Registration for the 16th edition of Labelexpo Americas, the region's leading trade show for the label and package printing industry, is now open. Set to take place once again at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois, from 25-27 September, this unmissable event promises an exciting range of features including a packed two-day conference schedule, an Ecovillage and, for the very first time, an Automation Arena.
Part of the hugely successful Labelexpo Global Series since 1989, the biennial Labelexpo Americas has become established as the region's major industry platform for print professionals, brand owners, label and packaging designers and associated graphic industry suppliers. The key focus of the 2018 edition – "Explore Your Future" – will be future technology and environmental issues in the sector. The 2018 show is again strongly supported and endorsed by the trade bodies TLMI, ACOBAN, AIMCAL, AIPIA, FTA and FSEA.
Spread across five exhibitions halls, well over 400 exhibitors will be taking part over the three days, including AB Graphic, Avery Dennison, Bobst, Domino, Durst, Epson, Esko, ETI, Flint Group, Fujifilm, HP, Karlville Development, Mark Andy, MPS, Nilpeter, Omet, RotoMetrics, Screen USA and Xeikon.
Running alongside the exhibition and making its debut – not only at Labelexpo Americas 2018 but also for the first time in the Americas – is the Automation Arena, a demonstration of two automated press lines for conventional (shrink sleeve) and digital (label) production, covering job creation right through to pre-press, printing, finishing and invoicing. This is an unparalleled opportunity for attendees to experience first-hand how the future of label and package printing will evolve over the next decade.
Another key feature of Labelexpo Americas 2018 will be the TLMI Ecovillage, designed to raise awareness of environmental issues in the sector. Back for the first time since 2012, and sponsored by Convergen Fuels and Channeled Resources Group, the latest products tackling this important issue will be on display. Additionally, the waste matrix collected from the live press demonstrations over the course of the show will be brought to the TLMI Ecovillage and baled into Convergen Fuel pellets, which have a lower carbon footprint than fossil fuels. There will also be a daily session tackling the big myths surrounding sustainable packaging and current issues of interest to converters.
As in previous years, back by popular demand and in keeping with consumer trends that are currently influencing the market, the 2018 edition offers a packed educational conference program with 12 sessions and three expert-led master classes run in association with the Label Academy. These will cover: 1) shrink sleeve technology, markets and applications; 2) inks, coatings and varnishes, their application in modern narrow web converting operations and legislation; and 3) management information systems (MIS) and workflow automation.
"The theme for this edition of the show is "Explore Your Future". This is a fast-moving industry that's full of tremendous innovation and with one eye on the future, so it felt right to reflect that in building what we believe is our most exciting and relevant show schedule yet. We will be seeking to empower the buyers attending the show through live demonstrations, the TLMI Ecovillage and expert-led master classes tackling the industry's most pressing issues.
Also taking place on the evening of 25 September, is the prestigious annual Label Industry Global Awards, which recognizes key achievements in the label and package printing sector. The four award categories cover innovation, sustainability and individual pioneering contribution to the industry. For more information visit www.labelawards.com.
An early bird booking discount for Labelexpo Americas is available until 14 September, with expo-only passes costing $60 ($80 thereafter) and single session conference sessions at $204 ($255 thereafter). Full conference sessions for both days cost $588 ($735 after 14 September). Further discounts are available for members of TLMI, ACOBAN, AIMCAL, AIPIA, FTA and FSEA.
In 2016, Labelexpo Americas posted an 8.5 per cent increase in attendee numbers, and with a show floor size of over 201,000 sqft, was the largest in its history. Over 455 exhibitors, including 100 first timers, took part, and the show recorded its highest ever number of product launches.
You can also follow the Label Industry Global Awards on Twitter at @LabelAwards.


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Kate: George's name for Queen & what she bought her for Christmas
We learn some interesting things from Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, in her interview for The Queen's 90th birthday documentary.
The Duchess of Cambridge reveals what George calls The Queen. ITV
Kate gave her first TV interview for 'Our Queen At Ninety', a historic two-hour ITV documentary which will be broadcast on Sunday 27th March. She is one of 11 of Royals – including William, Harry, Eugenie and Camilla – to speak about the Monarch for the programme to celebrate her birthday.
The Duchess reveals that two-year-old Prince George hss something of a nickname for his great-grandmother, The Queen: "He calls her Gan-Gan."
Family has always been important to Her Majesty and Catherine speaks of her special ways to show her family she cares, particularly to the youngsters, George and Charlotte.
"She always leaves a little gift or something in their room when we stay. And that just shows, I think, her love for her family."
Her Majesty was also pleased to have another great-granddaughter, Kate revealed, in addition to Isla and Savannah, her grandchildren from Peter and Autumn Phillips, and Mia Tindall, Zara's daughter born in 2014.
11 Royals, including Princess Eugenie, speak about Her Majesty for a 90th birthday documentary. ITV
"It's very special having a new little girl," Kate said of her Princess, now 10-months-old. "I feel very, very lucky that George has got a little sister."
"The Queen was really thrilled that it was a little girl and I think as soon as we came back here, to Kensington, she was one of our first visitors."
Her Majesty was seen arriving at Kensington Palace the day after Charlotte's birth last May; the newest Cambridge also bears her name, Elizabeth, and that of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Kate also bought The Queen chutney for her first Royal Christmas.
The Queen is praised by the Duchess, who says 'there is a real art to walkabouts', something Her Majesty has perfected during her six decades on the throne.
"Everyone teases me in the family that I spend far too long chatting," Catherine said. "So I've still got to learn a little bit more – and pick up a few more tips."
The Duchess explained how The Queen has helped her adjust to Royal life since her marriage in 2011. "She's been very generous. I feel she's been a gentle guidance really for me."
One particular engagement reminds Catherine of Her Majesty's support: 8th March 2012, when Kate supported The Queen on the first day of her Diamond Jubilee tour of the United Kingdom. Prince William was in the Falklands on tour with the RAF, and she was invited to join her and Prince Philip in the East Midlands.
"The most memorable engagement for me, I suppose, was an away-day to Leicester. I went without William so I was rather apprehensive about that."
The Queen was 'very suportive' of her role in the important day, even though it was a 'very small element', Kate said.
"The fact she took the time to make sure that I was happy – and looked after me – shows just how caring she is."
Watch 'Our Queen at 90' on ITV on Sunday at 8pm.
Harry crowned village leader in Nepal
Happy birthday Eugenie! 10 facts for her birthday
Haitham Malkawi | March 24, 2016
Reply	|
Iam interested for this interview.
Haitham S. Malkawi
Amman – Jordan.

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Statcast Fun with Addison Russell
Written by Aaron Kennelly
In my last article, I briefly mentioned that the Cubs give up the lowest BABIP against on balls hit with less than a 10° launch angle, these being ground balls. I attributed this partly to having Addison Russell playing shortstop. Today, we'll see if we can glean anything from Statcast to substantiate this claim. That's right, we're going to pore over some more data from baseballsavant. Lucky, we are.
Let's start off by looking at all batted balls that Addison Russell has a reasonable chance of getting a glove on. Hmm... where to start? We better at least filter out everything hit outside of Cook County to be safe. Actually, this should be pretty easy. Baseballsavant lets you filter by batted ball direction (or horizontal launch angle). 0° would be directly over second base. 45° would be directly over first base. And -45° would be directly over third base. Let's use 0° and, oh, -25° as our parameters. (I've played around with the horizontal launch angles some, and -25° is pretty far in the hole, but there are a lot of plays made there by shortstops. Anything further and we start getting in a mix of third basemen, too.) Let's also set the maximum vertical launch angle at 10° to remove all the fly balls that travel well over his head into the outfield. And finally we'll make the minimum batted ball distance at 70 feet. This should take away any plays made by pitchers or bunts to the left side of the infield.
Alright, the parameters are set. We're going to be looking at practically any batted ball that is hit in the general vicinity of a shortstop. There are going to be some plays that will skew things a little -- any batted ball into a shift, for one. Also, Addison Russell hasn't played shortstop in every single inning of the season, and we are going to filter by team. This isn't a perfect measure of anything. But, this ought to give us a reasonable idea of what's going on.
First, here's the league average BABIP (batting average on batted balls) on all such batted balls under these parameters: .312. If you are a major league baseball player and you hit a ball in that direction, without getting the ball airborne, you can expect to reach safely 31.2% of the time. How do the Cubs (Addison Russell) fare against the rest of the league? First. By a wide margin. The Cubs BABIP against on these balls is .200. The next lowest in the league is .233. Addison Russell destroys all batters' hopes and dreams. The difference between Addison Russell's BABIP allowed on these balls and the league-average BABIP is larger than the difference between Dexter Fowler's and Tim Federowicz's batting averages. Shut it down. There's nothing left for me to write about.
Actually, I want to keep going. There's more good stuff to come. Let's change things up a little and see if maybe there is something funky going on with that data. Maybe the launch angle is messing us up. I'm going to take the launch angle parameter off, and instead filter everything classified as a "ground ball" hit in this area of the field. This will take away any liners, and these are plays shortstops do have to make sometimes. And "ground ball" is a little subjective. (When exactly does it become a ground ball, if the infielder doesn't catch it?) It doesn't matter... still first. The Cubs' BABIP on ground balls in this area is .177. The next lowest is .206.
OK. So Addison Russell knows how to get guys out when they hit the ball near him. Can he make any tough plays, though? Let's investigate. We all know Addison Russell has impressive range. Unfortunately, we don't really have anything at baseballsavant that we can use to measure his range -- at least not that I know about. But, there is something we can look into. I wrote a lot about exit velocity in my last article. Let's get back into that. Balls that are hit really hard are difficult to field. But, if it is a hard-hit ball driven straight into the ground that bounces several times, those aren't exactly tough plays. It might be a little more difficult if you have to range over to get it. But it's still a pretty routine play for a big league shortstop.
The difficult ones are the hot shots right by you. The low liners. The balls that come screaming at you 100 mph. Ones that you might have to play on a short hop, or snag out of the air. The ones you don't have much time on. The balls you have to react to right off of the bat. Let's look at all balls hit at least 100 mph and at a vertical launch angle between 0° and 9°. These are either going to be low liners or balls that will bounce right before getting to an infielder. These are the batted balls that often eat up a fielder. The league average BABIP on these balls is .601.
Let's also go back to the horizontal launch angle of between 0° and -25°. And we'll also set the minimum distance at 70 feet to again remove balls hit at pitchers. And we'll put the minimum velocity at 100 mph. So these are hard, low liners in the general vicinity of shortstops. The league average BABIP on these balls is .618. Where do the Cubs rank among all MLB teams? Did you really have to ask? First. The Cubs give up a BABIP of .357 on these balls, and the next-lowest team is at .524.
Now, these are hard, low liners. It's probably going to be tough to get them if they are deep in the hole. And we don't have enough information, such as fielder positioning, to make any reasonable assumptions about this data. But, we can narrow the parameters down some. Let's try between -2° and -23°. Still first. You can move those limits around a few degrees in either direction, and it doesn't really affect things too much.
Addison Russell has double-plus hands. He can really flash the leather. His reaction time is impeccable. On balls that might eat up a lesser shortstop, Addison has no issues. He has no trouble gobbling these balls up and quickly turning a double play. Tricky hops will not deter him.
Does this data really mean anything? No, probably not. These are small samples and there is a lot of noise in there, like defensive positioning. But, if you look at the teams at the top of the list on BABIP on these hard liners at shortstops -- the Cubs, Reds, et al. -- these are teams with shortstops that generally rate very well in the advanced defensive metrics. Down at the bottom you have the Rays and Brad Miller, the Yankees and Didi Gregorius. These teams' shortstops generally rate extremely poorly by defensive metrics. We could look at last year, too. The top two are the Indians and the Giants. Francisco Lindor and Brandon Crawford... yep, it checks out.
The Cubs ranked 26th last year in BABIP on these hard-hit, low liners near the shortstop. From the start of the season until August 7th, the Cubs ranked 29th. From August 7th on, the Cubs ranked 7th. I shouldn't have to tell you what happened on August 7th. I think we're in synchronicity here.
I'll leave you with this. The following are spray charts for these batted balls that are hit at least 100 mph and at a vertical launch angle between 0° and 9°, with a horizontal launch angle between -25° and 0°. One is for the Yankees and their stone-handed shortstop, Didi Gregorius. The other is for the Cubbies, with our double-plus handed shortstop.
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My great-grandfather, Robert Minor (1869-1943), was brought up on the family farm just outside the village of Garards Fort, Pennsylvania. Just down the red-dog Ceylon Lane stood the sturdy brick home of his Uncle Samuel (1825-1909) and Aunt Louisa (1832-1917) Minor. Sam and Robert's dad, Marion Minor, were two of John P. and Isabella Minor's sons, farming land purchased in the 1820s from the Myers and McClelland families.
Sam and Louisa were married in 1852. In the next eighteen years, Louisa gave birth to eight children, three girls and five boys. Their eldest daughter, Isabella, died in childhood. But the rest lived to thrive into adulthood. At the time of this studio work, two boys, Jesse and John, had migrated to Taylor County, Iowa, where they settled among many other Greene County transplants. Three boys, Friend, Sam, and William, were finding their way in and around the farm, and the two girls, Mary Euna and Della, were still living at home. A teenage Robert would have known those cousins well, and would certainly have recognized Sam and Louisa as they are captured here in this set of 1885 portraits by Thomas W. Rogers of Carmichaels.
Annotations by Marilyn Minor Strickland.
The Minor Family Album closes out with portraits of nine children, all taken between 1887-1894. I can identify, with confidence, only one face.
Framed by short bangs and soft, baby curls, the chubby toddler's brown eyes flatly state that she will hold this position but a moment longer. This is Flossie, christened Florence McClure in 1889 by her parents, Owen and Sarah Minor McClure.
The puffed sleeve of the eighteen nineties makes an appearance in even this little one's dress. Her bodice is embellished by a large lacy collar, and ribbon and bows adorn the bodice, sleeves, cuffs, and floor-length skirt. What a fabulous portrait!
Florence McClure Titus, 1892-1893, Thomas W. Rogers, photographer, Carmichaels, Pennsylvania, . The Minor Family Album, page 22: Author's Collection.
Vintage photographs lead to vintage family. Folks that shared an historical context and proximity, whose connections of love and sorrow shaped decisions that are even now rippling through my time.
I love looking at these eyes, windows to my past, staring back into my present.
Thomas W Rogers of Carmichaels, Pennsylvania took this portrait of my great-grandfather's birth family in the mid-1870s, when Robert Minor was about six years old. The faces of his parents bear distinctive features, which I make use of as I sleuth through other photographs.
Like now, when we turn to pages eight and nine of the Minor Family Album.
Marion Minor (1828-1913) His Roman nose was a strong facial feature. His right eyelid drooped noticeably.
Mary Jane Gwynne Minor (1829-1908) Her most striking feature were her startingly light, and probably blue, eyes.
The photographs are mounted on heavy cardstock, with a metallic coating–silver or gold–on the beveled, scalloped edges, a product commonly used from 1880-the early 1890s. The two appear to be in their early sixties, suggesting a portrait sitting after 1888. The puffy fullness at the shoulder of Mary Jane's dress narrows the timeframe to between 1889-1892.
I imagine Mary Jane and Marion starting their day with the usual farm chores, milking cows, gathering egges, lighting the stove and fixing breakfast. Instructions would be given to Robert and the farmhands for the rest of the day's chores, before the couple changed into their best clothes. A horse was hitched up to the buggy and they drove out onto the "red dog" surface, heading up the hill of Ceylon Road, past the homes of siblings and children, nieces and nephews, on their seven mile trip to Carmichaels.
What was the occasion for the photographs? A sixtieth birthday acknowledged? Their fortieth wedding anniversary celebrated?
Whatever prompted the impulse, I am grateful that the studio appointment was kept, and that I have these eyes gazing from my past.
The second, third, and fourth pages of the Minor Family Album were all taken by Oliver Eugene Aultman, in his West Main Street studio, in Trinidad, Colorado. I made a thorough study of the photographs' internal clues and narrowed down the timeframe for the shoot as being between 1889-1893. With no annotations to aid my identification, I turned to the internet and googled the photographer. This switch in focus may seem counterintuitive, but, as I reported here, perserverance paid off with an amazing, unexpected clue: the discovery of MY photograph in the online Aultman Collection shared by History Colorado.
The online file confirmed that the photo had been taken in 1890, and the name associated with the woman was S. A. Stevens.
Still means nothing to me.
I found online copies Trinidad Directories from the 1890s and discovered that there was a Sanford H. Stevens living in Trinidad.
I searched the digital Denver Library files and found an 1892 photograph of Sanford H. Stevens surrounded by his colleagues at the Trinidad Advertiser where he was business manager.
Still no connection to me and mine.
Damn the fire that destroyed the 1890 census!
So relying on the 1850-1880 and the 1900 US Federal censuses, I reconstructed the life of this Sanford Stevens and found a sliver of a clue. Sanford Stevens was born in 1849 to Greenwood W. and Maria Stevens, farmers in Monongalia County, (West) Virginia. The family moved to Dunkard Township–just south of my family's Greene Township home!!–by 1860. Sanford was listed as a school teacher in Dunkard Township in 1870, and must have married soon after, for the 1880 census has Sanford and wife, Phoebe, farming and raising two children in Monongalia County. Since they sat for a photograph in 1890, the family moved west sometime in the 1880s. By 1900, the Stevens family was complete, and Sanford and Phoebe were living on Colorado Avenue, Trinidad with four children, Clyde (1875), Frank G. (1877), Chellie M. (1881), and Mary E. (1884).
So this is Sanford H. Stevens.
And this is Phoebe Stevens.
And, from left to right, these are Clyde, Chellie, Frank, and Mary Stevens.
But. Why are these folks in the album?
I googled my accumulated terms–Sanford, Stevens, Trinidad, history, Advertiser, newspaper–and hit upon a 1913 Semi-centennial History of the State of Colorado, Volume 2, by Jerome Smiley. Page three hundred and thirty was my perserverance reward, three glorious paragraphs describing Sanford H. Stevens' family, employment, and public service. And most importantly yielding the golden ticket, the clue that solves my mystery.
Sanford H. Stevens was married in 1873 to Phoebe H. Evans, daughter of Benjamin Evans. OH! I know that name!!
That is THE connection. Benjamin Brice Evans was married to Margaret Minor and Margaret was the sister of Francis Marion, my great-grandfather. Mary Jane included these photographs because they were her niece's family, folks who had successfully navigated their way to an exciting new life out west.
With tremendous satisfaction, I introduce Phoebe Evans Stevens, the Minor link to Trinidad, Colorado.


Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2014) – Freestyle Digital Media (FDM) and Dominion Pictures announced today that they have acquired the VOD rights to BELIEVE, a film from David Scheinmann based around the world-famous Manchester United FC. The family flick stars Brian Cox (BOURNE IDENTITY) and Natascha McElhone ("Californication"). A winner of multiple awards, including Best Children's Film at the 2013 Zurich Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Buster Int'l Children's Film Festival, the film was produced by Manuela Noble, Justin Peyton and Ben Timlett and will be available on VOD on November 11, 2014.
Set in the 1980s, some 10 years after his retirement as one of Manchester United's most famed coaches, Sir Matt Busby (Cox) is restless in the twilight of his life. Georgie is an 11-year-old working class kid whose widowed mother (McElhone) is doing her best to keep him out of trouble. Georgie tries to steal Sir Matt's wallet only to be tracked down. This fun and fictional tale puts the real-life legendary soccer coach (of England's Manchester United team) coming out of retirement when he discovers that far from being just another young thief, Georgie is an extraordinarily gifted soccer player and captain of a team of unruly talents. Intrigued, Matt decides to try to transform a young group of ruffians into a dream team to compete for the upcoming Manchester Junior "Football" (Soccer) League Cup.
The deal was negotiated by Chris Charalambous, Head of Acquisitions & Sales for Freestyle Digital Media with Manuela Noble (Producer) and Billy Hurman of Manifest Film Sales on behalf of the film.
Recent Freestyle titles include the box office hit GOD'S NOT DEAD, TIGER EYES, the first big screen adaptation of a Judy Blume novel starring Willa Holland, and the SXSW festival favorite FUNERAL KINGS from the McManus Brothers and the upcoming THE IDENTICAL starring Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta.


Why not spice up your outfit with a lively colour? The ICE glam colour collection is here for you. A perfect watch if you dare to be colourful, bold and modern. It's a timeless stylish chameleon you can wear for any occasion - casual or exciting outings alike. Tangy, lively, soft, discreet or sensuous: there's one for every taste!


Carol Perron Sommerfield, a Rivertowns painter, will be featured in a solo exhibit at the Howard and Ruth Jacobs Gallery from March 16 through April 29, 2019. "Seasons" features her landscape and still life paintings, grouped to tell the story of painting throughout the seasons. Whether abandoned houses, wetlands, or her muse, Lake Muskoday, the mood and styles change as the temperature, light and landscape transform throughout the year.
A free opening reception will be held on April 6, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the Howard and Ruth Jacobs Gallery, which is located at the Greenburgh Library in Elmsford, NY. The gallery is open seven days a week and for more information visit www.greeenburghlibrary.org or call 914-721-8200.
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Some foreign activists, including religious pro-lifers and Tibetan activists, have gotten their voices heard. But China has skillfully developed a quiet "catch and deport" policy that has effectively neutralized foreign activists from disrupting events and making embarrassing international headlines.
Liu Shaowu, director of security for the Olympic Games, announced July 23 that protests could occur at Beijing's Temple of the Sun park in the southeastern embassy district, at the Purple Bamboo park in the northwest or at the World Park in the far southwest "as long as applications were made and approved in advance."
The three parks are all several miles — or further — from Olympic venues.
On Monday, security personnel in civilian dress milled about the entrances to each park and approached as a visitor conducted interviews with passersby, apparently to eavesdrop.
"There have been no protests here," said Zong Shi, a volunteer at a temporary Olympics booth outside the entrance to the Beijing World Park, in the Fengtai district in southwest Beijing.
The theme park would be an unusual site for a protest anyway. Entry costs the equivalent of $9.50, and once inside one is surrounded by replicas of foreign landmarks like the White House, the Eiffel Tower and Stonehenge. A live elephant greets all visitors.
At the Purple Bamboo Park, Li Wei, a salesman for a high-tech company who strolled with his family through the bamboo groves, echoed what is a common government line about the lack of demonstrations.
"We Chinese people love the Olympics and support the Olympics, and that's why there are no protesters," Li said.
In fact, though, some Chinese have sought to protest but discovered that even applying for a permit can be fraught with risk.
Zhang Wei, a Beijing housing activist was arrested last week after applying for a permit so that angry residents relocated from their homes in the Qianmen district of Beijing could go to one of the "protest pens" in the parks, family members said.
Other housing activists from Suzhou, angry about property redevelopment in that eastern Chinese city, were also denied permission in Beijing to protest in one of the parks.
Beijing police would not provide any information over the telephone about how many protests applications have been received and turned down. A press officer for the city requested a fax before any such information would be provided, then did not reply to the fax.
Citizens disgruntled over corruption, land disputes or other grievances with the state routinely seek out foreign journalists and diplomats to present their complaints, saying they find no recourse to their problems. Government officials seek to keep a lid on such discontent, saying they are striving to build an image of a "harmonious society."
The International Federation of Journalists, a worldwide guild, issued a statement Monday calling on Chinese authorities to "stop their snooping" on journalists, citing several cases of plainclothes security personnel snapping photos and taking video of journalists in what it called "a form of intimidation that contravenes press freedom."
Some 26,000 foreign journalists are accredited to work during the Olympics in China.
"Once again, we call on the Chinese authorities to make good on their promise that journalists can work without intimidation," said Aidan White, general secretary of the Brussels-based federation.
McClatchy special correspondent Hua Li contributed.


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Home/News/Technology/'Control Freak' and the Power of the Intimate Video Game Memoir
'Control Freak' and the Power of the Intimate Video Game Memoir
Cliff Bleszinski was lead designer on the popular video game Gears of War, and also worked on other classic titles such as Unreal and Fortnite. His new memoir Control Freak describes his rise from Nintendo fanboy to rock star game designer.
"It's 300 pages of my life story, starting when I was a pimply faced teenager who didn't really have any friends or even a girlfriend," Bleszinski says in Episode 531 of the Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast. "I didn't really like the world in which I lived, so I decided to pursue a career in the video game industry, in which I could not only manipulate the worlds that I played—in the games that I played—but also create those worlds myself."
Control Freak is a surprisingly candid look into the life of a game designer, detailing Bleszinski's many mistakes and insecurities. "So many video game books are often vetted through the PR and marketing people from the various entities that are involved, so what you get is the official, corporate-approved statement," he says. "I wanted this to be deeply, deeply personal. I think if you're going to go there and put yourself out there, I think you have to full-on go for it."
The portrait of Bleszinski presented in Control Freak stands in stark contrast to the cocky, outspoken persona he honed over years of press tours and convention appearances. "I was giving people what I thought they wanted, and it wound up being very polarizing," he says. "I was just a dork trying to masquerade as what I thought a cool person was. So the reaction has ultimately been one of surprise."
Bleszniski launched his own game studio in 2014, only to watch it fold a few years later. Since then he's moved away from game design and into other projects. He's currently at work on a short story and a graphic novel, and he also helped produce the hit Broadway musical Hadestown.
"I loved being in the [game] industry," he says. "I loved the friends I made, I loved the contacts and the adventures that I had. I made decent money. And now I'm at the point where I just want to see where this goes. I feel like I've been playing an RPG my entire life, and that point in an RPG where the world fully opens up and you can go anywhere and do anything, that's kind of what my life feels like at this point."
Listen to the complete interview with Cliff Bleszinski in Episode 531 of Geek's Guide to the Galaxy (above). And check out some highlights from the discussion below.
Cliff Bleszinski on Gears of War:
People will criticize the game: "This is just some big stupid bro shooter with chainsaws." But then once every three or four months, I'll just pop onto YouTube and look up Dom's death, look up the Maria scene, all the famous scenes, Tai killing himself, and just see how every comment is like, "Man, I had to pause the game and go to the bathroom after this and catch my breath." To know that we had that power, that impact on people. Because books are amazing, television and film are amazing, but with games, you're there, you're the one controlling these characters, and they live and die based on your decisions. Though sometimes we have to take that decision away from you, as the creatives, and go, "No, this character's going to go bye-bye, and it's going to suck, and hopefully we're going to squeeze out those feels from you, and make you suffer."
Cliff Bleszinski on game writing:
There's a reason why nearly every Gears game has a new writer, because writing in itself is hard enough—writing [Control Freak] was really rough, it took four years from start to finish—but then to write a video game is a whole other beast. You can have this character who's key to the game, and he has a flamethrower, and the programmers can come in and be like, "We need to cut the flamethrower guy because the frame rate's not holding up enough." And it basically causes the writer to have to go and unpin every single narrative arc that was interwoven. … There's a story about the writer for Gears 4 and 5 that he actually wound up in the hospital with chest pains from the stress of it. Making games is hard, but being the writer who's at the beck and call of the designers and the video game team is a tough, tough gig.
Cliff Bleszinski on game developers:
Your average developer/publisher doesn't want there to be visible developers, because a visible developer gets a fan base, and then they ultimately can leverage that fan base—and the fact that people know who they are—for more money and a better contract. And so you'll see so many games now where you'll get an update, and instead of being signed by the lead designer or the main creative, it'll be from "the team." And the powers that be like that, because they can just interchange anybody like a cog. You replace that cog and the machine will keep running. Whereas if there's one person spearheading it and they move on, public confidence in the game goes down.
Cliff Bleszinski on Nintendo:
I worshiped Nintendo, my entire walls were covered in all things Nintendo, I ate the cereal even. My reaction time was on point. I was Spider-Man Tobey Maguire catching the food in the cafeteria. Deadly Towers was another really tough one, Mighty Bomb Jack. All of them. I saw them as conquests, and so I wanted to see how many I could beat. I had a giant poster board on the back of my bedroom door, and I wrote down the names of all of them. I wish I still had it. I have that old Nintendo upstairs right now, and I literally have hash marks on it—kind of like a fighter pilot shooting down MiGs—of games I beat. I even took an old broken cartridge and spray-painted it and wrote "100 Games Beat" and made myself a little trophy. I just loved it.
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Perfectly located between University of Melbourne and RMIT University, this apartment is also walking distance to all your iconic places such as the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, QV shopping arcade, Victoria market, and the famous Lygon Street. Travel convenience is also second to none as it is a stone's throw away from Swanston Street which is Melbourne's main street.
The large unit features a massive open plan living area with unblocked views of the CBD and the beautiful State Library, 2 large bedrooms with the master room having an ensuite bathroom, and a modern kitchen equipped with an island benchtop and stainless steel appliances. A secure undercover car space and a STORAGE CAGE within the same floor of the unit is also included.
Facilities of this apartment features a full size indoor heated swimming pool and spa, sauna and steam room, gymnasium, and an inner courtyard with BBQ facilities. The 24 hour concierge at the front desk of the lobby ensures security and building standards are maintained at all times.
Do not miss out on this fantastic opportunity!


Victorian flour sourdough bread – first attempt.
My previous experiments with sourdough bread sparked my interest in what other old varieties of wheat flour were available to try. Particularly those originating from, and grown in, the British Isles. It seems curious that while there has been a resurgence of interest in traditional varieties of many other food, wheat is still treated as an undefined commodity. The variety of wheat used to produce the flour is rarely mentioned, excepting the few ancient varieties of wheat like spelt of einkorn wheat that are still grown as specialty food crops.
Through searching online for heritage British wheat flour I found Bakery Bits, with an online store selling a variety of baking ingredients including a fascinating range of traditional flours from a guy called John Letts under the brand Lammas Fayre.
"Lammas Fayre flour by John Letts at Heritage Harvest is a very special range of heritage and ancient English organic flours available online exclusively from BakeryBits.
The product of over a decade of sweat and academic rigour, John Letts has collected an extensive range of historically and botanically authentic cereals. All grown organically on farms in Buckinghamshire and Wiltshire, John grows them the traditional way, that is, in mixed populations (strains) that are well suited to local growing conditions.
Modern cereals are grown one strain at a time and for huge, uniform yields. These cereals need to be mollycoddled since they cannot cope with variable climates, pests or diseases. Growing mixed populations, the traditional way, ensures that there is always a reasonable crop – and the ancient cereals are adapted to seek the nutrients they need from unfertilised soil: the modern strains need to be pampered with lots of fertilisers.
The flour that John makes from these cereals are rare (no one else has them) and in many cases, once gone, they will be unavailable until the following harvest.
This resulted in my purchase of a range of the flours currently available. The first one I tried baking with was the Victorian Blend White Flour.
This flour is smooth and very powdery to the touch due to the roller milling of some of the flour, a method that became common during the Victorian period. This time I decided to use some of the flour to make a sourdough starter of the same flour before baking, rather than using a rye starter, as I had previously done. My first attempt pictured above, produced an attractive but rather flat loaf, not helped by my forgetting about it and leaving it baking in the oven too long. The dough was rather runny, the same proportions as I used before seemed to contain too high a proportion of water. The second loaf I made with this flour reduced the amount of water added by 50 grams.
150 grams of starter – made of equal weight of Victorian flour and water.
250 grams of Victorian flour.
300 grams of Victorian flour.
10 grams of fine sea salt.
1 table spoon of olive oil.
Otherwise the method of baking was the same as in my previous post. The addition of honey was on a whim, as I am generally rather a fan of honey, and it resulted in a very dark brown crust due to the added sugars.
The second loaf using this recipe produced a stiffer dough and a loaf that rose higher. It would have produced a better looking loaf it I'd scored the dough more deeply when putting it into the oven.
I'm looking forward to trying more of the heritage Lammas Fayre wheat flours.
Victorian flour sourdough bread – second attempt.
The wheat that we eat today has changed a great deal over the past century. The "Green Revolution", the breeding of semi-dwarf, higher-yielding cultivars of wheat, and other cereal crops, has led to greatly increased grain production and crop yields since the mid-1960s. This undoubtedly contributed to the alleviation of global food shortages, however, modern plant breeding over the past sixty years has aimed for higher crop yields with little attention paid to the nutritional quality of the resulting cereal grains (Morris and Sands 2006). Increased yields of grain may have caused a reduction in the amounts of minerals in the grain, although this is difficult to test as the mineral contents can vary due to a wide range of factors including the plant variety, soil conditions, climate, and fertilizer treatment.
A study in 2008 aimed to limit these variable factors with the use of historic stored wheat samples from the Broadbalk Wheat Experiment. Started in 1843 and continuing to the present day this fascinating experiment has occupied 5 hectares of rural Hertfordshire, divided in the parallel plots, and tested different fertilizers and manure treatments on the most popularly grown wheat varieties of the day. All the while recording rainfall, temperatures, and storing away wheat and soil samples each year. In some of these plots, acting as controls, have varied little in their fertilizer treatments since the beginnings of the experiment.
Making use of these stored samples of grain, in their study in the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, Ming-Sheng Fan and her colleagues analysed the amounts of zinc, copper, iron, magnesium and phytate over the many years of the experiment.
Figure 1. Trends in wheat grain yield (a), harvest index (b), Zn (zinc) (c), Fe (iron) (d), Cu (copper) (e), and Mg (magnesium) (f) concentrations in wheat grain from three plots of the Broadbalk Experiment since 1845.
This could be due to the dilution effect, meaning that the grain is growing larger with the same mineral content, however the yields in Figure 1 suggest this is not the case. This shows that even in unfertilised wheat, where wheat yield did not increase, there was still the same drop in mineral content since the 1960s.
Between 1988 and 1990 in the Broadbalk Experiment, an old tall variety of wheat called Squarehead's Master was grown side-by-side with a modern semi-dwarf variety of wheat called Brimstone. This confirmed the previous trends as the Brimstone wheat had 18–29% lower concentrations of zinc, copper, iron and magnesium than Squarehead's Master wheat.
A common notion when discussing the nutrient content of modern food is that conventional farming causes a depletion of mineral nutrients in the soil, resulting in lower mineral concentrations in grain. To test for this the study authors measured stored soil samples from the past 160 years. Perhaps surprisingly they found that the concentrations of the minerals studied either remained the same or actually increased over the last 160 years. For sake of completeness they also measured the bioavailability of the minerals to the plants and found that the concentrations of bioavailable zinc, copper, and magnesium had all increased substantially over the last 160 years.
The trends in the amount of phytate in the wheat was also measured as this is one of the best known modulators of mineral bioavailability in cereal grains. The ratio of phytate to minerals in the wheat declined over time. This means there was more phytate relative to the amount of minerals and suggests that those minerals may be less well absorbed.
The reduced height (Rht) genes cause the wheat grow to a shorter height by making the wheat unresponsive to gibberellin, the equivalent of a plant growth hormone. Photosynthates are the sugars produced in the plant through photosynthesis, using energy from the sun. Growing shorter means less energy is needed for growth and more of those sugars are transported into the grain where they are formed into starch.
The authors speculate that the faster rate of sugars being transported in the grain and the resulting faster starch accumulating in the grain is not matched by an increase in minerals transported through the plant. So the overall density of minerals is reduced.
A limitation to this study was that only whole grain samples were analysed, as many people consume only refined white flour with much of the bran removed, where much the minerals are found. It would be interesting to know how much these decreases in mineral content has affected the minerals found in the starchy endosperm of the wheat, the part used to make white flour.
Still, even if you eat whole grain wheat products, due to the use of modern high-yielding wheat cultivars, you are unlikely to be consuming the same amounts of minerals as you would have done eating wheat 100 years ago.
Pea purée on buttered wholemeal spelt sourdough bread.
Few foods can match the vivid green of puréed frozen peas. The fresh taste of the peas combines beautifully with the mint an lemon to produce a very green flavour.
Slices of toasted wholemeal spelt sourdough bread, lathered with a generous helping of butter, served as a fitting vehicle for these peas. The result was delicious and an excellent, sophisticated looking way of serving what is quite a simple meal of peas.
An onion was sliced and sauteed in olive oil for a couple of minutes. A generous helping of garlic and frozen peas was added and sautéed for another few minutes until the peas are warmed through.
The peas, onion, and garlic was placed in a food processor and the peas, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper , and mint leaves added in. The mixture was pulse mixed continuously until it is puréed but with some texture.Finally some extra mint leaves were blended in to taste.
Wholemeal spelt sourdough bread with oxtail stew.
I have never baked my own bread. This is despite having had a go at cooking many different things over the years and so recently I decided to rectify this omission. Given that I have an interest in fermenting foods and historic cooking techniques the obvious choice was to attempt some sourdough bread with a fermentation of wild yeasts and bacteria.
This required both a starter and a method, as I had little knowledge on this subject. After searching around for recipes and becoming rather confused by the apparently many and various complicated methods for producing sourdough I stumbled upon an excellent article by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Guardian newspaper. As usual Hugh manages to simplify the sometimes complicated subject of preparing real food and make it readily understandable.
The first step was to make an active starter culture. I used Organic Wholemeal Rye Flour from Doves Farm to make the starter mixing together 100 grams of water and 100 grams of the flour in an open topped jar. The next day the same amount of flour and water were mixed in. Then each subsequent day the starter was halved and a fresh 100 grams of water and 100 grams of rye flour mixed in. The starter took a little while to get going but after a couple of weeks the culture was fermenting well and occasionally attempting to escape its jar.
Once my starter was ready it was time to move onto the bread baking. My sourdough making is complicated by the rather cool temperatures of my old granite Scottish home. With room temperatures rather lower than is normal my bread would require longer fermentation times than many recipes suggest.
Given my interest in the history of food and cooking I have so far chosen to try out a range of old varieties of wheat that I could get my hands on.
Active wholemeal rye flour sourdough starter.
To cope with the cool temperatures, and the limitations of my being at work all day, I mixed the sponge in the evening after getting home from work.
The sponge was fermented overnight for 12 hours, by which time it had risen well and was frothy with bubbles.
In the morning I added in the salt, olive oil, and flour and mixed it into a dough. This was kneaded for 10 minutes and then placed in a greased bowl and covered in clingfilm.
After about 10 hours proving, when home from work, I punched down the dough and placed in a bowl lined with a well floured tea towel.
After about three hours proving again I heated the oven to 200C, sadly about he maximum my oven seems to reached judging my my oven thermometer, placing my cast iron bakestone in the oven preheat with a backing tray on the oven shelf below it.
The dough was turned out onto the hot bakestone and boiling water poured into the backing tray. The bread was baked for 40 minutes, topping up the boiling water at 15 minutes to maintain the humid atmosphere.
This first loaf worked out really well and the spelt flour produced an earthy rich flavour when combined with the sourdough fermentation.
Sourdough number two – Spelt flour.
This second loaf was also made with Doves Farm Organic Wholemeal Spelt Flour. Again the method worked well with spelt and scoring the dough when placing it in the oven helped the bread rise a little more than before.
Sourdough number three – Einkorn flour.
Einkorn flour is the ancestor of all modern wheat, grown for many thousands of years since the beginnings of agriculture. The flour for this bread is Doves Farm Organic Einkorn Wholemeal Flour purchased from Real Foods in Edinburgh. Due to this it has a lower level of gluten than modern bread wheats, and the different structure of the gluten means it will never rise like a modern bread loaf. However, this current method I'm using produced a good loaf, equal in structure and shape to the spelt flour loaves. The flavour of einkorn in this bread is very distinctive, imparting a mild, almost nutty taste to the bread. This einkorn flour is also produced quite a pale light coloured loaf despite being wholemeal and the bran it contains much be light in colour.
Sourdough number four – Khorasan (Kamut) flour.
For this loaf I used another ancient flour known as Khorasan, or Kamut, flour named after in the Khorasan region of Iran. This Doves Farm Organic Khorasan Wholemeal Flour was again found at Real Foods store in Edinburgh. Using the same method this flour produced a great tasting loaf, pale in colour and with a rich flavour all of its own.
Sourdough number five – white spelt flour.
A new recent find in Aberdeen was some Doves Farm White Spelt Flour at the Grampian Health Food Store. This white flour had a lighter flavour due to the reduced bran, with a slightly more open texture to the bread.
This foray into bread baking has definitely stimulated my interest in the process of baking bread and sourdough fermentation. This method from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has so far worked really well around the times I have available during the week and the cool temperatures in my home that require long proving times.
In contrast today, on the prairies of the midwest or the fields of England, the wheat is unlikely to be so tall or waving in such a poetic manner. The wheat grown today is rather shorter and stockier, with stronger stems. This is a result of wheat breeding over the past hundred years to increase the yield of wheat by reducing plant height and make the plants resistant to lodging in conditions of intensive agriculture. Wheat breeders developed plants with shorter and stiffer straws, producing semi-dwarf, high-yielding varieties that were much better adapted to intensive agriculture. Before this time the traditional varieties of wheat grown were limited in the yield they could produce as adding more fertiliser resulted in the wheat stalks growing taller and weaker making them vulnerable to breaking.
The modern semi-dwarf varieties of wheat have recently come into public attention due to the publication of popular diet books blaming these new types of wheat for a plethora of modern health problems. However, rather than these alleged health issues, I was interested to know where these semi-dwarf wheats came from and the origin of the genes responsible. In an interesting article from 2005, Katarina and Ksenija Borojevic outline the history of the genes responsible for our modern dwarf wheat, with more of a focus on Europe, rather than the better known efforts in America that resulted in the Green Revolution.
The story starts further back than you might imagine, and to Korea, where naturally occurring short stemed wheat varieties were grown as far back as the third and fourth centuries A.D. The genes responsible were natural mutations rather than a production of any human intervention. These short varieties of wheat found there way to Japan as a result of the Korean-Japanese War during the sixteenth century. Semi-dwarf wheat varieties were widely grown in Japan by the 19th Century and served to provide the dwarfing genes for all our modern wheat varieties now grown around the world.
The variety Akakomugi, a 19th Century Japanese landrace of semi-dwarf wheat, provided the dwarfing genes first transferred to Europe in the early 20th Century. The Italian wheat breeder Nazareno Strampelli was to use this Japanese wheat, crossing Akakomugi with an Italian wheat by 1913 to produce a new shorter, lodging resistant Italians wheat. By 1918 a number of new semi-dwarf wheat varieties had been developed from this initial hybridisation which soon became very well known and were grown in Italy and South America, particularly in Argentina. By 1931 Nazareno Strampelli, using further hybridisations, had produced another improved variety called San Pastore that proved to be an extraordinary success and was widely grown in Italy and many other countries for more than 35 years.
These wheat breeding initiatives were supported and encouraged by the Italian government as they coincided with a drive for Italy to be self sufficient in food. This was known, as occurred during Mussolini's time, as the Battle for Grain. These new semi-dwarf wheat hybrids enabled Italy to double its cereal production from 1922 to 1939 and and to become more or less self-sufficient in cereal production, where previously they had been heavily reliant on foreign imports.
After World War II, the Yugoslav government was also keen to encourage national self sufficiency and imported dwarf Italian wheat varieties during the 1950's. These were widely grown, and through hybridisation with local wheats, enabled the development of new high-yielding winter wheat that were grown on a large-scale. Average yields increased from 1.36 tons of wheat per hectare up to 5.21 tones per hectare. Neighbouring countries including Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, the former Czechoslovakia obtained similar results.
The gene responsible for reduced height originating in the Japanese Akakomugi wheat is known as Rht8 (abbreviated for reduced height 8). The function of this gene is still not clear but has been suggested to reduce sensitivity to brassinosteroids, a class of plant hormones that promote stem elongation and cell division. The identity of this Rht8 gene was only discovered at the end of the 20th Century and has been shown to have contributed its semi-dwarf characteristics of wheat across South Central Europe and the former USSR.
Semi-dwarf wheat reached the Americas via a completely separate route and through unrelated genes. Japanese wheat breeders, continuing their work on reduced height wheat, produced a new variety in 1932 that became known as Norin 10. This was produced by crossing an old Japanese dwarf landrace wheat called Daruma with American wheat varieties. Norin 10 grew to just two feet tall, instead of the usual four.
Norin 10 was never an important variety in Japan but found its way to the USA due to the occupying US army after the Second World War. S. D. Salmon, a scientist working on wheat research with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was serving as an advisor of the occupation army when he made a visit to the Marioka Agriculture Research Station on Honshu in Japan. He returned to the US, with wheat samples, given by Japanese scientists during his visit, Norin 10 was among these samples. The genes making Norin 10 a short wheat are the Rht1 and Rht2 genes that make the wheat plant insensitive to another type of plant growth hormones called gibberellins.
In 1952, an agronomist working at Washington State University called O. A.Vogel used this Norin 10 to cross with a popular wheat variety grown in Washington at the time. The resulting variety called Gaines became the predominant wheat variety in the Pacific Northwest in the late 1960s with farmers producing record wheat yields. It was from Washington State that Norin 10 was acquired by Norman Bourlag at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico where new dwarf wheat varieties were developed and later spread around the world, resulting in the Green Revolution and earning Norman Bourlag the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize. Adding the dwarfing genes in Norin 10 to their wheat breeding enabled the development of high yielding wheat varieties that could stand high levels of added fertiliser. These varieties developed at the CIMMYT dramatically increased wheat yields around the world, first enabling Mexico to become self sufficient in wheat and later countries like India and Pakistan.
It is clear the genes responsible for dwarfism in wheat plants have a long history and a complex route has taken them from ancient Korea into modern wheat plants in Europe and the rest of the world. While the work North America and the green revolution has attracted most of the attention, in Europe at least, genes introduced in the early 20th Century have also been important in the development of of modern wheat. It is also interesting that parts of Europe have been eating semi-dwarf hybrid wheat since the 1920s. Whatever the alleged health implications of these modern wheat varieties, the genes that make make them shorter have a long history and appeared spontaneously long before the work of modern genetics and crop manipulation.
Borojevic K. and Borojevic K. (2005) The Transfer and History of "Reduced Height Genes" (Rht) in Wheat from Japan to Europe. Journal of Heredity. 96(4):455-459.
In a recent post I looked into the science behind the phenolic compounds found in my favorite Scottish malt whiskies, and extracted into said water of life via the action of alcohol and water on the wood of the oak barrels they are aged within. I realise this was quite neglectful of the fact that a range of other distilled spirits undergo barrel aging to produce their unique characteristics. Thankfully science has not been so negligent on this topic and a study from 1999 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry investigated this very subject.
The graph shows the mean total antioxidant status (mmol/L) of distilled spirits analysed by Goldberg et al in their 1999 study.
This study analysed both the total antioxidant capacity and the amounts of a range of phenolic and furan compounds. This included both a single malt scotch whisky and a blended whisky, although unfortunately for comparison with my previous post they do not mention the age of this whisky. Judging from the amount of ellagic acid in the table below it could be suggested to be a 10-12 year old single malt. Of more interest here is that the study also included an American bourbon, French brandy and Armagnac. This study included a few different compounds found in barrel aged spirits. The structures of these are shown below, illustrating the complexity of compounds that develop during the aging process.
Structural formulas of the main compounds mentioned.
Perhaps also the use of freshly made oak barrels increases the transfer of phenolic compounds into bourbon, as compared to Scotch whisky which reuses previously used barrels. Vanillic Acid, Syringaldehyde were found in the highest amounts in bourbon. The lower levels identified in the Canadian rye whisky are mostly likely to a much shorter duration of barrel ageing.
The quantities of six polyphenols in the various spirits tested.
The striking feature of this study is the high amounts of all phenolic compounds in Armagnac, which had by far the highest concentrations of gallic acid, syringic acid, vanillin, and ellagic acid, as well as the second highest of vanillic acid, syringaldehyde, coniferaldehyde, and trimethoxyphenylacetic acid. This is possibly due to the exacting and protected methods used to produce Armagnac, of which wood aging of up to 10 years in Limousin oak for cognac and black Monlezun oak, a "black oak" from the Monlezun forest in Gascony, for armagnac, is a notable feature. Of interested, the ellagic acid found in both whiskies and Armagnac, is also proposed to be responsible for some of the health benefits of fruits such as blackberries, cranberries, pomegranates,raspberries, which are the main source of ellagic acid in the diet. However, the amounts in even Armagnac are rather low in comparison.
While the evidence from my previous post showed that long aged Scottish malt whisky, aged 25 years, had a much higher level of phenolic compounds than any in this study, the age of Scotch malt whisky at which most people drink it may not quite reach the levels of phenolics found in American bourbon, and is probably rather inferior to Armagnac. As the phenolic compounds extracted from oak wood during the aging of alcohol are common to all aged spirits, any health effects mentioned in my previous post would apply to all. However, it is worth remembering any possible health benefit is going to be redundant if consumed in large quantities.
*Any spelling mistakes in the post are due to the influence of good whisky.
Oats are one of the quintessential foods of the traditional Scottish diet. In terms of health benefits they are best known for their fibre content, particularly their beta-glucan content. Less well known is that this humble grain contains a unique class of more than twenty polyphenols known as avenanthramides, not found in any other foods. In recent years evidence has been emerging that these avenanthramides potentially have a wide range of beneficial effects on our health.
As well as being a staple food in Scotland and other regions of northern Europe, oats also have a long history in medicine. They have been used to treat various conditions such insomnia, anxiety, and skin conditions, including eczema, and burns in various forms such as food, tea, or in baths. The use of wild oats (Avena sativa) has apparently been recorded for use in skin care as far back as 2000 BCE in Egypt and the Arabian peninsula and various skin conditions were often treated with oatmeal baths in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1989 the FDA recognised colloidal oatmeal as a safe and effective over the counter skin protectant drug and later in 2003 it was approved as an ingredient to be used as a skin protectant, one of the few botanical ingredients considered an effective skin protectant (Kurtz and Wallo 2007).
Until comparatively recently little thought had been given to the compounds in oats responsible for these anti-inflammatory activities of oats until the discoverly of avenanthramides in the late 1980's (Collins 1989). These avenanthramides are a unique, group of soluble phenolic compounds which are not present in other cereal grains. These compounds are antipathogens (phytoalexins), meaning they are produced by the plant in to defend against plant pathogens such as fungi. While more than 20 different forms of avenanthramides are present in oats, three of these known as A, B, and C, make up the majority (Meydani 2009). These avenanthramides are now considered to form the active ingredients in oats responsible for their beneficial effects when applied to the skin.
Beyond the skin evidence is also emerging that these avenanthramides can have a range of beneficial effects within the body (Meydani 2009) . They have potent antioxidant properties potentially preventing the oxidation of cholesterol transporting low-density lipoproteins, at least in the lab (Chen 2004). Their anti-inflammatory effects may be able to help reduce inflammation in the cells lining our arteries (Liu 2004). Another interesting biological effect of avenanthramides is on nitric oxide (NO)-dependent vasodilation, a process that relaxes blood vessels leading to better circulation and reduced blood pressure (Nie 2006). Avenanthramides in very low concentrations have been shown to reduce inflammatory responses in skin cells and so mediate the anti-itch properties of oats when used on the skin, indicating that very little avenanthramides may be required to produce an effect (Sur 2008). Avenanthramides have been shown to be bioavailable in humans, being absorbed into the circulation, and to increase the antioxidant capacity of the blood in healthy older adults when fed enriched enriched oat products (Chen 2007). Even avenanthramides that are not absorbed could have an beneficial effects in our gut, given their anti-inflammatory effects when applied to the skin, this is speculative though.
Little information is currently available on the concentration of these avenanthramides present the oats used for our food, or the various oat products produced from them. One study that investigated the effects of processing on oats found that the avenanthramides content was much reduced in rolled oats, due to the effects of drum drying (Bryngelsson 2002). Rolled oats are steamed before being rolled flat, and require drying afterwards to remove the moisture added during the steaming process. The same study found that similar treatments to oatmeal, oats that had been heated and then then ground, had little on the avenanthramide content (Bryngelsson 2002). An earlier study found that the avenanthramides in products with added oatmeal such as bread, fresh pasta, muffins, and macaroni, survived well into the final products and end had an increase in free avenanthramides (Dimberg 2001). The amounts of avenanthramides can vary between different varieties of oats and survive storage and heating quite well (Dimberg 1996). A new method has even been proposed, using a process of "false malting" wherein selected or pre-treated grain is conventionally malted but does not germinate, that can dramatically increase the avenanthramide content of oats (Collins 2010). This suggests that the avenanthramides in the oats do survive into the food we eat, although there are still many unknowns about all the effects of oat varieties and processing techniques.
While little research has been carried out on the influence of avenanthramides in the amounts found in the oats we eat, they are an interesting group of compounds that potentially provide some extra benefits to eating oats and contribute to the healthfulness of oats as a part of the diet.
Bryngelsson, S. et al. (2002) Effects of commercial processing on levels of antioxidants in oats (Avena sativa L.). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 50:1890–1896.
Collins, FW. (2010) Avenanthramides in oats: A new method of producing whole oats and oat ingredients with greatly elevated avenanthramide levels. Online. AACC International Cereal Science Knowledge Database.
Dimberg, LH. et al. (1996) Variation in Oat Groats Due to Variety, Storage and Heat Treatment. I: Phenolic Compounds. Journal of Cereal Science. 24(3):263–272.
Kurtz ES and Wallo W. (2007) Colloidal oatmeal: history, chemistry and clinical properties. Journal of Durgs in Dermatology. 6(2):167-70.
Nie L. et al (2006) Avenanthramide, a polyphenol from oats, inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and enhances nitric oxide production. Atherosclerosis. 186:260–266.
Scottish malt whisky, unlike other beverages such as red wine, tea or coffee, has received little attention with regards to its phenolic plant phytochemicals.
In the production of malt whisky the pure distilled spirit is aged in oak barrels for a number of years. During this aging constituents that make up the wood gradually dissolve into the spirit determining its flavour, colour and taste (Tanaka 2010). The wood of American white oak used to make many of the barrels used to age whisky contains significant amounts of an oak wood polyphenols called ellagitannins. The processing stages of making barrel for whisky production, including seasoning and toasting, results in various chemical changes in the ellagitannins of the wood resulting in the phenolic compounds in the whisky being rather different than the original oak wood polyphenols (Cadahia 2001). The original tannins decompose during toasting or charring of the barrels and then during the aging process oxygen molecules are absorbed through the wood further oxidising the dissolved phenolic compounds. The polyphenols in whisky are a mixture of products resulting from a complex chemical process (Tanaka 2010). These non-volatile components of whisky are known are whisky congeners, they are not found in the freshly distilled spirit but rather are a result of the long aging of good whisky. A range of these phenolic compounds were isolated from commercially bottled Japanese whisky including carboxyl ellagic acid, gallic acid, ellagic acid, brevifolin carboxylic acid, among others (Fujieda 2008). In another study ellagic acid, gallic acid, and lyoniresinol were found to be the principle polyphenols in a range of whiskies of both Japanese and Scottish origin. However, these three compounds only made up 20% of the antioxidant capacity of the whisky tested, suggesting there are a range of other polyphenols involved (Koga 2007).
Levels of gallic acid, ellagic acid, and lyoniresinol in whisky of different ages (Fujieda 2008).
Unlike other popular beverages whisky has been rather lacking in study regarding the potential effects of these plant phytochemicals when ingested by humans. One of the few studies on the subject, carried out at my own Rowett Institute, examined the concentration of phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity of volunteers blood after drinking 100 millilitres, (3.5 ounces) of either red wine, a 12 y old malt whisky which had been matured in oak wood casks, or a `new make' whisky which is the newly-distilled whisky spirit prior to maturation. Surely one of the more arduous nutrition studies ever carried out (Duthie et al. 1998).
Concentration of total phenols in volunteers blood after drinking whisky or red wine (Duthie 1998).
Both the whisky and red wine produced a similar rise in total phenols in the blood of volunteers, suggesting the phenolic compounds in whisky are rapidly absorbed after drinking. The 'new make' whisky did not cause any rise in blood phenols. Although the levels in the blood were similar between red wine and whisky, in fact proportionately more of the phenolic compounds were absorbed from the whisky than the wine. This may be due to the higher alcohol content enhancing their absorption, and different bioavailability of the compounds in wine and whisky. New made whisky did not result in any increase in phenols in the volunteers' blood (Duthie et al. 1998).
Antioxidant capacity of volunteers blood after drinking whisky or red wine (Duthie 1998).
Drinking whisky or red wine increase the antioxidant capacity of the volunteers' blood to a similar degree. Unexpectedly the 'new make' whisky caused a decrease in antioxidant capacity of the blood, possibly due to increased oxidative stress caused by the alcohol itself, or as suggested by the authors, the greater content of copper in the 'new make' whisky. This suggested that the phenolic compounds in whisky are absorbed and can influence the antioxidant capacity of the blood in a similar way to red wine, and that the aging process of whisky in oak barrels in key to these effects.
The phenolic compounds in whisky appear to be absorbed into the blood and a few small studies from Japan now hint at what effects these compounds may have in the body. Single malt whisky showed the ability to neutralise free radicals and there was a positive correlation between this activity and the how long the whisky had been aged (Koga 2007). This antioxidant ability of whisky has been found to protect E. coli bacteria from oxidative damage caused by hydrogen peroxide, compared to the same amount of pure alcohol (Aoshima 2004). The specific compounds isolated from whisky have been shown to have a range of interesting effects. Isolated whisky phenolic compounds including ellagic acids suppressed allergic reactions to allergens in both isolated cells and in mice. These findings suggest that the phenolic compounds from whisky seemed to be beneficial to ameliorate allergic reactions (Itoh 2010). The isolated phenolic compounds from whisky were found to reduce the inflammation in isolated immune cells and in mice. These whisky phenolic compounds may be beneficial for the treatment of inflammatory disease (Itoh 2012). Ellagic acid prevented alcohol induced development of fatty liver in mice, although these were higher doses than found in whisky. These results provide a molecular basis for the prevention of alcohol-induced stress by the polyphenols in alcoholic beverages (Yao 2014). In human epithelial cells, the cells that line the blood vessels of the body, the activity of the enzyme heme oxygenase-1 was increased by the phenolic compounds isolated from whisky. This effect only emerged in whisky aged in oak barrels. This heme oxygenase-1 enzyme is thought to protect the lining of the blood vessels from damage. Various epidemiological reports suggest a moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages appears to reduce some health risks in relation to human health. The, up-regulation of this enzyme in the cells lining the blood vessels by whisky might possibly contribute to the maintenance of blood vessel function (Suzuki 2010). These effects are interesting but should however be taken with some caution as the relevance of the potential effects, in the concentrations found in whisky, are unknown to human health.
The phenolic compound ellagic acid may have a direct effect in the gut ameliorating some of the harmful effects of alcohol on the lining of the gut. It has been shown that whisky is less irritating to the delicate lining of the gut, as compared with pure ethanol. This effect of whisky may be explained by ellagic acid, one of major polyphenols contained in whisky, and its radical scavenging action (Iino 2001). A later study confirmed that ellagic acid is able to directly protect the lining of the gut from damage and explains the less damaging effect of whisky on the stomach than pure alcohol (Iino 2002). This is hardly to suggest that whisky is good for the gut, but at least its potential negative effects are mitigated by its polyphenols compared to pure alcohol.
The effect of whisky of uric acid levels in the blood has also been investigated. Alcohol generally increases the level of uric acid in the blood, both by increasing the production of uric acid in the liver and reducing how much is excreted in urine. This a concern for people with high blood uric acid levels who are at risk of gout, for which alcohol consumption is an important risk factor. However, unlike other alcoholic drinks, it has been found that whisky tended to lower the levels of uric acid in the blood (Nishioka 2002). This tendency was suggested to be partly due to the inhibition of xanthine oxidase, the enzyme that produces uric acid. The longer the whisky had been aged in oak casks the greater effect it had on reducing the activity of the xanthine oxidase enzyme. It was also found that whisky stimulated an increase in the amount of uric acid excreted in the urine by 27%. This improved excretion of uric acid seemed to be mainly responsible for the reduced uric acid after drinking whisky and showed that at a moderate level of drinking, whisky have different effects on uric acid than other types of alcohol (Nishioka 2002). More recently it has been suggested that the decreased serum urate level after whisky consumption may be mainly due to inhibition the uric acid transporters in the kidneys by the phenolic congeners in whisky. This would result in more uric acid being lost into the urine (Lu 2014). While this may make whisky a better choice than other drinks to those with high blood uric acid levels or gout who wish to drink alcohol, caution should be applied, as the research on this subject is rather limited.
While these phenolic compounds may be appearing rather good now, there is a possible downside to their presence in whisky. Some older research (Damrau 1960), suggests that the same whisky congeners absorbed from the oat barrels can slow the metabolism of alcohol. This could explain the increased hangover symptoms reported by volunteers in the study, at least in comparison to vodka.
It does maybe provide an excuse for the purchase of an older, longer matured, fine malt whisky. Perhaps be cautious with drinking to excess, as those very same compounds may increasing any resulting hangover.
Conflicts of interest: I do rather like good whisky.
Aoshima, H., Tsunoue, H., Koda, H. & Kiso, Y. 2004, "Aging of whiskey increases 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity", Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 52, no. 16, pp. 5240-5244.
Cadahia, E., Varea, S., Munoz, L., de Simon, B. & Garcia-Vallejo, M. 2001, "Evolution of ellagitannins in Spanish, French, and American oak woods during natural seasoning and toasting", Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 49, no. 8, pp. 3677-3684.
Damrau, F.,Liddy, E. 1960, "Hangovers and Whisky Congeners: Comparison of Whisky with Vodka", Journal of the National Medical Association, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 262–265.
Duthie, G., Pedersen, M., Gardner, P., Morrice, P., Jenkinson, A., McPhail, D. & Steele, G. 1998, "The effect of whisky and wine consumption on total phenol content and antioxidant capacity of plasma from healthy volunteers", European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 52, no. 10, pp. 733-736.
"OBJECTIVE: To assess whether consumption of 100 ml of whisky or red wine by healthy male subjects increased plasma total phenol content and antioxidant capacity.
DESIGN: A Latin square arrangement to eliminate ordering effects whereby, after an overnight fast, nine volunteers consumed 100 ml of red wine, malt whisky or unmatured 'new make' spirit. Each volunteer participated on three occasions one week apart, consuming one of the beverages each time. Blood samples were obtained from the anticubital vein at intervals up to 4h after consumption of the beverages when a urine sample was also obtained.
RESULTS: Within 30 min of consumption of the wine and whisky, there was a similar and significant increase in plasma total phenol content and antioxidant capacity as determined by the ferric reducing capacity of plasma (FRAP). No changes were observed following consumption of 'new make' spirit.
Fujieda, M., Tanaka, T., Suwa, Y., Koshimizu, S. & Kouno, I. 2008, "Isolation and structure of whiskey polyphenols produced by oxidation of oak wood ellagitannins", Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 56, no. 16, pp. 7305-7310.
Iino, T., Nakahara, K., Miki, W., Kiso, Y., Ogawa, Y., Kato, S. & Takeuchi, K. 2001, "Less damaging effect of whisky in rat stomachs in comparison with pure ethanol – Role of ellagic acid, the nonalcoholic component", Digestion, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 214-221.
"BACKGROUND/AIM: Ellagic acid (EA), one of the polyphenols that are abundantly contained in whisky as a nonalcoholic component, has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In the present study, we compared the action of whisky and pure ethanol on the rat gastric mucosa, and examined the role of EA in the less-damaging effect of whisky in the stomach.
METHODS: Under urethane anesthesia, a rat stomach was mounted in an ex vivo chamber, perfused with saline, and the transmucosal potential difference (PD) was measured before and after exposure to whisky (Yamazaki, Suntory) and ethanol (43%). In a separate study, the animals were given whisky or ethanol (1 ml, 43%) p.o. under unanesthetized conditions, killed 1 h later, and the gastric mucosa was examined for hemorrhagic lesions.
RESULTS: Both whisky and ethanol caused a PD reduction, resulting in damage in the stomach, but these responses were less marked in the case of whisky. Although the reduced PD recovered gradually after removal of ethanol, this process was significantly expedited by co-application of EA (80 microg/ml), the recovery rate being much the same as that observed after exposure to whisky. The less-damaging effect of whisky was confirmed in unanesthetized rats after p.o. administration of these agents. In addition, EA (1-30 mg/kg), administered p.o. together with absolute ethanol (99.9%), reduced the severity of gastric lesions induced by ethanol, in a dose-dependent manner, and the effect at 30 mg/kg was equivalent to that obtained by the whisky component containing several low- and high-molecular-weight polyphenols. EA had a scavenging action against both oxygen and hydroxyl radicals in vitro, the effect being equivalent to that of catechol or alpha-tocopherol.
Iino, T., Tashima, K., Umeda, M., Ogawa, Y., Takeeda, M., Takata, K. & Takeuchi, K. 2002, "Effect of ellagic acid on gastric damage induced in ischemic rat stomachs following ammonia or reperfusion", Life Sciences, vol. 70, no. 10, pp. 1139-1150.
Itoh, T., Ando, M., Tsukamasa, Y., Wakimoto, T. & Nukaya, H. 2012, "Whiskey Congeners Suppress LPS/IFN gamma-Induced NO Production in Murine Macrophage RAW 264 Cells by Inducing Heme Oxygenase-1 Expression", Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 60, no. 51, pp. 12491-12500.
Whiskey includes many nonvolatile substances (whiskey congeners; Whc) that seep from the oak cask during the maturation process. To date, many functions of Whc have reported, such as antiallergy and antimelanogenesis. This study examined the effect of Whc on LPS/IFNγ-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in murine macrophage RAW 264 cells. Whc suppressed LPS/IFNγ-induced NO production in a concentration-dependent manner. To determine the active compounds in Whc, the effect of 10 major compounds isolated from Whc on LPS/IFNγ-induced NO production was examined. Coniferylaldehyde (CA) and sinapylaldehyde (SiA) strongly suppressed LPS/IFNγ-induced NO production. Pretreatment with Whc, CA, and SiA induced heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression. The expression of HO-1 by Whc, CA, and SiA pretreatment was due to activation of Nrf2/ARE signaling via the elevation of intracellular reactive oxygen species. To investigate the in vivo effects of Whc, Whc was administered to mice with antitype II collagen antibody-induced arthritis, and we the arthritis score and hind paw volume were measured. Administration of Whc remarkably suppressed the arthritis score and hind paw volume. Taken together, these findings suggest that Whc is beneficial for the treatment of inflammatory disease.
Itoh, T., Tsukane, M., Koike, M., Nakamura, C., Ohguchi, K., Ito, M., Akao, Y., Koshimizu, S., Nozawa, Y., Wakimoto, T., Nukaya, H. & Suwa, Y. 2010, "Inhibitory Effects of Whisky Congeners on IgE-Mediated Degranulation in Rat Basophilic Leukemia RBL-2H3 Cells and Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis Reaction in Mice", Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 58, no. 12, pp. 7149-7157.
Koga, K., Taguchi, A., Koshimizu, S., Suwa, Y., Yamada, Y., Shirasaka, N. & Yoshizumi, H. 2007, "Reactive oxygen scavenging activity of matured whiskey and its active polyphenols", Journal of Food Science, vol. 72, no. 3, pp. S212-S217.
Lu, Y., Nakanishi, T., Fukazawa, M. & Tamai, I. 2014, "How Does Whisky Lower Serum Urate Level?", Phytotherapy Research, vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 788-790.
Nishioka, K., Sumida, T., Iwatani, M., Kusumoto, A., Ishikura, Y., Hatanaka, H., Yomo, H., Kohda, H., Ashikari, T., Shibano, Y. & Suwa, Y. 2002, "Influence of moderate drinking on purine and carbohydrate metabolism", Alcoholism-Clinical and Experimental Research, vol. 26, no. 8, pp. 20S-25S.
BACKGROUND: We examined the influences of a moderate intake level of three types of alcoholic beverages–beer, whisky, and Shochu (Japanese distilled liquor)–on purine and carbohydrate metabolism and excretion in healthy male volunteers, concerning (1) the extent of contribution of purine bodies contained in beer to uric acid metabolism and (2) a comparison between two types of distilled spirits with (whisky) and without (Shochu) aging in oak wood barrel storage.
METHODS: Three sets of studies were conducted in which 10 to 13 healthy adult men were instructed to drink three types of alcoholic beverages at a slightly higher level (0.8 ml of ethanol equivalent/kg body weight) than moderate drinking (approximately 30.4 ml or less for men). A low purine beer was test-manufactured by treating nucleosides that were contained in wort and remained in beer with purine nucleoside phosphorylase derived from Ochrobacterium anthropi, thereby converting them into corresponding purine bases that were easily assimilated by beer yeast.
RESULTS: Although beer intake enhanced the level of serum uric acid by 13.6%, blood glucose by 26.7%, and insulin level by 5.1-fold, drinking a moderate level of distilled liquor (whisky, Shochu) did not increase the serum uric acid level or the other two parameters. The serum uric acid level observed after drinking beer with a purine body concentration reduced by 28% (68% in nucleosides and purine bases) was almost identical to the level observed after drinking regular beer. Whisky has been found to have a property that decreases the serum uric acid level. Excretion of uric acid from blood is increased by 27% after drinking whisky.
Suzuki, K., Nemoto, A., Tanaka, I., Koshimizu, S., Suwa, Y. & Ishihara, H. 2010, "Induction of Heme Oxygenase-1 by Whisky Congeners in Human Endothelial Cells", Journal of Food Science, vol. 75, no. 6, pp. H163-H166.
Tanaka, T., Matsuo, Y. & Kouno, I. 2010, "Chemistry of Secondary Polyphenols Produced during Processing of Tea and Selected Foods", International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 14-40.
Yao, R., Yasuoka, A., Kamei, A., Ushiama, S., Kitagawa, Y., Rogi, T., Shibata, H., Abe, K. & Misaka, T. 2014, "Nuclear Receptor-Mediated Alleviation of Alcoholic Fatty Liver by Polyphenols Contained in Alcoholic Beverages", Plos One, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. e87142.
I have wanted to try brewing something for sometime, and as both mead and honey are particular interests of mine, mead seemed the obvious thing to try for myself. However, the usual methods employed to brew mead at home require at a minimum certain brewing equipment that I currently lack. Standard methods include sterilizing the honey and water used, adding a specific brewing yeast, and carrying out the fermentation in a specialised brewing vessel fitted with an air lock.
Lacking any of these, and inspired by The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz, I decided to try a different approach using the wild yeasts naturally found in honey. I am also rather curious as to how people in ancient times produced their mead, after all it was mostly likely one of the first alcoholic beverages, and they surely had a certain lack of specialised brewing equipment.
While honey itself is remarkably resistant to microbial action, this property is dependent on the water content remaining low, and as soon as the honey is diluted with water the dormant wilds present in the honey reawaken and soon get to work converting the honey sugar into alcohol. This of course depends on the honey still being in a raw state and not heat treated during its processing. The random selection of wild yeast strains and other assorted bacteria present in unheated honey naturally make this rather a shot in the dark in terms of how the resulting mead may turn out. But as I only wish to make a small amount there seems little loss for me to give it a try.
In his book Sandor recommends a ratio of four parts water to one part honey as a good starting point. Looking for a good honey to use I decided on the Organic Forest Honey from Zambia as this should not have been heat treated and also happens to be the cheapest raw honey available to me for an initial experiment. Dissolving a 250 ml jars worth of honey into 1 L of water took some time and a quite a lot of stirring. When eventually dissolved I put it into a couple of glass Acqua Panna mineral water bottles for the brewing. As I bought bottles for the purpose the mineral water was using to make the mead. A party balloon with a pinprick hole in the top makes a very simple airlock, allowing any pressure inside to escape while keeping air out.
It took a few days of shaking the honey and water up each day before the yeast seemed to become active but now liquid has been bubbling away well for about a week with the balloons on top inflated with carbon dioxide from the fermentation. I have read that this initial fermentation will continue for a a couple of weeks during which time all the glucose in the honey is rapidly fermented. When that slows down the mead can then be bottled where it continues to slowing ferment the remaining fructose becoming drier and less sweet with increased aging.
While the outcome cannot be predicted, I await the results with hopeful expectations. It will be interesting to see the results of those yeasts so recently inhabiting the wild Zambian forests.
A relatively recent addition to our British shops, and once restricted to health food shops, it now seems that pink Himalayan salt can be found almost everywhere even appearing in major supermarkets. A quick browse of the topic of Himalayan salt online quickly reveals a plethora of wild health claims related to these rather attractive pink salt crystals. Curious as to where this product had so suddenly appeared from in recent years I started to look into the subject online but was dissatisfied to find the information available disappointingly repetitive without any reputable sources provided.
For a start this salt does not come from the Himalayas mountains but instead from a few hundred miles south in the mountains of Pakistan. While the Khewra salt mine from which the pink salt originates is an interesting subject in itself, the term Himalayan Salt was clearly a stroke of marketing genius.
The story of the appearance of Himalayan salt as a health food in Europe seems to have begun in Germany with a man name Peter Ferreira, whose real name seems to be Peter Druf according to this sceptic website and has it seems been called by some the "König der Scharlatane" or king of charlatans. Apparently still selling Himalayan salt, as his biography on this site suggests, he claims to be a Biophysicist although no proof of this is forthcoming. His rise to prominence began it seems in late 1990's Germany with public lectures and tape recordings claiming this Himalayan salt to be a panacea for all ills. Although I cannot speak German, recordings of some of these have been posed on youtube including this audience exhausting five hour monologue. Further prominence in Europe was achieved with the release of the book Water and Salt: The Essence of Life – The Healing Power of Nature that details "the powerful healing qualities of Himalayan Crystal Salt" co-authored with a Dr Barbara Hendel who is apparently still working as some sort of holistic medicine doctor in Germany.
While there are plenty of rather wacky language used in relation to this salt many of the claims rest on its mineral content, as it is reputed to contain 84 minerals. The details of its mineral composition that are widely quoted are shown here, although the site itself is not making any wild claims, the table is reproduced from the Peter Ferreira's book Water and Salt. Some investigation uncovered that the source of this detailed analysis is an Institute of Biophysical Research, Las Vegas USA, which it seems Peter Ferreira is the director of and appears to exist in name only. As Ferreira was also the owner of the main company selling this salt at the time it makes me wonder who carried out the analysis or whether is was just made up from Ferreira's imagination. According to wikipedia a German TV show tested some Himalayan salt available for sale in that country and only found 10 minerals other than sodium chloride were detectable, although sadly this information does not seem to be available online anywhere.
Looking more closely at the reputed 84 minerals it is clear that the table is laid out in a way that can easily mislead the unwary, as it clearly has done. For example this site which states "The Easy Way To Sneak 84 Minerals Into Your Diet Daily", with a copy of the pages from the book helpfully included at the bottom of the page. In fact when the table lists the salt as containing <0.001 ppm of boron this means that the test used could not detect any boron within the limits of the test. As scientific tests usually have a lower limit of detection when nothing is measured the results are presented as "less than" the detection limit, as such a test cannot prove that none is present. So 53 of the elements in the table were not detected in the salt. Many of those elements that were detected were present in such absolutely tiny amounts as could be found as contamination in almost anything you might test.
After searching for some independent testing I found a recent study published in the Journal of The Chemical Society of Pakistan that investigated the mineral and trace element content of a range of different coloured salt samples from the Khewra salt mine. The main constituents are shown in Table 1 below and this clearly shows that sodium and chloride were the main mineral in all the samples, whatever the colour, making up between 97.55% and 98.3% of the salt. Small amounts of calcium, magnesium, sulphate, and potassium were also detected although as these each formed less than 1% of the Khewra salt they are probably of no nutritional significance.
The same paper analysed the trace element content of the salt for iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd).
Reassuringly the levels of toxic metals like lead and cadmium were very low or undetectable. Iron was found which is to be expected as it is iron oxide that gives the salt its distinctive pink colour. However at less than 1 mg/kg of salt the quantities of iron in the salt are exceedingly small and of no relevance to our human health. To put it into perspective according to this study a 6 gram teaspoonful of this salt would contain at most 6 mcg or iron, compared to 150 mcg or iron is a small raw carrot. The other trace elements measured were also found in extremely small amounts. These results would agree with the reported ten minerals that were detected in samples of salt tested in Germany. Another study I came across published in the Journal of Sensory Studies looked at many different salts from around the world also included Himalayan salt in their analysis. Their analysis of Himalayan salt found similar levels of calcium, potassium and sodium and slightly higher levels of zinc. This analysis found higher levels of iron in the salt, reported to be 39 mcg/g, which is a lot more than the previous study and so perhaps there is quite a lot of variety between different batches of salt. However, this would still only equate to 235 mcg in a teaspoon of salt.
In summary "Himalayan" rock salt contains mostly sodium chloride with a small amount of magnesium and calcium as found in most unrefined salt. Any other trace elements it contains are in really tiny amounts, which is a good thing as many of those like lead would not be desirable in any larger quantities. I don't see anything wrong with using some of this salt as its colour is quite attractive though it may not really be worth the prices that are often charged for it. However, the origin of its rise to prominence in Europe is really rather dubious and any health claims surrounding it are deeply suspect. I think it unlikely to have any effect on my health beyond any other type of unrefined salt.
What interested me more after looking into the origin of this salt is the mines in Khewra salt mine from which it originates. Apparently in use for more than two thousand years the workers of the mine have used blocks of the many hued salt to construct beautiful underground constructions including the tiny mosque in the photo below.


Release your creativity whether you cut wet or dry. The back half of the blade has a unique smooth / sharp design for slide cutting without the usual cuticle damage. The front half of the blade is super sharp for a crisp, no push point cutting.
Note to Sharpeners - Read these instructions BEFORE attempting to Sharpen!