St. Louis Food Blog

​ Food safety bill passes the Senate. (Los Angeles Times)

Top ten dubious food label health claims. (Epicurious.com)

Giant Humbolt squid is quite tasty. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Beetles make all-natural Superglue on asparagus. (MSNBC)

Craft beer kings Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head collaborate on beer. (San Jose Mercury News)

​ Despite E. coli outbreaks, meat companies aren't required to test ground beef. (The Atlantic)

Wichita loves its salad. (Wichita Eagle)

Iowa might ban Everclear. (KCCI - Des Moines)

A rendition of Bach's Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht, the cantata about coffee, nuptials and dirty deals. It's almost like 1969, when opera was used to sell Rice Krispies. (The Star-Ledger, Louisville Courier-Journal)

​In solidarity with underpaid tomato-pickers, Bon Appétit, Washington University's dining service, will no longer be serving tomato slices or wedges on campus. Bon Appétit recently signed an agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a Florida tomato-pickers' union, that it would only buy tomatoes from growers who pay workers standard minimum wage.

So far, only Alderman Farms, a tomato farm in Boynton Beach, has agreed to maintain CIW standards. Unfortunately for Wash. U. tomato lovers, Alderman only produces grape tomatoes.

In Florida, where Bon Appétit gets most of its winter tomatoes, the average wage is 45 cents for every 32 pounds of tomatoes picked. In order to earn the equivalent of Florida's minimum wage for a ten-hour day, a worker would have to pick 2.5 tons.

​ Chicago tortilla company has long history of making kids sick. (USA Today)

Eat your veggies if you want to be hot. Or use them to build models of the London skyline. (The Daily Mail, The Mirror)

Canadian Parliament's dining room to serve seal meat. (Toronto Star)

Smuggler disguised Bolivian sweet potatoes as chocolate. (Miami Herald)

​ World Food Summit underway in Rome. In the U.S., food insecurity jumped 3.5 percent in 2008. (Reuters, The New York Times)

There's a chicken wing shortage. Panic imminent. (USA Today)

Iraq vets open coffee house aimed at war-weary soldiers. (Los Angeles Times)

Crane at New York's Ground Zero gets a Subway shop (New York Post)

​ Butchering gets hip in new Brooklyn shop. (New York Daily News)

How to lie when the food sucks. (Chicago Tribune)

Manufacturers must prove caffeinated alcoholic beverages are safe. (Los Angeles Times)

What's for dessert? Passion fruit and Viagra. (Associated Press)

​ Missouri's Share the Harvest gets boost from the state to provide donated deer meat to the needy. (St. Louis Business Journal)

Burger King owners sue corporation for money-losing promotion. (MSNBC)

New Orleans prepares to celebrate the po' boy. (The New York Times)

How to act right around celebrity chefs. (The Atlantic)

User "Spmenic," Wikimedia Commons

​Our sister paper Seattle Weekly reports that the 5-Spot, a Seattle restaurant that rotates its menu among regional cuisines, is currently offering a board of St. Louis food: fish fries,T-ravs, slingers -- but no Provel. Apparently the restaurant's general manager and assistant manager both hail from the Gateway City.

Former RFT staff writer and current Seattle Weekly managing editor Mike Seely reports on the menu for the paper's food blog, Voracious:

​ Kraft is still trying to buy Cadbury while foisting questionable recipes onto the U.S. (The Atlantic, Gawker.com)

Middle school food fight leads to 25 arrests. (The New York Times)

English breakfast gains popularity in New York. (The Guardian)

Canadian cops, Morrissey pelted with beer. (The Waterloo Record, Pollstar.com)

​ Oysters might soon be sanitized for your protection. (Washington Post)

It's the bird versus the sides in the Thanksgiving dinner battle royale. (The New York Times)

A look at the Americas Food and Beverage Show in Miami. (Miami New Times)

Cheese thieves retaliate with steak knives and flinging blocks of cheese. (Hartford Courant, The Dominion Post)

The horror of lachanophobia -- the fear of vegetables. (The Daily Express)

​ Street vendor accused of terrorism kept a clean cart. (The New York Times)

Beyond beergaritas: beer cocktails are growing. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Engineering the perfect kiwi.  (New Zealand Herald)

Marshall Efron takes on Food Network. (The Atlantic)

​ BPAs in damn near everything. Is it time to panic?  (The New York Times)

The evil that is fruit juice. (The Los Angeles Times)

The difference between British and American Cadbury. (The Guardian)

Drink some wine. Save your soul. (Catholic Review)

Cheese festivals bring tourists, puns. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

​ Big chefs write about home cooking. (Los Angeles Times)

Angostura bitters shortage could cause problems for cocktail lovers. (The Guardian)

Universal student breakfast program choking on sugar. (Chicago Tribune)

MU's new Enology and Viticulture program gets national press attention. (NPR)

After Gourmet, food magazine markets fragment. (Los Angeles Times)

​ Ohio voters approve creation of Livestock Care Standards Board. (Hoosieragtoday.com)

Perhaps cattle shouldn't eat chicken poop. (Los Angeles Times)

7-11 launches wine brand. In surprisingly unrelated news, drunk flies might hold the key to curing alcoholism. (Associated Press, World-science.net)

A bunch of food-related periodic tables. (Epicurious.com)

​ Ethical questions about meat get literary treatment. (The Austin American-Statesman)

Want to be a culinary entrepreneur? Here's how. (The New York Times)

What your beer says about you. (Advertising Age)

A glimpse at "Whining and Dining" with kids. (Memphis Commercial-Appeal)

Not a fan of chocolate? You're in good company. (The Atlantic)

​ Company recalls beef from stores, including Trader Joe's. (USDA)

New study blames meat for half of greenhouse gases. (The Independent)

Coffee sold in India claims to enhance virility. (Times of India)

Man sues over turkey-tuna mix-up. Another sues over lack of fruit in Froot Loops. (Chicagobreakingnews.com, NPR)

​ Michigan blueberry producer under fire for child labor violations. (NPR)

Company recalls Wal-Mart and Kroger store brand dairy products. (Associated Press)

How to increase food production 70% in 40 years. (The New York Times)

Humanely-raised veal? Is that possible? (Washington Post)

Competitive pumpkin-growing takes off.  (The Californian)

​ Work in a restaurant? Don't do these things. (The New York Times)

Turmeric's the latest cancer-fighting food. (Epicurious.com)

Agriculture looks to find the middle ground between science and sustainability. (Seed)

Twilight-themed restaurant opens in Washington. No, really. (Peninsula Daily News)

The buzz might be over for Jolt Cola. (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

​ Author thrives on a candy-filled diet. (The New York Times)

Halloween wines: trick or treat? (San Antonio Express-News)

How to throw a dinner party. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

University of Illinois gets a nod for being vegetarian-friendly. (Daily Illini)

Septuagenarian lobster spared in NYC restaurant. (New York Daily News)

​ How to fail at the food co-op. (The New York Times)

Oyster ban threatens industry. (MSNBC)

Name that Halloween candy. (Epicurious.com)

A look at Yuengling Beer's 180 years of brewing. (ABC News)

Missouri wine sales increase. (KOMU-TV)

​ In a story seemingly tailor-made for the Jay Leno-brand of late-night humor, Edward and Juli Pilla have been busted for growing marijuana -- lots and lots of marijuana -- inside their Warrenton home. According to a KSDK report, "The processed marijuana had an estimated street value of over $30,000." You can view a slideshow of the bust at KSDK. A Suburban Journals report adds the following:
​

Detectives Scott Schoenfeld and Jeff Doerr seized several thousand dollars worth of equipment used to grow plants indoors including sodium halide lights, electric timers, light rails, ballasts and filtration systems, Harrison said. He said a professional electrician had to help detectives dismantle the equipment.

Image Via

Presumably, if Edward and Juli Pilla got the munchies, they could dip into their other supply, their Spudmaster ColossalChips.

​Why report this here at Gut Check? Because Edward Pilla is the founder and owner of Bellflower, Missouri-based Spudmaster ColossalChips, available at many local stores. Thus making this one of the best (alleged) examples of a company controlling both demand and supply that I've encountered.

​ Researchers find reason to not mix red wine and fish. (Reuters)

Foods for fighting the flu. (WSOC-TV)

New Manwich ads touts the food's vegetable content. (Mediapost.com)

Wisconsin minister brings services to tavern. (Chicago Sun-Times)

How to switch to locally-raised meat. (Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune

​ Proposed Atlantic fishing ban scares sea captains, sellers. (WESH - TV)

New book tells readers how to drink like Norm. (Baltimore Sun)

Ice goes epicurean. (Los Angeles Times)

Smart Choice pulls food labels. (Washington Post)

Food sustainability leads to amateur butchering classes. (New York Times)

​ White wine is bad for teeth and in vitro fertilization. (BBC, The Telegraph)

So long, cashiers. British grocery chain introduces self-service store. (The Daily Mail)

Microbrewery beats big beverage company in court. (WCAX-TV)

Oregon soy company in trouble with FDA. (The Oregonian)

The worst restaurant trends of the decade. (WNEP-TV)

​ Plum Organics issues baby food recall. (Los Angeles Times)

FDA examines front-of-package labeling. (U.S. News and World Report)

Have a $100 burger, served by Blago, in reality show restaurant. (Advertising Age)

What a bento box says about a culture. (The New York Times)

Talking coffee maker doesn't have much to say. (Houston Chronicle)

​ On World Food Day, angry farmers start tire fire in Paris. (Huffingtonpost.com)

Report urges calorie limits in school lunches. (Los Angeles Times)

Amish cuisine goes urban. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

A history of Trappist beers, and how a lack of new monks might change the system. (Reuters)

How tongues taste fizz. (New York Times)

​ Cargill issues recall of beef tongue sold in Illinois. (Food Safety News)

A morning cup of collagen. (Ruby Room)

Hamm's Beer Bear: The Next Generation. (Chattahbox.com)

Infants are eating better. Toddlers still battling junk food demons. (Reuters)

Artist sees the beauty of the lunch lady. (Missionlocal.org)

​ One year after peanut butter recalls, the industry's doing better than ever. (Associated Press)

Grain harvest delay could raise prices of conventionally-produced meat. (Reuters)

Twitter to raise funds for literacy program through wine sales. (San Francisco Chronicle)

How restaurant critics try to remain anonymous. (CNN)

Home canning makes a comeback. (Wall Street Journal)

​ Ethiopian agronomist wins World Food Prize. (USA Today)

Thinning a suburban deer herd means meat for the needy. (Kansas City Star)

Do you need 76 tons of frozen British fruit pies? Check Ebay. (UPI)

Hipster demand drives Pabst Blue Ribbon prices. (NBC Los Angeles)

Some highlights from the New York City Wine and Food Festival. (Los Angeles Times)