Strangest food stories of 2025

Since the new year is just over a week old, let’s take one more look back at 2025, this time with an eye for the weird. The Standard recently published a recounting of six strange food stories in the UK. As with nearly everything in these turbulent and fast-moving times, 2025 was filled with…interesting moments.

Some of these moments did not seem that odd to me, such as the strawberry sando that Marks & Spencer released just before Wimbledon. I would definitely try one, but maybe it’s because I have such a sweet tooth. That said, I must admit that I would not consider this, or Tesco’s “birthday cake sandwich”, to be a main course as the latter described itself. Both clearly land in the dessert or snack category.

The weirdest one was the hunt for the “langoustine lifter” who carried out a number of food-related thefts involving lobsters and high-end beef in several London locations. Apparently the woman has not yet been caught. I don’t know what the motive would be since it seems unlikely there is much of a black market for flowers. Did she just enjoy the finer things but didn’t have a budget for it? It seems like quite a risk to take for surf ‘n’ turf.

The US had its share of outlandish food stories in 2025. We can start with an insanely expensive strawberry that sold for $20 (yes, for a single strawberry) at California’s upscale grocery store, Erewhon. If you had money left over from shopping there, you could splurge on a “curated water menu” at a fine dining restaurant. Restaurants offered sommelier guidance on mineral content, acidity and mouthfeel with prices ranging from $11 to as much as $95. For water. I’ll stick with Culligan.