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Tag: snack

  • Dog Buries Puppy, Not “Heartbreaking” as Some Assume

    It didn’t take long for the “dog buries puppy” thing to trend.

    Long story short: A dog “somewhere in [the] Middle East,” as the Daily Mail describes it, came across a deceased puppy in a ditch, then spent a few minutes burying the corpse. On a human level, it seemed poignant . . .

    A dog, wandering down the road, sees a fallen child of its own species. It knows the hardships of such a life. It mourns that an innocent has fallen. It seeks to respect and honor that life. And does so conspicuously before a human camera.

    According to the Daily Mail, it was a “heart-rending act of animal kindness” in which a “mongrel circled and sniffed the lifeless pup after finding it in a ditch where it had been left to rot in the midday sun.”

    “Rather than leave it to scavengers, who would inevitably have torn it limb from limb,” the Daily Mail notes, “she spent more than three minutes gently raking sand over the corpse with her snout with extraordinary care.”

    Fair enough. But has anyone ever seen a dog bury one of its own kind out of respect for the dead? Is there no chance this could be rampant anthropomorphizing, projecting our own habits onto man’s best friend?

    Dogs, as per their hereditary training, are notorious hoarders. Dogs feel compelled to bury bones and other treats. Dogs are also known to eat their young, especially when they die soon after birth, or, live, if the adult dog senses that the pup is unhealthy.

    Let’s call this spade what it is. A dog found a fallen–and tasty–soldier, and decided to store it away as a snack. Said dog was baffled to find that its snack-hoarding captured international media attention.

    That’s not to say it didn’t say a prayer over the fallen pup. Only that that prayer was less requiem than grace.

  • Twinkies, Other Hostess Snacks to Return on July 15

    Last year, snack food lovers dismayed as cake manufacturer Hostess filed for bankruptcy. The company eventually shut down production and stopped producing its snacks, which include classics such as Twinkies and Ding Dongs.

    As the company went under, collectors and scalpers emptied store shelves of Hostess snacks, hoarding them away for the perfect time to sell over Ebay to hard-up Twinkie addicts. Those investments may now seem silly, as there are only weeks to go before Twinkies return to U.S. stores.

    Hostess Brands has been reformed under the same name by investors who bought Hostess’ assets during its bankruptcy. The company’s Kansas and Georgia bakeries are now becoming operational, with nearly 500 employees working to make Americans’ snack dreams come true.

    The brand’s social media accounts are active once again, after being abandoned in November 2012. The new message is that Twinkies will return on July 15, 2013. It’s not quite in time for the Fourth of July, but snack fans will have to make do.

    The company has also put up a new website, which features a countdown to the exact second Twinkies will go on sale.

  • Frozen Pizza Recall Expanded Over E. Coli Concerns

    Back on March 28, Rich Products Corporation issued a recall for Farm Rich-branded products such as Mini Quesadillas, Mini Pizza Slices, Philly Cheese Steaks, and Mozzarella Bites. The recall was issued over concerns that the food could be contaminated with E. Coli, and included nearly 200,000 pounds of frozen food made between November 12, 2012 and November 19, 2012. Rich Products stated that it would continue to work with the Food Safety and Inspection Service.

    This week, the recall has been expanded to include over 10.5 million pounds of frozen snacks.

    Rich Products has voluntarily recalled all products produced at its Waycross, Georgia plant with “Best by” dates from january 1, 2013 to September 29, 2014. The recall includes all sizes of Farm Rich-branded Mini Quesadillas, Mini Pizza Slices, Mozzarella Bites, Mini Bacon Cheeseburgers, and Philly Cheese Steaks. Other products from Farm Rich, such as Mozzarella Sticks and Stuffed Pretzel Bites, are made in separate plants and are not part of the recall.

    The recall was expanded when the source of the contamination could not be determined. Farm Rich called this “unacceptable” and voluntarily recalled everything made in the Georgia plant.

    “It saddens us deeply that anyone has become ill after consuming Farm Rich products,” said Bill Gisel, CEO of Farm Rich. “When it became apparent to us that despite the expertise of the USDA, FDA, the scientific community and our own experts, that identification of a specific cause was not going to be a simple or short process, we decided to act proactively to expand the recall.”

    No reports of sickness due to the products have been reported. Farm Rich has stated that customers can call the company’s customer relations helpline to receive a refund or replacement of the potentially-contaminated products they have had to throw out.

  • Ding Dongs And Twinkies Are Now Collector’s Items On eBay

    Ding Dongs And Twinkies Are Now Collector’s Items On eBay

    You may have read the news this morning that Hostess is shutting down after decades of making Twinkies, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and other assorted snacks. It’s sad to lose such an iconic company and the associated jobs, but some folks on eBay are already trying to make a profit off the idea that Twinkies will be no more.

    A quick search on eBay for Twinkies will bring up numerous sellers all offering the “last box of Twinkies ever.” The asking price for a single box has been fluctuating between $10 and $100 for the past few hours.

    (image)

    Twinkies aren’t the only Hostess snack cake that eBay sellers are hoping terrified Hostess fans will buy up. Searches for Ding Dongs, Zingers, Ho Hos, and Cup Cakes bring up multiple listings.

    I would err on the side of caution when it comes to buying these products. The Twinkie may very well be dead and gone, but Hostess is selling all of its recipes in a liquidation sale. We’re probably going to see the Hostess brand and its products resurrected under a new company.

  • Snack&Munch: The First Online Vending Machine

    Snack&Munch: The First Online Vending Machine

    For those who’ve maintained the idea ecommerce has it’s limits, meet Snack&Munch. This start-up company has been receiving a lot of hype, being featured on both NBC.com and Mashable. The site is quite simple: Choose 24 snacks from a selection of 250, and pay $24 (shipping is included) to have the snacks delivered to you.

    The site is well designed, with the snack section divided into a set of categories. They even provide an “International” section, which showcases vending machine snacks I don’t even recognize. You can purchase a one time order, or set up a monthly recurring shipment which will shave off $1.00 per order.

    Snack&Munch

    There are a few road blocks to keep Snack&Munch from succeeding. First, the vending machine visit is generally a spontaneous act. You’re sitting in front of your computer screen working, and suddenly you crave a Twix. To order 24 snacks requires a lot of forethought for an act which happens at a moment’s notice.

    I’m not sure the prices for vending machines around the country, but $1 seems kind of steep for some of the items on their list. The classic peanut butter cracker six pack is $0.55 in my office’s vending machine. However, it’s the standard $1 on Snack&Munch. They should think about providing a greater variety when it comes to pricing, and making the price tags more competitive with the physical machines.

    Snack&Munch, whether it succeeds or fails, demonstrates how the limits of ecommerce are continuing to be pushed in every direction. If something as simple as vending machine purchases can be brought to the online world, what’s next?