It’s safe to say that Chipotle’s year is off to a rough start. Today, the company announced that it had received a subpoena from a grand jury looking into the circumstances surrounding a norovirus outbreak in California, and then it disclosed another bit of not-so-great news to investors: sales this quarter are down even more than analysts predicted in November. [More]
food
Diet App Claims To Help You Watch Your Weight By Scanning The Molecules In Your Food
By 1.6.16
It’s a new year, and you know what that means: new diet plans — or at least, you might be promising yourself to stick to a new diet plan. But it isn’t easy, which you know if you’ve ever sat staring longingly at the last piece of cheese on the plate, wondering whether it will totally screw up your resolution to finally lose just five more pounds. A new app and its connected smart device claims it can do just that, scan your food and let you know whether or not it’ll lead you from your chosen diet path. [More]
Dedicated Cheese Fan Drives 7 Hours To Make First Cut Into 1,000-Pound Provolone
By 1.4.16
Here at Consumerist, we respect and love cheese, and fans of cheese. So of course, by all the dairy that we hold dear, we couldn’t pass up the chance to call your attention to a story about a man who drove all the way to Canada from Connecticut so he could be the first one to cut into a 1,000-pound hunk of provolone. [More]
The World’s Largest, Most French Fry-Box-Shaped McDonald’s Is Now Closed
By 12.31.15
McDonald’s lost its biggest restaurant in the world last night. Which sounds like a sad thing, to folks who value size and fried potato shapes, probably, but don’t fret — an even larger location is in the works. [More]
Guacamole Lovers, Rejoice: Avocados Are Pretty Darn Cheap Right Now
By 12.29.15
If you’re the kind of person who runs shouting through the streets for all to hear when you find cheap avocados, pay attention: despite earlier concerns that the growing popularity of the fruit would make it more expensive for shoppers, avocado prices instead have fallen steeply. More guacamole for everyone! [More]
We’re Pretty Jealous Of This Kid Eating Bacon For The Very First Time
By 12.29.15
If there’s one thing in life I regret, it’s that I can’t remember the first time I ever ate bacon (or cheese, for that matter. Or pizza. Or Nutella). But through the glory of technology, there’s a whole new generation of kids who will easily be able to look back on their initial interactions with food, glorious food, because their parents are armed with camera phones to preserve the experience in thrilling detail. [More]
Subway Promises To Use Only Cage-Free Eggs In North American Restaurants By 2025
By 12.28.15
The cage-free bandwagon is getting so loaded, it might as well be a bandtrain at this point: joining fellow restaurants like Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Panera Bread in pledging to use only cage-free eggs will be Subway, which says it will complete the change by 2025. [More]
Health Officials Investigating Chipotle For Different E.Coli Strain, Five Illnesses
By 12.21.15
While Chipotle CEO Steven Ells was busy riding the apology train, issuing regrets for a recent E.coli outbreak that sickened more than 50 people in nine states and a norovirus outbreak in Boston involving 140 students, the fast casual chain was being linked to five separate illnesses in three more states. [More]
Chipotle Facing First Lawsuit Linked To Boston Norovirus Outbreak That Sickened 140 People
By 12.18.15
It was bound to happen: the first lawsuit has been fired — er, filed against Chipotle in connection with the recent norovirus outbreak that sickened 140 people who ate at one of the chain’s Boston locations. [More]
Hampton Creek: FDA Grants Condiment Dispensation, Eggless “Just Mayo” Can Keep Its Name
By 12.17.15
An ongoing battle about the nature of mayonnaise that began in November 2014 seems to have finally reached a peaceful resolution: the Food and Drug Administration has decided to allow Just Mayo, sold by Hampton Creek, call itself “mayo,” even though the vegan, eggless product technically isn’t mayonnaise, according to the government’s definition. [More]
Krispy Kreme Trying Out That Whole “Barista” Thing In Effort To Boost Coffee Sales
By 12.16.15
Krispy Kreme has apparently been thinking long and hard about how it can make more money from selling coffee, it seems it’s come up with an answer — call employees that serve up cups of steaming hot joe “baristas.” Heck, if it worked for Starbucks, maybe it’ll work for Krispy Kreme. [More]
Chipotle Takes Out A Full-Page Ad To Continue The Apology Parade
By 12.16.15
Chipotle co-CEO and founder Steve Ells has been riding a great big apology train around the news circuit lately, issuing a mea culpa on TV last week and mentioning again this week how “deeply sorry” he is that the chain has been linked to a nine-state E. coli outbreak that’s sickened more than 50 people and a major norovirus incident in Boston involving 140 students. He’s not done yet, either: the company took out a full-page ad in 61 newspapers around the country on Wednesday to continue apologizing to customers. [More]
Pepsi Is Planning To Launch An Organic Version Of Gatorade Next Year
By 12.15.15
Whenever you take a swig of Gatorade, you’re probably not thinking about the Riptide Rush tree that bore fruit and provided your drink with flavor. But Pepsi wants to change how customers view Gatorade with a flying leap onto the healthy trend bandwagon, by introducing an organic version of the sports beverage next year. [More]
Yum CEO Would Rather Pizza Hut Be More Convenient Than Have A Better Product
By 12.11.15
Pizza Hut has been fighting for a slice of the marketplace pie with a weapon that’s turning out to be rather ineffective namely, a complete menu revamp that added a bunch of new crusts, drizzles, toppings and doodads to their regular slate of pizzas. That whole idea of trying to compete with a better product is not the way to go, Yum Brands CEO Greg Creed says. Instead, Pizza Hut should focus on being more convenient than its rivals. [More]
North Carolina Town Still Stuck With Stench Of Burned Sweet Potatoes Weeks After Thanksgiving
By 12.10.15
It’s been two weeks since Thanksgiving, and yet residents of one North Carolina town are still smelling burned sweet potatoes in the air. Was it an extremely serious baking mishap? Not exactly — but heat is definitely involved. [More]
Report: Grocers Failing In Commitment To Open New Stores In “Food Deserts”
By 12.7.15
In 2011, many of the nation’s largest food retailers committed to opening or expanding 1,500 grocery or convenience stores in and around neighborhoods without supermarkets by 2016, with the aim of providing healthier options for consumers. However, a new analysis of the four-year progress for the initiative found that only a fraction of these companies have lived up to their promise. [More]
Chicken Of The Sea, Bumble Bee Abandon Plan To Unite As One Giant Can Of Tuna After DOJ Objects
By 12.4.15
Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee will be leaving their underwater wedding separately despite going steady since 2014: the two tuna companies won’t be merging into one giant can of fish after the U.S. Justice Department put the kibosh on their planned union. [More]
Walmart Shoppers Surprised To See Flock Of Snacking Birds Camped Out In Store’s Meat Section
By 12.1.15
Of all the places one would expect to see a flock of birds settled down for a group snack, the meat display at your local grocery store is probably pretty far down on the list. To that end, Walmart shoppers in Massachusetts were understandably surprised over the weekend, when at least two customers snapped video footage of a group of live fowl pecking away at packages of red meat. [More]
