Not exactly. A recent article in The Economist explains that scientists have done the first step; they've isolated hormones that affect our palate's sensitivity to sugar.
  
  The reason why this study is so important is because it may lead doctors and...
  




• Politics of the Plate: Fighting Words
  

  Filed under: Science, Farming, Vegetables, Fruit, On the Blogs, Health & Medical, Food News

  
  Gourmet's Barry Estabrook makes sense of the battle over the benefits of organic food. The following is an excerpt of his findings published on Gourmet.com.
  
  It's never a good start to your day when the first email you open is an authoritative-sounding press release forwarded by your boss that directly contradicts something you published on the company's website.

  "You know anything about this?" she asked ominously.

  The release came from the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH). Made public on Tuesday, it was headlined: "Scientist Debunks...