THE HISTORY OF FOOD.

The sandwich is 250 years old  this weekend and residents in the English town of Sandwich, where the bread meal was first eaten, are celebrating their culinary history. According to the town’s records the English nobleman Earl, John Montague first ordered a sandwich in 1762. It is reported he was playing cards with friends and wanted something he could eat without a knife and fork. He requested slices of beef between two pieces of bread, and so the sandwich was born. Montague chose to live in Sandwich over another port town, Portsmouth. Had he chosen the latter, we would be eating portsmouths today. It is perhaps a coincidence Sandwich is just a few kilometres from the town of Ham. The 11th Earl of Sandwich, also named John Montagu, hosted a celebratory lunch in honour of his ancestor and his contribution to the global fast food industry. He told reporters: “My ancestor…could never have imagined that his simple invention would spawn a multi-billion dollar industry, employing hundreds of thousands of people." He added: "My favourite sandwich is a traditional one - roast beef and hot horseradish on freshly baked bread.” Organisers of the celebrations are equally excited about the historic event. Mandy Wilkins said: “The sandwich is a global food and Sandwich, our town, is just a little town full of medieval buildings. It's bizarre that such an important food item should be named after us.”

A new study has found that energy drinks and sports drinks cause irreversible damage to teeth, with energy drinks being twice as damaging as sports drinks. A report recently published in the journal "General Dentistry" found that the high acidity levels in the drinks erode tooth enamel, the glossy outer layer that protects the tooth. Lead author Dr Poonam Jain said: "Young adults consume these drinks assuming that they will improve their sports performance and energy levels and that they are 'better' for them than soda….Most of these patients are shocked to learn that these drinks are essentially bathing their teeth with acid." This has led to an increase in tooth decay and the need for fillings. The report says 30 to 50 per cent of American teenagers regularly consume sports and energy drinks, with as many as 62 per cent drinking at least one sports drink a day. It also says brushing teeth after drinking one of the drinks does more harm than good as this will spread the acid over the tooth enamel. The doctors advised people to wait at least an hour before brushing your teeth. Dr Jennifer Bone of America's Academy of General Dentistry recommended people chew sugar-free chewing gum and rinse the mouth with water after drinking the drinks. She said: "Both tactics increase saliva flow, which naturally helps to return the acidity levels in the mouth to normal."

A new report published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that coffee drinkers live longer. The study looked at the coffee-drinking habits of over 400,000 people over a 15-year period. The research team compared their statistics with those of people who did not drink coffee. The researchers found that male coffee drinkers lived ten per cent longer and women lived 15 per cent longer. The report said up to six cups of coffee a day seems to be good for one's health.

Other studies have said coffee could be bad for our health. Many have focused on the effects of caffeine on blood pressure. Head researcher Dr Neal D. Freedman said his study means people do not have to worry about drinking coffee. He wrote that for a long time people thought that drinking coffee was a risky thing to do. He said: "Our results…provide [comfort] for coffee drinkers that this isn't the case." He added that coffee contains over 1,000 compounds and many of these may be good for us.