“We’ve heard the same rumors you have,” says a recent publication from McDonald’s. “Fillers in our beef, so called ‘pink slime.'” The message is fine, but the location is problematic: McDonald’s is not only protesting a little too much, but this message is on a tray placemat. In one of their restaurants. The kind that you look at while you eat your McDonald’s food. [More]
Food & Personal Care
FDA Report Shows Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams Failed To Adequately Comply With Testing, Cleaning Procedures
By 5.21.15
While Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams prepares to reopen its scoop shops this weekend, newly released federal investigation reports show the Ohio-based company’s issues date back several years before its public battle with listeria contamination. [More]
NYPD Catches Up To Hot Dog Vendor Accused Of Ripping Off Tourists
By 5.21.15
It seems the news travels fast, and in New York, the police are definitely paying attention: After a report that a hot dog vendor near Ground Zero had been caught charging customers $30 for a hot dog and overcharging on other items like pretzels, water and soda, the NYPD announced they’ve served the wiener peddler with three fines for not posting prices on his cart. [More]
CVS Buys Nursing Home Pharmacy Chain, Drug Provider OmniCare For $12.7B
By 5.21.15
CVS plans to spend $12.7 billion to buy pharmacy-service provider Omnicare Inc. in order to gain a larger foothold in the quickly expanding long-term care industry and specialty pharmacy market. [More]
Man Sues Blue Bell Claiming He Contracted Listeria-Induced Meningitis After Eating Contaminated Ice Cream
By 5.20.15
Investigator are still working to determine what caused the current Blue Bell Creameries listeria outbreak that has been linked to three deaths and at least 10 illness in four states dating back at least five years. But that hasn’t stopped a former Texas man from filing a lawsuit against the company alleging that he contracted listeria-related meningitis after eating the company’s products two years ago. [More]
ConAgra To Pay $11M, Plead Guilty To Criminal Charge In Peter Pan Peanut Butter Salmonella Outbreak
By 5.20.15
Back in 2006 and 2007, ConAgra shipped out batches of Peter Pan peanut butter tainted with salmonella, sickening more than 700 people in nearly every state. Today, the company has agreed to enter a guilty plea to criminal charges associated with the outbreak and to pay $11.2 million. [More]
Pizza Hut Employees Fired For Writing “KKK” & Drawing Swastika Inside Pizza Box
By 5.20.15
If your racism runs so deep that you feel compelled to spell it out for people on the inside of fast food containers, maybe you shouldn’t be in a job that involves serving food to other human beings. Perhaps the three Arkansas Pizza Hut employees who were fired for this sort of behavior will remember that when they look for their next jobs. [More]
NYC Food Vendor Accused Of Charging Tourists $30 For A Hot Dog
By 5.20.15
One of the joys of street food is that it’s usually cheap, compared to what you’d get in a sit down restaurant or even a fast food joint. But New York City officials say a rumble broke out near Ground Zero recently when a food vendor was accused of charging tourists $30 for a hot dog, while sticking to the $3 price for locals. [More]
New FDA Rule Would Provide More Information About Antibiotics In Farm Animals, But Still Not Enough
By 5.19.15
After decades of inaction on the issue, the FDA is slowly taking actions that it hopes will curb the overuse of antibiotics in farm animals, which currently accounts for around 80% of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. The agency’s latest measure, if approved, will provide more information about how farmers are using these medically important drugs, but by the FDA’s own admission, it’s still not sufficient. [More]
Starbucks & Spotify Team Up In Streaming Music Deal
By 5.19.15
Just two months after Starbucks stopped selling CDs in its stores, the coffee chain says it’s going to be filling customers’ ears with music another way, announcing a streaming partnership with Spotify that will let customers have a say in what’s being played. [More]
Postmates Underestimated Demand For Free Pizza In Minneapolis
By 5.18.15
If such a thing is even possible, the delivery company Postmates underestimated the general public’s hunger for free pizza. To promote the expansion of their company to Minneapolis and St. Paul, Postmates offered free pizza to anyone who was able to place their order at just the right time. [More]
Pizza Hut Completely Screws Up Customer’s Order, Accuses Him Of “Getting Physical” With Driver
By 5.18.15
Even the best pizza places will completely botch the occasional delivery order, but what sets a good one pizza joint apart from the bad ones is how it handles those gaffes. But it looks like one Pizza Hut decided that it is fine with being on the wrong end of that customer service spectrum. [More]
This Toxin-Emitting Beetle Is Not A Crunchy Salad Topping
By 5.18.15
Small animals love vegetables, and so do people. Sometimes small animals end up harvested along with vegetables, slip through safeguards in the system, and end up in our bowls. Usually, these are harmless, but what if they aren’t? Four people in different places have found potentially toxic beetles in their salad greens, and we really, really hope that there aren’t more out there lurking in more salads. [More]
Starbucks Is Really Sorry That This Employee Flipped Out On Customer (And That It Was Caught On Video)
By 5.15.15
There’s a widely held misconception that customer service used to be perfect “back when,” and every retail transaction was straight out of a 1960s sitcom. The fact is that customers and store employees have been going at each other since the first paleolithic entrepreneur tried to upsell his neighbor on a thrashing stick to go with his bludgeoning stone. But now we all get to see and hear about these retail rows and foodservice fisticuffs — and companies are often compelled to apologize for them — thanks to social media. [More]
FDA Finally Warns Drug Company Against Selling Antibiotic As A Pig-Fattener
By 5.15.15
A year after public health advocates called out drug maker Novartis for continuing to actively market a particular antibiotic as a product farmers could use to fatten up their pigs, the FDA has finally gotten around to issuing a warning. [More]
Blue Bell Lovers Turn To Craigslist For Exceedingly Expensive Pre-Owned Treats
By 5.14.15
With local grocery stores’ freezer shelves still void of any Blue Bell Creameries products and no timeline for when they might return, those with a serious love of the ice cream brand are turning to a black market of sorts to get their fix. [More]
CVS Feels Pain Of $22 Million Penalty For Florida Painkiller Pill Mills
By 5.14.15
When you think of Florida and the Drug Enforcement Administration, your head might be filled with images of cocaine-packed speedboats or propeller planes sneaking in pallets of marijuana. But in recent years, the DEA has also been focused on major drugstore chains that looked the other way as stores filled massive numbers of questionable painkiller prescriptions. Nearly three years after shutting down a pair of CVS pharmacies in the Orlando area, the company has agreed to pay $22 million to put the matter behind them. [More]
New Chicago Taco Bell Could Be Company’s First To Sell Alcohol
By 5.14.15
Want an ice-cold beer to wash down that Doritos Locos Taco? If city permits and licenses are to be believed, a new Taco Bell in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood may be the first to let you live that dream. [More]
