• Master’s thesis in food porn? Makes me miss school. [Canada.com]

• Decaffeinated Coffee: What Are You Really Drinking?  [City News] I knew that there’s some caffeine in caffeinated coffee but I don’t remember if I knew how much.

• ‘Unacceptable’ Fat, Salt Content In Kids’ Meals [City News] Are we surprised? East Side Mario’s answer- that is, it’s the customer’s responsibility – is such a cop out even though I agree a small amount. Good for Laura DiBattista to be doing these segments.

• Low blood levels of vitamin D may increase the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, says a new hypothesis based on existing risk factors.  [Nutraingredients.com/All Decision News Media]

• More Vitamin K benefits in the news: Study strengthens Vitamin K1′s heart benefits [NutraIngredients.com]

• Multivitamins linked to younger ‘biological age’ [NutraIngredients.com]

• No conclusive link between diet and ADHD. [Nutraingredients.com] This one angers me. I KNOW there’s a link. I’ve experienced that link. At least they admit that diet-based theories could still be right. Why not wait until the link is conclusive before publishing something. Ah, right, that’s how the academic world works. My initial reaction was “Harvard Medical School can “STFU” or “kiss my ADHD-inflicted ass” but then I made myself read the entire thing (you know, focus on it) and felt slightly assuaged.

• New FDA bottled water rules to combat E. coli [Food Production Daily]

• More on Germany’s Red Bull ban, as I posted yesterday (er, today, or Thursday – whenever I post this).  Food Politics, Fooducate, Disease Proof. That’s only from my RSS feeds. I’m sure that a Google search would yield more. (In Ontario we only ban pit bulls – I’d rather see Red Bull banned, but the only pit bull I know is a super affectionate one named Princess.)

• Beer’s functional potential: A fruity conundrum [All Decision News Network podcast- under 4 minutes]

• Is “housemade” the new “homemade”? [Serious Eats]

• Dana McCauley is getting ready for doughnut day (June 1). Are you?

• She also discovered the June 1 is World Milk Day

• Meghan milks a post about milk and calcium, and even if she hadn’t used a similar pun as her post title I would have. [Making Love in the Kitchen] – Yep, sometimes I like to have an actual flow to how I list links. Segues. Rational structure.

• It’s nice to see mainstream newspapers review kosher restaurants. In the Globe and Mail, Joanne Kates reviews two.

• Due to an increase in noise complaints from residents, the city (Toronto) has put a year-long moratorium on restaurant and bar licences being issued to spots on the Ossington strip. As the National Post says, “Ossington Avenue just became a victim of its own popularity.” [National Post]

• This is hilarious: ToFLU: Next Pandemic to Hit Vegetarians [Treehugger]

• Childhood diet alters hormones for life: Research. The  message seems obvious: what you eat as a child can have a huge impact on health later in life

• Because in the winter we could use all the help we can get: How Food Can Affect Your Mood

• Prebiotic may offer ray of light for IBS sufferers: Study

• New soy concentrates for improved meat texture

• Yesterday David Lebovitz blogged a great corn syrup FAQ.

Branding…

• Heinz ketchup loses the pickle on the bottle.

• I bet that Heinz’s new package design will be nicer than Tropicana’s. For coverage of the Tropicana juice carton redesign see Serious Eats, Slashfood, Packaging Digest and Brand Week (or Google for more, of course). According to Brand Week,

The new packaging has 20 design trademarks and copyrights. It took 30 people five months to develop it. Three alternative designs were scrapped including a revised orange and straw version and a Pepperidge Farm-like depiction of an orange grove.

and

The design team…took half of a mid-season orange and created a cap that mimicked its peel in both color and texture. Because you have to squeeze it and turn it, “the cap symbolically represents the essence of the message which is that it the juice is fresh squeezed,”

I think that the Tropicana redesign looks bland and generic and to me the symbol of the orange with the straw did a better job at conveying the brand. Marketing and branding has long been among my interests too.

From Pepsi product to Coke product: Coke Sued Over Vitamin Water.

File under “cool stuff”…

• A chandelier Made of Gummy Bears
• Yesterday I stumbled upon some kitchen gadget pr0n.

And speaking of pr0n, though this goes under the categories of research and studies:

• Women less able to resist favourite foods. What does this have to do with food porn? The image in the article borders on NSFW (not safe for work). Some mom is going to be writing a letter to the newspaper, calling the image obscene.  Or maybe it’s just my mind.

And strange news…

• Teen charged with assaulting mom with taco. Yes, a taco. There’s got to be a joke about the Taco Bell chihuahua in there somewhere.  I shit you not and yes, I’m going there intentionally. Maybe the kid will use the Twinkie Defense (or if you prefer law.com‘s shorter definition).

Locally…

In Taste T.O., beer aficionado Greg laments the lack of good beer drinking establishments in Toronto, using a TAPS Magazine article for inspiration. The piece takes the reader to Montreal and Halifax. Interesting read. By the way, I think that Greg  (and/or Sheryl) needs to create a Taste T.O. Twitter account.

At Forum Liberalis Carolyn Bennett asks:

“Many experts suggest that Canada needs a comprehensive National Food Policy. What do you think should be essential elements of such a policy in the areas of agriculture, fishery, environment, industry, transportation, health, food protection, food security, aboriginal affairs, international trade and international development? Are there any other areas you think should be included?”

…Tell them what you think.

Finally…

Do bars serve beer floats? They should.

A blog post about what I’ve been cooking and baking coming soon and there’s a blog redesign in the future. I’ve changed templates but I want to do so much more.

Happy Obama Inauguration Day! We Canadians are thrilled.

Food review from Friday: Subway’s Veggie Max sub.
What it is: A veggie patty with vegetables.
Options: The usual slice of cheese, array of breads and vegetables, the usual selection of sauces, toasted or not toasted.
I chose toasted on Parmesan oregano bread with cheese, with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, green peppers, carrots and cucumbers and chipotle mayo.
The verdict: The veggies and bread were fresh The option to toast is to toast the bread with the cheese. THe patty alternated between quite good – especially when I got a hit of sauce with it – and having a chemically taste. Overall the sub was just okay. I’d like to try it with a warm patty. In fact, I’d suggest that this should be a hot sub.

Coming soon: My review of the falafel at agenda cafe. It’s the best falafel in downtown Toronto – made by Israeli men who know falafel. The restaurant’s breakfast menu includes Shakshouka (Wikipedia, about.com), which I will try at some point. Maybe this Sunday.

Links:

-Chocolate Tasting 101 from The Globe and Mail.
-Pairing beer with cheese.

The New York Times on The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating. Without the details that they provide, here’s the list:
1. Beets
2. Cabbage
3. Swiss chard
4. Cinnamon:
5. Pomegranate juice
6. Dried plums
7. Pumpkin seeds
8. Sardines
9. Turmeric
10. Frozen blueberries
11. Canned pumpkin

Full story here.

Check out this Vegetarian Sushi Cake and the story that Slashfood ran!