Nice Or Nasty: Food Choice, Food Law And Health In South East Asia

NICE OR NASTY Food Choice, Food Law and Health in South East Asia i NICE OR NASTY Food Choice, Food Law and Health in South East Asia John Candlish University of Malaysia Sarawak Chee-Hong Tan National University of Singapore Australia • Canada • Mexico • Singapore • iii Spain • United Kingdom • United States Nice or Nasty: Food Choice, Food Law and Health in South East Asia by John Candlish and Chee-Hong Tan Copyright © 2003 by Cengage Learning, a division of Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd. Cengage Learning™ is a trademark used herein under licence. In respect of the rather charming ‘period’ illustrations which originally appeared in Peoples of All Nations, (Hammerton, N, Editor) Amalgamated Press, London, published about 1920, the authors have strenuously attempted to trace any residual owner of copyright, without success. They profoundly apologise if their efforts were inadequate. For more information, contact Cengage Learning (a division of Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd), 5 Shenton Way, #01-01 UIC Building, Singapore 068808. Or you can visit our Internet site at http://www.cengagelearningasia.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, web distribution or information storage and retrieval systems – without the written permission of the publisher. For permission to use material from this text or product, contact us by Tel: (65) 6410 1200 Fax: (65) 6410 1208 Email: [email protected] 6OFAIAJ >O Stallion Press Printed in Singapore 1 2 3 4 5 SLP 05 04 03 02 ISBN 981-243-388-0 iv Acknowledgement We are grateful to the China Medical Board of New York for a grant in partial support of this work. v This book is dedicated to the nameless millions who toil over woks in the streets of South East Asia, providing nutritious meals for the poor. vi If you steal from one other it’s plagiarism. If you steal from many it’s research. – Wilson Minzer (1873–1933) Food comes first, then morals. – Berthold Brecht (1898–1947) The public buys its opinions as it buys its meat, or takes in its milk, on the principle that it is cheaper to do this than keep a cow. So it is, but the milk is more likely to be watered. – Samuel Butler (1835–1902) No one owns life, but anyone who can pick up a frying pan owns death. – William Burroughs (1914–1997) vii Some Abbreviations Used ADI AIA ASEAN BINAS CBD CAD CITES DDT EED EFA EU FAO FDA GMC GMF GMO GRAS HRT JECFA LMO MRL NGO NOAEL OECD PCB PIC UNDO UNEP WHO Acceptable daily intake Advance informed agreement Association of South East Asian Nations Biosafety Information Network and Advisory Service Convention on Biological Diversity Coronary artery disease Convention o