Oprah, Bourdain, Trump And More: The Biggest Food Stories Of 2015

Now is a fascinating time to be a food lover. From wild innovations to controversial statements, from criminal wrongdoing to huge mergers, it seems as if every day there's a food-related news story that's making headlines. These were the 15 biggest food stories of 2015.

Andres and Zakarian went on to countersue Trump; Andrés called trump a "clever maniac."

Whole Foods quickly removed the product from its shelves, claiming that the water was supposed to be infused with asparagus, not to just have the stalks floating in it. 

In perhaps the biggest news in the fast food world since Taco Bell rolled out its breakfast menu, McDonald's announced that in an effort to turn around flagging sales, they'd be rolling out breakfast all day, something that fans had been clamoring for for years. 

Love cheese? It was proposed this year that it's as addictive as morphine. "In cheese, we get massive concentrations of fat and salt, which our highly evolved brains continue to love," Dr. Neal Barnard told Thrillist. "Combine this with the opioid-like casomorphins, and cheese suddenly goes from 'very delicious' to 'obscenely tempting."

News of the transaction was an immediate boon to Weight Watchers stock, and Winfrey's investment yielded her a nearly-immediate profit of $72 million. 

New CEO Steve Easterbrook announced that net income during 2015's third quarter rose 23 percent, to $1.31 billion. 

However, it's important not to take the story out of context; Processed meat isn't nearly as carcinogenic as smoking; it offers the same level of danger as sunlight radiation, air pollution, salted fish, and alcohol. 

There were no reports of the food making anybody sick, but the recall caused the company's stock to slide by five percent. 

The always-outspoken Anthony Bourdain waded into the Trump fray after the candidate proposed deporting millions of Mexicans. "The backbone of the industry — meaning most of the people in my experience cooking, preparing your food," Bourdain said. "Twenty of those years in this business I was an employer, I was a manager employer. Never, in any of those years, not once, did anyone walk into my restaurant — any American-born kid — walk into my restaurant and say I'd like a job as a night porter or a dishwasher. Even a prep cook — [there were] few and far between. Just not willing to start at the bottom like that."

Marc Vetri is one of Philadelphia's (and America's) most prominent chefs, so it's no surprise that it sent shockwaves through both the retail and culinary worlds when he sold his restaurants, including Lo Spiedo, Alla Spina, and Pizzeria Vetri, to Urban Outfitters. His flagship restaurant, Vetri, will remain under his control, thankfully. 

After pleading guilty to charges of child pornography and sex with minors, Fogle was sentenced to 15 years in prison. 

In order to do damage control, Chipotle CEO Steve Ells took out full-page ads in newspapers and appeared on the Today Show to offer an apology. As of press time, there were more than 170 sickened customers and 60 restaurant closures.