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4B - The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc. Magazine - Thursday, September 27, 2001
The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc. Magazine - TI
Do you know what's on your plate?
By Matt Herrman
For the Daily
Food adulteration, sounds dirty doesn't it? Well
if you've never heard this term before, food adul-
teration is the use of inferior and cheaper ingredi-
ents to cheat consumers and out compete the com-
petition. Although food adulteration has its roots
in Victorian England, modern science is helping
to make sure today's consumers get what they pay
for.
According to Professor Anthony S. Wohl of
Vassar College, the Victorian English were notori-
ous for food adulteration and claims that much of
the food consumed by the working class family
was adulterated by foreign substances, contami-
nated by chemicals, or fouled by animal and
human excrement. The poisonous chemical addi-
tives include: strychnine and cocculus inculus
(both are hallucinogens) in rum and beer, copper
sulfate in pickles, bottled fruit and wine, iron sul-
fate in tea and beer, lead chromate in mustard and
snuff, lead sulfate and mercury bisulfate in con-
fectionary sugar and chocolate and lead in wine
and cider.
These chemicals were widely used and accumu-
lated over a long period in peoples bodies result-
ing in chronic gastritis and often in fatal food poi-
soning.
Today, however, the adulterants are rarely a
health hazard. Ben Canas, a food adulterant
chemist in the Food and Drug Administration's
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition says
that one reason the FDA exists is due to the 1938
federal law that was partly enacted due to public
concerns about the use of water to adulterate
foods such as milk. Currently, the FDA is assist-
ing industry and consumers by developing sophis-
ticated laboratory tests and compiling computer-
ized pictorial databases so they know whether the
products they purchase are what they claim to be.
The FDA is informed about most food adulter-
ation cases by food industry members, often
because they become suspicious of products being
priced below the normal market value. Companies
also commonly test incoming food ingredients in
a lab to verify that they are getting what they paid
for. In these labs chemists use tests such as gas
chromatography and mass spectrometry to identi-
fy unique characteristics that can be used to .dis-
tinguish one substance
from another.
Some supermarkets
even adulterate food in
order to make extra
profit. Dateline NBC
conducted an investigation in 1998 to determine if
what was being sold as pure ground beef was real-
ly that. They submitted 100 samples from differ-
ent stores to an USDA recognized lab with 29 of
those samples testing positive for meats other than
ground beef. Even health food stores like Fresh
Fields and Wild Oats sold adulterated ground
beef.
Dateline reconducted this study in 1999 and
again testing 100 stores, including the 29 that
were guilty of adulteration previously. The 29
stores passed the test this time and 7 other stores
tested positive for adulteration. The ground beef
at a Market Basket in Boston contained approxi-
mately 24 percent pork and a Butera store in
Chicago had approximately 36 percent pork in
supposedly 100 percent pure ground beef.
Even sophisticated DNA analysis, which is nor-
mally used for biological research, is used in test-
ing for adulterated food. In New Orleans where
turtle meat soup is a delicacy, DNA testing
revealed that some of the so-called turtle meat is
actually from another reptile, the American alliga-
tor. Since alligators have now recovered from near
extinction and protective measures have been lift-
ed, they are farmed and hunted so that their meat
fetches a lower price that that of turtles.
It appears that as science develops new ways to
detect food adulteration, consumers will ultimate-
ly profit since they will know exactly what they
are buying.
INDOOR SOCCER
Fall 2 Season: Oct. 28th - Dec. 23rd
Now accepting Registrations for Fall 2 Leagues
Registration Deadline: October 22nd f'
0 Individual Registrations are welcome
Call (734) 913-4625 for Details
WIPEWORLD www.wWsports.com
SPORTS CENTER
Discount card
gives students
deals on food
By Darren Ringel
Daily Arts Writer
When the typical student goes out
to eat or orders delivery, what are the
main factors that determine which
restaurant he or she will choose?
First, the utmost important factor is
quality. Obviously, if a restaurant can-
not provide tasty and delicious food,
it's not going to bring back returning
customers. The second determinant
that pulls one to a restaurant is the
simple mood of the customer. If
Chinese fits the mood, then Kung Pao
Chicken it is. If it's Italian night out,
then a chicken roll or some ziti pasta
might hit the spot. And if you're com-
ing off of a long night of drinking and
want to alleviate my hangover, cheese
steak and fries it is. The third and
final factor that draws students to a
particular restaurant is the price.
Almost every student at the
University is on a budget, and finding
a cheap meal usually comes before
finding a meal that is going to
enlighten one's taste buds. If food
cost was not the average student's
concern, then Chop House would be
the student hang out.
Now, there is a solution to every
student's daily dilemma over what
restaurants to eat at. This solution is
the Ann Arbor Student Discount
Card. This card costs $10 and it pro-
vides its customers with a 10% dis-
count at every restaurant on the card,
including: Bella Napoli, Bell's Pizza,
Cottage Inn, Kabob Palace, Leo's,
Lucky Kitchen, Mr. Spot's, NYPD, A
Taste of Italy and Tubby's.
It is valid until September 1, 2002
for an infinite amount of uses, all day,
all night, and deliveries as well when
applicable (except for Mr. Spot's).
Between lunch, dinner, and late night
ordering, the typical student probably
eats out about 5 times a week. If the
average order is about $6, then the
card will pay for itself in just a few
weeks and then for the rest of the
year, the card owner saves more and
more every time he or she orders.
These ten restaurants that honor the
Ann Arbor Student Discount Card are
quite diverse in food type, being able
to satisfy almost any food craving. It
also doesn't hurt that six of the best
late restaurants happen to be on the
card. Also, on top of the discounts
that students receive, $1 from every
card that is sold will be donated to the
Red Cross tonhelpout the victims in
New York. In fact, $100 from the
sales of these cards has already been
donated thanks to the help of the first
100 customers.
In order to receive a card for your-
self, call (734) 369-3180 or email
alevi@umich.edu. A free delivery of
the card to your house, apartment, or
dorm can also be arranged. When
you can save money and donate to a
good cause at the same time, there's
no reason why every student who eats
out shouldn't own this card.
Suzanne, you're all
that I wanted of a..
Billboard t(
T here's something indelible
about the things that harken us
back to our youth, something
intangible. It's the notion of all these
firsts we encounter
that embed them-
selves into oar very
brains. The memo-
ries of these firsts
are -so real, we
vividly recall them,
and the smiles they
bring to our faces
and the tears to our
eyes. It is within the
confines of high
school we
encounter these
very memories.
I come to you all
this week, not
spouting a rant
about why Aaron
Lewis' shitfest isn't
Luke
Smith
Less Tha
Zero
worth your time or
mine on the public airwaves, but just to
simply reflect and recall a single moment
of my youth, a brief time'and hopefully
help you remember that special someone
as I do. My first love.
Suzanne moved to my hometown in
1994. 1 barely knew who she was; we
never really spoke. I was so enthralled
with Night Crawler, Kitty Pride and my
Dungeons Master's Guide that I paid her
little mind.
When we moved into the 10th grade
however something was different about
Suzanne. Her braces were off and she
looked different, as if over the summer
she had grown up. She looked less like a
13-year-old girl and more like a 16-year-
old girl.
(Note: Three-year time warp in previ-
ous paragraph, time flies when you only
have so much space to tell a damn story.)
We started to date in September 1996,
actually our first date was on September
24, 1996. We really didn't go out, my
parents drove me over to her house and
Suzanne and I sat in her basement listen-
ing to songs and talking. I didn't really
know what to do with her. I hadn't been
on a real date before; it was awkward but
for some strange reason it worked.
We dated throughout high school,
Suzanne may not have been named
Kelly, but she was my Kapowski.
It was two years of love and affection
during our junior and senior. years. I
graduated (barely) and she did too (read:
she graduated with honors, and I got my
GED fishing through the toilet of educa-
tion).
College was a whole new experience,
Suzanne and I were inseparable, I had
never thought it would be as good as it
was, no parents around, no rules, just
each other. I held on to her when times
were rough (when I was crying because I
missed my mommy,) and she held me
(when I would fall on the ice because of
my inherent lack of coordination).
Something changed though.
Something terrible changed. In the sum-
mer of 2000, Suzanne started to grow
away from me. The once complex, smart,
heartfelt now-near woman I loved was
changing. She was regressing. Sure, their
were still outpourings of occasional emo-
tion, but she grew faceless and chilled. I
didn't know what to do. I'd had Suzanne
on my arm since 1996; we were one; we
were as good as married in my mind.
As it goes though, married in my mind
is no good.
We had a horrible falling out last
May; tears were shed and doors were
slammed, and again I (much like our sex
life) was the one with the tissues, and
she was doing the slamming.
Exit metaphor.
Weezer has taken us all on one giant
ride. In May 2001, they released Weezer-
aka "The Green Album." It's packaged
in lime green because it smells and
sounds like vomit.
I first met Weezer up-close in 1996
when their magnum-opus Pinkerton,
was released. I had heard "Buddy
Holly," "Undone (The Sweater Song)"
and "Say it Ain't So," and I had taped
them all off the album, but they paled in
comparison to the songs on Weezer's
second record. The excruciatingly per-
sonal album was musically complicated
and lyrically poignant. It was cleverly
laced with pop sensibilities and major-
chord rifling.
Unfortunately, not enough of us (the
moron-filled public) bought enough
copies. I have two copies, so I have your
hot female friend who is definitely not
reading this anymore covered, but you:
you don't have the record. Instead, the
public gobbled up the Green. The
absolute worst comeback album of all
time (this side of Balance.) The campy
songs are ripe with simplicity and lack
any sense of feeling. They were written
off a chord chart that frontman Rivers
Cuomo devised while he was holed up
not doing shit for the last five years.
"Only in Dreams" from their epony-
mous debut was previously the longest
song Weezer had recorded, but that title
has been stripped from the song, as
tracks 5 thru 10 on the green album now
are the longest single song Weezer has
recorded.-
The entire Green Album drips with
vile boredom and guitar solos that sim-
ply match the vocal line. All the songs
sound eerily similar. And not eerie in a
"wow this is fucking cool" kind of way;
eerie in a "why the hell does Weezer
have to suck ass now?" kind of way.
But they do, despite my endless pin-
ing and pleading. After five years of
waiting, Weezer put the proverbial
screws to all of us.
Despite my heartache, I've managed
to move on and begin to heal from
Suzanne's betrayal. I've focused my
affection on a new little lady, and she's
looking promising. She swears like a
sailor and can make me laugh. She's a
little on the heavy side, but she has a
great set of DDs. Tenaciously.
-Luke Smith can be reached at
lukems@umich.edu
s Ccourtesy of 1 Records
Boy, do we hate this CD
Weekend box office
1. The Blueprint, Jay-Z - Jigga is
keeping the top spot warm for The D.
2. Silver Side Up, Nickelback -
Hopefully you'll get more than a nick-
elback when you take this craptacular
album back. Punny.
3. Songs in A Minor, Alicia Keys
- This album sucking so hard is real-
ly getting to be A Major problem.
4. Fabolous, Ghetto Fabolous - It
would be fuckin' fantastic if he could
spell "fabulous." And enunciate.
5. Love and Theft, Bob Dylan -
Rocking hard with his senior citizen's
Figures in Millions of dollars.
1. Hardball ($8.1) C'mon, people,
we can do better than this. Just come to
my place and watch a DVD.
2. The Others ($5.1) Yeah, British
period pieces usually do real well.
We're hurting
3. The Glass House ($4.4) Easier
to see the feces running down the
walls.
4. The Musketeer ($3.51) Where's
Oliver Platt when you need him?
5. Rush Hour 2 ($3.5) Wait, you
mean East really meets West? Funny!
6. Two Can Play That Game ($3.2)
This film is worse than impatago.
7. Rat Race ($2.94) You've got to
admire a movie like this for staying in
the top ten for so long. And hate audi-
ences.
8. Rockstar ($2.93) Get your game
on, go home.
9. Jeepers Creepers ($2.8) More
fun than hitting your toe with a ham-
mer.
10. American Pie 2 ($2.7) Not
funny, but at least it's unoriginal.
ELITE ENTERTAINMENT ExPOSITIOI
WHAT'S NEWS IN
ENTERTAI NMENT
BLOCKBUSTER FLAGS TERRORIST
CONTENT - Video giant
Blockbuster Video will be warning
customers about terrorist content in
their videos, DVDs and movies in
light of the terrorist attacks in
America. The Internet Movie
Database reports that Blockbuster
has not yet stated whether they will
list the videos on one large sign, or
place individual signs on each item
that may contain offensive footage.
HBO CASTS MAY SKIP EMMY'S
- The casts of both "Sex and the
City" and "Sopranos" may not
attend the prime time Emmy awards
show on October 7th. TV Guide
reports that the multi-nominated
casts are nervous about flying from
the east coast (where both shows are
filmed) to the ceremony in
California. An HBO spokesperson
said that fear is not the reason, but
that the casts simply want to be with
their families in this time of nation-
al crisis.
NEW SURVIVOR CONTESTANTS
UNVEILED - Zap2it.com reports
that the cast of this Fall's "Survivor
Africa" is the same sort of eclectic
mixture of people that worked so
well during the shows first two sea-
sons. The 16 new contestants range
in age from 22 to 46. The varied cast
include Florida dentist Carl
Bilancione, Pennsylvania freelance
marketer Kim Powers, and
Michigan high-school basketball
coach Clarence 3lack.
SEINFELD PLANS BENEFIT -
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is plan-
ning a comedy concert with pro-
ceeds benefiting the victims of the
World Trade Center attack. Seinfeld
will be playing Carnegie Hall
alongside Bill Cosby, Will Ferrell,
Colin Quinn and George Wallace
according to TV Guide. Seinfeld
says that, in accordance with Jewish
customs, after one sits shiva for
eight days, it is time to get on with
t
Courtesy of HBO
Tony ain't gettin' on no damn plane.