Rat poison found in some baby food jars in Central Europe leads to recall

PRAGUE (AP) — Countries across Central Europe pulled baby food off the shelves Monday after rat poison was discovered in some jars of the HiPP brand over the weekend.

Austria 's health minister told parents, kindergartens and day care centers to use utmost caution when feeding young children HiPP. The company recalled some of its baby food jars because samples there as well as in Slovakia and the Czech Republic tested positive for rat poison.

Authorities believe tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-old children that were sold at SPAR supermarkets in Austria. The first sample tested positive on Saturday.

On Monday, Austrian authorities said they were searching for a second jar of baby food that may have poison. It may have been sold at a Spar supermarket in the eastern town of Eisenstadt, Austrian news agency APA reported.

Women take the lead in whiskey as more female drinkers and distillers change the industry

SHOREHAM, Vt. (AP) — Meghan Ireland always loved chemistry, but as a college freshman studying chemical engineering, she didn’t know she could channel her passion for science into the art of making whiskey.

It took stumbling across an article about a female chemical engineer who became a master whiskey distiller for something to click: Ireland's fellow students could go into plastics and pharmaceuticals, she was going into whiskey.

“It was kind of like a connection of, 'hey, I can see someone who looks like me, who has the same exact kind of education and background doing this job,' and kind of opened it up as an option,” said Ireland, now the chief blender behind Vermont-based whiskey brand WhistlePig.

Ireland is among a growing number of women who have become leaders inside a traditionally male-dominated industry that has not always welcomed outsiders. Increasingly, women are launching their own brands and finding new ways to innovate in distilling and blending at a time when more women are drinking whiskey.

Alberta government meeting with grocers to address food affordability: minister

EDMONTON - Alberta's government says it's meeting with some of Canada's largest grocers to address food affordability in the province.

Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally says in a statement that the cost of food has gone up across the country and the world.

He says the government is meeting with grocery owners because lowering costs for Albertans is its top priority.

Premier Danielle Smith told her provincewide radio show on Saturday that many Albertans are frustrated with their increased food bills.

Agropur announces nearly $1 billion to expand operations in Quebec, Nova Scotia

MONTRÉAL - The Agropur dairy co-operative is set to invest nearly $1 billion to expand operations at two facilities in Quebec and Nova Scotia amid strong demand for protein-enriched foods.

The co-operative says the money will double milk processing capacity at its plant in Beauceville, Que., southeast of Quebec City and create about 60 jobs.

Agropur CEO Émile Cordeau says the co-operative wants to completely renovate the Quebec plant and install new technology.

Its plant in the Halifax area, which specializes in fluid milk, will be expanded to produce dairy proteins, creating nearly 30 jobs.

How you store produce can make it last longer

A few small changes to how you store fruits and vegetables can have big benefits for the planet – and your wallet.

From herbs that wilt in days to berries that seem to mold even faster, what we toss in the trash often has less to do with what we buy than how we store it at home.

A lot of that spoilage happens because of moisture and temperature.

From a scientific perspective, produce doesn’t just go bad — it breaks down under specific conditions. Plants, like humans, carry natural microflora, a diverse community of microscopic organisms.

Provinces on track to allow cross-border alcohol sales by next month, Ottawa says

OTTAWA - The federal government says 10 provinces and the Yukon are on track to allow consumers to buy Canadian alcohol directly from producers by next month.

Pierre-Alain Bujold, a spokesperson for the Privy Council Office, says provinces and territories are continuing to work toward the May 2026 deadline.

He says each participating province and territory will decide how to implement the policy within their jurisdictions.

All 10 provinces and the Yukon signed an agreement last year to allow consumers to order Canadian wine, spirits, beer and other alcoholic beverages for personal consumption directly from producers.

A spiced nuts and seeds recipe from Linda McCartney’s plant-based ‘Family Kitchen’ cookbook

This recipe is excerpted from the cookbook “Linda McCartney’s Family Kitchen.” Linda was ahead of her time on plant-based eating in the ‘80s and ’90s — today, it is much easier to follow a plant-forward lifestyle than when she wrote her first cookbooks.

Now, all the ingredients you need for tasty, healthy plant-based meals are more easily available in stores. Farmers’ markets and farm shares make it possible to eat locally and seasonally, and as more and more people embrace plant-based eating, the range of plant-based and vegan alternatives is growing fast.

Nuts are such a useful food and are key in a plant-based diet. They are rich in essential monounsaturated fats and high in protein. Add them to salads or bakes, or just enjoy them as a nutritious snack. To make them even more irresistible, these are roasted with some mixed seeds and coated with spices and herbs (seeds such as flax, sesame, pumpkin and hemp add nutrients and flavor to dishes.)

Spiced Nuts and SeedsServings: 2 to 3

Sobeys expands deal with digital shelf labels firm JRTech Solutions

MONTREAL - Sobeys has expanded a partnership with JRTech Solutions Inc. that will see it install electronic shelf labels across more than 300 grocery stores.

JRTech Solutions says the deal includes the tech and infrastructure to roll out tech company Pricer AB's multicoloured electronic shelf labels and cloud-based platform Pricer Plaza at stores.   

Montreal-based JRTech Solutions has been the distributor for Pricer's electronic shelf labels since 2008.

It says the deployment is scheduled to start next month and go on for 18 months.

High fuel prices driving up shipping costs for northern grocers

Whether it's Florida oranges, Colombian coffee or even homegrown items from another province, food has often travelled a long way before it reaches grocery stores in Canada.

The supply chain gets even longer for communities in the Far North.

Typically, groceries are loaded onto a truck and taken to a launch point in cities like Ottawa or Winnipeg. They're then flown, or shipped by sea, to finally reach the shelves of remote northern grocery stores.

It's an expensive journey. By the time groceries reach northern communities, the added transport costs mean items are priced significantly higher than what most Canadians pay at the grocery store — and even more for fresh and perishable produce.

Independent grocers adjusting to fuel surcharges from suppliers

A few weeks into the war in Iran, an Ontario-based grocer started receiving surcharge letters from its suppliers stating that delivery costs would be going up.

It was not an exorbitant amount; somewhere between $15 to $50 for a truckload, said Giancarlo Trimarchi, president of Vince's Market, a family-owned grocery chain with four locations north of Toronto.

But that quickly adds up, he said.

"Smaller grocers like us often have smaller orders because we have smaller stores and smaller back rooms where we can't hold a lot of stuff," Trimarchi said. 

Metro says consumers haven’t seen full impact of high gas prices yet

Metro Inc. shoppers have not seen the full effects of high fuel prices in their grocery bills yet, the grocery and drugstore retailer says.

On the supplier side, Metro chief financial officer Nicolas Amyot said the company hasn't received that many price increase requests so far. 

"Only a few, actually," Amyot said in response to a question during a conference call Wednesday after the company delivered its second-quarter financial results.

Amyot said the grocer is "negotiating the conditions and trying to delay the impact that this might have on food pricing."

Manitoba premier says grocery tax cut will expand to corner stores

SELKIRK - Manitoba's planned tax cut on prepared meals and snacks at grocery stores will be expanded to smaller outlets including convenience stores, Premier Wab Kinew said Friday.

The NDP government originally planned, in its March budget, to remove the sales tax from all food at grocery stores only, starting July 1, to help people with the cost of living.

Basic groceries are already tax-exempt at all stores, but the change would remove the tax from snacks, soft drinks and prepared meals such as rotisserie chickens, as long as it is sold at a grocery store.

Convenience store owners had cried foul, saying they sell many of the same products and would be put at a disadvantage. 

Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week

TORONTO -  

Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:

Inflation

Statistics Canada will release its latest reading for inflation on Monday when it publishes its consumer price index for March. The annual inflation rate is expected to rise to 2.5 per cent compared with the 1.8 per cent result in February as higher oil prices pushed up the cost of gas.

Iconic Thunderbird restaurant set to take flight once more

The famous restaurant at 1970 McPhillips St. announced its return in a series of social media posts earlier this month, promising the same food and atmosphere it became known for after it opened its doors in 1961.