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Calorie radar

13/2/2019

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A press release about a near-infrared spectroscopy would not win the "drop everything and read this right now" category of any inbox competition.
But as it happened I was waiting for Word to load so I had a look at it now I want one.
This new technology is in its infancy and Osram Opto Semiconductors is the only company to offer it at the moment the release says.
Its possibilities are exciting, to say the least, particularly for the weight watching and portion-control communities.
This spectroscopy (shall we call it spec) has the potential to measure calorie content and nutrients of food by scanning it as well as the water, fat, carbohydrate, sugar or protein content.
In future, farmers could also use it to scan their potatoes to decide when to harvest them it is suggested. Although my mind turns more to seeing it built into a smart watch so that you can work out what you are eating in a restaurant or at home.
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​Here's the science as they say on the ads (there's a lot of it): "Near-infrared spectroscopy based on LED technology uses the characteristic light absorption behavior of certain molecular compounds. If a defined light spectrum is directed at a sample it is possible to determine the presence and quantity of certain ingredients from the wavelength distribution of the reflected light. Every molecule absorbs light at several, specific wavelengths. This absorption spectrum is unique and acts like a fingerprint for a particular molecule. Different functional groups absorb characteristic frequencies of infrared radiation. Using various sampling accessories, infrared spectrometers can accept a wide range of sample types such as gases, liquids, and solids. NIREDs act as a compact light source for the spectrometer."
See: https://www.osram.com/os/applications/mobile-competence/mobile-competence-spectroscopy.jsp
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Smith's Crisps

2/5/2017

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I was delighted to root out Frank Smith's signature at the National Archives while researching the history of Smith's Crisps for a PepsiCo campaign as well as a portrait of the man himself from a museum archive.  For someone who grew up on Salt'n'Shake, with the little blue bags of salt inside the packet, this put everything into context.

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The future of Catering

18/4/2016

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I recently attended a Roundtable event run by The Caterer looking at not Sex in the City but Foodservice in the City. A number of leading chefs came together to talk about trends in foodservice, such as rising demand for vegetarian meals. Click for the write up

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Baristas please

8/1/2014

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Why is it that the likes of Premier Inn and Compass have Baristas and Executive Head Chefs coming out of their ears? Is there an inverse ratio of actual quality to exotic job title?
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What's the word from the herd?

7/6/2013

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There's a nice little glossary of jive talk vocab on Wikipedia, to delight etymology fans.  Some extracts below:
Alligator: A devotee of jazz or swing music. Perhaps alludes to sharp-dressing with alligator leather
Chops Noun. Refers to any musician's level of ability.
Originates from the physical changes that occur in a brass player's mouth and
lips. Also a term used for a musician who had significantly improved his/her playing. E.g., "I got my chops up". Chops can also refer to general ability in any skill. E.g., "Yo', I found a lawyer who has the chops to get George Shearing a driver's license!"
G-man Government man. Especially ones who arrest or harass peaceful citizens.
Gate Noun. Any man. usually used as a greeting. "Yo' gate, what's the word from the herd?".
Gatemouth A hornplayer who has a large mouth or a mouth that is habitually open. Playing brass instruments often results in larger cheeks and a calus on the
player's lip. 

Hep In the know. Later,
hip.
Hep cat
Knowledgeable person. Later, hipster.
Jeff- opposite of hip
Vipers is
onomatopoeic from sssssst — the sound made by an inhaling pot-smoker or a snake.
Zoot suit
Named in the rhyming way of jive talk: "a Zoot Suit with a reat pleat, with
a drape shape". With a generous cut but tight cuffs, this was popular with
dancers of the swing era.
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Horsemeat

26/2/2013

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As Jonathan Saffran Foer argues in the book Eating Animals, from an environmental point of view we should be eating all the millions of dogs which have had to be put down by vets. Judging by the public reaction to the horsemeat scandal, that's not going to happen- well unless it already is and we don't know about it.
 
 
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