Here's a first (at least for me). The menu at the Italian restaurant Papa Razzi, Garden State Plaza, Paramus, NJ, contained asterisks in front of about a dozen items together with a legend advising these were the foods most likely to carry food-borne diseases. Is Papa Razzi's legal department writing the menus this days? Is this a trend?

My best guess is this type of thing only happens in New Jersey (and I am getting ready to duck).

MisterNice

About 6 months ago I became certified in IL for food safety and was amazed at the multitude of food items that are considered high risk for bacteria.

You are correct that the lawyers may be writing the menus, but at the same time people w/weakened immune systems or children are much more susceptible to food-borne diseases and maybe the restaurant was doing these patrons a favor by listing these items.

As a side note, one of the most interesting thing I learned was that even though an item is cooked to the proper temp, it still can harm you. i.e. I used to believe that if I cooked an old food item to a high enough temp, that it would be safe to eat having killed all the bacteria. While it is true that all the bacteria may have been killed, toxins produced by the bacteria are not destroyed by cooking so you will still get ill.

Hungry anyone?

Misternice, you're absolutely right.

Other than our charming New England-like villages, major league sports, proximity to the culture and endless other opportunities of New York and Philly, world-class shopping, hundreds of recreational lakes, temperate four-season climate, spectacular beaches, verdant mountains, endless fields of fresh veggies, full employment, highest average incomes in the USA, some of the highest-rated schools in the nation, darn nice people representing the World's diversity, and an international airport to serve us frequent flyers, New Jersey has very little to offer.

I grew up in Vermont and lived in Texas, California, Washington and Alaska. While I loved them all, New Jersey offers an incredibly balanced and exciting quality of life.

0524-

WOW, you totally convinced me. Therefore tonight I am driving to Ocean City NJ for a very long nice wonderful weekend with some friends with a large well-stocked ocean-front house (a couple of blocks south of 39th st). And I am also looking forward to eating even more-n-more nice Jersey seafood and veggies.......as noted the world over. And thanks for the other tips too.

And for the record, I have eaten more "Italian" in Northern NJ than Tony Soprano.

MisterNice

ps: exactly where are the "New England-like villages"?

The Jersey corn, I might add, is at its peak. For some New England-style hospitality, come visit us in Wyckoff, perhaps for the Labor Day weekend fireworks. My wife and I grew up in Vermont and picked Wyckoff (when I took my first job in New York City 33 years ago) because it's so much like home. Have a fabulous time at "The Shore".

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MisterNice:
exactly where are the "New England-like villages"?</font>

Carteret rather reminds me of the natural gas tank farms in Chelsea, MA.

(Oh, and I thought this topic was about rotting pieces of food that got stuck on restaurant menus.)