When you buy canned tuna, you’re generally working under the assumption that the can has been sealed properly. But the folks at Bumble Bee say that may not be the case for some of its Chunk White Albacore and Chunk Light Tuna products. [More]
Food & Personal Care
Taco Bell Should Probably Have Told Its Restaurants About Cool Ranch Doritos Taco Going On Sale Early
By 3.6.13
Telling 9.8 million Facebook fans and 366,000 Twitter followers that you’re going to release a highly anticipated product a day early is good marketing — that is, unless you fail to tell the stores that are supposed to sell this item. [More]
Cheap Shot? Starbucks Hands Out Free Java From Truck Parked Near Local Coffee Shop
By 3.6.13
For local coffee shops, trying to make a go of it on the bean scene can be rough when there’s a Starbucks around to suck in customers with the siren song of its omnipresent green logo. But put Starbucks on wheels and it turns into a rolling Java the Hut, lumbering around and trying to gobble up customers outside a Dallas coffee shop. [More]
IKEA Pulls Almond Cake From Sale In 23 Countries After Finding Bacteria
By 3.5.13
Another day, another food misadventure for IKEA: Fresh off the heels of the Swedish retailer’s horsemeat-in-the-meatballs snafu, the company has announced it’s pulling almond cake from its stores in 23 countries after some batches on the way to China were found to contain coliform bacteria. That’s a common bacteria in human an animal fecal matter. Yup, more poop in the news. [More]
Customer Orders 85 Pizzas, Pays .68% Tip
By 3.5.13
We can understand why one might be reluctant to fork over a full 15-18% tip on a restaurant bill of $1453, but even a 1% tip would be better than this. [More]
Taco Bell Gives Into Cravings, Will Release Cool Ranch Doritos Taco A Day Early
By 3.5.13
The new Cool Ranch Doritos Taco Loco wasn’t supposed to start funking up the breath of American consumers until Thursday, but it looks like the folks at the Bell decided there was no point in waiting that long. [More]
Domino’s Online Pizza Ordering Now Featuring Pick Your Own Price Option
By 3.5.13
We write a lot about fuzzy math here at Consumerist, mostly because if you’re observant, you can often get what you want for a lower price than perhaps the retailer intended to sell it for. Case in point: Consumerist reader Tyler was gearing up to order pizza online from Domino’s the other night, and noticed some bizarro pricing. [More]
Chipotle Is Sorry To Interrupt Its Regular Steak Programming With Conventionally Raised Beef
By 3.1.13
It might seem like a small thing, to alert your customers when a product you offer changes. But as we’ve seen with the horsemeat scandal over in Europe, knowing exactly what kind of food you’re eating is vitally important to consumers. After all, you’re the one deciding to spend your hard-earned cash so you should be in the loop. Consumerist reader Salman noticed this kind of transparency in action recently at his local Chicago Chipotle. [More]
4 Reasons Why Fast Food Secret Menu Items Are Good For Business
By 3.1.13
We’ve been writing about secret menu items — those special fast food treats that a restaurant will make upon request but aren’t listed on the menu — for years, but we’ve never really broken down just why these items aren’t on the menu, and why that’s actually a good thing for these eateries. [More]
Horsemeat Shows Up In UK Taco Bell Beef; Iceland Discovers Meat Pies Without Meat
By 3.1.13
If you thought the horsemeat hullabaloo was settling down over there in Europe, you’d be wrong. IKEA was one of the most well-known companies to announce it was investigating its products for contamination, and now it’s been joined by Taco Bell and Bird’s Eye. Will it ever stop? Let’s hope so. [More]
Pizza Hut Managers: Worker Ogling Porn On Laptop Wasn’t On The Clock, So Who Cares?
By 2.27.13
What you do in your personal time is totally your own business — collect toy ponies, worship at a Bill Pullman shrine, whatever floats your boat — but even if you’re not on the clock, you probably shouldn’t indulge in your favorite porn peccadilloes at your place of employment. Pizza Hut customers in Virginia are hot under the collar after claiming they caught a worker ogling naked ladies on his laptop at the eatery. [More]
Trader Joe’s Employees Misleading Customers About The Drugged-Up Meat On Stores’ Shelves
By 2.26.13
Trader Joe’s, like most grocery stores, sells quite a bit of meat from animals that have been treated with completely unnecessary antibiotics. But customers around the country say that some TJ staffers are outright lying about the store’s products being drug-free. [More]
Chipotle Doesn’t Mind Putting Baby In A Corner If You’re The Type To Shun Human Contact
By 2.25.13
Don’t want anyone looking at you during the very private act of eating a burrito, but hate the idea of taking your food to go? Chipotle has a fix for that. Or at least, one Chipotle location has a very special seating arrangement for those of us who would prefer to be forever alone. [More]
IKEA Pulls Meatballs From Stores In 14 European Stores Because Of Yup, Horsemeat
By 2.25.13
Perhaps you thought the horsemeat crisis spreading across Europe had been contained or even just quieted down for a bit. But no, yet another retailer has announced the discovery of horsemeat in its food, and this time it’s a big one. IKEA says it’s pulled meatballs from stores in 14 European countries after the Czech Republic store said it found horsemeat in the product there. [More]
Yes, We Want Fries With That: Americans Get 11% Of Their Calories From Fast Food
By 2.21.13
A new study from the Centers for Disease Control is pointing a greasy finger at Americans’ eating habits, finding that on average we get 11% of our calories in a day from fast food. But hey, that’s down from 13% since the last time the government poked around in our fast food eating habits. [More]
Kellogg’s Special K Red Berries Recalled Because Glass Is Not Part Of A Balanced Breakfast
By 2.20.13
If you noticed a little unexpected crunch in your Kellogg’s Special K Red Berries cereal, you might have been unlucky enough to buy one of the boxes that have been recalled over the possible presence of glass fragments. [More]
Is A “Quadriginoctuple Frap” The Priciest Starbucks Drink Ever Ordered Or A Scary Medical Procedure?
By 2.20.13
First of all, if you guessed “scary medical procedure,” we’re very happy to inform you that you are wrong and whew, because that would be terrifying to have your inside parts topped with whipped cream. The so-called “quadriginoctuple frap” is what one guy is claiming as the most expensive drink ever ordered at Starbucks, checking in at $47.30 and sloshing around in a 52-ounce mug. [More]
No, McDonald’s Did Not Buy Burger King Because “The Whopper Flopped”
By 2.19.13
You can’t believe everything you read on Twitter, even if it’s on the official account of a company like say, Burger King. Proving that anything on the Internet can be futzed with, someone took over Burger King’s Twitter account yesterday and announced that the chain had been sold to McDonald’s because “the Whopper flopped.” [More]
