Chewing Gum's Demise And Crumbl's Rise: The Top Food News Of The Week

Thanks to a newly unveiled innovation by Hormel, we might all soon be eating an entirely new type of pepperoni on our pizzas—and if you can believe it, that wasn't even the biggest story in the food world this week. Read on for more info about a McDonald's system outage, the closure of 1,000 Dollar Tree stores, and the French pastry craze known as the crookie.

McDonald's customers worldwide experienced an unprecedented moment Friday: CNBC reports that McDonald's restaurants across the globe experienced a technical issue that led to services being temporarily suspended, leaving customers unable to order. - Angela L. Pagán Read More

Ever since we started wearing masks and eliminated close-talking from our social habits, our need for chewing gum has dropped significantly, along with our desire for it. The Associated Press reports that since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, chewing gum sales have dropped by as much as a third—and even now, in 2024, they've barely seen any rebound. What does this mean for chewing gum's future? - Dennis Lee Read More

I have no Irish heritage myself, and though I enjoy many traditional Irish foods tremendously, I've never really liked soda bread, that simple daily bake we associate with Emerald Isle cookery. I have always found it dry, crumbly, impossible to slice thinly without the whole loaf falling apart, and stale tasting almost as soon as it has cooled. But this recipe from Irish chef Richard Corrigan is a revelation. - Stacey Ballis Read More

Crumbl, the fast-growing bakery chain with a rotating cookie menu, has established itself as a social media phenom and a fierce competitor within its category. And now, Nation's Restaurant News reports that Crumbl is ready to take on a new, more savory challenge as it continues to scale up. - Angela L. Pagán Read More

I absolutely love a dinner theater attraction. I've eaten kalua pork and chicken long rice at a luau in Hawaii while hula dancers swayed against a blazing sunset, and I've tapped my toes while watching Irish step dancers and snacking on bangers and mash at Raglan Road in Walt Disney World. But admittedly, I'm not truly happy unless my meal is paired with death-defying stunts and pyrotechnics. These high standards of mine were instilled by none other than Ms. Dolly Parton herself. - Julie Tremaine Read More

There's green and gold to be found all around on March 17. Whether it's limited-time-only corned beef or the greenest green beer you've ever chugged, you don't have to have good luck to score a deal on food for St. Patrick's Day. - Angela L. Pagán Read More

When it comes to pizza toppings, the shape of ingredients plays a key role in the characteristics that those ingredients can lend to a dish. Take, for example, America's favorite pizza topping, pepperoni. Though you already know pepperoni for its flat circular slices, it also comes in forms such as thick-cut, cupping, and cubed, each of which results in a very different sort of pizza slice. Now, major meat processor Hormel is debuting a new format of pepperoni altogether. It's likely you haven't seen this type of meat at a pizzeria before—at least not if you live in America. – Dennis Lee Read More

The timeless French croissant has seen a lot of experimentation over the past decade or so. With variations like the cronut, the croffle, and the cruffin, it seems like bakers have found a lot of new ways to play around with the format of this laminated crescent pastry. And now, there's a big new croissant-hybrid hit out of Paris: the crookie. - Dennis Lee Read More

As I pondered a mid-morning snack recently, the yogurt stared at me, as it always does, from the fridge. "Eat me!" it seemed to implore. "I'm full of liiiiiive culllltuuuuures." Sometimes yogurt really hits the spot, and sometimes I'm a little freaked out by it. But no matter where my cravings take me, the yogurt label always blares that it's full of probiotics—whatever that means. - Laura Wheatman Hill Read More

Though some discount stores like ALDI are seeing an uptick in business due to the economic challenges many shoppers are facing right now, there's one surprising chain that's struggling more than we knew. Supermarket News reports that Dollar Tree has announced the upcoming closure of 1,000 stores in the first half of this year. Despite the company's dismal outlook, however, there's one category that is selling so well that Dollar Tree is struggling to keep up with demand. - Dennis Lee Read More

Life is a study in opposing forces: olive oil and vinegar will always separate, two magnets will always repel each other, and food will never, ever belong in the bathroom. Yet in recent years, social media has begun toying with this most unholy combination to fascinating—and frightening—results.  - Jonathan Dale Read More