New Food Safety Laws Passed; Philippe Sends Spies to Mr. Chow's

The Cove, a tense new Sundance award-winning documentary about a town in Japan where thousands of wild dolphins are captured for marine amusement parks or slaughtered for food, opens in select theaters today.
[Reuters]

The House of Representatives passed new food safety legislation yesterday that will require more frequent inspections of processing plants and give the FDA the power to order the recall of tainted foods. Democratic support was overwhelming, but Republicans were split, with 54 voting in favor and 122 against.
[NY Times]

Just as Fork in the Road runs its 10 Best Food-Themed Television Shows, and days after Our Man Sietsema ranted about how Top Chef is ruining restaurant dining, Michael Pollan ruminates on the how the proliferation of food TV has resulted in Americans cooking less.
[NY Times]

The latest in the Mr. Chow legal battle is an accusation of "corporate espionage." Michael Chow contends that rival Philippe Chow's staff secretly invaded the kitchen of his new Miami outpost to steal trade secrets.
[NY Post]

The documentary Florent: Queen of the Meat Market, about the Meatpacking district mainstay, was shown June 6 at New Fest, the New York gay and lesbian film festival, where it won the Audience Award, despite the editing not being finished.
[The Villager]