"maple syrup" 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."

Happy National Maple Syrup Day!

The discovery of this breakfast staple can't be definitively pinpointed, but the practice of collecting sap was instilled as early as the 1650s by American Indians living along the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, who would barter them to settlers. One British chemist marveled at the commodity, describing a tree "whose juice weeps out of incisions and, if permitted to exhale, its superfluous moisture will congeal into a sweet and saccharine substance." Perfected by American Indians and French-Canadians alike, it became the default household sweetener in American homes until the start of the 20th century.

Most frequently used to adorn pancakes, waffles, and other sweet breakfast foods, maple syrup can be used on an endless variety of other foods, from desserts to meats. What's your unique use for maple syrup? Share your recipes in the comments!

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Gail Simmons makes us want to burst into a chorus of "O, Canada!" The Top Chef judge brings her Canadian heritage to the kitchen with a video how-to and gallery of recipes using maple syrup. Her Maple-roasted Fruit, Ricotta and Walnut Parfait is incredibly simple to make, and the syrup adds a clean sweetness to the seasonal fruit and creamy cheese. Walnuts add texture and crunch.

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.