maple syrup

18 Stories

The Planet's Only Maple Syrup Reserve Is Very, Very Low

But one expert says we're not in danger of an immediate shortage

(Newser) - Bad news for syrup lovers: The world's only maple syrup reserve , located in Canada where three-quarters of the world's maple syrup is produced, is at a 16-year low. The harvests have not been great for the past few years—experts say climate change is playing a role in...

New Jersey Maple Syrup: You Got a Problem With That?

Looking at you, Vermont

(Newser) - Welcome to New Jersey, known around the world for Tony Soprano, Turnpike tolls, and ... maple syrup? If a university in the state's south has its way, the sticky sweet brown stuff you put on your pancakes might one day come from New Jersey. It's part of an effort...

Man in Prison for Stealing Syrup Now Told to Pay Millions

Richard Vallieres was part of massive scheme that lifted one of country's hottest commodities

(Newser) - In what may be the most Canadian of crimes yet—and the "stickiest," per the BBC —the nation's high court this week ruled that a "major player" in a scheme to steal a massive amount of maple syrup must pay a $7.2 million fine....

Canada Acts on Maple Syrup Shortage

Tapping strategic reserves

(Newser) - While President Biden unveiled plans to pull 50 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves to bring down US energy costs, Canada was tapping into their own stockpiles. But there's nothing crude about what America's neighbor's next door are releasing to cover shortages, though it is very...

After 130 Years, Aunt Jemima Is Getting an Overhaul

Aunt Jemima brand is changing logo, name to 'make progress toward racial equality'

(Newser) - For decades, supermarket shoppers have seen bottles of maple syrup represented by log cabins, matrons with aprons, and one especially controversial brand that's now getting an overhaul. Per NBC News , Quaker Oats, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, announced Wednesday it will completely change both the logo and name of its...

NE's Maple Syrup Season Off to an Early Start

'It's a little disturbing that we're starting so early'

(Newser) - The annual maple season got off to another early start with warmups in parts of New England, reports the AP , and producers are hopeful the recent cold and snow will extend it. Some producers in Vermont, the country's largest producer of maple syrup, have been going strong and producing...

Maple Syrup Is About to Go High-Tech

New technology can cut time to boil sap into syrup in half

(Newser) - Maple syrup doesn't get that rich flavor and color in an instant. It's a long process from tree to bottle. But an improved technology could keep maple sugarers from working late into the night boiling sap into syrup, reports the AP . The new machine can remove more water...

It Might Be the Greatest Food Crime in History
It Might Be the Greatest
Food Crime in History
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

It Might Be the Greatest Food Crime in History

'Vanity Fair' takes a deep dive into maple syrup theft of 2012

(Newser) - It was an epic heist and the most Canadian crime ever, to boot: Back in 2012, thieves stole 540,000 gallons of maple syrup worth at least $13 million. It was nothing less than mind-boggling, writes Rich Cohen at Vanity Fair . "It felt less like a crime than a...

How We Get Maple Syrup May Change in a Huge Way

Think farms, not forests, and much bigger yields

(Newser) - Maple syrup has traditionally been a product of forests, not farms—but a new discovery could change that. Researchers found to their surprise that mature maple trees weren't necessary to generate large volumes of sap. Instead, the stuff can come from saplings with their tops removed, the University of...

$400K Worth of California Walnuts Stolen

Is there a 'nut mafia' to blame?

(Newser) - Stop laughing at the Canadians over that multimillion-dollar maple syrup heist . The US has its own weird food thievery going on: walnuts. As the Los Angeles Times reports, ambitious thieves stole $400,000 worth of the nuts from trailers at an orchard outside Modesto, California, last week. That would be...

Syrup Thieves Tapping Maple Trees in Maine

Small-time operators stealing sap

(Newser) - Remember last year's great maple syrup heist in Canada, the one in which a mind-boggling $20 million worth of syrup got stolen? A smaller-scale heist is now taking place across Maine, one tree at a time, reports the Montreal Gazette . Private landowners in remote parts of the state are...

Inside the Brazen $18M Maple-Syrup Heist

NYT gives the back-story behind the 16M-pound theft

(Newser) - With Tuesday's arrests of three of the thieves behind the $18 million maple syrup heist uncovered in Quebec in August, investigators are revealing details of how the job was done, reports the New York Times . But in order to understand the crime, you need to know the victim: the...

Cops Arrest 3 in Massive Maple Syrup Heist

Theft was so big it affected global supply levels

(Newser) - Police in Canada say three people have been arrested in connection with a massive maple syrup heist from a Quebec warehouse, which put a dent in the global supply. Authorities never disclosed the exact amount of maple syrup stolen in August, but the warehouse contained Quebec's maple syrup reserves—...

Canadians Seize Stolen Maple Syrup

But no arrests made yet in $20m heist

(Newser) - Authorities in Canada appear to be closing in on the sticky-fingered crooks behind history's biggest maple syrup heist . Police have seized more than $1.4 million worth of syrup—500,000 pounds of the stuff—from a warehouse in New Brunswick, the Globe and Mail reports. Investigators will test...

Thieves Steal Millions Worth of ... Maple Syrup

Sticky loot in Canada could be worth up to $30M

(Newser) - Pancake enthusiasts, be on the lookout—thieves in Quebec have made off with a "substantial amount" of maple syrup, and the sweet haul could be worth as much as $30 million. A routine inventory check last week of a temporary warehouse where the syrup was being stored revealed the...

Hot Weather Leads to 'Yucky' Maple Syrup

And maple trees did not produce nearly as much as usual

(Newser) - The record high temperatures in March resulted in maple syrup that one syrup distributor refers to as simply “yucky,” and total syrup output in the US fell as much as 40%, Reuters reports. "It was kind of a disaster," the company owner says with regard to...

Syrup Research No Joke: Industry to McCain

Sen. targets maple topping in anti-pork campaign

(Newser) - The omnibus spending bill may have failed , but one sticky situation persists: In compiling his list of the bill's 10 most egregious wastes of money, John McCain ridiculed a $165,000 earmark for maple syrup research as an example of absurd pork—but the maple industry says it’s anything...

Blame Naomi Campbell's Rage on Syrup Diet

You'd be angry too, if you ate like she did

(Newser) - Naomi Campbell’s rage can be explained by her “abandonment issues,” she told Oprah Winfrey recently. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s because she doesn’t eat. The supermodel frequently goes on a "maple syrup diet" that “isn't so much a diet as self-flagellation minus the...

18 Stories