Study Estimates Its Not Just Bad Food Killing You But Not Enough Good Food

Researchers looked at 15 different dietary trends like eating too much salt, and not eating enough whole grains or fruit.

Here’s what they found. The top killer is eating too much sodium. But, surprisingly, the next leading causes of food-related illnesses are not eating enough healthy foods. In particular, whole grains, fruit, nuts and seeds, and vegetables. There is not a region on the planet that’s eating the right mix of foods.

 

Restaurants Purchasing Tech Companies?

Restaurants have started investing in tech companies and even buying them outright. Recently, McDonald’s acquired Israeli company Dynamic Yield and promised to add its personalized menus to its drive-thrus in the U.S. this year. It then invested in a New Zealand mobile app developer called Plexure.

Those moves follow a pair of investments in the space last year by KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut owner Yum Brands—which invested $200 million in Grubhub and then bought online ordering company QuikOrder.

Such deals could become more commonplace as restaurants’ need for technology grows.

 

 

NYC’s Department Of Health Bans CBD From Being Added To Food & Drinks

The Department of Health, has banned all restaurants and bars from serving food and drinks made with CBD, a cannabis-derived product that’s said to relax users and reduce pain without getting high. But just because CBD won’t get you high, that doesn’t mean it has no side effects or potential uses.

CNBC Make It profiled the New York City bar, Adriaen Block, where customers can select from an entire menu of CBD-infused cocktails and food items, like a cheeseburger with CBD-infused sauce. (This reporter sampled the restaurant’s CBD-infused menu items, he said were tasty — the CBD oil did not overpower — and he did feel a bit relaxed afterward, though he said that the alcohol could have played a role in that.)

California, lawmakers recently cracked down on restaurants and cafes serving everything from coffee and juice to other foods infused with CBD.

Restaurants in New York City are not permitted to add anything to food or drink that is not approved as safe to eat,” says DOH spokeswoman Danielle De Souza. “The Health Department is serious about protecting New Yorkers’ health. Until cannabidiol (CBD) is deemed safe as a food additive, the Department is ordering restaurants not to offer products containing CBD.”

According to De Souza, the Department of Health began banning CBD in food products starting in January. Medical marijuana dispensary Citiva, which just opened its first Brooklyn location across from the Barclays Center in January, also sells CBD products and welcomes the scrutiny.

In New York, CBD started showing up in early 2017 as “cannabis oil” used to lace food at intimate private dinners like the NSFW club’s Dankquet. Since then, CBD has come out of the shadows to easily top the list of 2018 food trends. First came CBD lattes at Brooklyn’s Caffeine Underground in March, with cafes around the city quickly jumping onboard.

A 2017 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the majority of medical marijuana products sold on the internet may be unsafe or ineffective.

Eleven New York City Hospitals Go Meatless Mondays

NYC Health + Hospitals has launched Meatless Mondays at all 11 of its acute care hospitals, to provide healthy, appealing meal options and introduce the benefits of plant-based nutrition to inpatients to help them make important lifestyle decisions to lead their healthiest lives. The new plant-based items will be added to the regular menu to expand options for patients.

Promoted with the slogan “Power Up with Plants,” Meatless Monday meals will offer tasty options such as black bean soup, spaghetti and garden bolognese sauce, three bean chili, vegan beefless strips, garden burger, rice and beans, cream of potato soup, assorted fruits, and hummus. New Meatless Monday meal choices will be introduced over time to keep the program fresh.

2019 Food Trends

The online grocer FreshDirect has put together a list of what it predicts will be the top 10 food trends for the year ahead. The list was curated by a team of in-house food and wine experts.

Facebook/Haven’s Kitchen

Consumers can expect to see more innovation of so-called shelf-stable food such as pasta sauces or protein bars, which typically aren’t refrigerated before they are opened but will be after they are made with fresher ingredients.

CBD-infused foods

Cannabidiol, an ingredient derived from the cannabis plant has become one of the most talked-about ingredients of 2018, with retailers selling products as varied as CBD teas, beer alternatives, dog treats, coffee, and supplements.

CBD Oil Side Effects

• Dry Mouth. CBD oil can cause dry mouth. …
• Lower Blood Pressure. High doses of CBD oil can cause a small drop in blood pressure in some individuals. …
• Lightheadedness or Dizziness. …
• Nausea. …
• Sleepiness or drowsiness. …
• Increased Tremors in Parkinson’s Disease. …
• Headaches

Cannabidiol is a chemical in the Cannabis sativa plant, also known as marijuana. Over 80 chemicals, known as cannabinoids, have been identified in the Cannabis sativa plant. While delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the major active ingredient, cannabidiol makes up about 40% of cannabis extracts and has been studied for many different uses. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), because cannabidiol has been studied as a new drug, products containing cannabidiol are not defined as dietary supplements. But there are still products labeled as dietary supplements on the market that contain cannabidiol. The amount of cannabidiol contained in these products is not always reported accurately on the product label.

People take cannabidiol by mouth for anxiety, bipolar disorder, a muscle disorder called dystonia, seizures, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia.

People inhale cannabidiol to help quit smoking.

How does it work?

Cannabidiol has antipsychotic effects. The exact cause for these effects is not clear. But cannabidiol seems to prevent the breakdown of a chemical in the brain that affects pain, mood, and mental function. Preventing the breakdown of this chemical and increasing its levels in the blood seems to reduce psychotic symptoms associated with conditions such as schizophrenia. Cannabidiol might also block some of the psychoactive effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Also, cannabidiol seems to reduce pain and anxiety.

l has shown promise as a treatment for both depression and anxiety, leading many who live with these disorders to become interested in this natural approach.

In one study, 24 people with social anxiety disorder received either 600 mg of CBD or a placebo before a public speaking test.The group that received the CBD had significantly less anxiety, cognitive impairment and discomfort in their speech performance, compared to the placebo group. CBD has also shown antidepressant-like effects in several animal studies.

CBD may help reduce symptoms related to cancer and side effects related to cancer treatment, like nausea, vomiting and pain.One study looked at the effects of CBD and THC in 177 people with cancer-related pain who did not experience relief from pain medication. Those treated with an extract containing both compounds experienced a significant reduction in pain compared to those who received only THC extract . CBD may also help reduce chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, which are among the most common chemotherapy-related side effects for those with cancer

Canned fish

Shutterstock/PERLA BERANT WILDER

Canned fish is in vogue thanks to trendy restaurants putting it on their menus.

Oats

Facebook/Oatly

Oat milk has become the hot new product in the dairy-free aisle and is positioned to take over nut milks as the leading milk alternative. Oat milk is a more sustainable and less water-intensive milk alternative than almond milk, and it’s often less expensive.

Spice packets

Gousto

Consumers are looking for complete convenience when it comes to cooking, and spice packets and simmer sauces are coming to their rescue.

Cauliflower

Wikimedia Commons/Sunny Mama

The cauliflower craze is already well-established in the US, but we can expect to see it creeping its way into more of our meals.

The vegetable is now used as an alternative to grains — cauliflower-based pizzas, rice, and crackers are a few examples of this trend.

 

Cheaper organic food

Scott Olson/Getty

Customers are increasingly becoming more open to buying organic food that may not yet carry a formal certification.

Technology enables seasonal produce to be available year-round

Shutterstock/Zapp2Photo

Innovation in food production will enable out-of-season strains and varietals to be grown locally,

Healthier drinks

Kombrewcha

 Expect to see more drinks with lower alcohol volume, such as ciders and session IPAs, as well as nonalcoholic spirits and digestive-enhancement alcoholic beverages like Kombrewcha.

Starbucks Teams Up With Uber Eats

Starbucks has announced a partnership with Uber Eats to deliver drinks and snacks from 2,000 of its stores across the U.S. You can place an order using the Starbucks or Uber Eats app.

Uber Eats Has Grown From Experiment To Serving Much Of U.S. & Cities Worldwide

Its been three years, and the Uber Eats restaurant food delivery service has grown from an experiment to serving much of the US and major cities worldwide. By end of the year, the ride-hailing company says it will cover 70% of the US population and be in 243 metro areas, mainly by expanding into smaller cities.

It’s already in over 300 cities in 36 countries with many international deliveries done by bicycle. Jason Droege, an Uber vice president who leads Uber Everything, the unit that explores how to build new businesses off the Uber network, says Eats is growing as fast as the ride-hailing service did in its early days.

It appears that Millennials are attracted to Uber Eats while older folks still prefer restaurants.

Technologies Transforming The Restaurant Industry

Restaurants have started utilizing Bluetooth temperature monitoring systems to ensure their food and equipment are up to par. Using handheld probes and fixed sensors, restaurants can manually or automatically measure the temperatures of their key assets in as little as four seconds. Managers can program customized limits for each food and equipment and be alerted if any temperatures are beyond their acceptable threshold. These Bluetooth sensors can also wirelessly record temperature readings in a HACCP log so that employees do not have to. This prevents staff from falsifying daily reports.

Optimized schedule makers/scheduling software
There is now software to help them get the job done. In just seconds, managers can generate and distribute a digital weekly schedule to all employees.

Virtual reality onboarding
VR and HR come together to create the newest trend for employee management: Virtual reality onboarding. Using a headset and customized software, new hires can engage in a truly unique experience, without the risks and cost of a normal training session. They can take a 360-degree tour of the facility, watch other employees in action, and test their skills in simulation games. With VR onboarding, trainees don’t have to touch the food or even be in the restaurant to learn how to do their job. There is less pressure on them to avoid mistakes and managers have more time for their other responsibilities.

Kiosks/tabletop tablets
Say goodbye to cash registers and hello to kiosks, the newest in point-of-sale technology. At these kiosks, customers are able to browse the menu, create customized orders, and pay for their meal entirely on their own.

Digital table/reservation manager
 This software does everything from booking reservations directly with customers to suggesting optimal seating arrangements based on time and party size. Restaurants can also give customers accurate wait time estimates and notify them via text when a table is ready for a more pleasurable waiting experience.

Coffee Cancer & California’s Proposition 65

 

Credit: Shutterstock

A California judge ruled on March 29 that coffee shops in the state must include a cancer warning label each cup of joe. Here’s more about the ruling and the possible coffee-cancer link. 

If a lawsuit in California is successful, Golden State stores that sell coffee will have to warn customers that drinking a cup of joe may be a cancer risk, according to news reports.

The cancer warning label on coffee, which may be required under California law, has sparked a bitter debate and is now drawing criticism from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Roasted coffee beans contain a known carcinogen, a chemical called acrylamide. But it’s unclear whether acrylamide levels in coffee are high enough to pose a health risk to humans. Acrylamide occurs in overly cooked or roasted starchy foods, including coffee beans, french fries, potato chips, breakfast cereals and toast. It’s also found in cigarette smoke. The carcinogenic chemical is concerning enough that last year, the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency asked people to “Go for Gold” rather than a charred color when eating starchy foods that could be burned.

The jury is still in Question on whether the levels of acrylamide in coffee can increase cancer risk in humans. While an increased cancer risk is shown in some studies, others don’t find any at all, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). These disparate results may occur because it’s challenging to quantify how much acrylamide people consume.

This week, FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said that such a label would mislead consumers more than it would inform them.

“Such a warning could mislead consumers to believe that drinking coffee could be dangerous to their health, when it actually could provide health benefits,” Gottlieb said in a statement yesterday (Aug. 29).

 

 

FDA Cracking Down On Use Of The Word “Milk”

 

 

FDA head says current products don’t meet labeling standards

The US Food and Drug Administration seems expressed concern on nondairy milk-alternative products that use the term “milk” in their marketing and labeling—like popular soy and almond milk products.

Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced Tuesday that the FDA will soon issue a new guidance on the use of the term. But he added that products aren’t abiding by FDA policies as they stand now. He referenced a so-called “standard of identity” policy that regulates how milk is defined and should be identified. he said   “almond doesn’t lactate”, and the agency will soon tap the public for comments on the terminology and hopes to wring out a new policy within a year. In 2015, the agency cracked down on the labeling of an egg-less mayonnaise-like product called Just Mayo. 

Vegan Burgers & Chicken @ Fast Food Restaurants

KFC chicken chain is officially working on the first vegetarian fried chicken to ever hit a big-name QSR. The faux meat’s first destination will be the United Kingdom, where smaller places like Temple of Seitan are famous for their own versions of plant-based fried chicken.

Over the next 7 years, KFC UK hopes to cut their calories per serving by 20%. They will also introduce multiple meals that are under 600 calories by 2020.

One of the ways they’re looking to do that is with this veggie alternative, which will utilize the same secret blend of 11 spices that all of Colonel Sanders’s chicken is seasoned with. The vegetarian fried chicken is meant to be a healthier substitute to their standard fare. There are not many details on what will go into it however.

The McDonald’s McVegan burger was trialed at select locations in Finland from October -November. In fact, the product was so successful it was officially rolled out to other regions just a month after trial phase. With consumers seeing McDonald’s upping their plant-based game and their expectations of other fast food brands raised, it was only a matter of time before another big name stepped up too. The soy patty burger is currently only available at select locations in Finland, and the success of the trial will reportedly determine whether the dish will be offered in other regions.

Subways Restaurant Closing 500 U.S. Stores

Subway Restaurants, the world’s most ubiquitous dining chain, will continue closing U.S. stores as it expands internationally.This year, about 500 more of its U.S. shops will be shut down. Last year, more than 800 stores went dark, with the total U.S. count dropping to 25,908. It also closed restaurants in 2016.

The sandwich shop, founded more than 50 years ago, is struggling to boost sales in the U.S. as newer, more modern chains emerge. Theyhave been hurt by fierce competition in the U.S., including McDonald’s Corp., whose domestic system sales rose 3.4 percent last year, according to data from researcher Technomic, supermarkets, and gas stations that are selling more grab-and-go fare.

They are currently banking on a new loyalty program which offers $2 discounts and free items, is available for the chain’s domestic and Canadian locations. This year, the chain will add more than 1,000 locations outside of North America, and is focused on growth in countries including the U.K., Germany, South Korea, India, China and Mexico.

Google Wants To Sell Zagat

Google has reportedly held “informal talks” with interested parties for a deal that would encompass the Zagat brand name and website. Mum’s the word on how much Google is after for the service, with Google keeping quite on the matter.

Free Vending Machines For The Homeless Coming To The U.S. February 2018

A charity in the United Kingdom is testing special vending machines that dispense essential items like water, food, and clothing to homeless people with nowhere to go at night. The free-to-use service is the work of Nottingham-based Action Hunger. Huzaifah Khaled is the founder of this organization.  Access to the machines is exclusively permitted to those in need. Items can only be vended with the use of a special key card issued by Action Hunger. The key cards are disseminated to their partner organizations in each city, which tend to have homeless shelters and local outreach centers.

The key cards can be used to get up to three items per day, and Action Hunger hopes it will enable people to get some help, without becoming too reliant on the vending machines. The non-perishable contents of the vending machine such as fresh fruit, energy bars, sandwiches, socks, gloves, sanitary towels, toothbrush and toothpaste combination packs, and foil blankets, come from donations, while most of the fresh food is being supplied by redistribution organizations. In order to keep the key cards active, individuals must check in with their regular homeless shelter on a weekly basis.

The free vending machines will be in the United States February 2018. New York will receive the first machine, and Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle will follow. Action Hunger has a special interest in a host of cities across America and would like to reach as many people as possible including more areas in Europe.

 

 

 

Scientist Creating Low fat Bacon With Pig & Mice Genes

Outlets are reporting that Chinese scientists have genetically altered pig embryos (using added genes from mice) to create “skinny pigs” who have a lower percentage of body fat and could be used, one day, to produce what some headlines are deeming “healthy bacon.

Genetically modified (GM) foods continue to be a contentious subject. Proponents believe that it could help feed millions of hungry people amid climate change and population growth. Others balk at the idea of eating science experiments.

The World Health Organization reports that the safety of GM foods depends on how the genes were tweaked, which will ultimately leave each item to be rated on a case-by-case basis. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has approved genetically engineered salmon. And apples not prone to browning are expected to be available soon.

UH!

Whole Foods Had data breach That Potentially Compromised Its Customers’ Credit Card Details.

Whole Foods said it was alerted to a potential breach after it “receiving information about an unauthorized access of payment card information. It appears  that Whole Foods did not detect the compromise itself, but was informed by a third party instead.

7-UP Gets 8th Ingredient In Mexico – Some Sickened

7Up—now has a troubling eighth ingredient in Mexico: methamphetamine.

Health professionals in Arizona are warning travelers to the Mexicali area to be aware of possibly contaminated sodas there. The warning comes days after medical toxicologists and emergency doctors received reports of soda tampering in the area.

According to the Attorney General of the State of Baja California, seven people were sickened and one died from the spiked soft drinks. Officials requested that merchants there suspend sales of 7Up and clear the product from their shelves. There is currently an investigation in progress to figure out how the illicit stimulant got into the soda.

Chris Barnes, a spokesperson for Dr Pepper Snapple Group, told Arizona news outlet AZCentralthat 7Up products in the US were safe. “None of the 7Up products sold in the US are affected by the issue being reported in Mexico,” Barnes said. “Dr Pepper Snapple owns and licenses the 7Up brand only in the US and its territories. We do not market, sell, or distribute the brand internationally.”

Health professionals recommended travelers stay watchful of the beverages they buy. “It is important to check that the seal for any food and drink consumed is still intact and show no signs of tampering,” Dr. Daniel Brooks, a poison and drug expert with Banner Health, said in a statement. “If you notice any difference in color, taste, or smell, throw it out.”

Symptoms of consuming meth-laced soda include: burning to the esophagus or abdomen, nausea, vomiting, difficulty breathing, and fast or irregular heartbeat.

 7Up contained a potent drug when the soda was first released in the 1920s. It contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing psychiatric drug that’s used to treat manic states in people with bipolar disorder. Some have theorized that the soda got its name from the atomic mass of lithium, which is roughly seven.

Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and Kimbal Musk Investing In Lab Grown Meats

Startup Memphis Meats announced in April that it had for the first time grown chicken meat in a lab, the firm admitted that the achievement came at a cost of $9,000 per pound. Memphis Meats puts living animal cells into bioreactor tanks and feeds them oxygen, sugars, and minerals until they divide and grow. The company said the taste and texture is similar to that of the real thing, just a bit spongier, according to the Wall Street Journal. Although the company has served it’s cultured poultry to taste testers, the meat is still extremely expensive. It currently costs around $9,000 to produce a pound of Memphis Meats’ poultry, compared to a bit over $3 on average for a pound of chicken breast. However, the company hopes to reduce costs drastically as it refines its technology over the next few years. It hopes to launch a commercial product in 2021.

Business leaders like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and Kimbal Musk have joined food industry giants like Cargill and venture capital firms in backing the startup with $17 million in a Series A round of funding. In total Memphis Meats has raised $22 million.

KFC Plans To Training Their Employees With Virtual Reality Equipment

 

Training applications for the service and food industry have genuine potential, as seen in Google’s interactive learning tests, and Honeygrow’s training app for new employees.  Nevertheless, the sequence does introduce the basics of preparing chicken for KFC in a highly entertaining way, and could serve as a fun part of the employee initiation process.

With an atmosphere of light steampunk horror, including a somewhat disturbing version of The Colonel asking you to kindly fry some chicken, The Hard Way appeared to be an elaborate marketing campaign, but PC Gamer received an official response suggesting that the project is indeed going to be introduced to new employees in the future.

“KFC will use the VR simulation to supplement its robust, multi-step employee training program, called Chicken Mastery Certification, which provides detailed eLearning and hands-on training for cooks in each of KFC’s kitchens. KFC will provide another platform for training by bringing the VR simulation technology to its regional general manager training classes, quarterly franchise meetings, and employee onboarding.

Stem Celled Meat In The Supermarkets?

 Cultured meat is still in its research and development phase and must overcome massive hurdles before hitting market. A consumer-ready product does not yet exist and its progress is heavily shrouded by intellectual property claims and sensationalist press. Today, cultured meat is a lot of hype and no consumer product.  

Mark Post unveiled a $330,000 cultured burger in 2013, startup Memphis Meats has produced cultured meatballs and poultry last and this year, and Hampton Creek plans to have a product reveal dinner by the end of the year. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals offered a one million dollar prize for whoever could “produce commercially viable quantities of in vitro (lab-grown) chicken meat” in 2008. 

The meat is made by growing animal-derived cells in the lab and harvesting the meat after a month or so. Part of that scale-up includes developing industrial bioreactors for growing the meat—eventually, cultured meat producers hope the process will look a lot like the beer brewing, where cells grow in big tanks. (Bioreactors as large as 20,000 liters exist for other purposes, but would need to be designed specifically for growing cow, chicken or pig cells.)

Chinese Scientist Genetically Engineered Purple Rice Which Is Supposedly Healthier

Chinese scientists have genetically engineered purple rice, which is rich in antioxidants(Credit: Qinlong Zhu/South China Agricultural University)

Chinese scientists genetically engineered purple rice that is rich in antioxidants and may reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.

The added health benefits of the new rice are due to the increased levels of anthocyanins. Not only do these compounds boost antioxidant activity, which is linked to reduced risks of cancer, heart disease and diabetes, they also give foods like blueberries and red grapes their eye-catching coloration. As a result, the new rice breed has a rich purple pigment.

The next phase for the team involves studying how safe the new purple rice is to eat, and whether the technique can be applied to other cereals. Eventually, the researchers say the technique could be used to increase the levels of other nutrients and chemicals in plants.

 

Grocery Shopping With Amazon

AmazonFresh Pickup  in Seattle, allows you do your food shopping online — either at home or on the go — and then collect it when you drop by at a depot in your car. According the promo video above, all you do is select a pickup time when you hit the “buy” button and when you show up someone will be there to load up your car. Future launches are most likely to be in places where the AmazonFresh delivery service is already up and running, which include cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Boston.

Facebook Is Now Into The Food Ordering Business

Facebook is rolling out new option “Order Food” to a select users in the US which will let them order food directly from its app, without having to open the restaurants’s dedicated app or website.

Represented by a hamburger icon, the option lets Facebook users place food pickup and delivery orders from restaurants using Delivery.com or Slice. To access the new feature, simply go to the main navigation menu and scroll all the way down. Once there, you should see an “Order Food” option alongside a corresponding hamburger icon.

Users can simply type in their specific location or general area, and from there, they can can scroll through a solid selection of restaurants. The selection is not as expansive as what you might find on a site like Grubhub,

RUTHERFORD Q. STARBUCKS Is Begging You Not To Buy Their Unicorn Frappuccino

 

THE FOUNDER OF STARBUCKS Rutherford Q. Starbucks Is BEGGING YOU TO STOP BUYING THE UNICORN FRAPPUCCINO

Here’s what he says

More here

Yelp Tests Robots Delivering Food

Robots will hit the streets with food delivery orders from Marble, a San Francisco startup that is partnering with Yelp to navigate crowded city streets and deliver your order before it gets cold.

Marble’s robots are about waist-height, a bit larger than the dog-sized models of its competitor Starship. They’re also brimming with technology borrowed from self-driving cars. Each Marble delivery bot—there are a few of them cruising the streets of San Francisco’s Mission and Potrero Hill neighborhoods—includes lidar, cameras, and ultrasonic sensors to monitor their surroundings. The company says it plans to map the majority of San Francisco’s sidewalks over the coming year. Visitors and San Francisco residents can order delivery from Yelp’s Eat24 app for a chance to be served by a Marble bot. If you’re selected, you’ll be offered the opportunity to accept the service, and the restaurant will then pack your order into one of the robots’ cargo bays. Once it arrives, you’ll enter an access code to unlock your breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Last month, Starship also began delivering pizza from Domino’s locations in Germany and the Netherlands. If those trials are successful, Domino’s could expand the service to more of its 2,000+ stores worldwide.

 

Restaurants

Photographer: PAOLO TERZI Fotografo, Modena

A re-interpreted crab cake at Osteria Francescana, ranked No. 2 this year.

The Top 50 (Last year’s place in parentheses)

1. Eleven Madison Park, New York (3)
2. Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy (1)
3. El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain (2)
4. Mirazur, Menton, France (6)
5. Central, Lima (4)
6. Asador Etxebarri, Axpe, Spain (10)
7. Gaggan, Bangkok (23)
8. Maido, Lima (13)
9. Mugaritz, San Sebastian, Spain (7)
10. Steirereck, Vienna (9)
11. Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, New York (48)
12. Arpège, Paris (19)
13. Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, Paris (58)
14. Restaurant André, Singapore (32)
15. Piazza Duomo, Alba, Italy (17)
16. D.O.M., São Paulo, Brazil (11)
17. Le Bernardin, New York (24)
18. Narisawa, Tokyo (8)
19. Geranium, Copenhagen (28)
20. Pujol, Mexico City (25)
21. Alinea, Chicago (15)
22. Quintonil, Mexico City (12)
23. White Rabbit, Moscow (18)
24. Amber, Hong Kong (20)
25. Tickets, Barcelona (29)
26. The Clove Club, London (26)
27. The Ledbury, London (14)
28. Nahm, Bangkok (37)
29. Le Calandre, Rubano, Italy (39)
30. Arzak, San Sebastian, Spain (21)
31. Pavillon Ledoyen, Paris (72)
32. Attica, Melbourne (33)
33. Astrid y Gastón, Lima (30)
34. De Librije, Zwolle, Netherlands (38)
35. Septime, Paris (50)
36. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London (45)
37. Saison, San Francisco (27)
38. Azurmendi, Larrabetzu, Spain (16)
39. Relae, Copenhagen (40)
40. Cosme, New York (96)
41. Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet, Shanghai (42)
42. Boragó, Santiago (36)
43. Reale, Castel di Sangro, Italy (84)
44. Brae, Birregurra, Australia (65)
45. Den, Tokyo (77)
46. L’Astrance, Paris (57)
47. Vendôme, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany (35)
48. Restaurant Tim Raue, Berlin (34)
49. Tegui, Buenos Aires (68)
50. Hof van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium (53)

Menu Trends

 transparency

Fresh, natural and simple are the culinary words of the day. As consumers are taking a greater interest in ingredient lists of packaged food – the shorter the better, the more pronounceable the better – chefs and restaurateurs also look for minimally processed ingredients for their menus.

 grains

Quinoa is ubiquitous these days, but it’s starting to cool off as a hot trend. Its cousins in the ancient grain family are picking up that heat, though. Amaranth, spelt, farro and sorghum may be coming soon to a grain bowl near you.

• Vegetarian and vegan cuisines

After a few years on the rise among hot menu trends fueled by an increased focus on health and nutrition, vegan and vegetarian cuisines are becoming less trendy. They are not going anywhere, though, as they are gaining momentum as permanent features on restaurant menus. Simultaneously, veggie-centric cuisine continues to heat up, indicating that plant-focused diets are increasingly embraced by both chefs and consumers.

• Underused meats are on the outs

Meat cuts like chicken feet, pig ears, tongue and oxtail had their moment in the sun as far as being trendy, but the skies are now partly cloudy. And speaking of underused proteins, insects continue to hold the number-one spot on the yesterday’s news list in the What’s Hot in 2017 report.

 

The Culinary Forecast & Whats Hot

More Here

Buzz The Bee ,Taken Off Cherrios

Have you notice lately that Buzz is not on your box of Cheerios? Your daily breakfast comp is gone. In his place is an empty white outline. The cereal company announced this week that they were taking Buzz off as a reminder that populations of bees and other pollinators around the world are declining drastically, and if we don’t start doing something to help them soon, Buzz may never come back. Some 20,000 different species of bees and other pollinators help contribute to the growth of fruits, nuts, vegetables, and flowering plants. In fact, they play a critical role in pollinating 35 percent of global crop plants, an ecosystem service that is worth as much as $577 billion a year.

Remember bees bring the flowers and flowers bring fruits and vegetables we need them!

Farmers Are Feeding The Cows Skittles

Here’s Why

Cattle diets typically consist of corn, hay, and other plant-based foods, but farmers occasionally feed theirs cows with skittles.

Feeding candy to cows has become a more popular practice with the rising price of corn, which has doubled since 2009, fueled by government-subsidized demand for ethanol and this year’s drought.Thrifty and resourceful farmers are tapping into the obscure market for cast-off food ingredients. Cut-rate byproducts of dubious value for human consumption seem to make fine fodder for cows. While corn goes for about $315 a ton, ice-cream sprinkles can be had for as little as $160 a ton.

 Mike Yoder, a dairy farmer in Middlebury, Ind feeds his 400 cows bits of candy, hot chocolate mix, crumbled cookies, breakfast cereal, trail mix, dried cranberries, orange peelings and ice cream sprinkles, which are blended into more traditional forms of feed, like hay.

The farmer said that he goes over the feed menu every couple of weeks with a livestock nutritionist who advised him to cap the candy at 3% of a cow’s diet. He said that the sugar in ice cream sprinkles seems to increase milk production by three pounds per cow per day. The candies such as skittles are mixed in with other materials to create animal feed.

 

 

McDonalds Will Begin Deliveries In January in Florida Via Uber

Soon McDonald’s across Florida, delivery will be a new option to get your fast food. This is  a result of a new partnership between Uber Eats and the company and is initially planned for 200 stores in Miami, Orlando, and Tampa.

Customers will be able to order through the UberEats app or online starting next month. Like other restaurants available through UberEats, the company’s $5 delivery charge applies to any order.

The fast food chain already delivers through Postmates and DoorDash. However, the service and delivery fees for larger orders are more expensive than UberEats. McDonald’s is also planning to launch an order-by-app option, where customers can order and pay ahead of time, and pick up from a local store.More than two thirds of its business is from drive-thru sales, indicating that convenience is a key driver of its sales.

Gene Drive Technology

160 global groups have called for a moratorium on new ‘genetic extinction’ technology at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Cancun, Mexico.

Here’s what they say:

Gene drive technology, poses serious and irreversible threats to biodiversity, national sovereignty, peace and food security.

Leaders from over 160 organizations are calling on governments at the 2016 COP13 of the Biodiversity Convention to establish a moratorium on the controversial genetic extinction technology called ‘gene drives’.Gene drives, developed through new gene-editing techniques, are designed to force a particular genetically engineered trait to spread through an entire wild population – potentially changing entire species or even causing deliberate extinctions.The statement urges governments to put in place an urgent, global moratorium on the development and release of the new technology which, they say, poses “serious and potentially irreversible threats to biodiversity, as well as national sovereignty, peace, and food security.”

What is a gene drive?

Gene drive is the practice of “stimulating biased inheritance of particular genes to alter entire populations.” Possible alterations include adding, disrupting, or modifying genes, including some that reduce reproductive capacity and may cause a population crash.

 

Popular Giant Soup Dumpling

 

 

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Qihui Guan age 63,  spends dozens of hours making the enormous soup-filled dumplings that are making New York foodies tremble with desire. “Demand is booming and we can’t keep up! The response has been overwhelming,” only  25 of them are cooked in a day and not a single one more. The soup filling takes eight hours to prepare, while the casing takes two. You can find excited New York couples waiting in line every day so that they too can take a selfie while sipping on the dumpling. And just one hour after opening, it’s all sold out.Located in the East Village New york

 

 

Food & Dining Trends For 2017

Korean food will be showing up at restaurant everywhere according to traveler. Korean Fried Chicken, five star buffets served on moving vehicles. Foodies are flocking to air , land and sea to get their food fixes. Fodors say 2017 will be the year for seafood.

The list for the World’s Best Restaurants

#1. Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy
Chef: Massimo Bottura
Last year’s rank: 2
Average cost: Cost: €180-€200 (USD $234-$260).

2. El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain
Chef: Joan Roca
Last year’s rank: 1
Average cost: €165-€195 (USD $184-$218)* 2015 pricing.

3. Eleven Madison Park, New York City
Chef: Daniel Humm
Last year’s rank: 5
Cost: $295, service-included.

4. Central, Lima
Chef: Virgilio Martinez and Pia Leon
Last year’s rank: 4
Average cost: s/319-s/398

5. Noma, Copenhagen
Chef: René Redzepi
Last year’s rank: 2
Cost: 1900 DKK (USD: $289).

6. Mirazur, Menton, France
Chef: Mauro Colagreco
Last year’s rank: 11
Average cost: €85-€210 (USD: $110-$273)

7. Mugaritz, Errenteria, Spain
Chef: Andoni Luis Aduriz
Last year’s rank: 6
Cost: €185 (USD: $240)

8. Narisawa, Tokyo
Chef: Yoshihiro Narisawa
Last year’s rank: 8
Cost: ¥25000 (USD: $233).

9. Steirereck, Vienna, Austria
Last year’s rank: 15
Average cost: €132-€142 ($171-$184)

10. Asador Etxebarri, Axpe, Spain
Last year’s rank: 13
Cost: €135 (USD $175)

11. D.O.M., Sao Paolo. Cost: 305-560 BRL (USD $88-$161)

12. Quintonil, Mexico City. Cost: 1300 pesos ($65).

13. Maido, Lima, Peru. Cost: n/a, a la carte raw fish.

14. The Ledbury, London. Cost: £105-£115 (USD $151-$166).

15. Alinea, Chicago. Cost: $175-$345.

16. Azurmendi, Larrabetzu, Spain. Cost: €145-€175 (USD $174-$210).

17. Piazza Duomo, Alba Italy. Cost: €200- €240 (USD $260-$312).

18. White Rabbit, Moscow. Cost: 8000 RUB. (USD $122).

19. L’arpege, Paris. Cost: €320-€380 (USD $415-$493).

20. Amber, Hong Kong. Cost: $1788-$2068 HKD (USD $230-$266)

21. Arzak, San Sebastian, Spain. Cost: €199 (USD $258).

22. Test Kitchen, Cape Town South Africa. Cost: 525r-1200r (USD $79).

23. Gaggan, Bankgok, Thailand. Cost: 3500 THB (USD $99)

24. Le Bernardin, New York City. Cost: $180-$215.

25. Pujol, Mexico City. Cost: 1725 pesos (USD $93).

26. The Clove Club, London. Cost: £65-£95 (USD: $94-$137).

27. Saison, San Francisco. Cost: $398.

28. Geranium, Copenhagen. Cost: 2000 DKK (USD: $304).

29. Tickets, Barcelona. Cost: a la carte tapas.

30. Astrid y Gaston, Lima, Peru. Cost: s/240-s/385 (USD $72-$116).

31. RyuGin, Tokyo. Cost: ¥27000 (USD $252).

32. Restaurant Andre, Singapore. Cost: S$350

33. Attica, Melbourne, Australia. Cost: $195 AUD ($154).

34. Restaurant Tim Raue, Berlin. Cost: €148-€198 (USD: $195-$257)

35. Vendome, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. Cost: €190- €265 (USD $247-$344).

36. Borago, Santiago, Chile. Cost: 45,000-62,000 CLP (USD $66-$91)

37. Nahm, Bangkok. Cost: ฿2500 (USD $51).

38. De Librije, Zwolle, the Netherlands. Cost: €175.50-€195.50 (USD $228-$254)

39. Le Calandre, Italy. Cost: €200-€225. (USD $223-$251).

40. Relae, Copenhagen. Cost: 475-895 DKK (USD $75-$136)

41. Faviken, Sweden. Cost: 2200 SEK (USD $365).

42. Ultraviolet, Shanghai. Cost: ¥4,000 (USD $609, inclusive of pairings).

43. Biko, Mexico City. Cost: 1100 pesos (USD $65).

44. Estela, New York. Cost: a la carte

45. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London. Cost: £225 chef’s table (or a la carte)

46. Combal.Zero, Rivoli, Italy. Cost: €200 (USD $260).

47. Schloss Schauenstein, Austria. Cost: 235-259 SFr. (USD: $204-$267).

48. Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocatino Hills, New York. Cost: $238.

49. QuiQue Dacosta, Denia, Spain. Cost: €190 (USD: $247).

50. Septime, Paris. Cost: €65 (USD: $84).

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McDonalds Plan To Become More Modern With Kiosks & Mobile Ordering

McDonald’s is planning to become more modern by updating it’s U.S. restaurants with self-service kiosk ordering, mobile payments, “smart” menu boards, custom sandwiches and table service.

About 500 of McDonald’s more than 14,000 U.S. restaurants have made the changes with Florida, New York and Southern California being the first regions to adopt the new format. Restaurants in San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Seattle will start making the switch next year. McDonald’s will pilot mobile ordering in the United States in the first half of 2017 and do a national rollout in the second half, Chris Kempczinski, a former Kraft Foods executive who will take over as McDonald’s USA president on Jan. 1. Mobile ordering and payment will be added to the McDonald’s app, which has been downloaded by 16 million people.

The company wants new food and tech elements in addition to the restaurant makeovers. McDonald’s executives said that the equipment is not expected to reduce the number of workers in restaurants since traditional order takers would be redeployed to help customers learn to operate kiosks and to deliver food to tables.

On the healthier side Mcdonalds  USA already has switched to chicken raised without antibiotics important to human health, replaced margarine with butter in its Egg McMuffins, and swapped sugar for high-fructose corn syrup in its hamburger buns.

Most recently, it said it would fully transition to cage-free eggs in the United States and Canada over the next decade.

 

The Future of Dinner

 

Here’s what they’re working on

3D-printed food could look the same as regular food, but have nutrients tailored to the diner(Credit: US Army)

A robotic kitchen chef(Credit: Moley Robotics

Jellyfish could be a major source of future food(Credit: David Szondy/New Atlas)

Golden rice compared with regular rice(Credit: International Rice Research Institute (IRRI))

Vertical farms would bring agriculture to the cities(Credit: FoodPort)

Algae is 50 percent protein – could it be a source of food in the future?

A barge containing an urban farm(Credit: Swale New York)

Beyond Meat is a plant-based chicken substitute(Credit: Beyond Meat)

The Impossible Burger is plant-based beef substitute that uses a vegetarian meat chemical analog to enhance the flavor(Credit: Impossible  Burger)

ShakeShack managers and sommeliers at the new Union Square Cafe 2.0 eatery will wear devices to take better care of their diners. When the announcement came that all  that all  managers and sommeliers at his Union Square Cafe 2.0 would be sporting Apple Watches when it reopened this month, patrons paniced that the glow of organic bonhomie would be replaced by a bunch of smartphones. To ease the tensions, only  sommelier and managers will receive an Apple Watch which will not be seen. Servers will not wear the watch.These watches will be connected to an app developed by Resy, a tech-forward reservation system startup, and integrated into the restaurant’s point of sale system.This technology, is expected to allow the restaurant to take better care of its guests. Managers will be able to monitor with statistical precision how long a table has been seated and thus when their order should be taken.Likewise, guest using the Resy app will have a profile wherein preferences, allergies and past orders can be noted. The restaurant can also create profiles for every member of a party, not just the reserver.

Servers will not be wearing the watches and somms and managers wear long sleeves.’ Photograph: Issei Kato/Reuters

New York City’s Museum Of Ice Cream

The chocolate chamber. Photograph: Bebeto Matthews/AP

Photograph: Bebeto Matthew/AP

For the month of August, a studio space across from the Whitney Museum has been transformed into the Museum of Ice Cream where visitors can swim in a pool of rainbow sprinkles. The six-room experience is a sensory delight that looks like a hipster paradise – all the wall art is selfie-friendly, and the sprinkle pool has a mirror hanging above it.

 

 

Food & Technology: Here’s What The Scientist Are Working On —–Whats Next?

Supermeat— Cultured Lab Grown Meat

The company would first take a small biopsy sample from a chicken, then separate cells to grow in culture. Once these cells are grown into full-size tissue, SuperMeat hopes it will “result in chicken meat indistinguishable from conventional meat in terms of flavor and texture.”

Comment :It appears that more & more items are becoming hybrid or fake.

Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Hotel: CE LA VI

Ce La Vi, on the rooftop of the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore, is teaming up with Russian diamond company World of Diamonds, offering an experience lasting eight hours. The two-person package includes a 45-minute helicopter ride over Singapore, a luxury cruise, and a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce ride to Ce La Vi. The diners will be presented with 10,000 roses and an 18-course meal. The dinner finalises with the couple being presented with a 2.08 carat blue diamond ring with a rose-gold plated platinum band, that World of Diamonds has named after actress Jane Seymour.

 

Report On Genetically Engineered Crops

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine completed a comprehensive analysis covering the social, economic, human health, and environmental effects and future projections of genetically engineered (GE) foods. The roughly 400-page report, titled “Genetically Engineered Crops: The report consist of  research and input of more than 900 publications, 80 speakers, 15 webinars, and more than 700 comments from public citizens. Research finding suggest that  finding is there is little evidence to suggest that GE crops cause adverse effects on agricultural and environmental systems. Moreover, regarding human health, the committee found that the existing data does not indicate negative health effects from the consumption of GE food, as well as consumption of livestock that were raised with GE feed. The authors did not find evidence to support assertions of causal links between the consumption of GE foods and cancer rates, obesity, type-2 diabetes, and the increase in the incidence of food allergies. The committee’s review of existing research at the farm level in the United States “does not show any significant increases in cancer or other health problems that are due to use of Regarding human health, the committee found that the existing data does not indicate negative health effects from the consumption of GE food, as well as consumption of livestock that were raised with GE feed. The authors did not find evidence to support assertions of causal links between the consumption of GE foods and cancer rates, obesity, type-2 diabetes, and the increase in the incidence of food allergies. The committee’s review of existing research at the farm level in the United States “does not show any significant increases in cancer or other health problems that are due to use of the herbicide glyphosate.”

Female Server Must Wear High Heels With Bloody Toes

A server at JOEY restaurant in Edmonton  Canada socks are soaked through with blood, because she has to keep wearing the injurious pumps — or she could lose her job at.

According to the restaurant’s policy,  female staff must wear heels unless medically restricted,Gavins wrote on Facebook. “My friend’s feet were bleeding to the point she lost a toenail and she was still … berated by the shift manager for changing into flats.”

Despite her injuries in the photo, Gavins’ friend was also told that she’d still have to wear heels the next day. Gavins also complained that the restaurant for charges women $30 for a specific uniform while allowing men to wear all-black clothing of their choice.

Spokesperson for JOEY Restaurants, stated the Edmonton location’s strict high heel requirement is a result of company miscommunication.

“There is no minimum height when it comes to our shoe policy,” she told ATTN. “Shoes range from black dress flats, wedges and heels. For those employees wearing heels, we require the heel height to be no higher than 2.5′.

“What is clear from this incident is that, internally, there was a lack of communication and understanding around our guidelines,” she added.

A Taste of The Edible Book Festival

Around the first week of April , librarians, bibliophiles, book artists, and food lovers around the world gather to celebrate the book arts and the (literal!) ingestion of culture.  Participants create an “edible book,” which can be inspired by a favorite tale, or just the shape of a book (or scroll, or tablet, etc).  All entries will be exhibited, documented, then EATEN!  

View this

http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=23075

 

Wholefoods Plans To Embed Technology Into Its New Chains

Pressure-sensitive shelf mats, like Panasonic’s Powershelf (which are already in use at some Whole Foods stores), alert store employees when a product needs to be restocked so shoppers are never left disappointed by an empty shelf. Clothing stores like Nordstrom and Burberry have been innovating with technology for quite some time now. However, as Whole Foods develops its new stores with technology at the core, it’s likely we could see other major retailers follow suit.

The new “hip-cool technology-oriented” chain will be named 365 by Whole Foods Market,slated to open next year. The stores would be geared toward the large population of 18- to 34-year-olds and offer all-natural food at lower prices

Small Business Claims Domino Pizza Stole Its Tech Idea

Precision Tracking alleges Domino’s Pizza copies its new GPS tracking system on the version it originally provided the takeaway food giant on a trial basis.

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises launched its GPS Driver Tracker app in May after going into partnership with Navman Wireless, saying the new technology enables customers to track pizza deliveries directly from the store to their door and improved the safety of delivery drivers.

Read More Here

Summer Meals & Libraries

In California and across the nation, a growing number of public libraries are teaming up with city agencies, schools and community-based organizations to ensure that low-income youth stay healthy and engaged when school is out by serving summer meals alongside library summer reading and enrichment programs. Libraries across the nation are stepping up to address the summer nutrition gap..

Read more

 

 

Featured Innovating Trends 2014,2015

Vending machine swaps cigarettes for leisure experiences

June 2014 a Brazilian TV station SBT launch a pop-up anti-smoking campaign. Installed at Mackenzie University in São Paulo, SBT’s ‘Machine of Life’ allowed people to exchange cigarettes for free gifts. Based on each cigarette being equivalent to 11 minutes of longer life, when people placed cigarettes in the machine, they were rewarded with free leisure-related gifts, such as magazines or movie tickets.

Changers CO2

App rewards users who travel sustainably

Available for download beginning December 2014, Changers is a free tracking app that rewards users for choosing sustainable transport options. When users take a journey on foot, or by public transport, the app compares the carbon imprint of the journey to that of the same journey made by car. Any emission savings are converted into Recoin units, which can be used to purchase CO2 certificates to make car or plane rides carbon neutral. Users are encouraged to compare their scores with others using a worldwide leader-board.

Brazilian haircare product exchanges shampoo bottles for cellphone credit

In October 2014, Unilever-owned Brazilian haircare brand Seda launched an interactive installation allowing consumers to exchange empty shampoo bottles for cellphone credit. Users could bring empty bottles of any brand’s shampoo to a machine in Sao Pãolo’s Republica subway station, which inventoried each item and displayed a corresponding number of cellphone top-up credits. A printed code could then be used to redeem the credits via a variety of mobile operators.

McDonald’s

Stockholm citizens pay for burgers using cans

Another low-tech example: in 2014, McDonald’s launched a promotion enabling Stockholm residents to pay for food by recycling cans. The fast food chain unveiled special billboards dispensing trash bags at music festivals and parks, each printed with a price list. In exchange for ten cans, people could get a free hamburger, while Big Macs were worth 40 cans.

Uruguayan shoe brand accepts plastic bottles as payment

Uruguayan shoe brand MAMUT accepted plastic bottles as currency when consumers purchased shoes from their summer ‘Native’ line for two weeks in February 2015. Each bottle was worth 100 Uruguayan dollars — about USD 4 — and customers could use bottles to finance up to 40% of their purchase. The project was intended to assist with a drive to clean up local beaches, and all bottles collected were sent for recycling.

 

Restaurant & Hotel Dining Trends 2015

 

Baum+Whiteman of Brooklyn NY creates high-profile restaurants around the world for hotels, restaurant companies, museums and other consumer destinations. Based in New York, their projects include the late Windows on the World and the magical Rainbow Room, and the world’s first food courts. They have provided

Current trends 

Technology is dictating the dining experience. More restaurant companies experiment with tablets … letting guests order food and drink from their tables; play games while they’re waiting; then pay with smartphones … meeting a waiter when an order is delivered, or when it’s time for a refill from the bar, or for upselling desserts. Restaurants with reservations backlogs are inching toward tech-enabled pay-for-tables systems … with people buying “tickets” for dinner like seats on an airplane. Often non-refundable. Restaurants get paid before dinner; even before buying food … enhancing cash flow and cutting out excessive inventory because they’ve always got a guaranteed house-count.

New flavors, new products, radical mashups pour out of restaurants and food labs … and “authenticity” not happening.  Ugly root vegetables. Celery root, parsnips and kohlrabi are grabbing attention in restaurant kitchens … fried, mashed, pureed, gratineed; flavored with cured pork or smoked honey … humble themselves, replacing potatoes. Seaweed is becoming increasingly popular. Consumers recognize it as a packaged snack and as a California roll’s wrapper. But chefs are adding it (often silently) to poaching broths, seafood sauces, even risotto, for its punch of umami and evanescent background flavor and dash of salinity. They’re inspired by a sustainable sea-to-table ethos … and also by new-Nordic cooks searching for food under tree stumps and boulders. More than a dozen varieties tickle the fancy of locavore chefs.

Chefs and big restaurant chains are experimenting with piquant honey: habanero honey, jalapeno honey and ghost chili honey, ginger-citrus honey … going on chicken-and-waffles, whipped into butter, mixed into salad dressings, snuck into sauces. Same thing with jams and jellies. Revered Paulie Gee’s in Brooklyn spreads its already hot sopressata pizza with chili honey, getting lots of press for its efforts.

Health-crazed consumers gorge on fruit-flavored, yogurt unaware that they’re buying candy-level calories. Now comes vegetable yogurt . After launching flavors such as butternut squash, beet, carrot, and tomato, the Barber brothers, Dan and David, are being scrutinized by big yogurt manufacturers. A yogurt bar in Murray’s Cheese store in New York offers tomato yogurt and kimchee yogurt. Chobani, the biz’s big gorilla, has a cafe in SoHo … offering yogurt topped with hummus (see below), chickpeas, zaatar and olive oil; with spinach and garlic dip; and cucumber, olive oil and mint leaves. Such combos are standard in the Middle East; in the US this is a New York phenom since most of the country’s thickened yogurt is made there … but it’ll spread.

Google says that hummus has out-trended salsa, no small thing since salsa dethroned ketchup. The chick pea dip has become so Americanized … which means piled with flavorings … that the Subway is testing it as a no-meat option for its sandwiches. Another trend- they’re putting pork on just about everything. Drinks at trendy bars include beer with a bunch of sauces and spices.

Japanese snack foods; becoming popular. Shrimp-and-Mayonnaise or Avocado-Cheese Doritos; Lay’s Hot & Sour Fish Soup Potato Chips; KFC’s salty ginger-chicken chips; Pepsi-flavored Cheetos. Someone’s making anchovy-garlic chips … which gets you halfway to Caesar salad. Kirin is selling Salt & Fruit beverages, a combination of rock salt and fruit juices.

Toast is no longer just plain toast in some upscale restaurants. “Hand-crafted 12-grain bread sliced to order and bronzed over an oak fire, then spread with organic beach plum jelly harvested by genuine hipsters and topped with pink Himalayan sea salt ground a la minute”. Toast Ballard in Seattle has 13 offerings; Sqirl in LA gets $7 for Burnt Brioche Toast with house ricotta and seasonal jam. Perhaps the most Instagrammable is mashed avocado toast … NYC Cafe Gitane’s version with avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, chili flakes on a slice of seven grain toast is $7.25.

Adult Shakes- Ice cream & Liquor- Del Frisco in Atlanta offers walnut liqueur, creme de cacao and vanilla ice cream; Red Robin recently unleashed a bevy of shakes spiked with the likes of Blue Moon, Irish Cream, and a beer shake with stout and Irish whiskey. On a health food kick? Freestyle Cuisine in Lake Placid will sell you a shake blending avocado, vanilla ice cream, tequila and fresh lime.  Aging boomers and skeptical millennials alike are seeking drinks that seem  healthy and abandoning colas

…Little packets of flavor enhancers that fit in your purse now allow you to make everything edible taste like an exaggerated raspberry or a peach bellini. House-made soft drinks are hot among indie restaurants, slower elsewhere.  Mexican roadside joints in the southwest are making ton of money selling “aguas fresca” … basically DIY water and ice drinks with a large doses of fresh fruit and flowers. And watch Taco Bell as it tries to do to, or for, beverages what it did with doritos

National Book Award Winner Responds To Daniel Handler’s Racist joke

National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson responded to Daniel Handler’s(Lemony Snicket) racist watermelon joke. Handler had made offhanded comments about Woodson being allergic to watermelon while hosting the National Book Awards on Nov. 19. Woodson was accepting an award in the young adult category for her latest book, “Brown Girl Dreaming.” Handler has since apologized and donated $110,000 to the grassroots organization We Need Diverse Books while Woodson issued an indirect statement through her publisher.

Woodson responded with a essay titled “The Pain of the Watermelon Joke.” Woodson explores her own background and the evolution of her understanding of the racially charged significance of the watermelon. Woodson said that by the time she was 11 years old, the fruit had become repulsive to her.

“By making light of that deep and troubled history, he showed that he believed we were at a point where we could laugh about it all. His historical context, unlike my own, came from a place of ignorance,” Woodson writes.

Woodson uses the essay to re-frame the situation by focusing on positive change in a time even though there is a  lack of diverse voices in literature.

One cup of watermelon will provide 17% of vitamin A, 21% of vitamin C, 2% of iron and 1% of calcium needs for the day.

Watermelon also contains thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, choline, lycopene and betaine. According to the National Watermelon Promotion Board, watermelon contains more lycopene than any other fruit or vegetable.

Despite being a great source of the above nutrients, watermelon is made up of 92% water.