Food news antipasto

"Best by", "Use by", "Sell by"—these varying phrases found on food products can be confusing for the consumer. The state of California hopes to cut through the uncertainty of what the dates mean by requiring the use of only two phrases. A new food labeling law that took effect last week bans the "sell by" phrase altogether, adding "Best if used by" that shows when the item will be at peak quality, and "Use by" to indicate how the long the product can be safely consumed. Now if only manufacturers could stop putting "use by" dates on salt...

It's a rough time to be a honey lover in the United States. US honey consumption is up while production is falling as beekeepers lose more and more bees to a variety of pressures including the Varroa mite, pesticides, and climate change. This year, American beekeepers lost more than half of their colonies, and in 2025 production was down about 14% from the year before. The combination of lower production and higher demand has increased reliance on imported honey. As entomologists race to find ways to save the bees, experts say you should support small, local honey producers when you can (commercial hives are the hardest hit by colony loss), and be on the lookout for cheap products marked as honey that are likely adulterated with corn or rice syrup.

This week I learned about another "World's 100 Best" spinoff that is ranking shops the world over. This time it's coffee shops vying for the honors, with a Sydney cafe named Toby's Estate getting the top spot for 2025. The Sydney Morning Herald's Good Food section posted a review of Toby's Estate, seeing if the coffee shop lived up to its title. Reviewer Lenny Ann Low found a lot that she liked, saying that she felt the Chippendale cafe "wins on service," but that it's impossible to confirm it's the world's best.

The Independent had an interesting article published a few weeks ago that I initially missed. It's an interview with Jill Stein, restaurateur and ex-wife of Rick Stein, who has kept on running the business with her ex nearly 20 years after they divorced. To celebrate 50 years of The Seafood Restaurant, the duo collaborated on a cookbook called, simply enough, The Seafood Restaurant Cookbook. The book is due to be published in the UK in September.

This week's uplifting story comes from Michigan. That's where Alyssa Curtis is installing "shame-free" pantries in neighborhoods through her nonprofit called Shame-Free Collective. The pantries are stocked with "food, hygiene and baby care items for people to take without payment or judgment." Alyssa came up with the idea while she was posting cooking videos and getting monetized on social media for that content. That "didn’t sit right with my spirit when there was so much struggle all around us,” she said.