An Australian beer advertisement has reportedly ticked off Disney because it features a Snow White lookalike lying in bed blowing smoke rings with seven undressed dwarves. The ad campaign for Jamieson Brewery's Raspberry Ale was created by the Australian advertising agency The Foundry to promote the beer as "anything but sweet" with a maiden they call "Ho White" and seven dwarves.
Few leads are reported at this point, but police are speculating as to all possible motives, including the case of a jealous farmer.
"We're looking at the possibility that it may be a grower that's had a failed crop and he's substituting through theft," Zander said.
Police do believe the timing of the thefts shows the thieves are in the know.
"Somebody has the knowledge that cucumbers are being picked at the appropriate time, they're being stored in boxes, buckets or bags -- and overnight the thefts are occurring," Zander tells ABC News reporter Pete McDonald.
Even if there was a lead, Zander admits it is hard to determine which cucumbers are the stolen ones.
Embezzled cukes could be sold right under investigator's noses at local grocery stores and markets, as there is no way to detect a cucumber's origin.
As anybody who has been reading Slashfood for a while can attest, one of our collective sore points is the dreaded high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). In general, we tend to blame this dietary crime against humanity on the corn industry, which pushes the vile concoction on us like a particularly unscrupulous crack dealer.
However, in the broader scheme of things, it's also worth noting that the corn growers of America share the guilt with several other parties. For example, while they make the dreaded stuff, they don't force manufacturers to use it or consumers to buy it. In a similar vein, nobody is forcing the federal government to subsidize America's corn crop, which makes the stuff unbelievably cheap. Somewhere between the endless struggle to reduce manufacturing costs and the desperate search for less expensive foods, we all have to admit to some level of complicity in this culinary disaster.
With this sort of system-wide perspective in mind, Australia recently revised its national dietary guidelines, stressing greener, more sustainable, and healthier food. In many ways, this represents a concerted effort to change the entire culinary culture of a country, an incredibly ambitious goal. Presumably, as the country reconsiders its standards for growth, harvesting, transport, and consumption of foods, it will become easier for consumer to make healthy, economical, and ethical food choices.
As the land down under moves forward in this quest, hopefully America will follow its lead!
It's a predicament almost as old as alcohol itself. In fact, in Macbeth, Shakespeare wrote of partaking in alcoholic beverages: "It provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance." Well, maybe if Shakespeare had spent more time drinking in moderation...
NewScientist reports that a recent Australian study found that moderate drinking can actually reduce the chances of developing erectile dysfunction by 25% - 30% compared to people who don't drink at all, even after accounting for additional risk factors such as age, smoking and heart disease.
Sounds counterintuitive compared to the old adage, right? But it seems more and more, scientists are identifying the health benefits of drinking in moderation. (Plus drinking in moderation can provide you the benefits of not looking like an idiot at family gatherings!) To your health!
Want to win a cruise for two? All you have to do is tell a good story (oh--and it has to be true--and you have to be 21 years old). Alice White, a well-known Australian wine brand, just "did her colors," as the press release puts it, and got all new, colorful labels for the line of wines. Now the brand has launched a "Live Life in Color" contest that asks you to tell the story of a colorful adventure you've had (no matter how big or small) and enter to win a Royal Caribbean cruise for two, including airfare. Ten first place winners will receive a 10-piece cookware set and a $100 American Express gift card.
The contest begins tomorrow, January 26, and runs through March 30. Some ideas that might spark your imagination: mastering a new recipe, fundraising for your favorite charity, meeting someone you've long admired, celebrating a milestone in a special way...there's nothing too big or too small to write about. And it's only 200 words or less. I'm practically there on this post already.
Ok, so wine has numerous health benefits. It cures everything from cold sores to cancer. (Note: the above is not intended as medical device.) I tout wine's health benefits as much as anyone, but deep down inside, the truth is that I kind of like my wine as a vice. It's the only vice I have, really (though I'm sure my husband would say otherwise). I don't drink it because of its health benefits, but for the sheer pleasure of the taste, the bouquet, the way it enhances the food I cook and relaxes me after a stressful day at work or with the kids. The fact that it won't kill me in small quantities is simply a bonus.
What I don't want is a wine that's turned into a drug. An Australian doctor has pumped up a wine with resveratrol, the antioxidant that makes wine so good for you, with 100 times the normal amount. Phillip Norie, the winemaker and an M.D. expert on the link between wine and health, calls it a preventative medicine and a vascular pipe-cleaner. Taste-testers say they can't taste the difference between this wine and normal wine.
Perhaps the discovery will launch a new generation of health-concious wine-drinkers, but I hope if that's the case, they'll move beyond imbibing strictly for health and begin to enjoy the wine for the beautiful drink it is.
Now that Thanksgiving is behind us and the December holidays are ahead of us, but not so close that I'm feeling the panic of unbought presents and unmade cookies and undecorated house, it's time to talk about a wine that was tailor-made for this "down" week before the holiday frenzy begins, when you still have time for a bit of pre-bed reading or TV-watching while snuggled into a cozy chair with a blanket tucked around your legs. The wine is, of course, Syrah, or Shiraz, as it's known in Australia.
It used to be that you could draw at least a loose demarcation between the two styles. Syrah, originally from France with its most notable examples coming from the Northern Rhone, is more a rough-and-tumble wine: wild, spicy, and requiring age and food to appreciate its greatness. Shiraz, by contrast, is almost Port-like with its richness and velvety chocolate undertones.
Lately the lines between the two have become increasingly blurred, with more New World wines labeled "Syrah" that taste more of "Shiraz" and some vice versa, so it's harder to choose which you're in the mood for based on the label alone.
Continue reading "Syrah/Shiraz - Wine of the Week" after the jump.
By the time McDonald's introduced Happy Meals, I was too old to enjoy them. I've always felt kind of gypped by the whole Happy Meal thing. Now that the fast-food giant may discontinue the Pasta Zoo Happy Meal in its Australian restaurants, I'm even more disappointed. Actually that's a lie, I've never even heard of Pasta Zoo until today. It sounds like the pasta version of animal crackers.
Pasta Zoo was introduced back in January, but after poor sales, McDonald's is seriously considering replacing it with something else. The animal-shaped pasta with dipping sauce was part of the company's efforts to provide healthier Happy Meals.
This isn't the first failed product for Macca's, as the chain is known Down Under. Last spring the chain tested several dinner items, including spaghetti Bolognese and beef rendang, that were dropped from the menu. As a fan of Malaysian food, I don't whether to be happy or disappointed that one can no longer get a Big Mac with a side order of rendang in Australia.
It's Monday morning, and if you have a lot of work to catch up on or a deadline to meet, consider popping a piece of gum.
There's a new study from Australia that found chewing gum not only raises alertness, it also reduces stress and anxiety. Study participants were subjected to a test called DISS (Defined Intensity Stressor Simulation). The gum chewers also had "significant improvement in overall performance on multi-tasking activities."
The study was done in conjunction with Wrigley, and their Wrigley Science Institute. I'm not discounting the study results, but I also think that's something to keep in mind. What do you think about this study?
If you're unfamiliar with these disgusting-looking fungi called truffles, there's a good reason for that. Truffles are among the most expensive foods in the world, along with caviar and saffron. Up until recently, though, they could only be grown in Italy, Spain, and France.
That's all changing, though. Over the last ten years, farmers in Western Australia have been working growing the precious mushroom and they've finally succeeded. The truffle producers are understandably proud of their achievement: they say that several other places have tried and failed to grow truffles.
The farmers are predicting a crop of 600KG to a ton this year and up to 8 tons in coming years. Who knows, maybe they'll produce enough that prices will come down and foodies everywhere will be able to indulge on a regular basis.
Depending on your preferences, you probably found this title either deeply appealing or really disgusting.
If you're a dog, hopefully you felt the former, because this new product is designed for the furry set: Dog Beer. A company in Australia has concocted a brew specifically for Fluffy. It's non-alcoholic, but company owner Elise Schumacher claims it tastes just like normal beer. Apparently, she came up with the idea after she saw her own dogs, Louis and Vuitton, leaping up to catch drops of beer.
Some customers are paying up to five bucks per bottle for the stuff in Melbourne.
But it looks like Dog Beer wasn't the first to come up with this idea. A woman in the States makes Happy Tail Ale, specifically for canines - at only $1.50 a bottle.
Uh, and I know I don't have to tell you this, but dogs can't metabolize normal beer like we can - so please don't go trying to give your dogs a sip of your Sam Adams, okay?
There's been a five year court battle between Cadbury and an Australian chocolate maker, Darrell Lea. The international chocolate giant claims that it owns the color purple as far as packaging and marketing chocolate is concerned. Cadbury says that Darrell Lea, who uses purple for "its store signage, uniforms and products was too similar to its own and confused customers."
There are only so many colors, in all reality. There are far more people making chocolate products than there are colors to go around. As long as one isn't directly copying the look of another, I think that we can share a few colors.
Childhood obesity isn't just a US problem -- it's a global epidemic.
In Australia, children are so fat that they don't fit into their car seats (the source article calls them "booster seats"). Researchers in Melbourne found that of the children who meet the height requirement (i.e. are short enough to sit in a car seat), 40% of them are too heavy.
Yikes.
And what's even more alarming is that parents are putting their kids in the car anyway using the regular seatbelts, which could do more harm to kids than good. For now, Australian researchers are calling for bigger seats to accommodate the bigger children, but how about Australia, and the US, work on getting kids to a healthy weight that fits?
It's Leap Day, and zoos and animal organizations across the world are kicking off "Year of the Frog," which aims to highlight the impact of global warming and pollution on our amphibian friends. In honor of the cause, here's a rundown of some notable frog-themed foods (though nothing containing actual frog, that seemed a bit crass):
Freddo Frog - An Australian treat since the 1930s, this chocolate cartoon frog is made by Cadbury and comes in different flavors and fillings. Weird note: I bought an aquatic frog from the pet store when I was seventeen and named him Freddo, with no knowledge of the Australian candy connection. Guess it's just a good name for a frog. Freddo's still alive.
Haribo Frogs - the white, marshmallowy underbellies are my favorite part of these lime-flavored German gummies.
Frogaroni - frog-shaped pasta, in regular and spinach green.
Frog Cake - Little sponge cakes coated in fondant and decorated with froggy features are a specialty of the South Australian city of Adelaide.
The foods were chosen based on sheer caloric impact alone, because in the end, it all comes down to the number of calories we consume and burn. However, some "allowances" were made for excessive carbohydrates and fat, added sugars, trans fats, and sodium. After all their calculations, the Aussie Cheese Fries weigh in at 2,900 calories, 182 g fat, and 240 g carbs. Even if you do the polite thing and share the order with three other people, your starter alone will already put you over a dinner's worth of calories before the server even brings your entree to the table.
So I guess that means, order the Aussie Fries and a glass of water for dinner, right?
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As anybody who has been reading Slashfood for a while can attest, one of our collective sore points is the dreaded high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). In general, we tend to blame this dietary crime against humanity on the corn industry, which pushes the vile concoction on us like a particularly unscrupulous crack dealer. 
Now that Thanksgiving is behind us and the December holidays are ahead of us, but not so close that I'm feeling the panic of unbought presents and unmade cookies and undecorated house, it's time to talk about a wine that was tailor-made for this "down" week before the holiday frenzy begins, when you still have time for a bit of pre-bed reading or TV-watching while snuggled into a cozy chair with a blanket tucked around your legs. The wine is, of course, Syrah, or Shiraz, as it's known in Australia. 
By the time McDonald's introduced Happy Meals, I was too old to enjoy them. I've always felt kind of gypped by the whole Happy Meal thing. Now that the fast-food giant may discontinue the Pasta Zoo Happy Meal in its Australian restaurants, I'm even more disappointed. Actually that's a lie, I've never even heard of Pasta Zoo until today. It sounds like the pasta version of animal crackers. 
If you're unfamiliar with these disgusting-looking fungi called truffles, there's a good reason for that. Truffles are among the most expensive foods in the world, along with caviar and saffron. Up until recently, though, they could only be grown in Italy, Spain, and France.
Yesterday, I brought you a story about a victory for Ferrero Rocher. Well today, here's a victory for the little guy.
Childhood obesity isn't just a US problem -- it's a global epidemic.
It's Leap Day, and zoos and animal organizations across the world are kicking off "Year of the Frog," which aims to highlight the impact of global warming and pollution on our amphibian friends. In honor of the cause, here's a rundown of some notable frog-themed foods (though nothing containing actual frog, that seemed a bit crass): 
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