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The comprehensive index of every blog post, magazine story and restaurant review that appears on Torontolife.com
Do you know what’s in your food? (Image: Jason Lam)
While Canadians decide who they want leading the country, the bureaucracy in Ottawa is largely spinning its wheels until the next guy comes to boss them around. With all that spare time on their hands, some bureaucrats are turning to the time-honoured tradition of leaking to the press, and in this case we’re glad they are: it looks like the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has gotten out of the business of checking out the nutritional claims made by food producers on their labels.
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A bad egg (Image: Valerie Everett)
Over the weekend, the Star reported that at least six Scarborough food stores, along with a few in York Region, have been charged with buying and using illegal, ungraded eggs. One distributor of the ungraded eggs is identified as a Chinese supplier who delivers the illegal orbs from an unmarked white cube van.
An unlicensed warehouse in Scarborough was raided by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and was found to have more than 100,000 ungraded eggs, many which were covered in fecal matter, dirt, feathers and cracks. The eggs have been destroyed, and most of the offending establishments have also cleared out their stock.
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Loblaws is recalling some of its President’s Choice Decadent Chocolate Chunk Cookies after someone came to the unfortunate discovery of small, round pieces of metal in the doughy snacks. The shards are about one millimeter in diameter. All packages have been pulled off the shelves and stores are offering a full refund for those who have already bought the cookies.
• President’s Choice cookies recalled [CBC]
• In store baked President’s Choice Decadent Chocolate Chunk Cookies May Contain Small Metal Pieces [Canadian Food Inspection Agency]
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is issuing yet another recall. This time, it’s spices that may contain salmonella. Here’s hoping no one jazzed up their Siena deli meat sandwiches with this stuff. The seasonings in question are from Frontier Natural Products (full list here) and Whole Foods Market 365 (full list here). Combine this with the deli meats, the mystery infections and Toyota’s massive recall, and lunch breaks are deadlier than ever. It doesn’t matter if someone is packing his or her lunch or driving to McDonald’s—everyone is screwed.
• Certain Frontier Brand Seasonings and Spices May Contain Salmonella Bacteria [CFIA]
• Various Frontier Brand and Whole Foods Market Brand Seasonings and Spices ay Contain Salmonella Bacteria [CFIA]
Unclean? Unclear (Image: Monica Arellano-Ongpin)
The Post reports that as demand for olive oil grows around the world, producers are mixing different kinds of cheap oil and calling it extra-virgin to take advantage of customers. “Olive oil is a commodity that can easily be diluted or substituted with cheaper oil,” said a spokesperson for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last summer. “The presence of other oils in olive oil cannot be detected by visual inspection, and therefore consumers rely on the labelling.”
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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]
Orbital jerky: A new galaxy of flavours awaits astronauts (Photo by WmJR)
• Suddenly, eating like an astronaut isn’t all protein shakes, Styrofoam ice cream and recycled urine. Visitors to the international space station will soon be chowing down on a variety of Canadian edibles, from Alberta jerky to B.C. salmon. [Calgary Herald]
• Brunch is hell—or so say Toronto’s overworked food servers, for whom this busiest of mealtimes is the most punishing part of the week. [Globe and Mail]
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Appreciation station: Zagat names Wendy's the best of the fast food joints (Photo by Mykl Roventine)
• The venerable Zagat guides, known for passing judgment on higher-end offerings, are now ranking fast food joints on the quality of their fries, burgers, coffee and more. Wendy’s comes out on top. [Sun Sentinel]
• Jamie Kennedy is one unlucky locavore. He’s selling the Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar—his St. Lawrence Market flagship—in an effort to keep his debt-plagued empire afloat. The problem, he admits, is that all those pricey, farm-fresh local ingredients he swears by are putting him in the red. [Globe and Mail]
• City hall is suspending food cart licences during Dundas Square tree planting, without offering vendors compensation or alternate locations. The Toronto Sun’s Sue-Ann Levy ascribes the trouble to the machinations of “socialists” at “Silly Hall.” [Toronto Sun]
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Addict or victim? A new book suggests that certain fatty foods affect the brain, not the appetite (Photo by Janet Calcaterra)
• The End of Overeating, a new book by former FDA commissioner David Kessler, claims that foods containing combinations of fat, sugar and salt can act like addictive drugs—they “hijack” the brain, making certain people craving more. [CTV]
• The Vancouver Sun delves deeper into research that suggests reusable shopping bags encourage bacterial growth. That study, sponsored by the Environment and Plastics Industry Council, didn’t find any reusable bags with harmful levels of bacteria—just the potential for it. [Vancouver Sun]
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The great bar recall
• Pint-sized pop star Miley Cyrus is getting flack again—and this time, it’s not for suggestive photographs. The teen’s Hannah Montana snack bars have been recalled by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency due to potential salmonella contamination. [Entertainment Wise]
• Toronto may be awash in sushi restaurants, but some say our citizens lack the table manners required for traditional Japanese eating. Mikado’s head chef, Keiichi Masuda, has a video lesson in technique for inept chopstick handlers. [Toronto Star]
What does "organic" mean, in Canada? (Photo by Gabo Morales)
• The label “certified organic” should spark more questions than confidence, says former food inspector Mischa Popoff, who argues that Canada’s organic food regulations are far too lenient to ensure quality products. [National Post]
• Foodshare believes in eating locally, which doesn’t just mean buying veggies from the Holland Marsh. The Toronto-based NGO is advocating transforming our barren urban spaces—Nathan Phillips Square, University Avenue, the edges of the Gardiner—into vegetable gardens. [Toronto Star]
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