California restaurants will have to disclose food allergens on their menus under new law

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California will become the first state in the nation requiring restaurants to list major food allergens on their menus starting in 2026 under a new law.

The law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Monday applies to businesses with at least 20 locations. They will have to disclose ingredients including milk, eggs, shellfish and tree nuts when they know or “reasonably should know” that they are in their products.

California state Sen. Caroline Menjivar, a Democrat, said the bill was inspired in part by her own experiences living with severe allergies to many nuts and fruits.

“Soon, the millions of Californians with food allergies, many of whom are young children, will be able to fully enjoy dining out without fear or apprehension at these qualifying restaurants,” she said when the bill passed in the Legislature. “In turn, these businesses will be able to offer allergen families a unique additional assurance that will drive customers to their establishments.”

Can-do spirit drives Filipino-flavoured, Spam-powered venture

Matt Masangkay and Megan Esguerra are the founders of Subi, a three-month-old food venture specializing in Spam musubi, a Hawaiian favourite that combines sushi rice and dried nori seaweed with, as its name implies, the oft-maligned, canned luncheon meat.

Following healthy food guidelines in Canada comes at a high cost, study finds

MONTREAL - A recent study out of Laval University finds many foods that are high in sodium and sugar on Canadian shelves are much cheaper than healthier, equivalent options. 

The lead author said she hopes the findings could prompt meaningful action at the political level to reduce health inequalities caused by high food prices in the country.

“Someone who has the means can perhaps afford to make changes to the foods they’re used to eating and opt for something that may be a little more expensive but is more nutritious, but we know that’s not the case for everyone,” said Isabelle Petitclerc, also a PhD candidate in nutrition at the university.

The study was published in the journal Public Health Nutrition in August. 

Maxime’s restaurant, set to close soon, ‘cannot keep up with the demand’

A St. Vital restaurant that recently announced it will close next month after 41 years says it can’t keep up with the demand for reservations.

Maxime’s Restaurant and Lounge will not be taking new bookings until further notice.

“We must determine, day by day, how we will continue our operations to best serve our guests and remaining employees,” the restaurant said in a Facebook post Thursday.

The restaurant posted on Oct. 2 that the owners have decided to retire and have sold the land and building at 1131 St. Mary’s Rd. The Bekios family said last week it is planning to close the restaurant in the third week of November.

N.B. wants to sell its stock of American alcohol removed in anti-Trump protest

FREDERICTON - The New Brunswick Liquor Corporation says it wants to sell the remaining $3.4 million worth of American alcohol it removed from store shelves in protest over the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Lori Stickles, corporation president, told a legislature committee earlier in the week that the agency has sold about $600,000 worth of American alcohol since the protest began in March.

The corporation, along with liquor boards across the country, removed American alcohol from shelves after Trump started to threaten Canada with a trade war and annexation.

There is not much demand for American products with consumers having moved on, she said. 

Senate debates bill to add warning labels to alcohol packaging

OTTAWA - Sen. Patrick Brazeau is trying a second time to pass legislation that would add cancer warning labels to alcohol packaging.

The Senate is studying Bill S-202, a revival of legislation Brazeau sponsored in the last Parliament. The previous bill died on the order paper when the spring election was called.

Brazeau, who has been sober for five years, said his personal experience with alcohol is part of what drives his push for change.

"It does ruin lives. It kills people. It's certainly not good for mental health. And personally, you know, it led me down a very, very, very dark path, so dark that I just wanted to put an end to my life," he said.

All B.C. government liquor, cannabis stores now behind workers’ pickets in escalation

Job action by British Columbia public service workers is putting pressure on craft brewers, with the head of one industry group saying major players are facing a cash flow crunch, while smaller breweries are contending with a boon in demand.

Ken Beattie, executive director of the BC Craft Brewers Guild, said the escalation of job action by the BC General Employees' Union to include all government-run liquor stores in the province is affecting brewers in different ways depending on their size.

"Our biggest members … they're getting devastated," he said in an interview Wednesday. "It's not good for them at all."

Smaller breweries that aren't reliant on the province's distribution system, however, can sell and deliver directly to private retailers and bars and restaurants, so they're grappling with the increase in demand, Beattie said.

Side shows: These culinary supporting roles earn the Thanksgiving spotlight

Three side-dish recipes, each with a fun twist. Enjoy Diane Nelson’s recipe for Zippy Carrots, Debbie Hurrell’s Cranberry Salad and Debbie Nolan’s Pork Sausage Stuffing.

Roasters and cafés grapple with rising coffee bean prices

Your daily cup of java is getting a little more expensive as roasters and cafés grapple with rising coffee bean prices.

Climate change has been the biggest contributor to the ongoing surge in bean prices, as coffee crops are very sensitive to temperature changes, said Michael von Massow, food economist at the University of Guelph.

"We've seen some increases in disease and some decreases in yield that have lowered supply, and basic economics 101 — when supply goes down, prices go up," he said in an interview on Monday.

Coffee prices have remained high amid concerns of dry weather in Brazil, a major coffee-producing country.

Oktoberfest ends Sunday with the traditional Bavarian salute

MUNICH (AP) — The 190th Oktoberfest came to a close Sunday, wrapping up the world’s largest folk festival with the traditional Bavarian marksmen’s gun salute in Munich.

Roughly 6.5 million visitors attended between Sept. 20 and Sunday, German news agency dpa reported, including Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Austrian-born former governor of California spontaneously conducted a live music band and the singing crowd in a beer tent on Sept. 26.

Schwarzenegger, dressed in a traditional Bavarian-style leather jacket, a buttoned-down shirt and jeans, was accompanied by his partner, Heather Milligan, and his son, Christopher.

The fairgrounds were closed for hours Wednesday as police searched the area due to a bomb threat linked to an explosion across town.

Bar Accanto chef off to finals of Canada’s Great Kitchen Party

Emily Butcher, executive chef of Bar Accanto and Nola in St. Boniface, snagged the top podium spot at Wednesday’s regional leg of the national culinary competition Canada’s Great Kitchen Party.

Butcher, 35, who moved to Winnipeg from Vancouver 10 years ago, scored top marks in the six categories — visual, texture, taste, technical, beverage compatibility and wow factor — on which all eight competing plates were judged.

The 2025 gold medallist’s dish of smoked duck and squash dumpling, massaman curry, fermented kohlrabi salad with black pepper glazed octopus, leche de tigre, pickled eggplant and toasted peanut was inspired by the Prairie landscape and rooted in her West Coast upbringing and Chinese heritage.

This is the second gold medal for Butcher after her 2019 regional win, which led her to compete in the 2020 nationals, where she took bronze.

Maxime’s to shutter after 4 decades of service

A south Winnipeg restaurant known for its deep menu and engaging hospitality will close next month after more than 40 years in business.

Maxime’s Restaurant and Lounge announced on social media on Thursday that the owners have decided to retire “after much deliberation” and have sold the land and building.

The Bekios family is planning to close the Worthington neighbourhood restaurant — located at 1131 St. Mary’s Rd., just north of Abinojii Mikanah — in the third week of November.

“We have enjoyed so many years of success and our family’s journey has been one of extreme love and labour,” the family said in the statement. “We love the restaurant and our Winnipeg community and all that you have represented in our lives all these years.”

From rooftops to honey jars, Athens is abuzz with urban beekeeping

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Nikos Chatzilias spends his days tending to buzzing bee colonies with a unique view out over the rooftops of Greece’s capital.

He is among the dozens of Athenians who have embraced urban beekeeping to support local ecosystems, reconnect with nature and enjoy honey flavored by each neighborhood’s local plants and flowers.

Chatzilias, 37, was a heavy honey consumer, eating it with bread and tea for breakfast and using it to replace sugar everywhere else, including in cookies and other sweets. He grew dissatisfied with run-of-the-mill product and decided to make his own, signing up for beekeeping classes in 2020 and becoming a professional shortly thereafter.

“I saw that it worked really well for the hives. For us, the daily contact with the bees brought us a lot of joy, and that’s why we continued,” he said.