The Daily Dish: July 26, 2016

Today's first course?

According to a new study, there is a serious disconnect between food brands and consumer thinking on a variety of topics. Specifically, when it comes to trust, food safety, and the environment, the two groups don't exactly see eye to eye. Fifty-one percent of consumers said they thought about ethics and the environment as it related to food brands when they bought goods. Meanwhile, only 35 percent of executives thought consumers made decisions based on those grounds. In fact, one in four went so far as to suggest that customers could not care less. Despite these findings, distrust of big brands is not rising.

Big things are brewing as the Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller merger moves forward. The U.S. Justice Department signed off on the merger, with a few conditions. SAB Miller must "divest itself of the worldwide rights to Miller Beer brands," which means that the company will no longer sell any Miller products once the merger officially goes through. The merger has already been approved by regulators in South Africa and Europe. The brewers still need clearance from China in order to seal the deal.

A severe and ongoing economic crisis in Venezuela has led to food shortages so bad that this week McDonald's announced that it was temporarily taking Big Macs off the menu in that country. McDonald's says it has been unable to acquire sufficient quantities of the thin middle bun that sits in the middle of the chain's most iconic hamburger, so the Big Mac is coming off the menu until they can get more. At the moment, McDonald's Venezuela still serves its other products, including Quarter Pounders. French fries were off the menu for about 10 months at McDonald's restaurants in Venezuela, but they're back now.

That's today's daily dish, thanks for watching. Stop by tomorrow for another helping.