Given the pain, nausea, intestinal distress, craving, and other unpleasantness involved in opiate withdrawal, it’s understandable that people might be tempted to put their faith in an herbal supplement that promises to alleviate these problems. However, the Federal Trade Commission says the marketers of one such product had no science to back up their claims. [More]
Food & Personal Care
Why Are People Still Stealing Old Cooking Grease From Restaurants?
By 5.4.17
Way back in 1998, in an episode titled “Lard of the Dance,” Homer and Bart Simpson became grease bandits, draining local restaurants of their used fryer oil and reselling it for a profit. Two decades later, folks are still imitating these animated grease grabbers, stealing oil from eateries and selling it to be refined into biodiesel. [More]
Farmers Hope New ‘Cosmic Crisp’ Will Be America’s Next Top Apple
By 5.3.17
Move over, Honeycrisp and Red Delicious: Farmers have a new apple they hope will be the next big fruit in the produce aisle, and it’s called the Cosmic Crisp. [More]
Pizza Hut Is Betting $130M It Can Bring Customers Back
By 5.3.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
While rival Domino’s has managed to pull off a major comeback, Pizza Hut has been struggling for years to turn around slumping sales. In an effort to keep up with the competition, it seems the company figures it might as well throw a bunch of money at the problem. [More]
Santa Fe Residents Vote Down $.02 Per Ounce Sugary Beverage Tax
By 5.3.17
Santa Fe residents have rejected a city proposal that would have added a $.02 per ounce tax to all sugar-sweetened beverages in the city, ending a heated battle between opposing organizations that spent at least $163 per voter trying to win people to their side. [More]
Some Restaurant Chains Putting Calorie Counts On Menus, Even Though They Don’t Have To
By 5.3.17
Even though the Food and Drug Administration has once again decided to delay enforcement of a new rule requiring restaurant chains and others to include calorie information on their menus, some companies have decided to just go ahead with displaying this information. [More]
FDA Quietly Delays Stricter Rules On E-Cigarettes, Cigars
By 5.3.17
The Food and Drug Administration has handed a temporary victory to e-cigarette and cigar companies, quietly deciding to delay enforcement on some recently finalized rules that impose stricter oversight on these tobacco and nicotine products. [More]
Chipotle Offers Employees Accelerated Business Degree Program
By 5.2.17
Last summer, Chipotle joined the ranks of Pizza Hut, JetBlue, Starbucks, and others in offering to foot the bill — or at least some of it — to provide employees with a college education. Today, the company expanded that program, offering workers the ability to combine real-world experience with classroom time in order to earn a business degree in less than two years. [More]
Antique Shaving Brushes Could Come With Free Vintage Anthrax
By 5.2.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
We know you can’t wait to rush home from the flea market to bust out that newly acquired antique shaving brush, and put it to use getting rid of your wintry fur. But before you lather up with your historically accurate brush, be aware that there’s a chance it may be carrying some era-appropriate anthrax. [More]
Your Organic Milk May Not Be As Pure As You Think
By 5.2.17
Organic milk sometimes costs twice as much as the rest of the milk you’ll find in the supermarket dairy aisle, but you get what you pay for, right? A new report about one of the largest suppliers of store-brand organic milk casts some doubts on the standards of some products. [More]
Taco Bell Creates ‘Chicken Chips’ — Just A More Triangular Version Of Chicken Nuggets
By 5.2.17 — Updated: 5.3.17
Taco Bell is taking a break from its usual practice of just wrapping one food item around another and calling it a “taco.” Instead, the fast food chain is taking a food item — in this case a chicken nugget — and forming into the shape of another, resulting in a “Chicken Chip.” [More]
Guinness Finally Banishes Fish Parts From Its Beers
By 5.2.17 — Updated: 5.3.17
As promised a few years ago, Guinness has made changes to its centuries-old recipe to get rid of a fish-derived gelatin used to filter extra yeast from the brew. That means that vegetarians and vegans who prefer not to consume beer processed with fish can order draft Guinness now, and all versions by the end of the year. [More]
FDA Delays Rule Requiring Calorie Count On Menus Yet Again
By 5.2.17
Three years after the Food and Drug Administration finalized a new rule requiring calorie counts on the menus of many restaurants, the agency has decided to delay the implementation of that rule for the third time — giving chain eateries, vending machine owners, and others extra time to comply. [More]
Decades Later, There Are Still 3 McDonald’s Serving Pizza In U.S.
By 5.1.17
Three decades ago, McDonald’s waded into Pizza Hut’s territory adding pizzas to the menu at thousands of stores. But after a brief affair with the cheesy pies, the fast food giant ditched the products — except for two locations, that is. [More]
Some Schools Shame Students When Their Parents Can’t Pay For Lunch
By 5.1.17
Shaming a debtor may be an effective — and potentially illegal or unethical — way of getting them to pay up, but should children who have no control over their family finances be publicly shamed if it gets their parents to pay their outstanding school lunch bills? [More]
In Battle For Supermarket Shelf Space, Big Brands Losing Ground To Fresh Food
By 5.1.17
For decades, your typical supermarket had one wall of produce, and a corner deli counter, with the core of the building given over to boxed, canned, and bottled products from recognizable brands. But as grocery stores revamp stores to attract shoppers looking for fresher food, companies like Kraft, Mondelez, and Kellogg are losing ground. [More]
Your Love Of Avocados Is Making Us All Pay More For Guacamole
By 5.1.17
Hold onto your guacamole-loving butts, people: Avocado prices are on the way up, mostly because we just can’t get enough of them. [More]
Coca-Cola: Dead Mouse Was Too Fresh To Be Found In A Coke Can
By 4.27.17
A South Dakota man claims he purchased — and drank from — a can of Coca-Cola that had a mouse sealed inside, making him ill and causing him to miss work. But the Coke folks say this just isn’t possible, since a mouse sealed in a soft drink can would have been more decomposed. [More]
