5 July 2005

BERLIN - A food fight between world leaders is underway as they prepare to travel to Scotland for the latest meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations.

While the British have been forced to try to digest some rather critical remarks about their cooking style attributed to French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Schroeder's remarks about salmon might not win him any friends among the Scottish hosts of this week's G8 meeting.

Despite the Scots being proud of their vast streams of salmon, Schroeder told a news conference in Berlin Tuesday that he was not a great fan of the freshwater fish.

Asked whether he was looking forward to eating at this week's G8 meeting in Gleneagles, the leader of the world's third biggest economy admitted: "I am not a friend of salmon and I hope I get a decent steak."

Schroeder's quip came just a matter of days after some less-than- charitable comments attributed to French President Jacques Chirac about Britain's cuisine.

"We can't trust people who have such bad food," Chirac was quoted as saying by the French newspaper Liberation Monday during a conversation with Schroeder and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the weekend.

Chirac, who along with Schroeder and British Prime Minister Tony Blair is scheduled to attend the G8, reportedly went on to say that only Finland had worse food in Europe, and that mad cow disease was Britain's sole contribution to European agriculture.

While the rich west offering Africa a helping hand and climate change are supposed to be key items on the G8 agenda, tensions might really emerge on another issue: which leader can lay claim to the best national dish.

DPA

Subject: German news