At least 62 people in 11 states have become infected in the year’s latest Salmonella outbreak, this one concerning recently recalled frozen raw tuna widely used by restaurants and grocery stores serving sushi. [More]
Food & Personal Care
Costco Cuts Back On Chilean Salmon In Favor Of Antibiotic-Free Fish
By 7.23.15
Amid concerns of antibiotics overuse contributing to the development of drug-resistant superbugs, American consumers are increasingly demanding antibiotic-free meat and fish. That’s bad news for Chilean salmon farmers who are facing a bacterial outbreak and treating their fish with record levels of antibiotics — and losing the business of Costco and others. [More]
Starbucks Teams Up With Lyft To Give Drivers, Riders Extra Points Through Its Rewards Program
By 7.23.15
Take a Lyft, earn a free cup of coffee? Well, something like that anyway. Starbucks and ride-sharing service Lyft teamed up on Wednesday to unveil a new arrangement that gives customers – and drivers – of the car service extra perks through the coffee chain’s loyalty program. [More]
Longest-Running Pizza Hut Restaurant Set To Close After 55 Years
By 7.21.15
A slice of Pizza Hut’s cheesy pie-filled history is set to devoured this weekend, as the company prepares to close its longest-operating restaurant in the U.S. [More]
Yes, Here’s A Full Halloween Candy Display At Walgreens
By 7.21.15
Jill knew that her blog readers wouldn’t believe what she had seen, even if she presented them with a photo. At her local Walgreens store, there was a full display of Halloween treats, including candy corn and Snickers pumpkins. Halloween. On July 21. Please, retailers, we’re still uncomfortable at seeing Back-to-School displays in the big-box stores! Don’t do this to us! [More]
USDA Providing $85M In Grants & Loans To Support Rural Broadband
By 7.21.15
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture might not be the first federal agency that pops into your head when thinking about broaband Internet connectivity, but this week the USDA announced a total of $85 million in loans and grants that it hopes will help farmers and other rural Americans bridge the digital divide. [More]
Costco, Three Other Retailers Suspend Photo Sites After Third-Party Host Suffers Possible Breach
By 7.21.15
Less than a week after CVS took down its CVSphoto.com site while it investigates a possible credit card breach, at least four other retailers including Costco and Sam’s Club have suspended online photo services following notification by the company that manages or hosts photo services for the sites of a possible data breach. [More]
Pizza Hut’s Hot Dog Crust Has A Vegetarian Cousin, And It’s Back
By 7.20.15
Did you find news coverage of Pizza Hut’s Hot Dog Bites Pizza kind of intriguing, but you don’t like meat or don’t care for hot dog slices? Good news: Pizza Hut has brought back their limited-time “Cheesy Bites” pizza, which is possibly for people who like stuffed-crust pizza but wish it were easier to pull apart. [More]
10 People Confirmed Sick From Contaminated Stuffed Chicken Breasts
By 7.17.15
There are two recalls going on right now for stuffed chicken breasts because of the risk that they might be contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have figured out who is sick from what: seven of the documented infections resulting from these foods so far are only from the Barber Foods recall, and three are from the larger Koch Foods recall. [More]
CVS Takes CVSPhoto Site Down After Possible Credit Card Data Breach
By 7.17.15
If you’ve used your credit or debit card to purchase photo prints through CVSPhoto, you might want to pay attention. The drugstore chain has taken down CVSPhoto.com while it investigates a possible credit card data breach. [More]
2 Million More Stuffed Chicken Breasts Recalled For Possible Salmonella
By 7.16.15
Hey, remember that recall of 1.7 million frozen stuffed chicken breasts and other chicken products for potential Salmonella contamination earlier this week? Hope you’re ready to check your freezer again, chicken fans! Another company that sells similar products has recalled 1,978,680 (let’s round that up to 2 million) pounds of its prepared chicken products. That is not a total of 2 million including the last recall: this is a separate recall for similar products. [More]
Texas Billionaire Makes “Significant” Investment To Help Bring Back Blue Bell Ice Cream
By 7.14.15
Fans of Blue Bell ice cream who have been living without the stuff after the company was forced to shut down production will surely be pleased to hear that dessert salvation could be nigh: Blue Bell Creameries says a Texas billionaire has made a “significant” investment in the company, something that could help it get its products back on freezer shelves. [More]
Today In Professional Envy: Cheese Scientists
By 7.14.15
Cheese, glorious cheese. Where would we be without you? No sandwich would be complete, many a pizza would suffer and countless stomachs would be bereft. But in order to fully appreciate our access to such a divine food, we must also give props to a profession of great importance, and the subject of great envy: cheese scientist. [More]
Nabisco Runs Out Of Oreo Flavor Ideas, Brings Back Oreo-Flavored Oreos
By 7.13.15
Maybe Nabisco has worn itself out this year, releasing novelty Oreo flavor after novelty Oreo flavor. That’s why they’ve come back around to one of their oddest recent flavor ideas: “cookies & creme” flavored Oreo cookies––that’s to say, Oreo-flavored Oreos. You can get them now in full-sized packages, even though they have no reason to exist. [More]
The Chipotle Carnitas Shortage Of 2015 Will End Soon, Company Says
By 7.13.15
It’s been seven months since Chipotle stopped working with one of its pork suppliers over a violation of its company standards, pulling carnitas from around a third of its restaurants across the country. Chipotle now says things are up and running with the new supplier it found in April, thus, effectively ending the rolling pork blackouts in many places. [More]
Food Companies Could Face Federal Criminal Charges Over Tainted Products
By 7.13.15
Between ice cream, smoothies, hummus, more ice cream, spinach, spinach ravioli, spinach lasagna, and caramel apples, we’ve seen a lot of recalls in recent months for tainted food — and that’s just listeria, one of many pathogens that could make you ill after eating. Now the U.S. Dept. of Justice is letting food producers know that poisoning consumers could result in more than just having to issue a few recalls. [More]
Starbucks, 17 Other Companies Partner To Provide “Opportunity Youth” With Jobs, Internships
By 7.13.15
Teaching young adults responsibility — and showing them that responsibility can have financial benefits — pays off in the long run by cultivating a solid work ethic. That’s the thinking behind a new multi-company initiative spearheaded by Starbucks. [More]
1.7 Million Pounds Of Barber Foods Chicken Products Recalled For Possible Salmonella
By 7.13.15
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the government agency that has jurisdiction only over foods containing meat for some reason that we don’t understand, has recalled 1,707,494 pounds of frozen chicken products because they may be contaminated with Salmonella. [More]
