Meal of approval: this logo will appear on foods that meet Canada’s new organic standards (Image by Canadian Food Inspection Agency)
• Canada’s new organic foods standards went into effect this week. Produce that gets stamped with the new “Canada Organic” logo will have to be 100 per cent organic, while products with multiple ingredients will have to reach the 95 per cent mark. Products imported from the U.S will be stamped with the same logo as long as they fit similar standards enforced by the USDA. [CBC]
• Jamie Kennedy isn’t the only celebrity chef facing financial woes lately. Gordon Ramsay’s company, Gordon Ramsay Holdings, almost went bankrupt last year thanks to overly optimistic expansion. “We thought…that we could not fail,” Ramsay recently admitted in a rare moment of humility. [Telegraph]
• Residents have taken up the fight against a new bistro on the Harbord restaurant strip, concerned about the number of licensed venues so close to a nearby high school. Ici Bistro’s would-be proprietor Jennifer DeCourte points out that “the chances of [students] coming over for a chardonnay and an endive salad are probably zero.” Councillor Joe Pantalone, fresh from killing Ossington’s buzz, also opposes the license. [Toronto Star]
• President’s Choice beef has been recalled due to possible E.coli contamination. No illnesses have been reported in Canada—yet—but up to 18 people in the U.S. have fallen ill after eating contaminated meat. [680 News]
• New hybrids of raspberries and strawberries produced in B.C. will be named for First Nations peoples in the province. Chilliwack, Skeena and Chilcotin raspberries are valued for their productivity and resilience. [Canadian Press]
I can’t believe that in this day and age a liquor license is being refused on the basis of a restaurant being too near a high school…High school kids aren’t allowed to order alcohol in a restaurant anyway – where is the problem? If in Europe that was a consideration, there wouldn’t be too many cafés now would there….Once again, Toronto the Provincial….don’t call this a world class city, please.
July 4, 2009 at 10:42 am | by Anne