You're reading: Readers Retort-December 23, 1999

We asked readers to tell us whether reading the labels on food containers was a healthy practice or a ridiculous waste of time. John Yancura is this weekХs winner. He wins a healthy assortment of junk food Р Cheese Doodles, Twinkies and a chemical-laden six pack of the soft drink of his choice delivered by our own Kyiv Post health guru Vitaly Sych. HereХs JohnХs response:

First off, to be able to read the packages here, a Westerner must be able to decipher Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Turkish and whatever other language in which the contents may be written. Second off, a fundamental difference exists between how Americans and Ukrainians view food. Americans are vigilantly on the look out for foods that are harmful (and almost every food is harmful in some way). If a person is ill, an American is likely to think they consumed too much of the wrong thing. Ukrainians, on the other hand look for foods that are good for them. If a person is sick, a Ukrainian is likely to say it is because they did not eat enough of something. Lastly, Ukrainians have scientifically arrived at the conclusion that vodka can neutralize the harmfulness of almost any harmful substance.

Р John Yancura

HereХs the best of the rest:

As for me, the present debate has no winner or loser. The core is purely a clash of cultures Р uncivilized versus Тcivilized,У neutral versus artificial. Yes, we, Ukrainians, do not read labels and have no desire to read them (Greg explained why). Yes, they, Americans, do scrutinize their labeled stuff (Vitaly reasoned that itХs senseless).

In a modern world, the best judge is quality and experience. So we, Ukrainians, are luckier. We simply have a hunch what to buy and where to buy. Even on a hellish July day weХll find at Volodymyrsky Rynok that very place without salmonella in the meat. But anyway, it makes sense sometimes to figure out as Americans do, what we really consume.

We were having home-cooked meals with our American friends, when our Ukrainian hostess accidentally mentioned that she picked mushrooms for the salad in forest. IХll never forget the faces of our American guests (IХll never forget Ukrainian faces when they looked at American faces). But, you know, they were our friends. They said the salad was very tasty. They asked for a second helping.

Р Natalia Rudnichenko.

No comments. A stupid topic to discuss to begin with.

Р Typical Ukrainian Guy

The only thing I look at is the expiration date. You never know what theyХre trying to haul off on you these days. As far as ingredients go, IХve never really given it much thought. Heck, I donХt even know my blood pressure, cholesterol level and heart rate. Now maybe thatХs ignorance. In fact, IХd agree with the Ukrainians: It is ironic that, despite their Тhealth consciousnessУ (intelligence?), there are many more obese Americans (letХs not touch the Ukrainian babushki, alright). While weХre at it, serve me up another one of those salo sandwiches, will you?

Р Roy Nygaard

Compare the average life expectancy of an American with that of other countries. There must be something to fervent health consciousness. Diet is only one piece of the puzzle.

Р Jeff Howley

It takes a lifetime of training to decipher the food ingredients on Western food labels. Although Ukrainians tend to be scientifically oriented, they would be in a quandary to understand the list of eerie chemicals and additives that we take for granted in the West. Small children in America know what are partially hydrogenated fats and red dye number 5.

As for myself, I read labels in Ukraine because I donХt know what it is that I am buying. I have developed food and additive vocabularies in several languages.

Comment on American obesity: Ukrainians eat a healthy, natural diet based on the peasant food designed to sustain people who work 12 hours a day in the fields. It is essentially the same cuisine that my American grandmother prepared all her life: fried steak (kutlet po Kyivsky), mashed potatoes with lots of real butter, apricot fried pies. Yum, yum.

Р Valerie Wright