Nobu, the BBC and Bluefin Tuna

Last week's episode of "Britains' most disgusting Food" , which can still be watched on the BBC's iPlayer, caught the eye of the Deputy Editor of the IoS yesterday who called me into his office to ask me to make a call to the BBC to get a quote about 'why they made the decision to pixellate and disguise the identities of customers coming in to and out of London's famous 'Nobu' japanese restaurant.

Nobu draws significant ire for their decision to sell sashimi cuts of endangered "Blue Fin Tuna" , however, it's not actually illegal to order a blue-fin tuna steak there, so why the decision to pixellate customer's faces?

Unable to get a quote from the BBC, I wondered what the IoS's lawyers might say? I presumed it was a question of defamation, meaning that it would be potentially libellous to infer that some celebrity or other was immoral because of their decision to eat at Nobu. Or maybe it was a question of privacy.

The strange thing for me was that the question had even been raised in the Deputy Editor's mind. Surely it was the right decision to protect members of the public's identities in this case? Isn't that the BBC's responsibilty after all?

Apprently we don't think the same way he and I. As the consummate journalist, I suspect he wishes for a scoop against a well known animal right activist: "Jodie Marsh dines on Endangered Species" perhaps?
Or perhaps not. Turns out that it's an editorial decision, and there are really very few legal ramifications, but I suspect that if they had included people's faces they might have had to face some complaints.

Personally, I liked the silly faces they plastered on the faces to hide the random people's identities, but I also have a bit of a problem with the program "Britain's Most Disgusting Food" anyway.

It's populist rubbish. Last week his expose of a pork product which is considered inedible (in fact banned) in certain countries but is considered a delicacy in Okinawa and eaten with rice balls and sushi led him to standing outside the Food Standards Agency and holding an impromptu (and utterly ineffective) rally.

He comes across like Louis Theroux, but he's just not as funny, interesting or righteous. Just my opinion.