A mom in Canada isn’t too pleased with a Dairy Queen meal she bought for her daughter recently. See, she ordered a regular hot dog on a normal bun, and instead claims the fast food joint gave her kid a rancid, shriveled hot dog in a moldy bun. Quite a stomach-turning difference. As her daughter put it, “Mommy, this doesn’t smell good.” [More]
Food & Personal Care
McDonald's & USDA Stop Buying Beef From Controversial California Meat Company
By 8.23.12
The fallout from undercover video footage that reportedly shows inhumane treatment of cattle at a California meat company continues. Yesterday we reported that popular California chain In-N-Out had stopped buying beef from the company, and now McDonald’s and the USDA are also temporarily suspending business with the plant. The government says it hasn’t seen any evidence yet that meat from potentially sick cows has made it into our food supply [More]
Dole Recalls More "Italian Blend" Bagged Salads Because Listeria Is Not Terribly Appetizing
By 8.23.12
If you bought some Dole Italian Blend bagged salad recently in any of the following states — Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Mississippi and Virginia — you should probably take a look at this story to make sure you don’t have a salad that could possibly be contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes. [More]
Beef Plant Accused Of Abusing Cows Supplied Meat For In-N-Out, U.S. School Lunch Program
By 8.22.12
A California meat plant that was temporarily shut down this week had some pretty big name clients, including In-N-Out (if you aren’t familiar, just ask any one who has ever been to California and will swear up and down that “oh, man, they have the best burgers in the whole entire universe”) and the U.S. school lunch program. From what an animal rights group is alleging, it sounds like cows were having an awful time at the plant. [More]
Hey, I'm Missing A Lot Of Starbucks Free Drink Coupons
By 8.20.12
Laird feels deprived. Well, maybe that’s not quite true. But the Starbucks rewards program owes him at least seven free drink coupons over the years that he hasn’t received. The horror! The sadness! The caffeine deprivation! He blames the U.S. Postal Service for, perhaps, not forwarding on his coupons. Or for losing them. He wonders, are there any other Starbucks fans out there missing their coupons, too? [More]
Spot The Problem With This CVS Coupon
By 8.16.12
Reader SaberTail got a pretty average receipt on a recent trip to CVS: a trailing banner that could, in a pinch, be mistaken for an unspooled roll of toilet paper. We exaggerate only a little. It had three coupons, one of which just contradicts itself out of existence. [More]
Mountain Dew Debacle Shows Why You Can't Let The Internet Play Mad Libs With Your Product
By 8.15.12
UPDATE: Reps for Mountain Dew have sent a statement to Consumerist clarifying its involvement (or apparent lack thereof) in the disastrous promotion. [More]
FDA Tells Hershey's It Has No Right To Claim Chocolate Syrup With Vitamins Is Nutritious
By 8.14.12
Listen — we all know that gooey, sweet chocolate syrup is very delicious. But nutritious? Now that is a bold claim, and one the Food and Drug Administration is warning Hershey’s not to make on its labels. It told the company in a warning letter that it can’t just go around calling things fortified and such just to make its syrup seem healthy. [More]
CDC Study Reveals That At Least 20% Of People In Each State In America Are Obese
By 8.14.12
It isn’t just the nation’s overweight children we need to worry about — the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows exactly how widespread America’s obesity problem is among the adult population in no uncertain terms. So how fat are we, really? The CDC says that every single state in the country has an obesity rate of at least 20%, and 12 states hit 30% and above. [More]
I Want My Trans Fats Back: Consumerist Readers Speak Out About Recipe Changes
By 8.10.12
Last week, we asked you, the members of the Consumerist Hive Mind, what prepared food items you’ve abandoned or fallen out of love with due to a recipe or ingredient change. What we learned from reading the responses: Consumerist readers love their junk food almost as much as Consumerist editors do. [More]
At Applebee's, 2 For $20 Equals $21
By 8.8.12 — Updated: 9.8.16
Two meals and an appetizer for $20 at Applebee’s is a nice, simple price point. Not a bad deal, either. Jeff ordered it for carside takeout, but was baffled to receive his order and see that the price listed on the receipt was $21, not $20. The waitress explained that the extra $1 was sales tax, but Jeff didn’t buy that (and we don’t either.) The restaurant calculated and charged him accurate sales tax on the entire order. [More]
Taco Bell Employee Suspended Over Prank Because Nachos Con Urine Is Not On The Menu
By 8.8.12
Critics might decry the oversharing nature of social media, but if it weren’t for Twitter and Facebook, how would we catch people doing idiotic and grody things they shouldn’t be doing? A Taco Bell employee in Indiana has found himself in hot water for posting a picture on Twitter that appears to be him peeing on a plate of nachos at the restaurant. Classy. [More]
Starbucks Hooks Up With Square & Hands Over $25 Million In Mobile Payment Deal
By 8.8.12
Starbucks and Square are totally hooking up and aren’t afraid to let everyone know about it. The sprawling, ubiquitous coffee chain says it’s going to invest $25 million in Square as part of the deal, which will also have Square processing the retailer’s debit and credit card purchases. [More]
What Recipe Changes Have Turned You Off A Favorite Food Item For Good?
By 8.1.12
It’s probably happened to most of you at some point in your eating experience. You go to bite into — or take a sip of — an item you’ve come to really enjoy, only to find there is, say, more salt, or less chocolate, or just some new ingredient. And with that, the relationship is over… [More]
Safeway Says This Tiny Pile Of Sad Chicken Covered In Gloop Is Supposed To Be A Gourmet Meal
By 8.1.12
We aren’t sure in what world a paltry pile of pale chicken covered in some kind of gelatinous gloop accompanied by a whole lot of rice with bits vaguely resembling vegetables could be considered part of any “Gourmet Club.” But Safeway said its “Safeway Select” branded Orange Chicken meal is fine frozen dining and showed a lovely picture on the package to that effect. Consumerist reader Doug in Seattle sent in evidence to the contrary after he purchased the family pack meal. [More]
13-Year-Old Aspiring Hot Dog Vendor Shut Down By City, Sells Cart At A Profit
By 7.31.12
A Michigan teen’s hot dog cart is a more complex operation than your garden-variety lemonade stand. Wanting to earn some money to help out his disabled parents, the 13-year-old saved up to purchase a hot dog cart, then set up business in downtown Holland. The city promptly shut him down. Thanks to zoning laws designed to protect downtown eateries, food carts can’t set up in the city unless they’re part of an existing restaurant operation. The young entrepreneur is too young for a street vendor’s license, which could have kept the business running. So what did he do next? After attracting national media attention, he sold the cart to a local business, but retains the right to borrow it back for special events that might require hot dogs. [More]
Why Did CVS Customer Keep Returning Used Enemas To The Store?
By 7.30.12
It was an observant CVS cashier who brought a Florida man’s reign of fecal contamination to a close. The customer would allegedly buy saline enema kits, use them, clumsily reseal the boxes, and return the kits to the store. The enema kits went right back on store shelves to be sold to unsuspecting customers. The bottles contained some fluid, but had fecal matter on them. This purchase and return cycle began in April and continued until June. [More]
Consumer Reports Pits Pretty Food Packaging Picture Against Paltry Reality
By 7.30.12
We’ve all fallen for it before: Cruising down the grocery aisle, deciding what to pick when suddenly, there it is — a box bearing a beautifully shot photo of a tantalizing snack, delicious gourmet dish or some other form of tempting cuisine. That fantasy can come crashing down, as plenty of customers have complained to our hardworking siblings at Consumer Reports that the packaging on many products just doesn’t live up to the reality. [More]
