The Juicy Bits
I've dreamed of Smell-O-Vision ever since watching television food commercials as a kid. Now it's a reality! McDonald's' new European marketing campaign features billboards that emit the smell of the chain's iconic French fries. I may need to travel to the Netherlands to experience it! I'd also like to head to Ireland to see how beverage pros are dealing with the country's new requirement to put cancer warning labels on all forms of alcohol. What a buzzkill! Maybe I'll stay local and head to Florida, where Michelin kingmakers have recently awarded 26 of the state's restaurants with coveted stars. Problem is, I'll never get a table. Computer bots and scalpers are now eating up the most sought-after high-end restaurant reservations. I suppose I could go to New Orleans instead and sample the Insectarium museum's new cicada tasting menu. On second thought, it might make more sense to just buy some canned wine and call it a day. Scientists have finally figured out how to prevent the dreaded "rotten egg smell" in canned wine, so it shouldn't taste too bad. Two cheers for science! —Dave Joachim
Cooking
Japanese Research Organization To Release Rice Lexicon
Image Source: Miyuki Meinaka
This one's for food writer nerds—or anyone who communicates about food. Ever feel like the subtleties of rice can be hard to describe? So does Japan's National Agriculture and Food Research Organization! So they've tasked their senior researcher, Fumiyo Hayakawa, with creating a definitive rice lexicon. After scouring food articles and research journals, surveying sensory analysts, and reading rice cooker catalogs, Hayakawa and her colleagues set about whittling the 7,000-odd Japanese descriptors for white rice down to 100+ essential terms like tsubukan (individual grains), fukkura (plump), nebari (springy), amai (faintly sweet), hoka-hoka (piping-hot), tsuyayaka (shiny) and shiroi (pale). I hope the new rice lexicon is published with English translations!
Restaurants
Department of Justice Makes Millions More Restaurant Workers Eligible For Overtime Pay
Image Source: Courtesy of Full Service Restaurant
Up to now, US employers have only been required to issue overtime pay to employees who make less than $35,568 a year. But as of July 1, that salary cap bumps to $43,888 a year for certain executive, administrative and professional employees, according to the US Labor Department. At the start of next year, the cap rises to $58,656 and automatically increases every three years in pace with inflation. This new threshold is the largest federal expansion of overtime pay in decades, making millions more restaurant workers eligible to increase their wages. Of course, the National Restaurant Association opposes the rule, as restaurateurs are already burdened with rising food costs and labor challenges. But paying employees for overtime hours is simply the right thing to do, isn't it?
More Restaurant News
Florida Awarded 26 Starred Restaurants In New Michelin Guide
NY Times Restaurant Critic Releases List Of Top 100 NYC Eateries
Pandemic-Era Ghost Kitchens Fade Due To Falling Demand And Rising Complaints
McDonald's Embraces Smell-O-Vision As Billboards Emit Aromas Of Its Fries
Martha Stewart Opens Restaurant In Las Vegas
OpenTable Champions Transparency, Discontinues Anonymous Restaurant Reviews
How Bots And Scalpers Have Made High-End Restaurant Reservations Nearly Impossible To Get
Beverages
Cornell Researchers Identify Cause Of Rotten Egg Smell In Canned Wine
Image Source: Javier Zayas
In bottles, wine ages well. In cans, not so much. Cornell University researchers Gavin Sacks and Julie Goddard have discovered why. Winemakers regularly use sulphur dioxide (SO2) as an antioxidant and antimicrobial. At concentrations higher than 0.5 ppm, the SO2 bypasses the can liner and reacts with the aluminum itself, forming hydrogen sulphide, which emits the dreaded rotten egg smell. To avoid it, Sacks and Goddard recommend using cans lined with epoxy and keeping SO2 at or below 0.4 ppm in the wine. Because no one wants to drink a rotten egg.
BBQ Hot Spot
How Diaspora Chefs Are Shaping The Future Of American Barbecue
Image Source: Mike Ledford
American barbecue will always have salt-and-pepper smoked brisket, sweet and sticky ribs, and vinegary pulled pork. These days, though, America's barbecue meccas are just as likely to offer smoked brisket chow fun, gochujang spare ribs, and chopped smoked pork with Chinese hot mustard. Inventive cooks in Texas, Georgia, and the Carolinas are incorporating the barbecue styles of Thailand, Pakistan, China, Mexico and other countries into existing American barbecue, creating some truly exciting flavor combinations. Here's to more BBQ options!
Supply Chain
World Central Kitchen Resumes Gaza Operations After 7 Workers Killed
Image Source: Mohammed Abed/AFP - Getty Images
Early last month in Gaza, an Israeli airstrike killed 7 workers from World Central Kitchen (WCK), the humanitarian food aid organization founded by celebrity chef José Andrés. Before the strike, which halted WCK's operations, the organization had distributed more than 43 million meals in Gaza, accounting for 62% of all international non-governmental aid in the region. Analysts say the Gaza hunger crisis remains dire, so WCK has swung back into action, resuming its Gaza operations to deliver almost 8 million more meals on 276 trucks to nearly 70 community kitchens. Someone has to keep feeding the needy.
More Supply Chain News
New Study Reveals The Planet's Most Sustainable Animal Meat: Snake, Specifically Python
Feds Increase Testing Of Cows And Milk Products Due To Avian Flu
100,000 Live Salmon Spill Off Truck Into Wrong Oregon River
AI Documents Americans Throwing Away Food To Improve Food Waste Initiatives
Kroger And Albertsons Continue Merger Bid, Sell Off Stores To Satisfy Regulators
Agriculture
Steak From Dairy Cows Offers Lifeline For American Farmers
Image Source: Sara Naomi Lewkowicz
Most American beef steaks come from grain-fed cattle slaughtered at about two years old. Meat from mature dairy cows (upwards of 6 years old) usually becomes dog food and fast-food burgers. For that meat, US farmers only get about 60 cents a pound. However, in Europe, dairy meat is highly prized because the animals are pastured a bit longer, causing fat to be released into their meat instead of into their milk, which makes the beef richer and more tender. American dairy farmers, who have been struggling for years, are now adopting the practice to make ends meet. Enterprising chefs are thrilled. Want a better-tasting steak? Try mature dairy meat!
Regulations
USDA Updates School Rules, Limits Sugars In Meals For First Time
Image Source: Audra Melton
According to a 2022 federal report, added sugars account for about 17% of calories in school breakfasts and 11% in school lunches. But federal dietary guidelines recommend that added sugars account for no more than 10% of daily calories. By the start of the next school year, the feds will require that high-sugar foods such as cereal, yogurt and flavored milk begin cutting back on sugar so that by the fall of 2027, added sugars in school meals meet the federal 10% limit. By that time, schools must also reduce sodium by 15% in lunches and by 10% in breakfasts. American schools provide breakfast to more than 15 million students and lunch to nearly 30 million students every day, so the USDA anticipates a significant positive impact on the health of our nation's youth.
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Last Bite
Momofuku Abandons Effort To Enforce Its "Chile Crunch" Trademark
Image Source: Courtesy of Momofuku
A few years ago, celebrity chef Dave Chang released his Momofuku brand of chili crunch. He also trademarked the term "chile crunch" and has a pending trademark on "chili crunch" with an "i." To protect the trademarks, Chang's lawyers recently began issuing cease-and-desist letters to competitors. But after vehement backlash about stifling competition, crushing immigrant dreams, and cashing in on Chinese culture, Dave Chang did an about face, publicly apologized, and abandoned the trademark crackdown. Because, really, should anyone own the rights to a term like "chili crunch"? That would be like owning the term "BBQ." No one has exclusive rights to BBQ! Or to chili crunch. Good on ya, Dave Chang, for realizing that.
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