Eating Humble Pie: A cough-syrup-in-the-gravy scandal? Furor over a switch from soft Wigan pies to a crustier kind from another British town? Just another year in the annual world meat-pie-eating contest in England. (The winner ate an entire pie in 35.86 seconds. Probably much bigger than the ones in this picture.)

Will There Be a Domino's Classic? The pizza chain is changing its recipe for sauce and dough, and will change up its cheeses so that it can keep up with changing American tastes. The new pizzas will be in all stores by Dec. 27.

Face Time: Food Network's top "foodgasm" shots of the year. 'Nuff said.

Bark If You Love Beer: A dog collar that opens beer bottles. C'mere, boy!

Want Wi-Fi With That Big Mac? McDonald's plans to offer free Wi-Fi at 11,000 locations as part of its bid to turn into a place to hang out.

Feels Like a Brown-Bag Day, Kids: In its continuing probe of school cafeterias, USA Today reports that 26,500 of them haven't had their required health inspections. It's never a good sign when "norovirus" replaces tater tots as the side of the day.

Sounds Fishy: If you're someone who takes fish-oil supplements, consider where it comes from ... and how a single company has control over 90 percent of a vital, but little-known fish called the menhaden, according to this New York Times opinion piece.

Drinking and Dying in the Line of Duty: A Chinese police officer drinks himself to death at a government function. What does the Chinese government do? It declares him a martyr who died in the line of duty.

Fighting for Brown Moo Juice: The dairy industry has formed the Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk campaign as a bulwark against the growing movement to strike chocolate milk off school menus. Those who want chocolate milk banned from school say it's a sugary drink that encourages unhealthy food choices. The dairy industry says that when you take chocolate milk away, kids stop drinking milk altogether and simply choose even less healthy beverages instead.

Man Killed by Exploding Gum: A Ukrainian chemistry student blew his own jaw off when he chewed gum that had been dipped in explosive liquid. The 25-year-old, who died, had a bizarre habit of soaking his gum in citric acid before putting it in his mouth, and may have mixed up his solutions.

Before I do cooking demos on television, I always test the recipes at home to make sure they are excellent and I know how to make them. Two weeks ago, in preparation for my CBS Early Show segment on Thanksgivings stuffings, I whipped three up but because I was rushing, my wrist accidentally touched the saute pan and I ended up with a pretty significant burn. I put ice on it and have since walked around with a violent pink two-inch burn (hidden by long sleeves on television).

Burns are quite common when cooking, as are knife accidents, particularly when it comes to bagels: The Wall Street Journal reported that in 2008, "according to an analysis of fingers cut by knives as reported in the government's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, 1,979 people appeared in ERs with a BRI (bagel related injury). Chicken-related injuries (3,463) led the category, but recorded bagel injuries were otherwise exceeded only by potato, apple and onion injuries."

Have you ever had a food-related injury? If so, what was it?

1. The FDA has pushed through a ban on raw oysters during warm months, effective in 2011, sparking restaurateurs' and consumers' complaints about a "nanny state." How many deaths does the FDA say bacteria from raw oysters causes each year?
a. 15
b. 50
c. 100
d. 150

2. Which of the following wasn't on the menu when Rachael Ray made a visit to a Cincinnati soup kitchen last weekend?
a. cheesy potato casserole
b. roast beef
c. ham
d. chicken soup

This month on the Epi-log, we're answering your Thanksgiving questions. A few days ago, a commenter raised the issue of stuffing. This seemingly simple subject can actually get a bit complicated, so I thought I'd break it down. Here's the deal:

Thanksgiving cooks are split between those who stuff their turkeys and those who bake their stuffing in a casserole dish rather than in the bird. Why the disagreement? Part of it has to do with tradition and regional variations: Baking the stuffing outside the bird is more common in the South, where it's often called "dressing" rather than stuffing.

But there are also culinary and safety arguments behind each position. The safety concerns have to do with salmonella and other bacteria, which can come from eggs in the stuffing or from the interior surface of the turkey's cavity. If the bird is removed from the oven before the stuffing reaches 165°F, some bacteria could remain alive and make diners sick. Getting the stuffing to 165°F is harder than it seems: It takes time for the oven's heat to penetrate all the way to the center of the bird, and by that point, the breast meat on the outside might very well be overcooked and dry.

Twilight: The Restaurant (No, Seriously): Last year, a female friend who was gaga over Robert Pattinson dragged me kicking and screaming to the first Twilight movie. But I am not flying to Forks, Wash., to eat at the new Twilight-themed restaurant Volterra. (Steak and seafood.) Do you hear me, Marina?

Know Your Bread: Ever wonder how wheat in the field became the bread in your sandwich? Find out with this demo from the Wheat Foods Council.

Was It "Empire State of Mind"? Teens at a McDonald's drive-thru in Utah get in trouble with the cops after rapping their order.

Wrapped Candy This Halloween, Please: Swine flu, and all. (At the very bottom.)

More Food News after the jump.

A little while ago, I wrote up something about the phenomenon people are calling "pine mouth": the bizarre metallic taste people get in their mouths after eating certain pine nuts. It's extremely unpleasant, it can last for weeks, but it doesn't seem to be permanent.

Since then, it seems like more and more people are experiencing pine mouth. Many folks seemed to be complaining that they had it happen after getting pine nuts from certain distributors, so I called them up and tried to figure out if they or anyone else could figure out what was going on.

Here's what I found.

Like many cooks, I use a lot of sea salt. In fact, in the past couple of years, I've gradually transitioned from simply sprinkling it over finished dishes to using it in all recipes that don't require measuring (meaning, most of my cooking). I still keep a container of table salt on hand for baking (due to the difference in texture, a teaspoon of sea salt is not the same as a teaspoon of table salt), but when I'm cooking without a recipe, it's just so much easier to grab a handful of sea salt from the dish on my counter than to get the table salt out of the cabinet.

For this reason, I was a bit alarmed recently when I suddenly realized that most sea salt is not iodized. I don't know why this never occurred to me before, but after the realization hit me, I did a bit of research, and what I found was worrying:

Ham, bacon, hot dogs, salami, and other processed meats have no place in a healthy diet for children says a study by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

"It is better if children learn to view processed meat as an occasional treat if it is eaten at all," the WCRF's education manager told the Glasgow Herald.

The organization points to research showing an increased rate of bowel cancer in adults who consume processed meats. It also warn parents to limit the sugar and fat their children consume, since obesity is also linked to cancer.

Will you make fewer ham sandwiches and hot dogs for your kids, or do you take reports like these with a pinch of, er ,salt?

Stuck for new lunch ideas? Our Back-to-School Guide has recipes to please you, your children, and the WCRF, too.

It's been a time of ups and downs for McDonald's lately.

First off: Do you know who serves your food?

A McDonald's in northwestern Illinois apparently didn't.