Welcome to Food Week May 31, 2024. Lots of stuff like things to eat: generic cereal, Orange peel, pomegranates, rosé, edible flowers and rhubarb. And what not to eat: Fiji water, General Mills products (packaging), JBS beef and probably leche de pantera. And bunches more. Enjoy!

MACRO

• Inflation, consumer spending fall. Consumers less worried about inflation for the first time in a while.

• Grocery prices are falling in the face of reduced consumer purchases. Amazon, Walmart and Targget all slashing prices. And restaurants are offering discounts through deals for the same reason.

• Did ‘greedflation‘ drive everything up? Maybe, but consolidation (lack of competition) had a lot to do with it.

RETAIL AND CONSUMER

• Massive recall of Fiji water for contaminants. Which is pretty off-brand… Here is a happy map showing where PFA (forever chemicals) are highest in water.

• CVS is serious about attracting snackers.

• Consumers pushing General Mills to stop using plasticizers in their packaging. These chemical linked to a variety of health risks.

• Latin America starting to label ultra-processed foods. There may be a link to strokes, brain impairment as well as the usual concerns like obesity, etc.

• Brand names vs. generic cereals: the cage match.

RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE

• QR codes are gaining traction everywhere except restaurant menus. Everyone hates them.

• Chipotle accused of shrinkflationing.

• Is dining out becoming a caste system?

• The war of tips versus higher wages is heating up.

• Does Big Milk own school foodservice? Kinda. How they do school lunches in other parts of the world.

FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN

• The avocado/ giant tree sloth myth debunked. Meanwhile in Mexico, thieves make off with 40 tons of avocados.

• Trade wars intensify as China bans JBS beef because of the chemical ractopamine.

• Certification standards are going to be a big part of regenerative argiculture.

• Conservative group targets Tyson for hiring migrant workers.

• Fire in egg laying farm in Southern Illinois. Which is odd because they usually happen when egg prices are low.

• New Farm Bill in Congress weakens regulations on pesticides. But fish in American rivers arew already dangerously contaminated.

DRINK CORNER

• A review of rosés, right in time for summer.

• The Leche de pantera – gin and condensed milk. It doesn’t sound great

• The difference between reposado and añejo tequila.

• Listicle of the week: 42 best bars in America by Esquire. Best Canadian beers, chosen by Canadians. And the international Bourbon competition results

• Rum shopping video.

FOOD WEEK MAY 31 LAGNIAPPE

• Orange peels are good for your heart, containing compounds not found in the fruit. And pomegranates may help prevent Alzheimer’s. And the health benefits of rhubarb. If you cut out meat you can add 9 months to your life. Which frankly doesn’t seem worth it.

• Choosing the right edible flowers. And how to grow them.

• How Guinness invented the t-test, a tool crucial for statistics.

• ‘Escaped’ GMO canola plants lose their pesticide resistance over time.

• Do soda taxes reduce childhood obesity?

• Remember how they used to tell you about the map of your tongue and where taste centers were? They were wrong.