Soft-serve bacteria, prohibition at Cabbagetown resto, free booze elsewhere

• The Toronto Star found that five out of 14 soft-serve ice creams bought from trucks and stores across the city had high levels of bacteria, such as coliform, prompting health officials to launch an investigation. What a great way to start the summer. [Toronto Star]

• When America’s first lady isn’t pumping iron or making fashion editors swoon, she’s tending to her garden at the White House, which just yielded 73 pounds of lettuce and 12 pounds of peas. It’s a mighty harvest, considering she spent only $200 on the garden. [New York Daily News]

• The Vancouver Sun travel section discovers one of Toronto’s best-kept secrets: the free beer offered at the Steamwhistle Brewery in the John Street Roundhouse. [Vancouver Sun]

• A Spanish bar is giving away free drinks to customers who can insult the staff in a funny and original manner. The owner encourages patrons to insult and swear at his employees, putting his Casa Pocho bar in Cullera in the running for world’s worst place to work. [CBC]

• [The item regarding Cabbagetown’s Tender Trap restaurant has been removed because it was outdated.]