Welcome to Food Week October 18, 2024. No hurricanes this week but plenty scary stuff: Boo buckets and Purple Whoppers. Spooky cocktails and ghost distilleries. Cookies shaped like bones. Seasonal bird flu. Processed foods and recalls. And a lot more. Enjoy.

MACRO

• The job market may be good but people don’t want to switch as much as is thought. But if you work for Meta, don’t spend your meal money on toothpaste. You’ll get bounced.

• Restaurant sales continue to grow despite high menu prices, outpacing grocery.

• A Health halo is when a single claim (lo-cal, high protein) speaks louder than the actual heath of the food. And it is a problem.

RETAIL AND CONSUMER

• Walmart drink-making robots seem more like stunt than innovation.

• Call me cynical but the architects behind the proposed Kroger Albertson’s merger seemed to choose the weakest competitor on which to off load its stores. Meanwhile The National Grocers Association (NGA) comes out against further consolidation, accurately describing it as likely to lead to higher prices.

• Deep dive into the family that owns Boar’s Head and asks questions whether the culture helped create a dangerous plant.

• Why does this diet drink taste so good? Sugar, duh.

• Do you need more iron in your diet? Try cooking with a cast iron skillet.

RESTAURANTS AND FOODSERVICE

• McDonald’s Boo Buckets not scaring or pleasing anyone.

• Panera settles its first lawsuit over super-charged lemonade.

• Failed pizza chains from the past

• Is Maison Pic the best restaurant in the world? Is Guadalajara the next hot magnet for fine dining? Or do you prefer global street dining?

• No tipping countries

• Purple Whoppers from Burger King because of a reason,I am sure, having to do with Halloween.

• Man claims he is CEO of Applebees after being dissatisfied with service, gives server a traumatic experience. Isn’t that hilarious?

• I love John Oliver. Here he reviews Waffle House training videos.

FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN

• We don’t cover every recall here because it would be exhausting but 12 million pounds is a lot of meat to recall and it impacts, Walmart, Amazon, Costco and Trader Joe’s

• Organic farms are effective at carbon sequestration.

• The next hot all natural sweetener: Thaumatin.

• Avian Influenza tends to follow bird migration. And right on time for fall, it’s back.

• Now non-dairy cheese can also be stretchy.

• Bad fish. Don’t buy. Mostly because of how they are handled.

DRINK CORNER

• Just in time for Halloween, a story about the ghost distilleries helping revive the scotch industry. Easy and spooky cocktails for the season.

• More doom and gloom for the craft beer industry. And the difference between porters and stouts.

• Using Sake in cocktails. And 5 historic cocktails.

• In praise of the gimlet. And the carajillo.

FOOD WEEK October 18 LAGNIAPPE

• Regular readers of this missive may ask what is lagniappe and where does it come from? Find out here.

• Dead men’s bones are spooky cookie from Malta

• Did you know that most professional football players are technically obese? The meaning of obesity is being re-thought. Definitions are murky and benefits are unknown. It all leads back to our old ‘friend’ Ancel Keys.

• Frozen meals and processed foods have all sort of really weird ingredients and we really don’t know how they affect our bodies. They may literally shorten your life.

• Why the French make better bread.

• Homemade pickles Japanese style