A couple of food-related news notes

Saw these two stories today...

First, the Food & Drug Administration is considering relaxing the rules around food irradiation and letting irradiated foods be labeled as "pasteurized." Pasteurization currently refers specifically to a process of killing bacteria by heating food to a certain temperature. In my book, changing the term amounts to misleading people. If food is irradiated rather than heated, it should say so.

Secondly, the FDA has also recently decided to allow the sale of cloned animals as food. My biggest concern is not of any specific danger in eating cloned animals. Rather, cloning livestock is another step down the path of industrializing agriculture. The resulting loss of biodiversity increases the risk of some devastating impact to our food supply. Witness the current unexplained loss of bee colonies that has the potential to seriously hinder the pollination of a wide variety of crops.

If you live in Califonia and are concerned about the cloned animal issue, a bill has been introduced requiring that food containing cloned animals is labeled as such. That leaves the choice with the consumer. You can support the bill here.

AIDS LIFECYCLE UPDATE: Yesterday I went on my longest training ride yet, 64 miles from Sausalito to Point Reyes. The last ten miles or so were a bit painful, but overall the day was great. And I was reminded of how fortunate I am to live in an area that has good access to so much open space. Marin County is gorgeous!

Thanks for the invite, James. xoxoxo