Italian government legislates against “Molecular cuisine”
Italy’s Ministry of Health has passed a bill that bans the use of chemical additives and liquid nitrogen from restaurant kitchens.
What they want to achieve is to exclude the “chemical additives” used in “Molecular cuisine” (as referred to by the Italian Ministry of Health’s secretary Francesca Martini) from the restaurant food.
Video of Francesca Martini where she explains and signs the new act (only in italian) Update 2011: This video has been removed from Youtube because of “Copyright issues”. Yeah right.
Italy hereby says that “for the security of its citizens” it wants to eliminate, and make it no longer possible for restaurants to use certain additives (which will still be allowed in the industrial food processing though).
Many of these additives are commonly referred to as “powders” - of which one of the most famous brand is the “Texturas”-line from Albert and Ferran Adrià .
Italy’s cuisine is based on tradition, and tradition alone, so it definately can’t be considered a stronghold for avant-garde cuisine or innovative cooking.
The so-called molecular cuisine has been widely debated in national tv and a lot of Italy’s famous chefs hold a hostile attitude towards this “science based cooking” - accusing it of “ruining an already perfect cuisine”.
The government is also trying to ban the use of liquid nitrogen, calling it a “gaseous substance”.
Of course things like liquid nitrogen (used in the kitchen to freeze foods instantaneously by submerging into this extremely cold liquid) should always be handled with due care, but I can’t really see why the liquid nitrogen would be considered hazardous enough to be banned from the restaurant kitchens.
Unless accidentally stored in a sealed container (which would go KABOOM!) there’s no reason why liquid nitrogen would be any more dangerous than a pot of boiling hot oil for deep frying - something used everyday in Italy’s restaurant kitchens.
So that’s what they wanted to do, how unfortunate that the Health Ministery guys didn’t attend their chemistry lessons in school. The government tries to stop the use of liquid nitrogen by legislating against the “storage and use of any gaseous substance”.
Then too bad for them that liquid nitrogen is, that’s right, a liquid! And if that’s not enough they accidentally excluded liquid nitrogen again from being banned with the small paragraph “it is prohibited to keep and use gaseous substances, except food additives”.
Within the European Union nitrogen is classified as a food additive, with its own code E941, therefore OK to use.
Seems logical?
And do they want to sweep the kitchens clean of any gases? There’s a variety of gases used in the kitchens today, the carbon dioxide used in the soda siphon, the butane used in the gas torch for the crème brûlée, and even the pan of boiling water produces gas.
The whole thing feels like an outrageous publicity stunt from the government in a country where tradition reigns supreme.
A way to regain people’s (and voters’) confidence promising them to protect italian products and have restaurants serve fresh and healthy food, pointing out the ones that embrace the latest techniques and new ingredients as the bad guys.
In the end it’s a bogus law made by people that do not understand.
Cheer up - the new law is only valid for less than a year anyway (its expiry date is on the 31st December 2010)!
Link to the official law text on the “Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana” Update 2011: As suspected, this text has now been removed from their site without any referral to an updated text or a new similar act.
38 Responses to “Italian government legislates against “Molecular cuisine””
March 1st, 2010 at 05:13
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by caputmundicibus: Crazy italian law bans “Molecular cuisine” http://bit.ly/acibYn…
March 1st, 2010 at 13:26
[...] a link on Twitter yesterday (follow him here) which describes a move in Italian Parliament to `outlaw Molecular Cuisine`. It`s an odd concept - after all, all food is made up of molecules and all of the powders, [...]
March 1st, 2010 at 16:09
Does that mean the new Umami N°5 will be ruled out too? I have heard a lot about molecular cuisine, but I don’t think I’ve really grasped its significance completely. What ARE these additives anyway?
A total chemistry dummy,
Ele xx
March 2nd, 2010 at 03:19
This law is only showing the degree of ignorance and the efficient work of lobbysts.
Don’t they know that the 78 % of the air they breath is pure Nitrogen?
Don’t they know that at normal temperature and pressure the Nitrogen evaporates, being the fact that no nitrogen reaches your mouth on top of a piece of food, out of the one that is already in the air?
Is the Nitrogen as a gas more dangerous than the Propane?
Are these food additives safe in industrial foods but not at a restaurant, where they have a quality control before deliverying any dish?
Then, forget about gelatines, puddings, cakes, bread, pizza, sauces and many other things that use these kind of food additives since centuries ago.
It is Ok to have a conservative approach to food and cooking but it is wrong to have a conservative approach to ignorance.
In terms of public health safety, it is proven that all these products are harmless.
Send them back to high school!
March 2nd, 2010 at 09:21
hi hector
read again your Poor comment !!! then wher are coming you from ??? north europe somewhare where pepole are eating patats and shit !!!!!
you just took ignorance to a whole new level !!!! THIS LOW IS ONLY FOR RESTAURANT……i think that it may be good for your work to come down here ….. you can be a bether chef … try to follow the flevors … not the colors.
we have allready someone that is following the colors…. united colors of benetton ….. in the our res we do other things …. take it all back mate !!!
March 2nd, 2010 at 14:01
@Eleonora I don’t have information about the Umami (which is basically “glutammato” here in Italy) and if it would be prohibited as well - it depends on if the E.U. has specified an “Acceptable daily intake” (ADI) or not.
Concerning the “powders” - many of them are used to achieve desired textures, consistencies and forms in cooking. The most commonly used ones are derived from plants. They have been used in the big scale food industry for longer than anyone can remember, but fairly recently entered also the restaurant kitchens.
March 2nd, 2010 at 22:59
[...] them in industrial food preparation. You can read more about this issue on the Italian food blog Caput Mundi Cibus or on [...]
March 3rd, 2010 at 15:22
Lets leave all industrial chemicals up to big business what are these people thinking? Who is running this scam anyway. Innovation is inevitable and should be available to all. Not just the big corporations that patent and hide the poisons that can be added to your food.
The difference here is that there aren’t any known cases I am aware of from people becoming ill because of Ferran’s Texturas or better yet, any liquid nitrogen in any restaurant yet products like Aspartame that are KNOWN to cause cancer and are found in over 9,000 products worldwide.
See Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErngurkB3J0
Homaro Cantu
Chef of Moto Restaurant in Chicago Illinois
Staunch supporter of education
March 4th, 2010 at 05:04
@Homaro - No, I don’t see why you would worry THAT much about what you might eat off a restaurant menu, maybe once a month, as opposed to the industrially produced foods that we stuff ourselves with EVERY DAY. Aspartame is a good example, KNOWN for causing bad things. Nitrite is another bad guy found in many processed fish and meat based products (especially cured meat), preventing bacterial growth and preserving color. But as it heats up during cooking, it could turn into a not very healthy nitrosamine. Then we have the MSG, and the sulfites and so on…
I’m personally not worried about most additives I might stumble upon eating in a restaurant, I’m much more concerned about whether the cook washed his hands after going to the toilet or not. Now that’s undesired additives!
The fear of these “powders” or additives comes from the fact that they are little known by the opposition. Most of them are much more natural than any obscure additive that is allowed in the big scale food industry.
Many people just don’t see the logic, they don’t understand and they create a mental barrier that’s hard to overcome. Innovation and tradition on a crash course.
March 4th, 2010 at 10:57
Watch the videos on http://www.disruptivefood.com
Inside baseball as to why Chefs must be able to experiment within safe guidelines and without the Government telling them what to do. Watch every video carefully - it totally pertains to this particle and those interests that are spearheading this ridiculous piece of law trash.
HC
March 4th, 2010 at 17:48
[...] Italy bans molecular gastronomy http://www.caputmundicibus.com/2010/02/italian-government-legislates-against-molecular-cuisine/ [...]
March 4th, 2010 at 19:05
[...] Caput Mundis Cibus, who broke the original [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 07:24
Dear, friends and colleagues.
I have read all your comments here some very heated, some others less heated.
The truth is that cuisine has reached new levels, technology and new trends to do things faster, flavorful and also to bring some difference had been discovered, etc. These are all good practices when kept as a particular fashion added to a dish and not as a continuous practice or to be eaten as a full meal. The truth is that Molecular cuisine has enabled us to understand more food in depth, but this trend will die eventually; Not because legislators, but because food has and will always be appreciated on its natural state.
I have utilized Sferiphications, Alginates, LN2, Sousvide etc. But like I said as an additive but not as a whole. Alginates bring a different texture into he game, Sousvide or better known as slow/low temperature vacuum cooking bring a more perfect state of meat, keeping the proteins, flavors and quality of meat intact (but has its risks too) low temperature cooking can develop deadly bacterias when not properly handled, etc.
The point is my dear friends… Even walking on the street is dangerous when done without care. Food needs to be respected as a natural, nourishing beauty, but I have seen restaurants in my own country (Italy) boiling shrimp to stop it from spoiling as they are already smelly (this is horrible and dangerous practices) the current economical situation is making lots of Italian restaurants use second quality products, and the list of irregularities goes on and on worldwide. the mission of us Chefs is to keep it real, clean, honest but innovative too (with care and logic) as everything must be.
And the truth is, that one needs to be a chef (a real one I mean) before adventuring with new techniques. Sferiphications must be done with an original product and a real basic cooking quality. If you want to make a caviar from Kalamata olives with Saffron essence.. the olive needs to be of the highest quality, the preparation of the marination needs to be of the highest quality, and the final pre-sferiphication process must be perfect. Anybody can play with these textures but they need to taste beautiful to complement the new texture and only a professional can do this; otherwise is nothing more than a kid playing with a chemistry set and most likely making someone sick.
Information is power. We need to understand, to know, to create, and like everything to keep it on a real level. Smoking and drinking excessively is no more dangerous than molecular cuisine. In Italy reckless driving and drinking while driving has brought more deaths in a single day that all the molecular cuisine worldwide in 7 years since has been instituted. Molecular cuisine like fashion will go away, and will die of natural causes. Let’s understand it and enjoy its uses while its here, and let’s use it to bring a touch of difference in cuisine as an additive (not as a meal and not for an everyday use).
Let’s just be logical and please…. let’s stop listening to any politician as their practices and decisions in the world have caused more deaths than cancer itself. Let’s just investigate and remain innovative. But never, ever forgetting our basics and classic cuisine. That will be the real danger.
Warmest culinary regards.
Corporate Executive Chef. Gianfranco Chiarini.
March 18th, 2010 at 12:34
[...] nitrogen and chemical additives in restaurant kitchens. It expires in less than a year, though. [Caput Mundi Cibus via Tyler [...]
March 18th, 2010 at 15:14
This isn’t so bad. In New York City, New York, USA, legislators are talking about banning the use of ordinary SALT in restaurant kitchens.
March 19th, 2010 at 10:07
Well, if it is for the safety of everyone, then I will agree. I mean, health is the most important factor we should think about.
March 19th, 2010 at 11:23
@Frank Yeah, I heard about the salt ban, but I find it so completely ridiculous that it’s even hard to grasp.
March 21st, 2010 at 11:08
They should study more about this, if it’s for the greater good of all, there is nothing wrong about that, right?
March 24th, 2010 at 14:37
As so often the talk about traditional Italian cuisine and the words of it´s self-promoted saviors. Cuisine changes with time. If Italian food had stuck to it´s traditions people would still eat bread soup, porridge, dried fish and bad rice. It´s a myth so many Italians like, that the their food have stood the test of time and never changed. Pizza a hundred years ago? Dirty food for poorest. Culture moves on and the food with it.
We Italians always seem to forget that the food we consume from today and on will be the “traditional food” of the generations to come. Take a look in the cookbooks from 1700 century when the Italian kitchen was at a high point and try to imagine the tast of oriental spices and the amount of sugar on top of everything. Meat, fish, poultry, game and dessert alike.
March 27th, 2010 at 08:19
I agree with Gianfranco Chiarini. I think this polemic is not going deeply the question of chimical additives, it seems more a barren controversy.
April 7th, 2010 at 00:24
let those bureaucrats that passed that stupid bill stick to their nana’s crappy pasta and polenta and refuse to serve them in restaurants! once they get sick of their mamas and wives lousy cooking, they’ll repeal their stupid rules, and get good food again!
April 14th, 2010 at 07:03
Well, I’m positively delighted that I have the chance to correct Homaro Cantu in the area of foodstuffs. It’s not that I dislike him, I just feel pretty darn smart right now.
There is no evidence that aspartame causes cancer: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/artificial-sweeteners/MY00073/NSECTIONGROUP=2\
I should hope you trust the Mayo Clinic more than some YouTube video.
April 29th, 2010 at 16:25
Information is power, like Corporate Executive Chef Gianfranco Chiarini said. The new law bans few additives but asks chefs to declare additives. As a customer, I want the power of information too. Before the molecular craze, I went to restaurants three times a week. With today’s additive addiction, I prefer to stay at home. Additive-chefs, you will not see a single cent from my pocket, unless you accept to inform customers. See, I have some kind of intolerance against some of those additives. Even if I ask a chef not to serve them, he just ignores my request. And, by the way, I don’t want to discuss my intolerances in front of collegues from work. The best solution would be if today’s avantgarde could cook for themselves, not for customers, since you don’t care about your customers anymore. It’s not about tradition. It’s about honesty. You, Mr Cantu, and you, Mr Chiarini, are just dishonest people.
April 29th, 2010 at 20:15
Well Miss, Christine.
I do appreciate your opinions and your concerns. But anything you may say in public needs to be professional and may go back to you in the form of discredit. If you kept your opinions clear, honest and to the concern of the topic, then you may have had a point. But you decided to attack directly persons of an opinion pole whom has been expressing their opinion, including myself in a very pacific and also professional way. By attacking us you just discredit yourself and lost your own point of reason.
Now you look fanatical. But, since you gave me the right to say something in return…let me state for the record that opinions without knowledge are like faith without works. I am at least a professional of the food industry of the highest levels who pride himself of cooking natural, fresh, never made sick any of my guests in over 25 years of profession, working, hard long hours, honestly for the sake and satisfaction of my guest or even for people like you, that just complain and does not really imagine the load of emotional , mental and physical tension and pressure Chefs like me we undergo to make happy and spoil ignorant people like you.
Learn to respect others, because my dishonesty or Mr. Cantu’s dishonesty is yet to be proven, as you don’t have a proof of it; but your ignorance and disrespect for professionals, whom have done nothing to you, has been expressed in public. But I will still have pity for your poor comments and respect them as the poor expression of a frustrated person. Anyhow, Gustibus non disputandum est.
Word of advise. Respect others cause I am old enough to be your father.
Culinary regards.
Corporate Executive Chef Gianfranco Chiarini
April 30th, 2010 at 10:17
Christine, your post shows your clear ignorance. Not to deride you, but it’s likely that your intolerances are completely illusory. People often cite MSG as giving them headaches or causing some sort of reaction, but scientific studies have shown that it would take a truly tremendous amount to cause any sort of reaction in humans. Further, things like steak, cheese, and mushrooms are incredibly high in glutamates, though nobody ever moans about having a reaction to those foods.
Similarly, spherification uses a seaweed extract and a compound with a calcium ion, neither of which are harmful in the slightest. One is naturally occurring (while it may matter to you, in reality, that means nothing) and the other is sold as a nutritional supplement. Liquid nitrogen dissipates with the barest trace - as if it would matter anyway, since nitrogen is incredibly abundant in the atmosphere anyway. Another MG item is agar-agar. It’s fairly new in Western countries, but has been used for a very long time in desserts in Asian countries without harm - also derived from seaweed.
If you’re talking about preservatives, you’re plainly wrong. No chef would use a preservative as the food takes minutes to get to your table, not days.
What sort of additives do chefs put in despite your requests and how do you know they’ve put it in? Even if they do actually ignore your requests, it’s incredibly unfair of you to extrapolate this to all chefs using these methods or ingredients. I don’t know how you can possibly suggest that any of them are dishonest, too. Usually, MG is an attraction of a restaurant and it’s specifically advertised.
You seem more like you just want to feel persecuted so you can have a cause to rally against. Try researching before making outlandish claims.
May 1st, 2010 at 00:02
Mr Chiarini: if respect is a matter of age (which it should not be), I have to disappoint you. I’m a little bit older than you, though not much older. And yes, ignorant people go to restaurants to be spoiled, few people go to restaurants to be mistreated. As for opinions without knowlege: I’ve seen an university from the inside, I graduated and I’m quite familiar with the methods of scientific research. It is your right to feel attacked, but by assuming that I’m a teenage undergraduate you have shown that you’re not better than me. But, point taken, I’ve not enough knowledge about your work to criticize you and would like to express my apologies. My remark was based on the fact that, based on your comment, it seemrf to me that you’d rather not inform your clients about your use of additives, which seems an objectionable practice to me, since an intelligent choice presupposes the availability of the information required to make the choice.
I know a bit more about the work of Mr. Cantu though and I strongly believe that subjects like “world hunger” should not be used for promotion of restaurants in interviews.
Michael, according to you, nausea or diarrhea are “completely illusory”? Do I have to send stool samples? Neither alginic acid nor carrageenans or other additives advertised as “seaweed extract” are “seaweed extract” if you take a close look on how those additives are made. Furthermore, there are big differences between agar-agar and E 400 or E 407 and I can quote the patents that clearly show them.
There are people that are cooking with “real seaweed”, like Dr. Prannie Rhatigan.
Furthermore, recent studies (i.e. those published by Dr. Joanne K. Tobacman in “Environmental health perspectives” in 2001 and 2008) show that some of those “seaweed extracts” are not as good as they seemed to be. You mentioned MSG; although there are a lot of “pro-MSG”-studies (one of the best-known includes a little cheat, a test of MSG against aspartame), there is still lots of doubts, if you take a look on the works of Prof. Konrad Beyreuther or Prof. Hermanussen, among others. I do not care about the use of liquid nitrogen, though I think that chefs and waiters should respect basic safety rules (wear glasses, gloves etc).
As you know, the bill everybody is ranting against wants chefs to inform customers about their use of additives. I like this thought.
The refusal to inform clients about the nature of their “creations” does not seem honest to me. Chefs who don’t inform their clients are against basic customer’s rights; rights that even manufacturers of cheapest supermarket foods respect. To me, the role of a chef has always been to offer an alternative to processed industrial food. If chefs want to use the same additives as in industrial food, those restaurants are not for me. I just want to have this kind of information to avoid them.
May 1st, 2010 at 01:17
I respectfully would like the following to be added to “promoting world hunger” through a restaurant. If large corporations are allowed to promote their “philanthropic” initiatives. The why can’t Cantu Designs after 5 years of REAL INDEPENDENT research and development not promote this with my partner that has a REALISTIC goal of making a dent where all others fail? Check out http://www.mberry.us for the answer.
Then watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjTTIbozot8
Not speaking from a profit side, speaking from actual experience of homelessness and nothing to gain except equality. Believe it or not, even university professors make mistakes and age doesn’t mean a thing in a world of equality. I think everyone in this thread should try and prove my work wrong. Give it a swing! Would love to see the results:)
HC
http://www.cantudesigns.com
(yes that is a promotion for the beginning to the end of global famine)
HC
Mberry and Cantu Designs
http://www.vimeo.com/10750934
May 1st, 2010 at 01:42
So, in short, state where you work, whom you work for and let full disclosure be the real judge here. You know everything about me. I have nothing to hide.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homaro_Cantu
May 1st, 2010 at 08:48
Miss, Christine.
Apologies accepted.
One more thing though; The basics of Michelin cuisine in the world, at least here in Europe (cradle of the world’s best chefs in what still refers to either classic or avant garde cuisine) is based on the 100% of natural products, even if the cuisine is too avant garde (it must be 100% natural). I understand your circumstances, and why you are unacknowledged of my work or the amazing work of us European chefs. But I am the only Italian chef to hold within himself a Michelin star. The effort to achieve it and furthermore to be able to hold it is based upon my impeccable and stainless work ethics.
On an interesting note: Let me inform you that on addition to my International Culinary work and writing a trilogy book, I am the development culinary leader and R&D Corporate Executive Chef for the mega starch company, National Starch Food Innovation, I am in charged of the areas of Europe, Middle East and Africa. My role and targets set by this great and honest company and myself are the ones of freeing the entire European continent (initially) of E-numbers (completely out) in any ready food, canned food or anything you may find on supermarkets (at least with the clients we work with) which the list is extensive; but for confidentiality agreements I cannot disclose here.
So rest assure when you come to Europe or if you live here, that you’ll see how the trend of clean label is rampantly growing by the day and the list of clients adding themselves to this trend is queuing far from grasp. I don’t judge other parts of the world, but here in Europe we believe in real food.
Here I am leaving you a link of my work if you wish openness and I have nothing else to add to this forum that has turned into a back and forward of personal remarks and not for the sake of Culinary Arts.
Again I do appreciate your apologies. Thank you very much.
With Culinary regards and respect to all of you.
Corporate Executive Chef. Gianfranco Chiarini.
Here is the link:
May 1st, 2010 at 11:10
Mr. Cantu,
I have been self-employed for 18 years and have no links whatsoever with the chemical-industry, the flavor industry or the food industry in general. I happen to be a foodie for 25 years, I started at places like Chapel or Girardet, but my love for restaurants has faded away since chefs serve hydrocolloids as a meal, sometimes in massive amounts. Why do I mention this? Today’s chefs tend to adopt the methods of the food industry, in cooking and communication. To me, this is disappointing, I expected different concepts from chefs. While the food industry is, depending on the country, under strict surveillance, restaurant kitchens are not. If you take a look on the official report on the “Fat Duck” (the 2010 incident and the 2004 incident), you will see that many mistakes could easily have been avoided by closer surveillance.
I think that one can assume that to “end world hunger”, one should end “world thirst”: People need to have access to clean water, thus enabling them a) to drink and b) to plant.
This does not prove your work wrong, but infrastructure and especially access to clean water seems an important point to me when talking about “world hunger”. There might be different ways to fight famine. For example, the world does not seem to suffer from an underproduction of food, but food is not equally distributed. So, maybe some logistic experts are needed? Authorities in some countries might ask you to prove that miracle berries are food (think of the novel food laws in the EU), further studies will be needed for legal purposes. I know that you are not aiming the EU, but EU laws have great influence on third countries and companies depending on export. Let’s imagine that the potato would have been discovered yesterday. It would have been banned by EU-laws for years, maybe even for decades.
I completely agree with you that university professors make mistakes and age doesn’t mean a thing. As a matter of fact, professors have made lots of mistakes through centuries and the opinion of today’s minority is quite often the opinion of tomorrows majority; people that had the courage to take a step in the right direction were burned, sometimes quite literally.
I might add that all the things I’ve said should not be an excuse to sit down and do nothing. Let’s assume that one of your points is that “thinking ouside the box” could do a lot of good to the world, I completely agree too.
You are one of two chefs I know that hold patents (the other being Dr. Miguel Sanchez Romera who is now working in Caracas). Although we might disagree on the additive question, I respect your achievements.
However, restaurant owners today have taken their promotion to a whole new level. In molecular gastronomy, many chefs advertise themselves as “inventors”. They refuse basic customer information telling me and others that they know best. Perhaps they do, but I’d still like to know what I’m eating. Scraping the bottom of the barrel of the food industry
is not inventive. I’m not talking about you, but for example about “spherification”, a method well described in litterature that has been patented many times during the last decades. Work against famine or research on “clean energy” is in my opinion way more important than fancy looking food. I think it is absolutely necessary to sort out the real good ideas from the mere gimmicks instead of mashing anything “science-involved” in food under the marketable term of “molecular gastronomy”.
May 1st, 2010 at 13:14
At least the discussion here is moving forward. Certainly if we put a man on the moon in 1969, we can find some common ground among foodies.
I think if we are to move in a forward direction, we need to rely on small and large businesses for innovation. If government is to be relied on to regulate innovation then we will have problems. Look at Nutrasweet.
On another note I will not point out the many examples of research I can cite that find no harmful effects with MSG and will simply state that we should be more aware of where and why certain products are banned, labeled and whom exactly is responsible for these regulations.
It’s a tricky balance and one that must not be blanketed to a point where inventors from all walks of life are persecuted. This just follows down a path of extremism.
The following video is 99% pure fact and very relevant to our discussion. When you put two and two together this will all make perfect sense and you can see where I am coming from, and where this is going.
http://www.vimeo.com/10834582
May 13th, 2010 at 17:02
Hi John,
Hi,
Thanks for taking the time on writing an article about this information….excellent.
Just want to say thanks, for your hard work it is
very appreciated ….:-)
July 28th, 2010 at 13:16
Nice article dude Thanks
September 23rd, 2010 at 21:11
Great article very well written! Thanks again, Chris
October 27th, 2010 at 04:43
I’m not surprised that it would be Italy that stands up in favour of nature over science in this matter and, quite honestly, I’m glad that they do. Whenever a famous cook is asked where they first learned their cooking skills they say “I began very young, helping my grandmother, mother and aunts in the kitchen”. I imagine that their grandmothers would be spinning in their graves if they knew that their children had passed over all of the time served kitchen skills for a few potions and powders
November 1st, 2010 at 18:37
It’s nice to see that both sides are having their things to say in this matter! I’m on no ones side, but it is an interesting discussion
February 2nd, 2011 at 10:58
I am always excited to read this kind of articles, where in Europe, in civilized countries government and other people care about their citizens. And im very disappointed that in our country everyone are for the money, but not the citizens. They just want to make money, and they don’t give a damn about our lifes or our healthness! Respect for Francesca Martini!
March 17th, 2013 at 10:45
[...] undersecretary for health has declared war on chemical additives. Last month, the Italian food blog Caput Mundi Cibus reported on a new set of regulations , in effect Feb. 18, that ban restaurant chefs from cooking [...]