Mariah Carey champagne, U.K. considers butter ban, Kraft and Cadbury to merge

Mariah Carey champagne, U.K. considers butter ban, Kraft and Cadbury to merge

Oenophile Mariah Carey at the Toronto premiere of Precious (Photo by Karon Liu)

• U.K. heart surgeon Shyam Kolvekar will be less popular at the nation’s morning fry-ups after his suggestion that butter should be banned to save the increasing number of young people suffering from heart problems. Adults in the country eat 20 per cent more than the recommended limit of saturated fats per month, with butter being a major contributor to the problem. Kolvekar says butter can be replaced with more heart-healthy fats, like margarine and low-fat spread. Poor Julia Child will be rolling over in her grave. [The Daily Mail]

• With the Kraft and Cadbury merger coming ever closer to reality (U.K.-owned Cadbury has accepted U.S.-owned Kraft’s offer of $19.5 billion, but shareholder approval is pending), the British are fretting about what it will mean for their chocolate. The Guardian claims American chocolate has more sugar, less cocoa solids and uses different beans than British varieties do. While British bars do tend to be creamier, we are most concerned about the fate of Creme Eggs. [The Independent]

• Alberta’s Boxer Beer, labelled as having the “cheapest legal price,” is in trouble with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario over the name of its Boxer Lager, which could be construed as using sports to advertise the product, a no-no in Ontario liquor regulations. The company has avoided using boxing in its advertising, and its lager logo is a crown. But with the “cheapest legal price” label, we’re confident it could change the name to Swill Beer and still have frugal college students lining up. [Toronto Sun]

The Star offers up ways to get rid of almost-empty alcohol bottles littering cupboards by using their contents in recipes: vodka makes for a great penne sauce, and bourbon can be used in slow-cooking roasts. The Star also suggests infusing vodkas with herbs, fruits and jalapeño peppers. All we have to do is find a half-empty bottle lying around somewhere; at our parties, they tend to get finished. [Toronto Star]

• After Mariah Carey’s drunken acceptance speech at the Palm Springs Film Festival, which the starlet has since blamed on having a few too many “splashes” of champagne, it is clear she loves her champers. Already the owner of a California vineyard and the creator of a zinfandel, Carey is set to launch Angel Champagne by MC, a rosé. We’re not sure what will go down in history as the bigger disaster: this or her performance in Glitter. [New York Daily News]