Guys Upstairs - Asia

Widely regarded as one of the mainstays of asian cuisine, rice is eaten by almost everyone. However, the consumption of rice in Japan has dropped more than 50% in the last 40 years. Japan is not the only nation, as China and India are also seeing declines. The Japanese government is rolling out a plan to spur the nation into increasing the amount of rice they eat. The reasoning is two-fold: increase the ntaion’s self sufficiency and curb the obesity associated with the change in diet over the past few decades.

A 200 million yen (roughly $2 million) campaign was launched earlier this year to increase the consumption of rice. The push included TV ads promoting rice as a breakfast item as well as changes with bakeries and cooking classes which substituted rice as the main source of starch, such as using rice flour for breads. The recommended yearly rice consumption has been increased from 61 to 63kg per person and Japanese officials are hoping this will increase the nation’s self sufficiency from 40% to 50%.

Over the past three decades, Japanese men have seen a 10% increase in weight and women have increased by 6.4%. This increase has been attributed to a decrease in rice based food and increase in “Western” foods such as pasta and cereals. No doubt Western fast food chains setting up in Asia have added to this change in diet and increase in weight. Another reason is that diets have imporved and people are wealthy enough to afford meats and vegetables.

[Telegraph]

In Socialist China….even peasants need their own Olympics. The National Peasants’ Games began on October 26th, 2008 in Quanzhou in eastern Fujian province. There was a record number of participants this year, with 3,500 competitors participating in 15 sports and over 180 events. The National Peasants’ Games have been held every four years since 1988 and is said to emphasize recreation over results. The opening ceremony took place amid much fanfare as this event is the peasants’ chance to show the nation and the world what they do with their skills and abilities.

The events include basketball, table tennis, dragon boat racing, wushu, and even tug of war. Some of the not so conventional sports are Xiangqi (Chinese chess) and kite flying. One of the events involves having competitors race by pushing a tractor tire. Some of the events closely resemble activities that the peasants do, such as having to transport baskets of fake rice seedlings and plant them in a simulated paddy field. Another event is one in which peasants load sandbags (representing harvested grain) into a tricycle cart and pedal to the finish line.

[Times Online]

The 2008 Chinese Milk Scandal centers around one major Chinese firm called the Sanlu Group.  Fonterra, a New Zealand dairy giant and co-operative owner of the Sanlu Group, discovered the tainting of melamine by August 2nd.  However, it took the Sanlu Group six weeks before they adequately responded to the problem.

Melamine was first discovered in the powdered milk; however, it was later discovered in liquid milk.  This led to an investigation of melamine contamination in all Chinese dairy products.  Melamine was added to diluted milk in order to increase the protein content.  Thus, when the milk was tested, the melamine masked the fact the milk has been diluted.  When melamine is introduced into the body, it reacts to produce an insoluble compound which crystallizes in the kidneys.  Over 50,000 illnesses, 13,00 hospitalizations, and four infant deaths have been reported with renal failure and other kidney-related illnesses.  Also, it is hypothesized that impure melamine was used and contained several harmful material, such as urea, ammonia, potassium nitrate, and sodium nitrite (a known carcinogen).  This problem is not isolated to China; it has also affected the following countries:

• United States, Singapore, New Zealand:  White Rabbit Creamy Candy
• Canada: Kaiser Strawberry Dressing Pretzels and Kaiser Choco Dressing Pretzels
• Great Britain: Cadbury Candy
• Taiwan:  Mr. Brown Instant Coffee and Milk Tea

The Chinese government has taken recent actions to prevent future incidents from occurring.   On Monday, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao ordered over 5,000 food safety inspectors to cleanse China’s dairy industry of melamine and other contaminants.  After the discovery of contaminated liquid milk from the Chinese companies: Mengniu, Yili, and Bright Dairy, the Chinese government stripped all three of their status as a “Chinese national brand.”  Now, China is improving their product inspections in hopes of rescuing the “Made in China” brand.  Hopefully, this will curb the growing paranoia of Chinese products.

[BBC News]