Whole doesn’t mean whole when the word is with wheat.

Rosie Schwartz wrote in the post about Health Canada Regulations that allow part of the wheat grain to be removed and still constitute a “whole wheat” product. (All the goodness of whole wheat? National Post 17 Jan 2007)

Whole wheat has been masquerading as a whole grain — at least to those unfamiliar with a minute detail of a regulation dating back to 1964 that defines what whole wheat is in Canada.

[...]according to Health Canada, his product can be called whole wheat flour even though it is not a whole grain product because legislation does not require the whole grain to be used in whole wheat products.

[...]phone call to Health Canada confirmed this to be true and, in fact, whole wheat products typically have about 70% of the wheat’s germ removed.

I looked up the Food and Drugs Act and its Food and Drug Regulations

Whole Wheat Flour or Entire Wheat Flour

(a) shall be the food prepared by the grinding and bolting of cleaned, milling grades of wheat from which a part of the outer bran or epidermis layer may have been separated;

So basically it says wheat can still be “whole” if part of a particular part of the grain is removed.

When I bought a different brand of flour last month, it seemed smoother. I wonder if the new brand is less whole. That 10kg bag is done now, so I need more flour anyway. Time to go read labels.

Last Friday in the DB they had a picture from the 50th anniversary celebrations in the caption they used this phrase: “partie carree.”

I didn’t know what it meant so I went to Goo language tools and put it in the French-English translator.

This is what I got:

Translate Text
Original text:
partie carree
French to English
Automatically translated text:
wife-swapping party

Seems a little weird. Clearly that is not what they intended the Goo translation must be a euphemism or something. SO what does partie carree mean?

It’s a snow day in Waterloo. School is cancelled at schools and universities.

Winter weather has come after a mild weather for the first few weeks of the season.

Ian says:

It’s a “snowday� today. The quotes are because the truth is that there was an ice storm, not because their is a lot of snow. This actually sucks for me, since I don’t have classes or TAing on campus today it’s quite meaningless. This might as well have been on a weekend for me.

DB says:

The university is closed for the day because of a winter storm that paralyzed the American midwest with ice over the weekend and came howling into southwestern Ontario overnight.

Following procedure, UW automatically closes when the Waterloo Region District School Board shuts all its schools (not just buses). News of that decision by the school board came a little before 6:00 this morning, and a UW announcement was sent to local radio stations and posted on the main web site.

I think following the school board on weather closures is fine, but it doesn’t always work. In December 2004 there was a storm on a day after classes had ended for Christmas. The university decided to stay open, but some units closed because of the weather anyway. I wasn’t happy to have trudged through the snow to the icefields only to see a sign masking-taoped to the door saying it was closed.

The local consultation meeting for the Ontario Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform is today.

Kitchener - Waterloo
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
KW YMCA
Ontario Early Years Centre Training Room
425 University Ave. East

The Citizens’ Assembly is a first for Ontario. It gives citizens a direct voice in determining the options we have when we vote and how our votes are translated into seats for Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs).

The Assembly will identify what principles Ontarians value most in their electoral system. And it will hold public consultations to hear what other citizens value. Based on what the Assembly hears and learns, it will recommend whether Ontario should keep its current electoral system or change to a new one.

Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform

I was looking through some papers and I found this old beer label.

Do you know who made it? The makers of the popular honey lager. The Lakeport Brewing Corporation, which is now Lakeport Brewing Income Fund, an income trust. (the brewery’s honey lager and pilsener are both in the Beer Store Big Ten.)

Lakeport debuts Truly Naked Strategy Magazine 4 Sep 1995

The brand, touted as “The Beer with Nothing To Hide,” is supported by a radio and print campaign, launched Sept. 1 in Toronto and Hamilton.

[...]

Sharpe says advertising for Truly Naked will not carry any sexual overtones.

He says that the “naked” portion of the name really describes the processes involved in making the brand - which includes the purification of water.

He says “truly” is married to “naked” to add flow.

[...]

On Sept. 1, Lakeport also announced its first beer in the “Dave Nichol’s International Selection” line available in Ontario.

Dave’s Bavarian Style Doppelgold beer has 5.9% alcohol and is available in 12 packs for $11.85.

Lakeport began brewing the Dave Nichol line of beers last November.

It was kind of a weird brand. Clearly they found a better niche with their value beer.

About Lakeport

Lakeport Brewing Income Fund is an Ontario-based brewery focused on producing value-priced, quality beer for the Ontario take-home market. Lakeport pioneered the “24 for $24â€? value segment. Lakeport produces nine proprietary beer brands, two of which, Lakeport Honey Lager and Lakeport Pilsener, are amongst the top-selling brands in the province. Lakeport has approximately 200 full-time employees at its production facility in Hamilton, Ontario. The Fund’s units trade on the TSX under the symbol TFR.UN (TFR stands for ‘two-four’).

Yesterday morning I went out to the McNally lands with Dave for an interview with CKCO. The city may be planning to develop the lands and the issue is going to the OMB.

Dave had a piece in the newspaper too Waterloo should protect its natural water sources The Rec 4 Jan 2007

The decision to allow development on important ground and surface water recharge areas in the northwest corner of Waterloo was made by the Ontario Municipal Board in 1992. This decision came before the completion of the Laurel Creek Watershed Study, the 1995 failure of Elmira’s local water supply and the more recent failure of the Greenbrook wells.

[...]

On Jan. 11, an Ontario Municipal Board pre-hearing has been scheduled to discuss, in part, an appeal to expand the designated environmentally sensitive landscape boundaries to include two properties known as the Owens and McNally lands. [...]

The McNally properties were sold to the city for environmental protection, stewardship, and as an exercise resource. According to McNally’s contract and wishes, the land was to remain undeveloped. Doug McNally passed away on Sept. 15, but before his death, I had the opportunity to speak with him at a Waterloo city council meeting, at his home, and while he was in the hospital. [...]

I took some photos. This one shows the hilly terrain on the land. Where the land dips water collects and seeps into the ground. Some of that water likely ends up as our groundwater that then would come out of a well as our drinking water. Water also can come out of springs that are located on the other side of the hills where the water table meets the surface.

I hear that I made it onto the news as well. They filmed me taking photos and us when we were talking about the land.

In his New Year message to Canada the PM made a choice similar to the one I advised about closing speeches.

Speculation swirls over imminent cabinet shuffle CTV.ca 2 Jan 2007

The prime minister didn’t end his speech with his signature “God bless Canada.” Instead, he wished Canadians a “Happy New Year … and may God keep our land glorious and free.”

Here is the closing from the message (Prime Minister Wishes Canadians a Happy New Year pm.gc.ca 31 Dec 2006):

Happy New Year Canada…

And may God keep our Land glorious and free.

Last April I said (Close speeches with ‘O‘ Canada not ‘God Bless[…] 25 April 2006):

I have often said that Canadians should close their speeches with “O Canada,� which is the name of our national anthem. It is suitably open and progressive for Canadians and I predict a >90% approval rating.

[...]

I wonder if that quarter of people would be happy if Harper ended his speeches with “God keep our land� ou “Protégerions nos foyers et nos droits.�

Looks pretty familiar now, doesn’t it.

Harper-y New Year