Oenophile Mariah Carey at the Toronto premiere of Precious (Photo by Karon Liu)

• U.K. heart surgeon Shyam Kolvekar will be less popular at the nation’s morning fry-ups after his suggestion that butter should be banned to save the increasing number of young people suffering from heart problems. Adults in the country eat 20 per cent more than the recommended limit of saturated fats per month, with butter being a major contributor to the problem. Kolvekar says butter can be replaced with more heart-healthy fats, like margarine and low-fat spread. Poor Julia Child will be rolling over in her grave. [The Daily Mail]

• With the Kraft and Cadbury merger coming ever closer to reality (U.K.-owned Cadbury has accepted U.S.-owned Kraft’s offer of $19.5 billion, but shareholder approval is pending), the British are fretting about what it will mean for their chocolate. The Guardian claims American chocolate has more sugar, less cocoa solids and uses different beans than British varieties do. While British bars do tend to be creamier, we are most concerned about the fate of Creme Eggs. [The Independent]

• Alberta’s Boxer Beer, labelled as having the “cheapest legal price,” is in trouble with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario over the name of its Boxer Lager, which could be construed as using sports to advertise the product, a no-no in Ontario liquor regulations. The company has avoided using boxing in its advertising, and its lager logo is a crown. But with the “cheapest legal price” label, we’re confident it could change the name to Swill Beer and still have frugal college students lining up. [Toronto Sun]

• The Star offers up ways to get rid of almost-empty alcohol bottles littering cupboards by using their contents in recipes: vodka makes for a great penne sauce, and bourbon can be used in slow-cooking roasts. The Star also suggests infusing vodkas with herbs, fruits and jalapeño peppers. All we have to do is find a half-empty bottle lying around somewhere; at our parties, they tend to get finished. [Toronto Star]

• After Mariah Carey’s drunken acceptance speech at the Palm Springs Film Festival, which the starlet has since blamed on having a few too many “splashes” of champagne, it is clear she loves her champers. Already the owner of a California vineyard and the creator of a zinfandel, Carey is set to launch Angel Champagne by MC, a rosé. We’re not sure what will go down in history as the bigger disaster: this or her performance in Glitter. [New York Daily News]

Kraft wants to know what kind of Canadian can resist this (Photo by Stephen Boisvert)

• Mark Zachary of Orangeburg, South Carolina, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing an $80 New York strip loin. But Zachary says he was merely “massaging” the steak, not stealing it. The jury disagreed and found him guilty of shoplifting, imposing the state’s maximum sentence for the offence; it was his ninth. We’re unsure of where to file this story—under legal oddity or oddball romance? [WCNC Charlotte]

• At a regular weigh-in in Vaxjo, south-central Sweden, a small Weight Watchers group had a start when the floor collapsed beneath them. Unlike the shared weight of this unfortunate, though uninjured, group, the irony of the collapse is immeasurable. [New York Post]

• More elusive than the Penan in Borneo is the middle-class Canadian family without a Kraft product in its kitchen. “I’ve always wondered where that 0.8 per cent was,” said Kraft president Dino Bianco, whose company recently teamed up with anthropologists to reach these strange, indifferent consumers. Kraft will use its findings to appeal to the South Asian market, as well as those who buy organic and natural foods. [Toronto Star]

• “When it comes to wine, this is not one country; it is 13,” writes Globe wine guy Beppi Crosariol, referring to the way in which domestic trade laws make it illegal to move alcohol between provinces. Crosariol calls for a “no-brainer” legal amendment that would allow unrestricted booze shipments within our home and native land, paving the way for national distributors (of which we have few), greater wine offerings within the provinces, and cheerier wine and spirits columnists. [Globe and Mail]

• China’s new Great Wall may be a symbol of goodwill toward the West, not least because the national security icon was rebuilt using a delicious, distinctly Western treat—chocolate. The 10-metre-long replica of the wall, made entirely of dark chocolate, is designed to boost cocoa consumption in China. The wall is one of the attractions at the World Chocolate Wonderland exhibition, to take place in Beijing later this month. [The Telegraph]

• With the gourmet burger craze taking hold across the city, the Star’s Amy Pataki samples various incarnations to see which ones deliver in the flavour department. She concludes that in most cases, the trend is a good thing, and ranks the newest spot, Oh Boy Burger Market, as the best.  [Toronto Star]

• In a strange tradition officially established by George Bush Sr. in 1989, the American president pardons two Thanksgiving turkeys every year, permitting them to live out the rest of their days without being eaten. Curious about the practice, a blogger looked into the fates of the birds and discovered that they are sent to Disney World. This lot is less ideal than it sounds. The farm-raised turkeys usually don’t live very long: the weight-gaining food they were fed all their lives combined with years of genetic modification means they are prone to serious health problems. [Mother Nature Network]

• Grub Street has posted a slide show of an NYC McDonald’s that now looks like a posh hotel lobby rather than a grimy fast food joint, thanks to a recent renovation. The restaurant is awash with Danish furniture, flat-screen televisions and Wi-Fi in a trend that has taken place at thousands of outlets in France and the U.K. We’re doubtful, though, that the glam and glitter can improve the smell. [Grub Street]

• In the ongoing Cadbury saga, Hershey Co. and Ferrero International SA revealed Wednesday that they are sizing up the British confectioner, though neither company would confirm reports that they have both been quietly discussing a joint bid. This is bad news for Kraft, which has been trying for weeks to nab Cadbury. [Globe and Mail]

New Generation Sushi on Bloor St. W. (Photo by Google)

• What began as a minor argument between two employees at New Generation, a popular stop along the Annex’s sushi strip, culminated in a murder. As many as 18 patrons were present at the restaurant on Saturday night when the nightmarish situation unfolded. Unfinished plates of food remained on tables on Sunday as investigators searched for clues. A 27-year-old employee was killed, and a 25-year-old co-worker was arrested at the scene. [Toronto Star]

• Good magazine has compiled a comparative infographic that looks at the national obesity rates and caloric intake of various countries around the world. As in so many other competitions, the U.S. reigns supreme, with 66.3 per cent of its citizens considered obese; the average daily caloric intake there is 3,767, with about 39 per cent of those calories coming from fats, oils and sugar. It’s no wonder, then, that the U.S. couldn’t make it into Forbes’ top 10 healthiest countries in the world. Canada came in eighth, with a still-shameful 23.1 per cent of its citizens overweight. [Good]

• After what seemed like an interminable flirtation, Kraft finally made a move on Cadbury yesterday—only to be shot down like a nerd on prom night. The hostile bid of about $16.3 billion (U.S.) was quickly rejected, but this does not mean a deal is impossible. Analysts have been watching the two companies since Kraft first expressed an interest in the chocolate maker in September. The merger, if successful, could be one of the biggest of the year and would allow Kraft to expand its portfolio of snacks and confectionery. Looks like wooing Cadbury takes a slow hand, not an aggressive takeover. [New York Times]

• A 22-year-old student from the U.K. has been diagnosed with lachanophobia, or a fear of vegetables. It’s not the taste that fills her with dread, but the mere sight of them on her plate. As a result, she has been subsisting on a “diet of meat, cereal and potatoes,” with the occasional apple thrown in. We hope nobody breaks the news to her that potatoes are vegetables (evidently less scary than most). [Telegraph]

• The recent increase of street food options in Toronto has made it clearer than ever that our town is sorely lacking in outdoor places to eat. Ali Pulver, an American grad student, has a solution. She’s invented a few impromptu eating surfaces: portable tabletops that can be placed on fire hydrants and magnetic shelves that can be attached to signposts. The items aren’t for sale yet, but their progress can be monitored here. [Midtown Lunch]