Those of you watching Top Chef have no doubt noticed the marked absence of guest judge and Queer Eye alum Ted Allen.

Ted’s awesome! A charming and witty foodie, I eagerly anticipate his insights when he guest judges on Iron Chef and Top Chef.

As I reported in an earlier post, he’s been focusing his energies on his own show Food Detectives which debuted on FoodTV on Monday.

Food Detectives finds the truth behind all your culinary conundrums. The first show takes on food fables like the 5 second rule (eating food from the floor), funky smelling fridges (odor busters for the ice box), and capsaicin cures (combating the burn from spicy foods).

He calls upon his five food techs to assist in lab experiments. Basically they’re glorified guinea pigs who ham it up (get the pun) to make a point.

I’m not sure what to think…it’s part Pee-wee’s Playhouse, part Mythbusters, part Good Eats. The lab stuff appeals to the geek in me, while the manufactured quirkiness irks my inner cynic.

Ted reports that Food Detectives has already landed a second season. Keep up to date on Food Detectives and all of Ted’s exploits by visiting his blog TedAllen.net