"Vermont" news and stories

Chalk up another win for Vermont's food police. Starting Feb. 1, McDonald's customers in the chilly northern state will be able to request 100 percent real maple syrup with their Fruit and Maple Oatmeal, after the Vermont Agency of Agriculture (VAA) called the company out for using the term maple in its advertising earlier this month.

There is no actual maple product in the menu item – a violation of Vermont's strict maple law.

According to the Associated Press, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin said that the only maple ingredient found in the Fruit and Maple Oatmeal was extracted from the bark of a bush that is a distant relative of the maple tree.

That didn't sit well with state officials, who immediately contacted McDonald's about the sweet stuff, January 3.

"It is illegal to use the word maple on a product unless the sweetener is 100 percent pure maple. Artificial maple flavoring should be clearly and conspicuously labeled on the principal panel with the term 'artificial flavor', VAA spokesperson Kelly Loftus told Slashfood earlier this month.

Where's the maple? McDonald's may have gotten itself in a sticky mess with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture (VAA), who says the company's new Fruit & Maple Oatmeal menu item does not actually contain any maple product. That's a violation of Vermont's stringent maple law, and could mean that McDonald's will have to change ingredients or labeling.

"What we understand, is there is no actual maple in the [McDonald's] product being advertised. Vermont maple law and regulations are very specific for how the term maple is used in advertisements," Kelly Loftus, VAA spokesperson told Slashfood. "It is illegal to use the word maple on a product unless the sweetener is 100 percent pure maple. Artificial maple flavoring should be clearly and conspicuously labeled on the principal panel with the term 'artificial flavor'."

McDonald's Fruit & Maple Oatmeal ingredient list includes whole grain rolled oats, brown sugar, food starch-modified, salt, natural maple flavor with other natural flavor (plant source), barley malt extract, and caramel color.

In a written statement, McDonald's says they are "currently in discussions with the State of Vermont to ensure that we meet any applicable state standards."

Vermonters are rightly proud of their signature export: rich, sweet, sticky, 100% maple syrup. Imitators have never quite been able to replicate it. But one purveyor of imitation syrup has a new product on the shelves that's creating an extra-sticky situation in the Green Mountains. (Full disclosure: I'm a Vermonter born and raised. That's right, this is personal.)

Called Log Cabin All Natural Syrup, the new product is indeed a kind of syrup, and it may technically be "all natural" -- there are no artificial ingredients or preservatives in the stuff. It's also in a new container -- one that just so happens to look exactly like the jugs Vermont farmers have used for decades. But that's where the resemblance ends.

A weekly look at the draft selections in beer-friendly bars across the country.

Despite being the second least populous state in the nation (ranking just below Wyoming), Vermont is well-known as a craft beer haven. The state ranks #1 in craft breweries per capita and is home to recognizable brewery names like Magic Hat, Long Trail and Harpoon. So as the state capital, Montpelier, Vt. really has no choice but to represent!

But for years, the minuscule capital (with just over 8,000 people) didn't have a craft beer bar to call its own. Three Penny Taproom came to the rescue.

"We're our country's smallest state capital," says owner Scott Kerner. "The only one without a McDonald's." Now, since May 1, 2009, the city finally has a top-flight beer bar. And though representing this beer-friendly state from its capital might seemingly create some pressure, Kerner believes they've risen to the task, "In our nine months, we've created quite a stir in not just Vermont, but in New England."

Read more about Three Penny Taproom and find their recent draft list after the jump...

• You may think of maple syrup when you think of Vermont, but it turns out there's also a lot of hot sauce. Gotta keep warm up there!
• Perhaps some of that Vermont hot sauce will come in handy for your next Bloody Mary.
• Vermont chefs ward off winter by recalling the hottest things they've ever eaten.
• For another spicy snack, here are ways to use the chutney idling in the back of your fridge.
• Once you've finally warmed up, head for some refreshing wines.