Chain of Foods

The Toronto Star says university researchers tested the DNA of 100 supermarket and restaurant fish and found 25% was mislabeled. This isn't terribly surprising considering how many stops there are in our food supply chain, and how hard it is to tell fish apart once it's been filleted.

And speaking of Ontario, an outbreak of Listeria there has killed four people. Same story as we've seen here in the states with tomatoes and peppers -- huge recall, not sure about the source, large food company had to close to clean up anyway took a dive in its stock price. Our food safety really is much better than it was years ago, but it could be better still if only the industry would slow down a little, keep better records and do more training.

Here's a good example. NaturalNews reports the FDA wants to start irradiating lettuce and spinach to kill e.coli. The problem is irradiation may destroy nutritional value. I can see why the FDA is doing this -- bacterial outbreaks are deadly and very hard to trace. The last one was devastating to tomato growers before we found out that Mexican peppers, not U.S. tomatoes were the culprit. So a decision which supports business and kills a deadly bacteria seems like a win-win. Nutrition? Well, many people believe Americans already get a nutritious diet. But we don't, and the big win-win would be that modification to our food supply chain mentioned above.

Around the World in 80 Rolls

Belgrade is the new North Carolina. That is, on the Monopoly board.

Hasboro is putting out an international edition Monopoly game and who knew there was a vote on which cities should have the honor of being properties? Even more surprising -- Montreal, the cosmopolitan Canadian city where Europe and North America meet at the deli, got top spot.

Toronto is so proud to be on the board (it got into the purples) that the city is holding a celebration this afternoon at Ontario Place.

Here, then, is the list of lucky cities Chance. Points to anyone who doesn't have to look up that last city to see where it is. (and remember to save those points!)