Judge denies California town's request to halt hot sauce production

By Dana Feldman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Los Angeles suburb that sued to curb the strong, spicy odor emitted from a chili-processing plant lost its initial bid for a court injunction against the makers of the popular Sriracha-brand hot pepper sauce on Thursday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert O'Brien denied a motion from the small city of Irwindale for a temporary restraining order against Huy Fong Foods, calling the request "rather edgy."

"You're asking for a very radical order on a 24-hour notice," O'Brien said during the brief proceedings.

The judge instead set a court hearing for November 12 to consider further arguments on whether there were grounds to issue a preliminary injunction against the chili factory while the court reviews the merits of a lawsuit brought against the company.

Irwindale, east of Los Angeles, filed suit on Monday saying the company has refused to take sufficient action to abate noxious fumes emanating from the plant strong enough to cause eye and throat irritation in nearby residents.

The suit says some residents have complained of headaches and others have been forced to remain indoors, or even to temporarily flee their own homes, to get relief from the smell of locally grown jalapeno chili peppers being crushed at the plant.

John Tate, an attorney for the company, said in court that the company has installed a filtration system to take care of excessive odor. He acknowledged that it does not resolve the problem completely but had "certainly improved the situation."

"The company purchased additional filters and installation was complete Tuesday," he said, adding that more time was needed to see how well the new system works before the end of chili-harvesting season in November, when production would be halted in any case until next year.

"If you shut us down now, we won't know if the system works and we'll be in the dark for nine months," he said.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Huy Fong Foods produces up to 200,000 bottles of hot sauce a day and sold more than $60 million worth last year.

The red-colored Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, sold in clear squeezable plastic bottles with a green cap and trademark rooster logo, has become one of the top-selling condiments in the United States.

Celebrated in Bon Appetit magazine as the ingredient of the year for 2010, Sriracha, pronounced (sir-RAH-chah), has inspired cookbooks, a food festival and a movie documentary.

The company was founded 33 years ago by David Tran, an ethnic Chinese immigrant from Vietnam, who was quoted in the Los Angeles Times earlier this week as defending the pungent nature of the chilies used in his sauce.

"If it doesn't smell, we can't sell," he said.

(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Steve Gorman and Mohammad Zargham)

BusinessLos Angeles Superior CourtHuy Fong FoodsLos Angeles

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Worker denies drinking old whiskey at Pa. mansion

SCOTTDALE, Pa. (AP) — A former mansion caretaker denied that he drank four dozen bottles of well-aged whiskey worth $100,000, claiming it would have been unsafe to drink and saying the booze had "evaporated" instead.

"Yuck! That stuff had floaters in it and all kind of stuff inside the bottles," John Saunders, 63, of Irwin, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (http://bit.ly/16jQrhx) outside a district judge's courtroom on Wednesday. "I don't think it would even be safe to drink."

Saunders' comments came after his preliminary hearing on theft and receiving stolen property charges was postponed until May 15 so he could apply for a public defender.

Patricia Hill found the Old Farm Pure Rye Whiskey hidden in the walls and stairwells of her century-old Georgian mansion, which was built by coal and coke industrialist J.P. Brennan. She converted the mansion into a bed and breakfast and hired Saunders as a live-in caretaker, only to discover the bottles had been emptied and replaced back into slots in their original wooden cases.

Scottdale police charged Saunders with stealing the whiskey — by drinking it — after his DNA was found on the lips of some empty bottles, Chief Barry Pritts said.

Saunders downplayed that evidence and denied drinking the booze which, police said, Saunders claimed must have "evaporated" over time.

"I moved those cases three times for Hill. ... I can't believe she would accuse me of doing that. I have nothing to hide," Saunders said, noting he's been friends with Hill and her family for 40 years.

Hill told police she stored the 52 bottles of whiskey in the original cases, which contained 12 bottles each. After Saunders moved out, Hill said she discovered last March that the bottles in four cases were empty.

Police had Bonhams, a New York City auction house, appraise four remaining bottles and concluded the value of all 52 bottles — had 48 of them not been emptied — would have been $102,400. Bonhams' whiskey specialist said the liquor would have remained valuable as long as the corks remained sealed and the whiskey untouched.

Saunders disputed that appraisal saying he believed Hill was "looking for money. I'd say that whiskey's real value is about $10 a bottle and she hired someone to inflate the price."

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Information from: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, http://pghtrib.com

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History Channel denies show’s Satan character resembles Obama

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Does the actor who portrayed Satan in a new miniseries too closely resemble Obama? (Twitter)

The History Channel miniseries “The Bible” has been generating heavenly ratings, with more than 14 million viewers tuning in to its debut episode. But the show generated some controversy with its Sunday night episode in which the character playing Satan made his debut. The controversy was not over anything happening on screen, but rather whether or not the actor playing Satan looks a little too much like President Barack Obama.

Conservative media figure Glenn Beck was the first big name to address the odd similarity, writing on his Twitter account, “Anyone else think the Devil in #TheBible Sunday on History Channel looks exactly like That Guy?”

Beck was not alone, with thousands of viewers and several media outlets jumping on the story. Many were quick to note the similarity reminded them of a recent controversy in which it was discovered that the makers of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” had used a prop of George W. Bush’s head in a grisly scene.

History Channel has been quick to deny any similarities between the two, issuing the following statement:

“HISTORY channel has the highest respect for President Obama. The series was produced with an international and diverse cast of respected actors. It's unfortunate that anyone made this false connection. HISTORY’s 'The Bible’ is meant to enlighten people on its rich stories and deep history.”

And honestly, while the actor does bear a striking resemblance to Obama in the image posted to Beck's Twitter account, he looks more like a Jedi from "Star Wars" that the president is always talking about than history's biggest villain.

Interestingly, Moroccan actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, who portrays Satan, has appeared in a number of film productions with religious connections over the years, including “The Satanic Angels,” “The Ten Commandments,” “In the Beginning” and “David.”

In other images, any similarity between Obama and Ouazanni is far less striking.

Even Beck has tried to brush off any hidden agendas, posting that his original tweet was a joke: “Media—relax. Actor has been in similar roles b4. Funny, nothing more. For different reasons, #TheBible is 1 of my fav shows. Keep watching”

“The Bible” executive producer, Roma Downey, also released a statement saying she and fellow producer Mark Burnett made no conscious effort to cast an actor resembling the president. "Both Mark and I have nothing but respect and love our President, who is a fellow Christian,” the statement reads. “False statements such as these are just designed as a foolish distraction to try and discredit the beauty of the story of The Bible.”

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