Sir,

The free community newspaper which comes through my door each week recently contained a small piece on a Bulgarian delegation that visited Tower Hamlets, an inner-city suburb just outside the city of London. Tower Hamlets local authority gave their Bulgarian visitors a tour of local food manufacturers and restaurants in order to educate them in European Union food safety practices.

Given that most Bulgarians I have met have quite an enthusiasm for EU membership, any opportunity for people to go between our two countries and delegations in general are to be welcomed, but: a note of warning. Bulgaria needs no advice from my local council on food safety.

Regulations on food production, transportation, storage and cooking in Britain are so numerous that they have stifled the industry. Food in Britain is so regulated in the interests of safety that the notion that the most important thing about any food - that it should taste as good as it can - has been forgotten. I cannot help but contrast this to the food I eat when I am at my house in Kipilovo, in Sinite Kamuni above Sliven.

When my neighbour brings me some of his freshly made, melt-in-your-mouth sirene (which is unpasturised and would not be served in schools or hospitals in Tower Hamlets), or I go off into the forest and pick some fantastic mushrooms that grow there, and compare their taste to the over-regulated British version I am more used to, I despair that the Bulgarian food industry thinks it can learn from Britain. It should be the other way around.

EU food safety legislation in Britain is administered in a heavy-handed way that gives little thought to the taste of the end product and instead focuses on the temperature that the food has to be kept at while being prepared, transported and cooked. All nutritional value and taste can be eradicated in the interests of safety. Rather than being viewed as something which brings pleasure to peoples' lives, food is seen as a dangerous commodity that should be treated in a similar way to the disposal of toxic waste.

I share with many Bulgarians a preference for my food to be served not too hot. Serving food warm, but not hot, allows the different flavours of a dish to be distinct, experienced at their best. In Britain, chefs and cooks are burdened with the curse of thermometers, which must constantly be stuck into food to ensure it is either below 8 deg C or above 63  deg C -  the only "safe" temperatures. There is no EU legislation that says food should be at the temperature where its taste is at its best.

In the past few years, the UK government and local authorities such as Tower Hamlets have faced a lot of criticism over their attitude to food. The idea that they are sharing their ideas with industries from other countries is therefore shocking. The Bulgarian delegates should take away with them the lessons from Britain. That is, ignore everything they told you. The next delegation would be far better off going to Italy or France where they have a more sensible attitude to regulations.

Jason Smith
London

Mr Smith was a restaurateur and professional chef in London. He is in the process of moving permanently to Kipilovo. The free community newspaper is Eastendlife produced by Tower Hamlets Council. Issue 634. www.towerhamlets.gov.uk