Limited Edition Foods

Please forgive me if I interrupt our regularly scheduled programming today to talk about an issue that is near and dear to my heart: that people should be paid for the work they do, especially when other people are profiting off of that work.

Being paid for work done is an issue I feel passionate about personally and one that I have written about professionally, as that link indicates (it cites to a law review article I wrote about payment issues in the construction industry). So I appreciate your bearing with me as I depart from talking about food for the day.

Which brings me to the writer’s strike that is currently taking place in Hollywood, or more accurately on sets across America. Please do not buy in to the misrepresentations of those who would have you believe that these writers are selfish elitists, marching for rich paydays at the expense of hardworking Americans who just want to come home after a long day of work and watch Lost.

In fact, the opposite is true. These are folks are simply trying to get paid for the work that they do. Period. And the studios are expecting them to work for free. It’s that simple.

Right now the writer’s are caught in a bizarre contractual loophole that states that everything that ends up on the internet is a mere “promo.” This means Writer’s Guild of America members are currently not being paid for anything that ends up on the Internet … even while ads are sold around those episodes (an advertisement in the middle of a “promo” - how strange), even while studios are building business models around the recognition that more and more people are watching television on the internet, even while everyone recognizes that it will be the portable internet and not the heavy and unportable television that delivers our entertainment in the decades to come.

As one writer put it, they are not marching for more rights … they are really just trying to maintain the status quo and the basic concept that an honest day’s work leads to an honest day’s pay. Don’t believe the hype that this is about greed, folks. We are talking about simple compensation for work well done, and companies trying to profit off of that work without paying for it.

To understand a bit more about the issues, take four minutes and watch the very well done You Tube video “Why We Fight” which explains the issues much better than I can. Or watch the very funny clip of the writers from The Office below, which explains the bizarre conundrum of studios labeling an entire episode of a show “a promo.”

Few snack cakes have inspired as much cultural creativity as the Hostess Twinkie, so they seemed like a good subject for this week’s Classic Food Friday. Whether people are conducting science experiments on Twinkies, putting them in deep fryers, or using them to create wedding cakes, it seems that Twinkies have always been — and will always be — here with us.

In fact, Twinkies were invented in 1930. It was not until Hostess started sponsoring The Howdy Doody Show in the 1950s, however, that Twinkies became a household name, and they stayed in the headlines in the 1960s due to the common belief that Twinkies were a smart item to store in your household bomb shelter, which gave rise to a plethora of modern urban legends about Twinkies surviving nuclear attacks.

Originally filled with banana creme, the Twinkie did not feature the modern vanilla filling until the 40s when the Hostess company was forced to improvise due to a national banana shortage during World War II. Earlier this year the company released the classic banana creme filling as a limited edition version of the Twinkie, but the taste proved so popular they will be keeping the banana twinkie as a permanent addition to the Twinkie line.

Eventually it may be high finance, not nuclear war, that ends America’s love affair with the Twinkie. The company that makes the Twinkie has been in bankruptcy for several years now, and creditor maneuvering is dragging out the proceedings even more. While this is unfortunate for everyone involved, it is a safe bet that the Twinkie will sail through this proceeding relatively unscathed … America’s favorite sponge cake has solid name recognition and sales, so regardless of what happens in court the Twinkie will probably be around for many cellophane-wrapped decades to come.

Just when I thought I had seen everything, here comes a special “collector’s edition” tin of Spam. As mentioned earlier in the week, usually we don’t like to cover limited edition packaging … but the idea of collector’s edition meat is so amazing that we had to make an exception.

While this limited edition Spam will only be available in rugby-loving countries such as the United Kingdom, cans have already found their way on E-bay.

Spam has had an amazingly good year, actually … they launched The Book of Spam, and even inspired a blogger to go 30 days eating nothing but Spam. Spam’s parent company, Hormel, even started selling chilled Spam deli meats for the first time in its long history. The new Spam Fritters are also quite popular in the U.K. Perhaps the limited edition tins of rugby Spam is just the thing to help them close out their 2007 in fine potted meat form.

Few craft beers have been celebrated with the excitement of Samuel Adams’ Utopia line. This is because the Utopia is no ordinary beer, and is designed to be more of a high end after dinner drink than a beer designed for high volume consumption. Only 12,000 bottles of the 2007 Utopias will be created, and each one will come in its own ceramic decanter shaped like a brew kettle (a previous version is shown above) and featuring a hand number from the brewery.

These special craft beers use three different types of hops, a version of yeast that is normally reserved for champagne, and a blend of flavors and processes designed to create one of the best beers in the world. Previous Utopias have received the highest review possible from Spirit Journal, which is appropriate because the 27 percent alcohol content means the Utopia is closer to a spirit than a beer.

The rarity and quality of the Utopias are reflected in the price tag. Starting price for each bottle begins at $120 to $140, but according to the brewery press release most of the sales will be in restaurants. At Morton’s Steakhouse the limited edition beer is featured on the after dinner menu, and is served in a port glass for a cost of over $200 a bottle. Brewers are also traveling the country hosting dinners, so if you simply must try the Utopia be sure to call around and see if a restaurant in your area is having one of the brewery’s many Utopia dinners.

Poisoned food can kill you, so most consumers are surprised to learn that the United States Government does not have the authority to force food companies to recall tainted food products.

That’s right, all recalls for food infected with e.coli, salmonella, parasites, or other harmful agents may stay on the grocery store shelves unless the company that released them in the first place decides to recall it back to the factory.

While the United States Department of Agriculture or the Food & Drug Administration can pressure companies to recall food that is known to be tainted, it is ultimately the company’s choice whether to issue the recall or release information to the public about the problem. Not surprisingly, this often means food is in the marketplace for days if not weeks longer than necessary.

The past few months have seen stories about tainted meat, poultry, soups, salads, peanut butter, and even cocktail mixes. As the graphic from ABC News above indicates, these stories can get big headlines and leave consumers feeling panicked about the safety of their food and worried about what to eat. This hurts industry players as well as consumers, but in the age of quarterly earnings reports long term concerns usually take a back seat to short term profit margins.

The good news is that increased publicity for this issue means that legislators are finally introducing bills that propose to grant the government mandatory recall authority, however we have been here before. Mandatory recall is an issue that comes up every time there is a large food safety crisis in the headlines, however it usually fades away from the public mind with the next big story. If you are interested in keeping the momentum going on this issue, contact your legislator, raise awareness with friends and family members about the issues involved, or get involved with a food safety advocate organization.

The latest limited edition Twix, the Twix Java, is winning rave reviews from bloggers and candy reviewers. Brian at Candy Addict has declared it is the best limited edition he has ever eaten, and while Cybele at Candy Blog does not go quite that far the bar gets high praise over there as well.

While I have not tried one yet, reports indicate that the limited edition Java Twix successfully maintains the texture and concept of the original version while blending espresso in with the traditional caramel flavor. The cookie base is chocolate in this version, but the essential elements remain the same making this one of the most anticipated candy releases in years.

If you want to try it for yourself start scouting the stores because these Twixes probably won’t last long. While the official launch date is early December, serious shoppers would not be out of line if they started shopping for Twix now. If you find one, post a review and let us know if you think this is now your favorite limited edition food.

Usually we don’t focus on limited edition packaging at Limited Edition Foods, preferring to focus on limited editions that both to change the substance of the food products themselves.

However, these lovely limited edition bottles from Evian forced us to make an exception.

Designed by famous fashion name Christian Lacroix, the bottles are this year’s seasonal offering by Evian which offers a limited edition bottle every November for the holiday season. The 2007 seasonal is an exceptionally gorgeous limited edition with a winder wonderland theme, and according to high end blog Luxery Launches they will be available in grocery stores, restaurants, and hotels starting in mid-November.

The smaller bottle will sell for $6 to $10, while the price for the larger ice queen will be anyone’s guess. It is rumored that less than one hundred bottles were created, and the starting price will be over $1,000 … if you hear a confirmed price, please let me know! Or if you can’t find the ice princess, you can always try water from Evian’s new Palace Bottle which is designed to be an elegant carafe.

Last week I was in Iowa and spotted these slightly shocking boxes nestled amongst the candies and snack foods in a gift store. Given the national war on smoking, I was surprised to see they made these candies, much less see them placed them at eye level for kids. Apparently my impression that these candies were no longer on the market is a common misconception, as the government has left it up to individual retailers to decide whether they will carry these controversial confections. Given the nature of these novelty items, it seemed natural to choose them as today’s feature for Classic Food Friday.

So the debate about candy cigarettes continues, as a study was published as recently as April of this year trying to add weight to the seemingly obvious truth that candy cigarettes glamorize smoking to kids, which in turn makes them more likely to grow up to be smokers. For anecdotal evidence on this theory, head over to Old Time Candy which has some interesting stories about candy cigarettes, or candy sticks as they are apparently called these days, and some amazing pictures of the old packages which were made to mimic real cigarette brands.

Or if the photo above triggered your consumer craving, you can buy candy cigarettes and bubble gum cigarettes in packages of 24 boxes over at Amazon.com. But be forewarned faithful readers: according to technology blogger Mike Swanson, candy cigarettes are almost as addictive as the real thing. Hopefully candy cancer is not a potential side effect.