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He’s not the first one person to notice this, obviously, and maybe that’s the problem. “Does BJ’s really believe that a question mark is enough to stop people from reading it wrong?” he wrote to Consumerist.
Is that it? Are they just daring us to move that question mark?
The answer is all in the washing, explains NPR’s always informative The Salt (thanks for the tip, K.C.!), but everyone is basically on the same side, fighting contamination from bacteria like salmonella.
See, Americans, the Japanese, Australians and Scandinavians all wash eggs when the pop out of hens, and in doing so, scrub off a barely visible protective layer on the egg’s shell that keeps it from becoming porous and letting bad things in, while keeping water inside.
Egg producers in the U.S. then spray the eggs with oil and refrigerate them, to make up for the loss of that coating.
“The egg is a marvel in terms of protecting itself, and one of the protections is this coating, which prevents them from being porous,” food writer Michael Ruhlman, author of Egg: A Culinary Exploration of the World’s Most Versatile Ingredient explained to The Salt.
Many countries that used to wash their eggs also freaked out after a batch of eggs in Australia that had been bathed went rotten, starting a chain reaction against the practice. In places like Asia (with the exception of Japan) and most other foreign countries, washing is prohibited.
So which method is better? Is it more effective to vaccinate hens against salmonella, as some European countries do, or require washing and refrigeration, along with other safety measures, as the U.S. does? Both work fine as long as there’s consistency, explains Vincent Guyonnet, a poultry veterinarian and scientific adviser to the International Egg Commission.
But if you’re going to refrigerate them, it has to be from the farm to the store and everywhere in between. Once the eggs go from cold to warm, “they’re going to start sweating,” he says. Sweat can lead to mold, and that’s gross.
Eggs also stay good longer when chilled — 50 days with refrigeration and about 21 without.
“They’re different approaches to basically achieve the same result,” Guyonnet told The Salt. “We don’t have massive [food safety] issues on either side of the Atlantic. Both methods seem to work.”
Previously in important egg issues: From Gadgets To Diners: How To Make Or Order The PerfecT Egg Every Time
Why The U.S. Chills Its Eggs And Most Of The World Doesn’t [The Salt]
“Dealers said it was hard to sell,” explains Marcelo Claure, who recently took over the reins of the beleaguered wireless company. “We are marketing a hamster talking to people… That’s very hard to sell.”
Claure, the billionaire founder of Miami-based Brightstar Corp. (which was recently acquired by Sprint’s majority investor, Japanese telecom biggie Softbank), says he was initially advised that he should not shake things up at Sprint until after his first 100 days on the job. But the Framily nonsense was such an obvious target that he apparently felt compelled to shelve it.
“I couldn’t help myself,” Claure told investors, according to FierceWireless. “There wasn’t a compelling value proposition here. We were more expensive and coming out of a traumatic network experience.”
He says the focus now is on trying making customers see the value in choosing Sprint. Claure replaced the Framily plans in late August with the Sprint Family Share Pack that offers significantly more data for your dollar than you might get from other carriers.
Claure followed that up almost right away with a $60 unlimited data plan, and then announced this week that it would be offering a special $50/month unlimited plan only for iPhone customers.
And while all of Sprint’s new plans give you a ton of data for a decent amount of money, the company faces some major hurdles in convincing customers to switch.
First, recent tests have shown that Sprint’s data network is much slower than the LTE networks for AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. There is little point to having an unlimited data plan if you’re unable to do enjoy data-heavy services (like streaming video) that require decent network speeds.
Additionally, while Sprint has effectively slashed the price on data by increasing the amount customers have access to each month without increasing rates, most smartphone users in the U.S. don’t use more than 2GB of data per month on their wireless accounts. It’s like a restaurant that serves very filling food, meaning most diners won’t finish what’s on their plates. There is no real additional value if the restaurant says you can get a free second helping.
Claure says Sprint is actively working to improve its LTE network, and we hope the company is indeed committed to catching up to the data speeds and coverage offered by its competition. An industry with so few players desperately needs companies willing to shake things up to challenge the market leaders.
Specifically, the air bag problem is an issue with the part that connects the steering wheel and the air bag. The parking brake problem is one where only one of the vehicle’s brakes engaged on the wheel.
The 2015 Corvette has been very popular, and sales are up, but the company hasn’t recalled vehicles that have already been sold. The company hasn’t indicated that 2015 Corvettes that have already been sold have issues: it’s only the vehicles in batches that are either en route to dealers or on lots that have problems.
GM Issues ‘Stop Delivery’ Order on 2015 Corvettes [Wall Street Journal]
The Apple Store was slated to open up to preorders at midnight PT, but eager customers were stymied by Apple’s online store, which failed to open at the designated time, reports CNET. It’s now up and running, albeit hours after customers first started trying and failing to get their orders in.
There were problems with some of the various carriers as well — customers reported some glitches and delays through Verizon Wireless and AT&T, though those issues don’t seem to be as bad as the frustrations suffered by Sprint and T-Mobile customers.
Those sites were still down two hours after preorders were supposed to start, with Sprint’s site working patchily and T-Mobile sticking to a registration form that serves to remind people about when the preorders were (supposed) to start.
If all else fails, Apple’s physical retail stores started accepting preorders this morning, as well as other retailers like Best Buy, RadioShack, Sam’s Club, Target, and Walmart.
Me, I’m going to sit under an Apple tree and just wait for one to drop on my head. Seems more efficient.
iPhone 6 presales begin — with US Apple Store caught napping [CNET]
The Starboard critique not only slammed Olive Garden for wasting breadsticks, but also said the new logo looks like it was written by a second-grader.
According to the AP, the folks at the Starboard Value hedge fund recently put together a 300-page writeup of the issues facing Olive Garden, including its apparent bread problem.
While servers are supposed to bring one breadstick per diner at a table, plus one stick that is apparently to be fought over by those who still crave its stick-like goodness, Starboard says that poorly trained and undisciplined servers are bringing out much more bread than is needed.
Dumping all that cooked dough on the table at once results in bread going cold and uneaten, which means breadsticks in the trash and money wasted by the restaurant.
“Darden [Olive Garden's parent company] management readily admits that after sitting just 7 minutes, the breadsticks deteriorate in quality,” reads the Starboard critique.
The hedge fund also claims the quality of the Olive Garden breadsticks has declined, likening the current version to hot dog buns.
Olive Garden is also slammed for being too heavy-handed with salad dressing, and that booze sales at the family friendly restaurant chain should account for at least double what they currently do.
Starboard isn’t just trying to point out to Darden that there is too much waste at some Olive Garden restaurants, which have seen sagging sales and fewer visitors. The hedge fund is also attempting to wrest control of the Darden board of directors. Other Darden restaurant brands include LongHorn Steakhouse, Capital Grille, and Yard House.
In addition to the breadstick beatdown, Starboard claims that Olive Garden’s marketing is outdated and that the company relies too heavily on TV ads.
Starboard even went so far as to insult the recently revamped Olive Garden logo, unless you think saying that it looks like “a second-grader’s cursive practice” is a compliment.
For its part, Darden tells the AP that the “Olive Garden Brand Renaissance” is ongoing, and that it will look at the Starboard presentation. The company defended itself, saying, “we believe many of the brand and cost optimization strategies are already being implemented across our company and are showing results.”
The current rules don’t forbid Starbucks employees from having tattoos; they are just supposed to cover them up when working.
Earlier this year, CEO Howard Schultz launched a campaign seeking feedback from employees on how the company could improve its workers’ careers. And a number of them mentioned that the company could rethink its policy on tattoos.
“I live on Capitol Hill, Seattle. It’s rare to see someone without a tattoo here,” wrote one worker, according to the Seattle Times.
There was also some online discussion among employees about how the company could allow visible tattoos while also maintaining a level of professionalism. For example, would face tattoos be acceptable? What about tattoos that may be gang-related?
Of course, one could argue that having a face tattoo has no impact whatsoever on a person’s ability to make coffee or serve customers. Similarly, there are many people who are no longer associated with gangs, but haven’t been able to get old gang-related tattoos removed or covered.
A recent online petition gathered more than 21,000 signatures from people who believe the policy should be changed, arguing — among other things — that having to wear long sleeves, regardless of the weather or time of year, just to cover up tattoos is a hindrance to job performance at Starbucks.
Without committing to any changes, Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Troy Alstead sent an internal e-mail last week announcing that the company is revisiting its “dress code, including the tattoo policy.”
A rep for the company tells the Times that Starbucks is “always actively engaged in discussion with our partners to determine how to make their Starbucks experience better and more valuable to them… We know the dress code and tattoo policy is important to them so we are taking a fresh look at it.”
In addition to the “no visible tattoos” policy, Starbucks has other restrictions on piercings, jewelry and perfume/aftershave for its baristas.
Starbucks may let baristas bare their tattoos [SeattleTimes.com]
The story caught the attention of onion growers around the country, reports CentralMaine.com, prompting generous hearts to send in or drop off bags of onions so the kids can still donate them to local food pantries and use them in the school cafeteria, which was the plan for the 100 onions grown by the fifth-grade class.
So far, more than 200 pounds of onions have rolled in from nearby farms, and more are coming from as far away as Texas and New York.
“They grow produce to donate to local food pantries and for the college cafeteria, so when she saw we were donating the onions for the same reason, she connected,” the kids’ teacher said of the director of a farm at a college nearby. “She brought them in this morning.”
Another local farmer read the article and called up the school to say he wanted to donate some onions. He brought in two 50-pound sacks of onions and told the school that the reason he did was not only because he felt bad for the kids, but for the person who took their onions in the first place, saying “he doesn’t know any better.”
“I mean, look at that!” one student said. “We got 210 onions here and we’re getting another 100 from Texas and 100 from New York. We’re getting more than we planted. It’s not tomatoes, it’s not pizza, it’s not apples — it’s onions. I mean, who would donate onions? Who would steal onions?”
Who indeed? We might never know, but the teacher says it’s all part of a learning process for the students.
“So, this is the lesson the kids are learning,” she said. “It renews their belief in human nature, which is what disasters do. Not that disasters are good, but when something goes wrong and you hang in there, something good comes of it.”
Onion donations bloom after Waterville school garden theft [CentralMaine.com]
NOPE, says Walmart and Best Buy.
Apple’s new system is backed by a bunch of banks and credit-card issuers to provide support for Pay, which will allow customers to buy things at certain retailers using the newest iPhones.
But while the financial institutions might be all for it, it seems retailers are a bit more sluggish, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Thus far, iPhone 6 owners will be able use Pay to buy products at 220,000 retail locations in the United States, like McDonalds, Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s. But that number pales in comparison to the more than nine million merchants in this country that accept credit and debit cards.
Using NFC requires retailers to install readers at the checkout line to accept the payments, but only about 10% of merchants are using those readers. Best Buy had NFC-enabled scanners at many stores back in 2011, but stopped using them because it was too expensive to keep them, a spokesman said. It’s not planning on going back down that road, the company said, despite Apple’s push for Pay.
Walmart also confirmed to the WSJ that customers shopping at Walmart won’t be able to use Apple Pay.
Instead, both retailers are getting behind a mobile technology group that’s owned by retailers, called the Merchant Customer Exchange. MCX is in turn launching a mobile wallet application called CurrentC coming in 2015, which will only require a software download instead of checkout scanners, and can be used on any iPhone or Android phone already in use, instead of just the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
CurrentC will connect to consumers’ checking accounts, retailer gift cards and some retail credit cards but won’t work with traditional credit cards.
Will Stores Warm Up to Apple Pay? [Wall Street Journal]
Here are nine of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.
Our Flickr Pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Want to see your pictures on our site? Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.
