Burrito eatery Chipotle is trying to come back from a food safety crisis and an ensuing lack-of-customers crisis, and the company’s investors have been pushing for leadership changes. Today, it announced plans to cut back to only one chief executive officer: co-CEO Monty Moran is stepping down from his position immediately, and retiring from the company in 2017. [More]
Food & Personal Care
Pepsi: We’re Trying To Sell You Healthier Snacks, But You Keep Buying Cheetos
By 12.12.16
Pepsi, despite what you may think, really just wants to sell you health food. And it’s all ready and waiting to start putting less-fried, less-salty options in your hand. The problem, the company says? You just won’t stop buying chips. [More]
Filling Your Stocking With Chocolate May Be Cheaper This Year
By 12.12.16
If it’s not visions of sugar plums you see dancing in your head at Christmas, but images of chocolate Santa Clauses and reindeer, you’re in luck: cocoa prices are falling, which means chocolate is getting cheaper. [More]
Former Pharma Execs Accused Of Boosting Fentanyl Sales By Bribing Doctors With Sham Speaking Engagements
By 12.9.16
Fentanyl is an incredibly potent opioid painkiller; it acts quickly and powerfully, but doesn’t last as long as others, meaning its medical application is limited. So if you’re a drug company trying to boost sales of your new fentanyl spray, how do you sell more of a product that very few people have a real need for? You could bribe doctors with paid “speaking engagements,” take them out and show them the “best nights of their life,” all so they write prescriptions for patients who probably shouldn’t be getting your drug. [More]
Publix And Stonewall Kitchen Recall Pancake And Waffle Mixes Over Potential Salmonella
By 12.9.16 — Updated: 12.28.16
Pancakes and waffles with a fruit flavor are fun and delicious, but what isn’t fun and delicious is when your breakfast comes with a side of Salmonella. Salmonella. Two companies — supermarket chain Publix, and Stonewall Kitchen — have discovered that the milk in their mixes tested positive for the pathogen, and are recalling the products recalling their products as a precaution. None of the finished products have tested positive for Salmonella, and the companies say there are no reported illnesses. [More]
Starbucks Still Really, Really Wants You To Come By For Lunch
By 12.8.16
America, Starbucks really wants to do lunch. You go there for breakfast and for the occasional afternoon caffeine pick-me-up, but where are you at midday, when Starbucks has plenty of sandwiches, bagels, and bistro boxes sitting around that lunch customers aren’t using. How can a place known for coffee convince people to stop by for lunch? [More]
Costco Exec: We Beat ‘Amazon Go’ To The Punch “Literally 20 Years Ago”
By 12.8.16
In response to the arrival of Amazon Go — a checkout-less store design the Seattle ecommerce giant is planning for next year — one might expect that other food purveyors would be nervous. Not Costco, though. It’s already been there and done that, a company executive claims. [More]
Bumble Bee Senior VP Of Sales To Plead Guilty In Tuna Price-Fixing Scheme
By 12.8.16
“Far-reaching price-fixing conspiracy” and “canned tuna” are not concepts that you might normally connect with each other. It turns out, though, that the U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a multi-year investigation into price-fixing and other wrongdoing in the packaged seafood industry, which is a real thing that is happening. [More]
Delta Retiring Its Branded Pretzels & Nuts In Favor Of Upgraded Free Snack Options
By 12.8.16 — Updated: 12.10.16
It looks like Delta Air Lines has been busy in the kitchen: a day after announcing it was testing free meals in economy class on some transcontinental flights, the carrier is making yet another change to complimentary onboard offerings. [More]
Jimmy John’s To Pay $100K In Illinois Settlement Over Non-Compete Clauses
By 12.8.16
Earlier this year, Jimmy John’s announced, as part of a settlement with the New York attorney general’s office, that it would stop using strict non-compete clauses preventing workers from taking their sandwich-craft elsewhere, even if they were fired. Now, JJ has entered into a similar agreement with the Illinois attorney general’s office that includes a $100,000 payment to establish education and outreach programs. [More]
More Ocho Rios Curry Powder Recalled For Possible Lead Contamination
By 12.8.16
A few months ago, some lead-contaminated turmeric turned up in a wide variety of retailers, and also in batches of curry powder from Oriental Packing Company sold under a variety of brands. Now the potentially contaminated turmeric has turned up in more curry powder, this batch all sold under the Ocho-Rios and Oriental brands. [More]
Surgeon General: E-Cigarette Use By Young Consumers Is A “Major Public Health Threat”
By 12.8.16
Months after the Food & Drug Administration finalized rules that treat e-cigarettes like traditional cigarettes and cigars, including banning the sale to minors, a new report from the U.S. Surgeon General suggests the regulations may be too little too late, as use of the alternative tobacco products has skyrocketed among younger consumers, posing a public health threat. [More]
GNC Agrees To Improve Efforts To Keep Illegal Dietary Supplements Out Of Its Stores
By 12.7.16
When you buy a dietary supplement, you never know quite what you’re getting, because supplement manufacturers don’t have to prove to the Food and Drug Administration that their products work — or are even safe — before putting them on the market. GNC, the world’s largest dietary supplement retailer, has now agreed to try to ramp up efforts to ensure that the products it sells are safe and legal. [More]
McDonald’s Is Selling Waffle Fries This Holiday Season — But Only In Canada
By 12.7.16
Do you like waffle cut fries? Even though you can probably get them at just about every sports bar or diner in town, do you nonetheless have a craving to purchase them from McDonald’s? Then you had better plan a trip to the wintry north, because the fast food chain is only selling them in Canada this holiday season. [More]
Starbucks To Add 12,000 Cafes; Use Artificial Intelligence In Ordering App
By 12.7.16
If you were worried you wouldn’t be able to score your customary morning cup of coffee from Starbucks whilst traipsing around the world, worry not: The coffee giant unveiled plans to add 12,000 more stores globally by 2021. [More]
Burger King Selling A Doughnut Burger For Hanukkah
By 12.6.16 — Updated: 12.9.16
If you love doughnuts, burgers, and burgers made with doughnuts, you might want to think about spending Hanukkah in Israel, where Burger King will be offering doughnut burgers for the holiday. [More]
The Beer Industry Is Taking A Hit Because Of Legal Marijuana
By 12.6.16
When it comes time to kick back on the couch and get your buzz on, a new study says consumers in states with legal marijuana may be reaching for the bong instead of a beer. [More]
