While there are many ridiculous food trends out there, most food faddists would be forced to take pause at a $6 bottle of water with a few asparagus stalks hanging out in it. And to our supreme relief, it turns out that not even Whole Foods is willing to go that far into the realm of unnecessary products, calling a recent “Asparagus Water” offering a mistake. [More]
food
Kraft Recalling 36,000 Cases Of Cheese Due To Packaging Choking Hazard
By 8.3.15
True story: I had a friend in college who often wanted a snack while we were out and about on weekend nights guzzling Milwaukee’s Best Light. To curb her cravings, she’d often stick a few Kraft singles cheese slices in her purse, conveniently wrapped in plastic for individual snacking opportunities. Alas, that same convenient packaging is at the heart of a new voluntary recall from Kraft, over concerns that people could choke on the plastic wrapping. [More]
Whole Foods Announces Five Cities Where It’s Opening Cheaper Stores
By 7.31.15
Back in May, Whole Foods announced it’d be making a play for that coveted category of customers, the almighty millennials, by launching a new line of lower-cost stores. The company has now revealed which cities will see those first cheaper stores. [More]
Groupon Launches Online Food Ordering Service To Compete With Seamless, GrubHub
By 7.30.15
There’s a new player in the arena of online food ordering: Groupon launched its own online food service for customers who want to either pick up their chow or have it delivered — but it’s only in Chicago for now. Eventually, as the service expands, Seamless and GrubHub (which are owned by the same company) could have a rival in the competition to fill customers’ empty bellies with the touch of a button. [More]
Genius Scientists Have Developed Bacon-Flavored Seaweed Because Clearly That Is Necessary
By 7.16.15
If I had a nickel for every time I was munching on a piece of seaweed and thought, “This would be better if it tasted like the bacon of the sea,” I would have zero nickels. But because people love all things that taste like that savory pork product, of course a group of scientists have figured out how to make seaweed-flavored bacon. [More]
The Pizza Farm Is Real: There Are Also Fish Stick Bushes And Taquito Trees
By 7.14.15
A few weeks ago, we shared our disappointment that while “pizza farms” exist, they are not places where you pluck sun-ripened pizzas from the vine and eat them in a meadow while pepperoni-beasts surround you, grazing red peppers. No, they’re places where you eat pizza on the farm where the ingredients were grown or raised, which is almost as good. Then we learned about an actual pizza farm. [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]
7-Eleven Isn’t Just Giving Away Slurpees For One Day This Year, It’s Creating A Week Of (Almost) Free Stuff
By 7.10.15
Who wants a free Slurpee? Well, good thing tomorrow is July 11 – otherwise known as 7-Eleven Day – a day in which the convenience store will once again bestow free sugary, icy drinks on customers at no cost. Not content to merely give away free frozen drinks this year, 7-Eleven stores are expanding their yearly celebration to an entire week. [More]
FDA Giving Businesses Another Year To Comply With Rules Requiring Calorie Counts On Menus
By 7.9.15
Restaurants and other businesses that were living under a deadline to include calorie counts on menus and displays will get a bit of wiggle room to comply with the rule passed by the Food and Drug Administration last fall. The agency now says food purveyors will have another year to get their acts together, extending the previous deadline from Dec. 1, 2015 to Dec. 1, 2016. [More]
Behold: There Are Magical Places In This Country Known As “Pizza Farms”
By 7.2.15
Of all the dreams I’ve dreamed in all the nights of sleep I’ve had, never have I believed that a pizza farm could be a real thing. While this popular new form of agritourism might not feature fertile fields fairly bursting with hot, cheesy pies right off the vine, pizza farms have proven to be a popular way for those in the farming business to sell directly to customers looking for that “farm-to-table” situation. [More]
Customer Claims Panera Soup Came With A Side Of Razor Blade
By 7.1.15
When ordering a cup or bowl of soup from Panera Bread most people would prefer to have a roll or chunk of baguette accompanying their meal. But a Florida woman says her soup came with something extra on a recent lunch trip to the restaurant: a razor blade. [More]
Burger Chain Turns Its Cricket Milkshake April Fool’s Joke Into Real Menu Item
By 6.29.15
Most of the time when we hear about bugs and food, it’s an unfortunate and unintended event that leads to disgust, repulsion and often, an apology from any business involved. This time it’s different: a burger chain is putting insects on the menu on purpose, after an April Fool’s joke proved to be popular with customers. [More]
Sysco Drops Bid To Buy U.S. Foods, Plan To Create Foodservice Supply Voltron
By 6.29.15
After months of battling with federal regulators – including contentious meetings, a lawsuit and a federal injunction – food distributor Sysco has dropped its plan to merge with rival U.S. Foods. [More]
Wish-Bone Recalling Some Bottles Of Ranch Dressing Because They’re Full Of Blue Cheese
By 6.24.15
One of the worst tricks you could pull on a ranch dressing devotee? Filling a bottle labeled as such with blue cheese instead. It could also be quite the problem for anyone allergic to eggs, as that known allergen isn’t declared on bottles of Wish-Bone Ranch Dressing, some of which were accidentally filled with blue cheese dressing instead. Pinnacle Foods has issued a voluntary recall of the mixed up bottles, after a consumer noticed the mistake. Yet another reminder why it’s good to speak up. [via FDA.gov] [More]
KFC Wants An Apology After Lab Tests Show Fried Rat Shape Is Actually Just Chicken
By 6.23.15
Last week after a KFC customer posted photos and video of what he claimed was a fried rat he’d received with his order of chicken, the company said it believed the whole thing was a hoax, and asked the man to turn over the food in question for independent testing. Lab results are in… and the word is, it’s a bird. Chicken, to be exact. [More]
Chobani On Its Ad Featuring Same-Sex Couple: “We’re Proud That Our Products Are Enjoyed By All”
By 6.18.15
While the idea of eating food in bed might make people angry for cleanliness reasons (such a mess!), others are ticked off at Chobani for its latest ad featuring two women in bed together, one of whom happens to be eating yogurt. The ever-vigilant folks at One Million Moms have a problem not only with lesbians eating yogurt in bed, but with the fact that a same-sex couple would flaunt their wedding rings while doing so. In response, Chobani says it’s proud that all kinds of people like to eat its yogurt, in bed and married or otherwise. [More]
Lobster Prices Rising Just In Time For That Summer Feast You Were Planning
By 6.18.15
The summer fishing season is off to a slow start, which means American lobster prices are ticking up just in time for your vacation to the coast. [More]
