Ends of pork roast in Lavoisier calorimeter by Eric Viard

It was on the occasion of a discussion at the Parisian rrraw chocolate shop in late September that I learned that the cocoa beans had been roasted for centuries for reasons.... of hygiene that date back to the first transport of america beans from the south to the sponge. cocoa beans, harvested since the 19th century in these hot and humid countries, were transported by sailboats in crude jute canvas bags and were therefore particularly sensitive to degradation during transport. Torrefaction was a means of "sterilization" and effective stabilization, and since that time it has never been questioned although the conditions of hygiene and transport have evolved considerably. It is only in recent years that this dogma in the cocoa sector begins to be reconsidered.

our food culture is full of dogmatic habits taken hundreds of years ago and unfortunately we don't even question anymore, as long as they are anchored, and can be illustrated by this little fable.

once a woman wanted to prepare a roast by following a recipe that had been successful in her husband's family. He explained that his mother had taught him to prepare it by sprinkling it with salt and pepper, cutting both ends, drop the roast in the pot, cover and cook.

her wife asked her why she had to remove both ends. her husband replied that he did not know and that his mother had always done that way. He proposed to call his mother to ask him.

- Mom, why did you always cut the two ends of the roast in the recipe?
"I don't know," said his mother, "Your grandmother has always done this way. I'll call him to ask him.

So she calls her mother to ask her the question.

- I don't know why you want to do this. I was doing it like that because the roast was too big to get into my pot.

all this to ask you this simple question: what does the energy value that must necessarily be included on the labels of processed foods that we consume since December 13, 2016? Is that really the level of energy that will bring us the food?How do industrialists measure this?

No, it's not the barometer of our well being! in 1879 henri berthelot, French chemist developedthe calorimetric bomb, which is an improvementcalorimeteroriginally created by antoine lavoisier in 1783. This calorimetric bomb, whose principle is in 2021 always used by laboratories and industry, allows to measure the amount of calories released under 30 bars of pure oxygen by burning the food in question used as fuel!

It is therefore on this basis that we classify the energy value of our foods, by assimilating our human body to a combustion machine operating under 30 oxygen bars.

food and industrial dogmas can be suffocated with a little backwardness, scientific intelligence and goodwill. Three years ago, we asked our bret'alg algae supplier to have the courage to be the first in france to change its drying practices and to dehydrate its algae at only 40°C. I had to be patient and persuasive. I promised him that he would be the national pioneer in this field, giving him a lead on the other collectors. Today all its competitors have taken the step and "dried at low temperature" bloom on the labels!

It is high time in 2021 to find other ways to measure the true energy that our food contains and the well being that they provide us or not, if you have suggestions, write to me!