Tasters sample prison punishment loaf

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Feb. 11 (UPI) -- A "food loaf," designed to provide nutrition for prisoners while punishing them, got poor reviews during a tasting at a Florida legislative hearing.

State Sen. Victor Crist, chairman of the Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee, and several volunteers sampled the loaf Wednesday, The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported. Richard Prudom, chief of staff of the Department of Corrections, brought two sample loaves and the recipe to the hearing at the request of another senator who refused to eat it.

The kindest comment was not an enthusiastic one: "Doesn't smell bad." There was general agreement the item is mostly tasteless.

The biggest problem for those who sampled the loaves was the texture. As one said, the consistency is that of "something that's been eaten before."

The ingredients were listed as carrots, spinach, black-eyed peas, beans, vegetable oil, tomato paste, grits, water and oats. The Post described the loaf as smelling of spinach, tasting bland and having a mushy consistency.

"I don't find anything offensive about it, but it's not something I'd order off the menu," said Crist, a Tampa Republican who is not related to Gov. Charlie Crist.