Fast Food News Round Up Week of 1/11 – Taco Bell founder dies, Jared gets engaged, and contiminated soda fountains.
By Jesse | January 18, 2010
Welcome back to this week’s…or rather, last week’s fast food news round up. Since it’s a holiday weekend, I’m still consider today the weekend and the week of 1/11. Anyway, let’s move onto the news.
Taco Bell found Glen Bell Jr. died yesterday at the age of 86. Bell, a founding father of the fast food movement started his first Taco Bell in Downey, CA in 1962. He died in his home in Rancho Sante Fe, CA yesterday. Bell took Taco Bell public in 1969 and stepped down in 1975, four years before Taco Bell was purchased by PepsiCo Inc., and is now owned by Louisville, KY based Yum Brands after PepsiCo spun off its restaurant division in 1997. Apparently, Bell really was a ground breaker in the fast food industry, opening several different Taco chains, and eventually Weinerschnitzel, that strange West Coast hot dog stand that doesn’t actually seem to serve weinerschnitzel. I guess you could call him a founding father of fat and an influencer in America’s bad eating habits. Except for Christine Dougherty obviously, who lost weight eating Taco Bell. Not that these dietary blunders seemed to effect Glen too much having lived to the advanced age of 86. To read more on USAToday.com, click here.
In other celebrity fast food news, everyone’s favorite fast food spokesmen, Jared Fogle, has recently gotten engaged….and fat. Jared will tie the knot with his girlfriend, Katie McLaughlin, a teacher. This will be the second marriage for Fogle after divorcing Elizabeth Fogle in 2007 after 6 years of marriage. More importantly, Jared put on 40 lbs over the last year while dating McLaughlin. Apparently Jared blames his weight gain on bad eating habits and lack of exercise. Um…duh. Isn’t that the case for 90% of weight gain?
Now come on Jared, we’ve all heard of relationship weight, but it’s your job to stay thin. That’s it. What happened to all those turkey and veggie subs? Was the Subway diet a little too restrictive for you, Fogle? While I commend Subway for their healthy eating options, let’s face it America, fad diets don’t work. They are too restrictive. Subway can be part of a healthy diet, but I would hesitate recommending anyone only eat Subway.
You can read more about his engagement and weight gain at People.com.
What news round up would be complete without another fast food contamination story? This time not even your soda is safe from food borne illnesses. The Journal of Food Microbiology published a study this month showing that roughly half of 90 or so soda fountains tested at fast food restaurants in the Roanoke, VA area were positive for coliform bacteria. They also found E. coli and antibiotic resistant microbes in the fountains as well. The study points out that many bacteria is benign or even helpful to humans, but it is still a concern that the fountains contain E.coli and could be another safe habitat for other, worse bacteria. It could be a localized concern, and while I’ve never been to Roanake, somehow I doubt that their fountain drinks are significantly worse than they are elsewhere. Since I really have a hard time translating scientific research in my blog, I suggest you read up on CNN.com.
That’s it for this week readers. Keep up those New Years resolutions and I’ll see you next week for some more news and commentary.
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January 18th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
[...] Fast Food News Round Up Week Of 1/11 – Taco Bell Founder Dies Fast Food News Round Up Week of 1/11 – Taco Bell founder dies, Jared gets engaged, and contiminated soda fountains. By Jesse | January 18, 2010. Welcome back to this week’s…or rather, last week’s fast food news round up. [...]