It’s baaaack and this time it could be plaguing Kroger stores supply of spinach — our old foe Listeria has returned and is once again triggering a recall. Kroger is alerting customers in 15 states that its Fresh Selections Tender Spinach might be contaminated with Listeria. [More]
Food & Personal Care
Two London Residents Find Dead Frogs In Their Tesco Spinach
By 9.19.12
We’ve come to use the tag “free frogs” for any story about unexpected dead animals in one’s food. Over in the United Kingdom, they’re apparently running some kind of regional free-frog promotion. Two London customers of chain retailer Tesco have found dead frogs in their spinach in the last week. [More]
Consumer Reports Investigation Finds Arsenic In Variety Of Rice Products
By 9.19.12
Rice is one flexible little grain. It’s found in cereal (hot and cold), baby food, rice cakes, crackers, pasta, vinegar, syrup, flour and beverages. But a new Consumer Reports study of 60 rice products found varying levels of no one’s favorite ingredient: Arsenic. [More]
Starbucks To Gold Card Customers: Sorry, We're Not Paying For Your Lactose Intolerance Anymore
By 9.18.12
A soy-fueled storm is brewing in the Internets today, as we’ve heard from Consumerist readers who received an email update about changes to their Starbucks Gold Cards. Sure, Starbucks loyalists will now get a free drink or food item after every 12 purchases instead of 15, but if those card-carriers happen to be lactose intolerant or otherwise indisposed toward dairy, they’ll have to start paying for their soy, as well as syrups. [More]
CDC Says Kids Are Just Like Their Parents And Are Eating Way Too Much Salt Every Day
By 9.17.12
We can see it now — no more salt shakers in New York City. That probably won’t happen (right, Mayor Bloomberg?) but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in a new study that American kids are eating way too much salt, just like their grown-up counterparts. Children are ingesting around 1,000 milligrams of salt more than they should be, which is the sodium equivalent of a Big Mac. [More]
Whole Foods Recalls Riccotta Sold In 21 States Because People Shouldn't Be Paying A Premium For Listeria
By 9.13.12
While Whole Foods might have prices that prevent some people from buying their groceries there, it’s not immune to the wee pathogens that wreak havoc on the digestive tract’s of both the rich and the poor. Thus, Whole Foods has had to issue a recall on Ricotta Salata Frescolina brand cheese sold in 21 states and Washington, D.C., because it may be contaminated with Listeria. [More]
Sears Dishwasher Includes Free Live Snake, Customer Is Unhappy For Some Reason
By 9.13.12
I’ve shopped in enough pet stores to know that people will pay good money for snakes. One Sears customer in California got all upset yesterday when Sears came by her house to deliver a new Kenmore dishwasher from SearsOutlet.com. It was missing a few parts, which annoyed her. Oh, and there was a live snake taped to it. [More]
KFC Franchise Exec On Rotten Chicken Allegations: We Had Some Expired Meat But I'm Not Saying We Cooked It
By 9.12.12
Back in April we reported on a lawsuit brought by a KFC manager in Oregon alleging that he was fired by a franchisee for refusing to serve rotten chicken, and instead throwing it out past its expiration date. In another case involving former employees crying foul fowl, Texas health officials found no evidence that chicken past its “kill date” was served to customers, even if the franchise’s owner says such expired meat has been on the premises. [More]
KFC Serves Up Nasty Pot Pie, Doesn't Even Send Me Coupons
By 9.6.12
Derek didn’t expect all that much from KFC. He picked up a chicken pot pie for a lunch treat, and brought it back to work. He found that it had what he calls “an extremely strong chemical smell and taste,” and wasn’t about to eat the pie. He’s not upset about the foul-tasting pot pie: he got on with his life. What he finds disappointing is that he reported it to KFC using the form on their web site, then called them on the phone, and received no response. Why bother having a form at all? Why bother having a customer service number if all the representatives are authorized to do is shrug? [More]
All Of The Summer Items At CVS That Are 50% Off Are 50% Off
By 9.5.12
Len noticed this sign at CVS. It seems pretty straightforward: the summer clearance items are all 50% off. Except for the fans. And the items that don’t scan at 50% off. The more you think about this sign, the more confusing it gets, because it means walking up to the counter or using a self-scan machine to determine whether items are on clearance sale. Why do you need a sign telling you to do that? [More]
No Coupons, No Games At Our Super Sad Neighborhood Burger King
By 9.4.12
Fast-food restaurant promotions exist to get customers in the door and to keep them coming back. When Steve and his wife showed up at their regular Burger King for a tasty dinner of Whoppers, they brought along a coupon they had printed from Burger King’s website. It turned out that their local franchise couldn’t accept that coupon. Okay. They could deal with that. It was when the cashier talked up a different promotion, then explained that the restaurant was actually out of game pieces for that promotion, that Steve became annoyed enough to write to Burger King corporate. [More]
Starbucks Wants To Turn Leftover Coffee & Muffins Into Laundry Detergent, Bio-Plastics
By 8.31.12
Nobody wants stale old muffins and the coffee ground leavings at day’s end, but instead of just dumping that stuff in a landfill, Starbucks says it’s trying out a new recycling process that would turn said items into bio-plastics and laundry detergent. Wiping up those carbon footprints is always a good thing. [More]
Hold On To Your Cans, Diet Pepsi Devotees: Your Soda's Sweetener Is Getting Tweaked
By 8.31.12
You know what they say — if you don’t change, you die. Despite the positives of forward momentum, we’re willing to bet diehard Diet Pepsi drinkers might be a bit upset to know that the soda is changing up its sweetener. PepsiCo swears the taste will remain the same as the one aspartame brings to the game (had to do it), but now the soda will last longer on the shelf. [More]
Why 'Antibiotic-Free' Meat Doesn't Mean What You Think It Does
By 8.30.12
Antibiotic-resistant infections are a serious and scary threat to public health. One reason why devious bacteria are evolving to resist antibiotics is the widespread overuse of them in both humans and in animals. A Center for Science in the Public Interest analysis of Food and Drug Administration data shows that 80% of all antibiotics administered are to animals, and not to help them get better when they’re ill. Meat and dairy producers give low doses to the critters in their care in order to prevent illness, and sometimes to promote faster growth. [More]
Taco Bell Has Sold 200 Million Doritos Loco Tacos, Plans More Flavors
By 8.29.12
Americans really, really love Doritos. We also love fast-food tacos. Therefore, it’s only logical that we should love Taco Bell’s nacho cheese-ish Doritos Loco tacos. After a $75 million advertising barrage, the chain has now sold 200 million of these spectacularly popular tacos. That’s, what, one million hungry stoners fed? [More]
Pizza Hut Malaysia Says All You Need To Get A Marriage Proposal Is Squirty-Crust Pizza
By 8.28.12
Oh, Pizza Hut Malaysia. Would that you existed in the United States, and then we could enter this very special one-two-punch ad campaign of yours in our Worst Ad In America contest. That’s not meant to be, but we can still take a look at your odd advertising tactics for the seemingly innocent Super Pan Pizza, the food that will totally coincide with a lady getting an offer of marriage. [More]
If Chipotle Is Going To Round Numbers On Your Bill, It Should Only Round Down — From Now On
By 8.27.12
Have you looked at your Chipotle receipt recently? Some customers noticed a bit of funky math going on after paying for their burritos, tacos and various items from the chain, where totals seemed to mysteriously shift so as to not get pennies involved in the equation. Rounding off a bill is fine — unless of course, the bill gets rounded up. [More]
California Slaughterhouse Gets The Okay To Reopen After Cattle Controversy
By 8.27.12
The California slaughterhouse accused of abusing cows has apparently gotten the go-ahead to resume operations, after a temporary shutdown last week by the United States Department of Agriculture. When a controversial video reportedly showing ill treatment of cows hit the media, including footage of some cows that seemed unable to walk, big customers like the USDA itself, McDonald’s and In-N-Out Burger announced they weren’t using beef from that plant any longer. [More]
