We’ve heard a lot of unfortunate names — heck, just look up “celebrity baby names” — but despite the cruelty some parents inflict via birth certificate, it’s highly unlikely that anyone named their daughter “Vagina.” Now, Virginia? Quite a nice, decent name. And it belongs to a woman who says a Starbucks in Hong Kong scrawled “Vagina” on her coffee instead. [More]
Food & Personal Care
Tests: Ground Turkey From Antibiotic-Free Birds Less Likely To Harbor Drug-Resistant Bacteria
By 4.30.13 — Updated: 11.20.15
Most of us know that there may be potentially harmful bacteria on the raw meat we buy, but a new study appears to show a direct link between animals that have been provided antibiotics and the presence of pathogens that are resistant to drugs. [More]
Report: FDA To Lift Ban On Cured Meats From Italy
April 29, 2013
Have you been aching for that one taste-bud tantalizing pancetta you had while visiting Italy ten years ago, but which you couldn’t get because of FDA restrictions on the import of Italian cured meats? If so, here’s some good news. Reports indicate that the ban –which had previously been eased but still severely limited imports — will be lifted starting May 28. [via L.A. Times] [More]
Customer Finds Frog In Can Of Green Beans, Gets $50 For Her Troubles
By 4.29.13
We already know you can possibly find a wee little frog hanging out in your bag o’ salad, but what about in those tightly sealed cans of green beans you bought at the supermarket? [More]
Maybe Man Accused Of Stealing Whitening Strips, Condoms & Weight-Loss Pills Had A Hot Date
By 4.26.13
Police in Colorado are on the lookout for a guy who’s probably having a really great time now, or is at least looking quite dashing and dapper while doing so. Authorities say a “well-groomed” suspect waltzed into several Walgreens stores and boosted more than $2,600 worth of teeth-whitening strips, weight-loss pills, probiotics, condoms and Rogaine, as well as other hair-growth products. [More]
Climbing The Pepperoni Ladder: 90% Of Domino’s Franchise Owners Started As Deliverymen
By 4.24.13 — Updated: 9.8.16
Ah, the humble pizza delivery guy — bringing hot cheese and sweet satisfaction to the door for Americans everywhere. But lest you think it’s a dead-end job or something for pimply teenagers just to make some extra cash, Domino’s would beg to differ. The company says about 90% of its franchise owners either started out as deliverymen or in similar entry level positions. [More]
How My Love Of Diet Pepsi Vanilla Almost Got Me Ejected From Walmart
By 4.23.13
If our readership understands anything, its fanatical devotion to one product and an almost equally fanatical need to make stores follow their own policies. That is how Tom got in serious trouble with the employees of his local Walmart. Or did the local Walmart’s employees get in trouble with Tom? Walmart promises to price-match local competitors, including the prices with loyalty cards. Except, apparently, when it comes to Pepsi. For Tom.
Burger King’s Expansion Of Delivery Service To 3 More Cities Greeted By Cheers From The Couch
By 4.23.13
Way back in the beginning of 2012, Burger King started testing the waters of delivery service with a trial run in Washington, D.C. and soon expanded to certain locations in Houston, Miami and New York. Sounds like those tests were a hit: stay-at-home diners in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco will never have to put on real pants again to get fast food, as the service is headed to those metropolitan areas as well. [More]
Pizza Hut Tapes Note To Box Begging For Perfect Survey Scores
By 4.23.13
Filling out customer service surveys is scary. If some managers are to be believed, giving any score but an 11 out of 10 is effectively stealing food out of the mouths of employees’ families. Getting impossibly perfect stores is so important for some stores that they’ve resorted to bribing customers with coupons or freebies. That’s the case with Jared’s local Pizza Hut, which taped a note begging for perfect scores to his pizza box. [More]
FDA Knew Lab Committed Research Fraud, Approved Drug They Tested Anyway
By 4.22.13
After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration learned about potentially fraudulent work done on behalf of pharmaceutical companies by a contract research firm in Texas, they didn’t pull the drugs off the market. You might think, though, that they might hold off on approving new drugs based on testing that came from that lab. You would be wrong. [More]
Customer Sues CVS For Writing Her Name As “Ching Chong” On Receipt
By 4.18.13
How many times do we have to tell the cashiers of America to STOP PUTTING STUPID AND OFFENSIVE NAMES ON CUSTOMERS’ RECEIPTS? Sorry we had to go all-caps on you there, but after all the stories of idiotic name-calling that have gotten employees fired and retailers sued, you’d think people would stop. And yet here we have the story of a CVS customer of Korean descent who is suing the drugstore chain after allegedly being labeled “Ching Chong Lee” on her receipt. [More]
Mystery Solved: Why Walmart Thinks A Bottle Of Sprite Is A ‘Meal’
By 4.18.13
On Monday, we shared a reader-submitted photo of a shelf of two-liter soda bottles with some baffling signs. Coke, Sprite, and their diet varieties were declared “Wholesome, Healthy, and Delicious” and “Easy convenient meals.” Delicious and convenient, maybe, but they certainly aren’t wholesome, healthy, or meals. But reader Mindy snapped this picture at Walmart yesterday that might explain where the “meals” shelf tag came from. [More]
FDA Just Says No To Generic, Crushable Versions Of OxyContin
By 4.17.13
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn’t want to make it too easy for people who might abuse the powerful painkiller OxyContin, and has such has declared that generic drug manufacturers cannot produce their own, crushable versions of the drug. [More]
Starbucks To Cut Price Of Bagged Coffee By $1 Next Month Because The Caffeine Gods Said So
By 4.12.13
Rarely do we see a spot of good news in the grocery aisle — products shrink, prices go up, everyone makes a frowny face — but today is different. We’re not sure if there are caffeine gods, or if they’re responsible for Starbucks’ decision to cut the price of their bagged coffee by about a buck, but it’s happening in any case. [More]
Taco Bell Decides That ‘Living Mas’ Shouldn’t Always Make You Fat
By 4.11.13
Yes, the company that brought you Doritos-shell tacos (in two flavors), the phrases “fourth meal” and “live mas!,” and which will basically shove anything inside of a tortilla and sell it, says it no longer wants to have such a direct impact on customers’ waistlines. [More]
FDA Approves Morning Sickness Drug It Pulled Off The Market 30 Years Ago
By 4.9.13
You don’t have to have ever been pregnant to understand one of the yuckiest drawbacks experienced by women — morning sickness, that awful time when lunch won’t stay down and the toilet is a mom-to-be’s best friend. Thirty years ago the Food and Drug Administration put the kibosh on a treatment designed to alleviate morning sickness, the agency is putting it back on the table now. [More]
April Food And Drug Recall Roundup – Potato Chips With Salt And Vinegar And Metal Fragments
By 4.9.13
Our monthly Recall Roundups have grown so expansive that we’ve had to separate them into two separate roundups: one for consumer goods, and one for consumables. In this edition of the Food and Drug roundup, dangers lurk everywhere, from uneviscerated herring to “all-natural male enhancement supplements” that are pretty much just Viagra. Yes, again. [More]
U.S. To Ramp Up Species Testing Of Food Imports Because Eating Horse Is Gross
By 4.3.13
For anyone who’s been terrified, grossed out or otherwise disturbed by the horsemeat scare over yonder in Europe, take heart: After assuring U.S. consumers that we’re not facing the same tainted food scenario, federal regulators are pledging to ramp up “species testing” on imported meats just to be absolutely sure Mr. Ed doesn’t land on the dinner table. [More]
