Food

After health officials linked its lettuce to the nationwide Cyclospora outbreak, Taylor Farms is now recalling over a dozen products containing jalapeños across Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Kroger.

As reported earlier by the Washington Post, the CDC has updated its notice about parasite infections linked to now-recalled lettuce from Taylor Farms. The CDC noted it’s investigating other cases nationally “that are unrelated to this outbreak,” and today the FDA disclosed a new cyclospora outbreak with 72 cases, in addition to its three existing active cyclospora outbreak investigations.

The $14.8 billion acquisition offer for the German food-delivery giant, would give Uber ownership over services like Glovo and Foodora to expand its reach into 99 markets. In an effort to avoid antitrust scrutiny, it’s selling off operations to an investment firm in 14 markets where Uber Eats and Delivery Hero overlap.

It’s rolling out now in partnership with Instacart to more than 25 US cities, with car rentals joining private car hires later this summer:

Calbee, the Japanese snack company, is temporarily switching its packaging on some items to grayscale, citing “supply instability affecting certain raw materials amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East.” CNN reports that it wasn’t clear what component was at risk — but it’s just the latest industry to feel the pinch as a result of the US and Israel attacking Iran in February.

Then you’ll be pleased to know that Beyond Meat’s protein soda now comes in four new flavors. You can now buy a 12-pack with piña colada, cherry berry, cucumber grapefruit, and strawberry lemonade, still with your choice of 10g or 20g of protein.

Most Brits are used to using Google Maps for restaurant recommendations, but its opaque algorithm can reward chains and existing hits, making it hard for new independent spots to get traction. This map tries to fix that, highlighting restaurants underrated by the algorithm because they don’t get the footfall.

The city’s lawsuit, against the likes of Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Kraft, accuses them of selling foods that they knew to be “dangerous for human consumption,” saddling both cities and citizens with “enormous costs” thanks to ensuing health issues.

AI-generated images of food attached to nonsense recipes and Google AI Overview remixes of actual recipes are taking a huge toll on traffic for recipe bloggers. But home cooks are also wasting time and money following recipes that claim to be for cookies but only yield melted pools of cloyingly sweet dough. According to Bloomberg:

So says an EU court in Luxembourg, which ruled there’s no such thing as non-alcoholic gin.

Italian pasta companies are preparing to pull their products from US grocery stores as early as January, the Wall Street Journal reports — another downstream effect of the Trump administration’s sky-high tariffs and duties on imports. Some of the new taxes (which total 107 percent) come after a US Commerce Department review of several pasta companies, and the severity of the penalty has Italian producers worried.

Magnum is tapping an AI called Giuseppe to help it develop new products, revamp existing ones, and, of course, cut costs. Giuseppe’s maker NotCo has helped big brands like Shake Shack and Kraft make plant-based versions of products like custard, mac ‘n’ cheese, and mayo.

Sydney-based Vow is the first lab-grown meat manufacturer approved to launch Down Under. Vow, which has sold its meat under the Forged brand in Singapore since last year, offers quail foie gras and pâté, plus a quail-based candle you can dip food into as it melts.

The online reservation platform has launched a slate of new features, pricing updates, and a “full-on-charm offensive,” to lure high-profile restaurants away from its biggest rival, reports New York Magazine:

Doritos are changing shape for the first time. A limited number of square chips will be hidden in UK bags to promote the upcoming Minecraft movie, with a cash prize if you find one. New flavors named after the game’s Creeper and Ghast enemies are going on sale too. PepsiCo’s chief chip technician — a job title we should all aspire to — is clearly proud of his work.

Following McDonald’s in China releasing a Tetris-playing nugget last year, KFC in Spain has created a Tamagotchi-like digital pet called the Eduardochi. It was originally sold through KFC’s website and app, but starting on December 3rd it will be available through KFC’s restaurants across Spain for €3.99 (around $4.20) with many of them hopefully ending up on eBay.

Sorry, I had to. Anyway, please look at these pictures of how Nerds Gummy Clusters are made — and keep your eyes peeled for them this Halloween because they are scary good.

Our friends at New York peek into Wonder, the rapidly-expanding fancy food hall / delivery app that partners with fancy chefs and restaurants to bring their signature dishes to more locations. The back-end is, well, food kits?