Amazon’s latest forays into bricks-and-mortar businesses — the recently opened Amazon Go convenience store, and “click-and-collect” locations for online shoppers to pick up purchases — are intended to be staffed by as few people as possible. But can the company actually operate a full-size grocery store with just three humans? [More]
Food & Personal Care
Mystery Of Skittles Scattered On Road Destined For Cattle Feed Has Been Solved
By 2.3.17
Have you been wondering about the backstory behind the Skittles strewn across a highway in Wisconsin a few weeks ago? Skittles-maker Mars said that it was investigating the situation, and now we know the answer: a miscommunication meant that the candy was allegedly sold directly to a farmer. [More]
Chipotle Sales Down 20% In 2016; Still Working On That Comeback Thing
By 2.3.17
The good news for burrito chain Chipotle is that its sales are up for the first time in six quarters. The company’s food safety nightmare began in Oct. 2015, and since then the company has either been in crisis mode or trying to recover. The chain’s latest quarterly results show that the recovery isn’t complete, but at least its sales are up a little bit. [More]
Pizza Hut Worker & Company Head Trade Places: She Gets Super Bowl Tickets, He Does Her Job
By 2.3.17
In a classic job switcheroo, this year a Pizza Hut employee will enjoy the boss’s Super Bowl seats, while the company president covers her usual restaurant duties. [More]
Thanks To Policy Change, Your Ground Beef May Include More Heart Than You Think
By 2.2.17 — Updated: 2.3.17
For nearly 40 years federal food safety regulators had prohibited the use of any part of the cow heart in making ground beef. With little fanfare, that policy has changed. [More]
Chocolate Shamrock Shake Makes Leap From McDonald’s Secret Menu To Real Menu
By 2.1.17 — Updated: 2.2.17
For a while now, some folks familiar with “secret menu” items at McDonald’s looked forward to Shamrock Shake season because it meant they could talk McD’s staffers into making a combo mint/chocolate version of the frozen treat. Now the fast food chain is putting this DIY option on the actual menu, at least for the next few weeks. [More]
Should People Be Allowed To Smoke Up At Legal Retail Marijuana Shops?
By 2.1.17
So you’re visiting a state where recreational marijuana is legal. Congratulations! Now it’s time to get some of that green stuff and partake — but where are you supposed to get high if you don’t have a private residence? [More]
Study: 33% Of Fast Food Packages May Contain Potentially Harmful Grease-Blocking Chemicals
By 2.1.17
When you grab a burger, a cookie, or a cup of coffee from a local fast food establishment, you know that it’s not necessarily the healthiest nutritional choice, but you don’t assume that the companies behind the meals use packaging that may leach harmful chemicals into your food. Yet a recent study of fast food wrappers shows that a surprising number contain a potentially harmful chemical. [More]
Skoal, Copenhagen & Other Smokeless Tobaccos Recalled For Containing Metal Fragments
By 2.1.17
Putting smokeless tobacco in your mouth is one thing, putting smokeless tobacco containing metal fragments in your mouth is another. After receiving several reports of customers finding metal objects in their tobacco cans, tobacco giant Altria is recalling several of its most popular brands. [More]
ALERT: U.S. Bacon Reserves Hit 50-Year Low Because We Just Can’t Stop Eating Bacon
By 2.1.17
Crispy, crunchy, fragrant, savory — it’s no mystery that Americans love our bacon. But we’re eating so much of it lately that our nation’s bacon reserves — yes, that exists — are at their lowest levels in 50 years. [More]
Hormel Investigating Supplier Accused Of Abusing Animals
By 1.31.17
Hormel Foods has suspended buying from one of its largest suppliers and opened an investigation into its practices after an animal rights group secretly taped workers at the plant allegedly mistreating and abusing pigs. [More]
Guinness Opening Its First U.S. Brewery In 60 Years
By 1.31.17
The Guinness brewery in Ireland is a popular tourist destination for American fans of the dark brew, as it’s been 63 years since Guinness made any beer stateside. That will soon change. [More]
Walmart Ditching $50/Year ShippingPass For Free Two-Day Shipping
By 1.31.17
Less than a year after its national launch, Walmart is pulling the plug on its $50/year ShippingPass subscription service that was intended to compete directly with Amazon Prime. In its place, the big box retailer plans to offer free-two day shipping on millions of products with a lower minimum purchase price. [More]
Chance Of Cardiac Event Jumps By 23% Two Days After Major Snowstorm
By 1.30.17
Whether it’s overexertion from shoveling snow, the stress of being stuck inside, or any number of other possible causes, a new study shows that the chance of a cardiovascular-related hospital admission significantly increases two days after a major snowstorm. [More]
Trump Executive Order Requires Cutting 2 Old Rules For Every 1 New Rule, But Is It That Easy?
By 1.30.17
This morning, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that is being described as “two out, one in,” meaning that for each new federal regulation, two existing rules are to be cut. While it might seem like a simple concept, the reality is quite different. [More]
Macy’s Sell Frango Chocolate Brand To Garrett Popcorn Owner
By 1.30.17 — Updated: 1.31.17
More than a decade after Macy’s inherited much-adored chocolate brand Frango from Marshall Field & Co., the struggling department store is selling the label to the owner of Garrett Popcorn. [More]
Scientists Reinstalling “Tasty” Genes In Supermarket Tomatoes
By 1.27.17
Researchers recently confirmed what food storage experts had long believed: Refrigerating tomatoes causes them to lose flavor. Now scientists are hoping that some genetic tinkering will turn blah supermarket tomatoes into flavorful rivals to their farm-fresh cousins. [More]
Starbucks Mobile Order System Might Be Too Popular, Walk-In Customers Walk Out
By 1.27.17
Shortcuts are awesome, at least until everyone learns the shortcut and bogs down the process all over again. This is the lesson that Starbucks is learning, after realizing that its mobile order-ahead system might have become a little too popular, possibly hurting sales. [More]
