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Why Is There a Bucatini Shortage in America?

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Re: Why Is There a Bucatini Shortage in America?

#81

Post by hef19898 »

freeone3000 wrote: post #33
Scoundreller wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a good point though. Why/how is something unsafe for an American, but safe for an Italian or Spaniard? Differing regulations and standards between countries usually makes no sense and just harms the consumer. How is a Volvo made for the Swedish market unsafe on Canadian roads? EU and Canada recently signed a trade agreement so that they won't tariff eachothers' cars, but consumers still can't buy a car from a Eu…

There are various regulatory trade-offs between safety and cost of compliance. For instance: Cars sold as new in Canada require daytime running lights and yellow rear turn signals, due to extended periods of low visibility. While the running lights are a requirement in Sweden, they aren't in Poland or many other European countries. There's been some effort on standardizing between US and Canada since 2016, which woul…

All new EU models have daytime running lights and yellow turn lights. What ever is a requirement in Sweden is basically an EU one as well. Thanks to standardized EU certifications. Which is a good thing, mostly!

Re: Why Is There a Bucatini Shortage in America?

#82

Post by sircastor »

Scoundreller wrote: post #26
mewse-hn wrote: post #6

At the beginning of the article I was thinking surely there are more important things to write about, but it dives down a pretty absurd rabbit hole. Especially funny is when the pasta spokesperson begins commiserating that the reporter is making more work for them.

It's a good point though. Why/how is something unsafe for an American, but safe for an Italian or Spaniard? Differing regulations and standards between countries usually makes no sense and just harms the consumer. How is a Volvo made for the Swedish market unsafe on Canadian roads? EU and Canada recently signed a trade agreement so that they won't tariff eachothers' cars, but consumers still can't buy a car from a Eu…

I work for an automotive manufacturer that has a model that couldn’t be sold in the United States due to its lack of a steering column airbag (probably along with other items). It has led to an aggressive destruction of imported vehicles by customs officials and seizing of legal vehicles due to mistaken identity.

I don’t care for this, but I understand it. Rarely do we hear about the lives that were saved thanks to the regulatory body doing its job.

Re: Why Is There a Bucatini Shortage in America?

#83

Post by sq_ »

foobarbazetc wrote: post #15
foton1981 wrote: post #12

I am afraid this article will resurrect shortage even if it ended lately: I never cared about pasta shapes, but now I want bucatini. With 52 hacker news points there goes national stock of bucatini.

I really want some now, too. :/

Yeah, with the amount they talked about extra sauce absorption in the article, I now have a very strong desire to try it myself...

Re: Why Is There a Bucatini Shortage in America?

#84

Post by giantDinosaur »

graderjs wrote: post #2

Great. Reminds me of the start of a Murakami novel. "I was cooking pasta in the kitchen, and carefully preparing a simple salad, when I noticed the clock in the wall began ticking backward. That wasn't all, outside... "

What an amusingly accurate comment. I still remember the pasta the main character was making in the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle at one point.

Re: Why Is There a Bucatini Shortage in America?

#85

Post by CorrectHorseBat »

Scoundreller wrote: post #26
mewse-hn wrote: post #6

At the beginning of the article I was thinking surely there are more important things to write about, but it dives down a pretty absurd rabbit hole. Especially funny is when the pasta spokesperson begins commiserating that the reporter is making more work for them.

It's a good point though. Why/how is something unsafe for an American, but safe for an Italian or Spaniard? Differing regulations and standards between countries usually makes no sense and just harms the consumer. How is a Volvo made for the Swedish market unsafe on Canadian roads? EU and Canada recently signed a trade agreement so that they won't tariff eachothers' cars, but consumers still can't buy a car from a Eu…

Because we don't have a world government so every government can do what they want.

Even ignoring protectionism there are a billion different ways to make reasonable regulations and many of them will be incompatible in some ways.

Countries working together on regulations is a thing, but it also does slow down things and takes a lot of effort.

>Or vaccines. Why isn't there a global approval system?

I don't see any way how that could work out any better than the current situation.

Re: Why Is There a Bucatini Shortage in America?

#86

Post by ljf »

jldugger wrote: post #79
ljf wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've no idea how much Niacin is added in America, but you can have too much. Since we don't eat much corn here in Europe, packing food unnecessarily full of this supplement could be dangerous to health: Niacin Toxicity Symptoms of toxicity include: Flushing of the skin, primarily on the face, arms, and chest *This side effect may occur at doses as low as 30 mg/day. Itching. Nausea. Vomiting.

I'm really not sure where that citation is coming from. It's a Google web answer but the source has no citation. Wikipedia lists a textbook, rather than anything from NCBI, and I'm too lazy to dig further. A corn torilla or slice of bread in the US typically has 1-2 mg of niacin, and a daily recommendation of around 16mg. 3 oz (85 grams) of "Chicken breast, meat only, grilled" contains 10.3 grams of the stuff[1], and…

Agree, I didn't dig - was the first result I found.

Fact is though, that here in Europe there is no need or value in adding this supplement, and generally the EU is wary of any adulterated foods without reason.

Re: Why Is There a Bucatini Shortage in America?

#87

Post by sincerely »

mongol wrote: post #69
graderjs wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

oh I mean "reminds me of” as a term including "sounds like"... and was just copying what I think of as Murakami's style and some of his common tropes such as pasta, cooking, strangeness in mundane situations. If you're interested in reading, I reckon it's safe to read his books in chronolgical order. You can see how his style and preoccupations develop over the years. The first story I read was "on meeting the 100% p…

I see! I was curious what made the clock go backwards, seemed like a very interesting plot element!

Murakami is more magic realism than scifi, so if you're looking for explanations for the weird happenings in his books you often end up out of luck

Re: Why Is There a Bucatini Shortage in America?

#88

Post by hef19898 »

mxcrossb wrote: post #42

It’s an interesting reminder that a lot of simple staples in the US are fortified with various nutrients. It almost transforms your view such that it’s less you buying food, and more the government providing your provisions so that you’re a healthy worker. I found myself recalling an article on Britain’s National Loaf.

A very good friend of mine moved to Texas a year ago from Europe. Every time she visits, she is astonished that grocery shopping at discounters in Germany ends up being healthier that when she tries to get "healthy" groceries in the US. No idea if this holds true, but I had the same impression vacationing in New York (obviously not representative). I do see quality differences between German and French supermarkets as well, with quality in France being better.

I largely prefer not enriched food, including salt. It just tastes better, IMHO.

Re: Why Is There a Bucatini Shortage in America?

#89

Post by hef19898 »

ljf wrote: post #86
jldugger wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm really not sure where that citation is coming from. It's a Google web answer but the source has no citation. Wikipedia lists a textbook, rather than anything from NCBI, and I'm too lazy to dig further. A corn torilla or slice of bread in the US typically has 1-2 mg of niacin, and a daily recommendation of around 16mg. 3 oz (85 grams) of "Chicken breast, meat only, grilled" contains 10.3 grams of the stuff[1], and…

Agree, I didn't dig - was the first result I found. Fact is though, that here in Europe there is no need or value in adding this supplement, and generally the EU is wary of any adulterated foods without reason.

And for good reason.

Re: Why Is There a Bucatini Shortage in America?

#90

Post by hef19898 »

akiselev wrote: post #80
howlgarnish wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this particular case it's not even a matter of safety: pasta with 13 mg/lb, and as far as I can tell (read: Wikipedia) iron deficiency does not appear to be a serious health problem for most Americans (or Europeans). If anything, mandatory enrichment seems like an arbitrary trade barrier imposed on the US side to protect what the article calls "Big Pasta" from foreign interlopers.

> as far as I can tell (read: Wikipedia) iron deficiency does not appear to be a serious health problem for most Americans (or Europeans) "Iron deficiency isn't an issue, probably because there's lots of enriched foods, so let's stop enriching food!" I think regulatory analysis requires a little more thought than that.

The fact that European pasta isn't enriched and we don't have iron deficiency issues gives a good hint, so.
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