Food

At an auction in Scotland, the targeted world record for a bottle of whisky was missed. According to the auction house, the highest bid for the 0.75-litre bottle of "The Macallan 1926 Fine and Rare" was ultimately one million pounds (the equivalent of about 1.16 million euros).

In autumn 2019, a bottling from the same cask had gone under the hammer for just under 1.5 million pounds. The whisky comes from a legendary stock, for enthusiasts it is said to be the "holy grail".

Quaker Oats's "Aunt Jemima" is being rebranded as "Pearl Milling Company", PepsiCo, the parent company for Quaker Oats, said. The name change was announced in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter protests against systemic racism and police brutality.

"Pearl Milling Company-branded pancake mixes, syrups, cornmeal, flour, and grits products will start to arrive in market in June 2021. Pearl Milling Company will offer people all their favorite pancake mix and syrup varieties in the same familiar red packaging previously found under the Aunt Jemima brand. Products will continue to be available under the Aunt Jemima name without the character image until June," so PepsiCo.

McDonald's has started a trial run for its new plant-based "McPlant" burger in select locations in Sweden and Denmark earlier this year. The burger is co-developed with plant-based meat substitutes producer Beyond Meat Inc. and is made from pea-based protein.

"Our new McPlant contains a steak that is juicy, spicy and plant-based - and then it is made from i.a. pea and rice protein. In addition, the burger contains a slice of melted cheese with cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, mayo, mustard and ketchup, all in a delicious sesame bun," the description reads in the Danish McDonald's website.

The Michelin Guide has awarded a star to a vegan restaurant in France for the first time. It was awarded to ONA, where top chef Claire Vallée avoids meat, fish, dairy products and honey in her dishes.

Vallée founded ONA in 2016 with the help of crowdfunding and a loan from an eco-bank. Gourmet lovers will find it in Arès, west of Bordeaux.

The name of the restaurant, which is currently closed due to the pandemic, stands for "Origine Non Animale," meaning ingredients that are not of animal origin. According to the Guide Michelin, guests could choose from seven gourmet dishes using ingredients such as pine nuts, celery, sake or tonka beans.

The Administrative Court of Karlsruhe has dismissed a complaint by the cookies manufacturer after the city had forbidden him to distribute cookies containing sawdust. "The biscuits may not be marketed because they are not safe food but objectively unsuitable for human consumption," a spokesman for the court said on Monday.

The manufacturer argued that sawdust is a vegetable product and claims he uses only microbiologically safe wood flour.

The company had manufactured and distributed the sawdust cookies for about 20 years and had also specified sawdust as an ingredient.

The chocolate Santa Claus candies of the German chocolate producer Milka have become smaller this year - but more expensive, reports the consumer center Hamburg after having taken samples in eight supermarkets. Instead of 50 and 100 grams, the hollow figures of the flavour Milka alpine milk weigh only 45 and/or 90 grams instead. In addition, the price has increased as the 45-gram Santa Claus now costs 1.19 euros. In the previous year, it was retailed at 99 cents for the figure with five-gram more mass.

According to a statement of the consumer center, it is also harder to detect the size decrease. Due to a flap with a folded edge, the two shrunken Santa Clauses appear even larger.

New York City restaurant owners have filed a $2 billion class-action suit against city and state officials in Manhattan's Supreme Court, stating a violation of the constitutional rights of mover than 150,000 New York City restaurant owners.

"It’s been nearly six months since New York City restaurants were mandated to shutdown indoor dining, and Mayor de Blasio still does not have a reopening plan, even though the rest of the state has been dining indoors since June," so Andrew Rigie, Executive Director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance.

According to a research by trademark law firm EMW, there has been a significant increase of trademarks for vegan and plant-based food products in recent months. Magnum, Ben & Jerry's and Unilever are among the brands who filed trademarks for vegan products.

The Vegan Society has released a study that found that many British consumers reduced their meat and dairy consumption during the Covid-19 lockdown, either due to a lack of other products or for health reasons.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mars Inc announced it is planning to evolve the Uncle Ben's brand, including its visual brand identity to address racial bias and injustices. "Now as we continue to listen to people from around the world, look inward and continue to educate ourselves on how the elements of the brand are perceived, we recognize it is time for us to evolve, which we will do," so the company's statement.

Uncle Ben's was inspired by two black men: a black Texan farmer, known as Uncle Ben, "who was known for growing high-quality rice" and the logo image was inspired by Frank Brown, a "beloved Chicago chef and waiter".

The announcement came hours after Quaker Oats released a statement that it will rebrand Aunt Jemima.

In a statement on Wednesday, Quaker Oats announced the rebranding of their syrup and pancake mix brand as they recognised the image of Aunt Jemima as a racial stereotype. Aunt Jemima products feature an illustration of a black woman, first depicted as a minstrel and later as a "mammy" wearing a kerchief which was eventually removed.

Vice president and chief marketing officer Kristin Kroepfl said in a press release: "We recognize Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype. As we work to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives, we also must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers’ expectations."

The non-profit organisation Lost Apple Project has rediscovered ten types of apples that had been thought to be extinct. The apples have been found in abandoned homesteads in Genesee, Idaho. Nowadays only 15 varieties account for 90% of apple production in the US, even though more than 17,000 different named apple sorts have once existed.

Businessmen and donors have set up machines in several different cities across Vietnam, that dispense rice for free to people that are out of jobs and have no income. The waiting lines require people to keep up physical distancing and people are required to sterilize their hands before receiving their rice.