26th Jan 2004

Britains's Chopstick Phobia Leads to Development of Uncle Ben's Chopstick Equation

Chopsticks are officially the UK's most troublesome utensil, according to research conducted to develop the 'Uncle Ben's Chopstick Equation' for Chinese New Year (22 January 2004).

Scientists have named Britain's avoidance of chopsticks as consecotaleophobia - the fear of chopsticks - as three out of five Brits admit that their fumbling fingers stick to using a knife and fork when eating Chinese food.

To help the nation celebrate this year's Chinese New Year, Uncle Ben's has developed the 'Uncle Ben's Chopstick Equation', to improve the country's chopstick handling skills. Developed by Dr Jim Al-Khalili and Dr Qiang Zhao at the University of Surrey, the equation aims to understand the comfort level of different foods that can be picked up by chopsticks - allowing consumers to practice using 'easy' foods, and then work their way up to mastering all types of morsels.

The key to calculating the equation is; C = the 'comfort' or ease level of using chopsticks (100 is a high comfort level, whilst one is the maximum level of discomfort) N = the number of Chinese meals eaten with chopsticks; t = time in seconds it takes to get the food from plate to mouth; n, a, d and m = the shape, slipperiness, diameter and mass of the food; C0 is a constant incorporating unknown information such as how long the chopsticks are and what angle the user is holding them at.

For a novice chopstick user to pick up a piece of shredded duck in sauce measuring 1cm, their comfort level would be around C=3 - which is very uncomfortable. As with most things, the true secret is practice. To use chopsticks as easily as using fingers to pick up food, the novice would need to eat over 1,000 Chinese meals, which would increase their comfort level to the maximum C=100. However, Uncle Ben's has found C=10 is high enough to comfortably enjoy a Chinese meal, if it's lower, more practice is needed! *(please see full calculations in Notes to Editors)

The formula gives Britain's 42% of self-diagnosed chopstick novices hope in moving on from trying to pick up easy pieces of Sweet & Sour Chicken to mastering miniature grains of rice. And with Chinese food one of the top ten meals eaten at home , the equation will help the UK to eat Chinese meals the traditional way - 300 years after the chopstick first arrived in Britain!

Aileen McLaughlin, spokesperson for Uncle Ben's commented, "Considering we pride ourselves on Britain's multi-cultural ethos, it's amazing we're so scared of an implement the Chinese have used for 5,000 years. The formula will come as a welcome answer for those terrified by chopsticks. But by using the tips and formula, as well as hassle-free products such as Uncle Ben's the nation will be able to rival China in their use of chopsticks for Chinese New Year!"

For a full copy of the speech or more information please contact Liz Morgan-Lewis, Head of Communication and Public Affairs on 01483 683932 or e mail press-office@surrey.ac.uk

Notes to Editors:

Top Ten Tips to Master Chopsticks
For those wanting to perfect chopstick usage and etiquette, Uncle Ben's recommends the following tips to look like a professional:
1. Hold chopsticks at a 45 degree angle with the stick ends no more than 1cm apart
2. The lower stick should be placed in the bridge between the thumb and first finger
3. The second stick should be above the first (not alongside it)
4. Gain maximum 'control' over the sticks by placing the finger on the upper stick as near the food end as comfortable
5. Move quickly to reduce the chance of food falling off the chopstick
6. Try 'stickier' food such as Chicken with Sweet Soy and Sesame Sauce or add extra sauce
7. Stick to foods that have a 2cm diameter or less and are flat in surface, e.g: prawn crackers and chopped vegetables
8. Avoid 'slippery' foods such as peanuts and spring rolls until well into the practice regime
9. If eating with Chinese guests, don't place chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice - it has death connotations
10. Don't use chopsticks for pointing or poking, no matter how funny the joke is - always keep the tips pointing downwards

Equation Key

C = comfort factor
C0 = 30 (incorporates unknown information i.e: length of chopsticks and angle of chopsticks)
N = number of Chinese meals eaten with chopsticks
n = (the Greek letter 'eta') texture parameter including shape, softness and crumbliness (a piece of meat is easy to pick up and has a texture parameter close to 1, a grain of rice is not so easy and would have a tiny value of 0.05)
a = (the Greek letter 'alpha') slipperiness of food (the stickier it is the closer the value to 1)
d = diameter of food (cm)
m = mass of food (grams)
t = plate to mouth transit time (seconds)

Formula Examples and Value Tables

FOOD	SLIPPERINESS (a)	TEXTURE PARAMETER (n)
Uncle Ben's Express Rice - Chinese	0.7	0.05
Fried Peanut	0.2	0.6
Kung Pao Chicken	0.3	0.7
Tofu	0.15	0.75
Spring Roll	0.45	0.9
Wanton	0.1	0.8
Stir Fried Bean Sprout	0.4	0.85

*The formula assumes food picked up is no more than 2cm in diameter

An example of a person who has eaten Chinese food using chopsticks 15 times attempting to pick up a 1 cm spring roll with a mass of 2 grams and take approximately 2 seconds to get the food into their mouth:

Uncle Ben's interviewed 1,000 people through an Onlinebus survey

For further information, interviews, demonstrations and visuals, please contact: Joanna Selby tel: 020 7611 3646 email: joanna.selby@ketchum.com or Caroline Evans tel: 020 7611 3631 email: caroline.evans@ketchum.com

For more information on Masterfoods please contact Aileen McLaughlin on 01664 415146 or email aileen.mclaughlin@eu.effem.com

UNCLE BEN'S is a registered trademark of ®Masterfoods UK