FOOD & DRINK
FACE TO FACE Ursula meets: Ursula Arens Writer; Nutrition & Dietetics Ursula has spent most of her career in industry as a company nutritionist for a food retailer and a pharmaceutical company. She was also a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation for seven years.
Ursula meets amazing people who influence nutrition policies and practices in the UK. MICHELLE BERRIEDALE-JOHNSON Director of Freefrom Food Awards Author & consultant on free-from foods Expert food historian
There was never a better time to be food allergic. EU regulations require clear information on the presence of any of 14 potential allergic ingredients on the labelling of all packaged foods and also for the provision of such information, when requested, for foods sold loose and also in restaurants and canteens. But, in addition to the improvement in the availability and accuracy of information, there has been a huge increase in the quality and variety of these ‘twin-foods’: those without a particular ingredient that may cause allergy in a few people. They are the new category of ‘free-from’ foods: a market that has been enjoying explosive growth of 15% yearly in the last decade. Perhaps not all of the increased interest in ‘free from foods’ (FFF) can be attributed to the activities of Michelle BerriedaleJohnson. But she is certainly the most prolific champion of this food sector and has done more than any other individual in the UK to bring together consumer and food industry interests to improve the quality and availability of FFF. She kindly invited me to her home, where we were a duet of seasonal coughs and sneezes, when even tea did not appeal. Her degree is in history, but it did not seem to offer any inspiring career options, so helping a friend with a busy catering company was the best way to pay urgent bills. Michelle enjoyed this, but it was hard work and there were many caterers competing for the outside venue business. She had the inspired idea to develop historic themed meals served in historic venues, and soon the most esteemed and
distinguished foodies demanded these food adventures. She said, “Of course these were not literal presentations of foods described in historic texts… rather they were ‘inspired-by’ meals. Most people would probably not enjoy more authentic historic menus.” Suddenly, Michelle was the expert on foods in previous times in both British and different cultures which allowed her to bring together her qualification in history and her many years of working in catering. She was funded to go on a speaking tour in the US and she wrote several books on historic meals. These included a trawl of Samuel Pepys with updated ‘recipes’ of food descriptions in his diaries, the British Museum cook book with recipes inspired by the various exhibits, and a book about possible foods consumed by Egyptian Pharaohs. Michelle was commissioned to write the ultimate book on the history of British food (aside from the original ultimate book by Sir Jack Drummond and Anne Wilbraham published in 1939). But fate shook some dice. One day in 1986, her husband had an acute allergic reaction. Medication cured the symptoms, but the trigger was a mystery. He was anxious not to experience this again, so tried cutting out various foods from his diet. At the same time, their young son had ‘itchy and scratchy’ skin that seemed relieved when dairy foods were eliminated. Although Michelle has no food allergies or intolerances, the Berriedale-Johnson relationship with their milkman ceased (amicably). www.NHDmag.com March 2017 - Issue 122
41