News Bites 2/5 – 2/12
Photo by Alpha City Guides
Although it seems like there's already plenty of Shake Shack love to go around, its 7 millionth location is slated to open in East Midtown this fall. This is the 12th in all of New York, the 7th to open in Manhattan and it will be the 26nd to open in the U.S.. There are already 12 locations throughout the Middle East and 4 between the U.K., Turkey, and Russia. Plus, it's trademarked in the E.U, Israel, Australia, and Singapore. Shake Shack is really taking globalization to heart and we don't mind.
Photo by the Mommy Gamers
Did you know that 13% of the American population eats pizza on any given day and it's not just because we love it? It's because the government loves pizza too; specifically, pizza is the most effective way to feed large quantities of cheese to Americans. Because cheese is made from a high concentration of milk, the more demand there is for cheese, the more demand there is for milk and that keeps dairy farmers happy. Dairy Management, Inc. partnered with Domino's in 2009 to "research and develop" new pizza flavors with more cheese on them. The criticism with the trade-off is that fruit and vegetable industries don't get the same kind of support or attention – and a valid criticism at that.
Photo by Healthy Life
Azodicarbonamide, a substance used in yoga mats and sneakers, has also been used as a conditioning and bleaching agent in Subways' breads. Until now. As a result of a petition started by food babe that reached 50,000 signatures within 24 hours, Subway finally acknowledged the issue and an agreement to no longer use the agent in their loaves. The substance in question, also known to be an asthmatic agent, has already been banned throughout Europe and Australia.
Photo by Washington Post
A new coffee franchise has opened up in L.A. and it's dumb – Dumb Starbucks. The venue has already gained a Twitter following of 13,000 despite only having tweeted 8 times – one of them appealing to the masses to "go by some @dumbstarbucks before some dumb lawyers get to it." The founders have defended the venue as a parody of Starbucks, which supposedly protects them from liability and law suit (Starbucks famously known for pursuing any business that takes advantage of the company's name.) There was no time for a suit however, considering the Dumb Starbucks was shut down on Monday for operating without a valid health permit.
Photo by Chick-fil-a Media
Chick-fil-a announced Tuesday that they are planning to serve only antibiotic-free chicken in the next five years. This is the first time that any quick service restaurant has made a 100% commitment to serving poultry not fed antibiotics. This change follows the company's removal of yellow dye from their chicken soup and an announcement that they are testing the removal of high fructose corn syrup from their dressings and sauces, artificial ingredients from their buns, and TBHQ from their peanut oil. It's interesting to see a company take such involved interest in its customers especially despite its homophobic past.
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