British Freshwater Prawns Are Getting High on Cocaine

The party lifestyle of U.K. freshwater prawns finally catches up with them

Well, not quite. A study at King’s College London examining freshwater wildlife in Suffolk found traces of cocaine and ketamine in across 15 test sites around the county. Researchers were surprised by the findings in such a rural part of the U.K., with the shrimp that are typically sold dried as food for other fish, including carp, exhibiting findings that would typically be expected in, say, the Thames, where eels have started acting erratically as a result of overzealous usage. As well as ‘enjoying’ cocaine, these shrimp — or scuds — are also allegedly partial to cucumber, red pepper, and watercress. [KCL]

And in other news...

• The fundamental premise of the milkshake duck meme is that an at first positive thing, or figure, is suddenly revealed to be deeply flawed; when a viral moment thought to be wonderful is revealed to be unexpectedly awful. The reverse-milkshake-duck, therefore, is when an at first deeply flawed figure or phenomenon achieves redemption. Far-right, anti-Islam English Defence League co-founder Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a.k.a. Tommy Robinson, exhibited the third, rarely seen version of the premise this week: failing to duck literal milkshakes, twice in two days. The first, a bottle, was thrown from a distance in Bury, Greater Manchester; the second, a McDonald’s, was doused at close quarters in Warrington, Cheshire, with the douser, Danyal Mahmud, saying that it “‘slipped’ out of [my] hand.” Britain’s relationship with food as a means of political protest is synonymous with the egg, despite “tomatoes, cream pie, green custard, slurry, purple flour bombs and, erm, chocolate eclairs” all being deployed in the service of public good — milkshake can now be added to the list. [Twitter]

• Vegan burger unicorn Beyond Meat’s initial public offer (IPO) went even better than expected for investors, with the company’s valuation clocking in at $3 billion. The runaway success of the lab meat + adventurous name vegan burger model should not go without scrutiny. [BBC News]
• Street sandwich slingers Sub Cult will open a first permanent shop in the City, right next to Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen. [Big Hospitality]
• Yann Couvreur’s kitchen residency at Claridge’s will take place without the lauded pâtissier, whose shop in Paris’ 10th arrondissement has earned some decent acclaim since opening.
• Ex-Le Gavroche chef Elliott Moss will open his first solo restaurant: Plu, in St. John’s Wood. It’s going to be a 22-cover, tasting menu operation. [Hot Dinners]
• An American university study fed mice garlic to see if it gave them better memory. It did. [Food Beast]
• Dim sum chain Ping Pong will close its two restaurants in White City and Wembley — the shopping centre locations aren’t working out. [The Caterer]
• Good tweet.