This conclusion was published in the European Heart Journal just this month. The study looked at the ability of women's arteries to relax and expand after drinking tea, either with or without milk. The otherwise healthy participants showed a significant improvement in their blood flow after drinking plain tea, while the tea with 10% skim milk showed no benefits. Similar experiments were conducted on rats with the same results.

Pressing on with their intentions to improve the company's image, McDonald's has started to serve 100% Rainforest Alliance certified coffee beans. Rainforest Alliance is a New York-based nonprofit that certifies coffee production farms and facilities to a set of standards that mandate specific environmental protection policies, workers' rights and community involvement and the group says that McDonald's intends to expand the use of their certified coffee from the UK to the rest of their European outlets over the course of the year. For now, the coffee will be available in all 1,200 outlets of McDonald's UK, making the company the first major retailer in the country to use such a certification.

Many McDonald's outlets in the US offer fair-trade certified coffee from Green Mountain Coffee, but there is no nationwide policy mandating the use of one specifically certified coffee.

For several years many European vineyards have been making a percentage of their wine into alcohol to use in disinfectants and as gasoline additives. The European Union may have to force vineyards to destroy some of their vines because the over-production of wine is getting out of hand. The EU has been trying to control prices on wines and been spending $190 million a year in destroying perfectly good wine to do so. Now there is a proposal out to destroy 100,000 acres of wine, more than 10% of Europe's total acreage of vines, over the next five years as a way to control the surplus. Europe, especially France has suffered from poor wine sales the past decade.

Other wine producing areas such as New Zealand, Australia, South America, South Africa, and the US are producing very good wines at decent prices that are now controlling the market. It is yet to be seen whether the European vineyards will be cut back or if some other method of control will be used. Personally I might drink more French and European wines if the price dropped, especially for the better quality products which I don't try as often as I would like.

In order to mitigate the problem, the WWF recommends that consumers only buy fish that comes from sustainable and well-managed fisheries. This is marked on fish with a Marine Stewardship Council label.

In contrast to American consumers, who regularly request that the nutritional information be presented in the absolute simplest form possible, European consumers are now saying that they would prefer to have the calories in foods on their nutritional labels. The reason for this is not that they have some deeper understanding of nutrition than Americans, but that energy-based labeling is the most widely understood system and that many consumers would like to see an EU-wide system that does not vary from place to place. The US system seems to be their model, with the most recent drive being for foods to have "front-of-pack and back-of-pack nutrition labeling, based on a uniform list of nutrients, nutrition information per serving and the introduction of Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs)." Once a standard is in place, then simplifications can be made or additional labeling systems added, but you can't simplify what isn't there, so shoppers will have to wait for a basic system first.

Emily said that she felt a little ill after the competition, but it soon passed. She also noted that she probably wouldn't be eating corn again anytime soon, but did not make a comment indicating whether or not she was interested in pursuing a career as a competitive eater in the future.

At least she was eating something relatively healthy, and not brats or hot dogs.

A public toilet in Deepdale, Lancashire in the UK is probably not the best choice of buildings for a restaurant to be located, even if the building (described as "crumbling") has not been actively used as a restroom for a decade. And yet the city has just ruled that the building can be converted into a Japanese-pagoda styled takeaway restaurant.

The reason that they want to turn the space into a restaurant - two different people have tried before - is that it is just outside the Deepdale stadium and such a location could do very good business from sports fans. Both previous attempts failed because residents have been opposed to the change on the grounds that a restaurant would create litter and attract vermin. This is particularly ironic considering that the eyesore has been a haven for prostitutes and drug addicts in the past.

I think I'd rather have a takeaway restaurant but, hey - that's just me.

The European Union has taken another step towards an internationally standardized system of food labeling, prompted by concern over obesity. The guidelines are voluntary right now, and companies including Coca-Cola and Nestle, as well as 86 other groups and companies, have agreed to comply with the regulations. New packaging will have "calorie information clearly on the front of packaging, with a more detailed list of nutrients, including energy, protein, carbohydrate, fat and salt, on the back. "

The companies that have chosen not to comply are likely those who do not wish to incur the expense of new packaging or are worried about a loss of sales. Even though, in one instance, sales shifted during a labeling change, consumers generally are unaffected by the nutritional information when they want to purchase a product.

It looks like Amsterdam will be getting a new theme park, one based on the Roald Dahl's book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The park will be called De Chocolade Fabriek and will be primarily located underground in an unused railway tunnel, which means that the builders will have an easier time creating the fictionaly world, since they won't have to block out the sights and sounds of the city. Attractions will include a glass elevator and a chocolate fountain, as well as a production facility that will make a small amount of chocolate. The park will cost about €20 million (approx. $25 million) and is expected to take 2-3 years to completion.

Since it's based on the book, not the movie, you can't expect to see the likeness of Johnny Depp popping up anywhere - unlike at the revamped Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland - but considering that they made Willy Wonka slightly more disturbed in the updated film, it's probably just as well. The park is, after all, supposed to appeal to kids.

[Images from http://www.dechocoladefabriek.nl/]

As the number of teams in the World Cup narrows, the anticipation to see who will win is growing, as is the desire of the players to win the World Cup for their country. If you're not on one of the advancing teams (and odds are good that you're not if you have the time to read this right now), the only way you're going to get your hands on a World Cup is if you buy a chocolate one. Shown with the creator/chocolatier, the chocolate World Cup is made of both milk and dark chocolates and weighs more than 5kg. It is hand-sculpted and covered in edible gold dust for an authentic and tasty look.

The base price for the trophy is £75, but that only includes shipping within the UK. If you're in Europe, the cost with shipping will be £100, and a whopping £125 ($227) to the US.

At least it's less expensive than the real thing!

After years of being stuck with a reputation for being a country  that loves bland, overcooked foods (and fish and chips), a new study shows that the British are the most adventurous eaters in Europe. More than 70% of Brits believe it's important to be open-minded about trying new foods and, in fact, that seeking out these foods is important as well. A full 50% of the British, according to the survey, regularly went out of their way to try new foods. Only 44% of French, 34% of Germans and a low 25% of Spanish eaters were likely to look to non-traditional foods.

Critics might say that there was no where to go but up as the British started moving away from "traditional" fare. The issue, however, isn't the food itself, but the acceptance of the idea that food from other countries and parts of the world might have as much, or more, to offer.

Too bad the study didn't include the US. I would have been interested to see where we fell along the continuum, though I'm fairly sure we wouldn't have topped the charts.