DailyDirt: Kids Don't Just Eat Anything You Give Them...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Kids are notoriously picky eaters when it comes to anything that isn't a dessert. Parents aren't helped when their kids are bombarded by ads on TV for all kinds of junk food. But here are a few food efforts that might divert kids' attentions back to healthier foods.

• Disney is adopting new standards for food advertising on its shows targeting kids and families -- to promote fruit and vegetable consumption and meet healthy nutritional guidelines. Awesome, now all healthy food will be approved by Mickey! [url]
• Mickey Mouse isn't the only fictional character who can influence what kids eat. Superheroes can, too. What would Batman eat? [url]
• Food trucks are trendy now, so what better way to bring free meals to kids? Sounds better than an ice cream truck... [url]
• Exercise your palate and try new foods that are bitter. Instead of sticking with salty and sweet (which are generally associated with junk food), a more bitter-flavored diet might provide a healthier range of food. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: batman, dessert, food, food trucks, health, kids, mickey mouse
Companies: disney

Patent Holder Sues Basically Anyone Who Offers Recipes Or 'Meal Planning' Online

from the damn dept

THREsq alerted us to the news of a company named DietGoal, which appears to not exist for any reason other than to sue over patents, and which has sued the TV network Bravo for creating a recipe finder website. The claim is that it violates US Patent 6,585,516 for a "method and system for computerized visual behavior analysis, training, and planning." The patent basically seems to describe an online recipe database in which "the user can use the Picture Menus to choose meals for a particular time period to correspond to a customized eating plan."

I started to look further into the lawsuit, and I realized that Bravo was not the only target of DietGoal. Not by a long shot. Last September, right before the new patent law went into effect making it difficult to bundle defendants, DietGoal sued a ton of sites -- mainly focused on restaurants (including, but not limited to, Arby's, Chick-fil-A, Dairy Queen, Dunkin' Donuts, Jack in the Box, McDonald's, Panda Express, Taco Bell, Sonic, Wendy's, Burger King, Whole Foods, Tim Hortons, Dominos and Starbucks) as well as a few non-restaurants, including Weight Watchers, Google, IAC and Hearst Communications. If you look at the docket on that one, there are a ton of "dismissals" by DietGoal, which likely means that it was successful in getting the companies to pay up. Others do appear to be fighting it and hitting back with counterclaims and questioning the validity of the patent. Some, like Dominos and Wegmans also sought to break apart the case and make DietGoal face each defendant individually in different cases. That case has also bounced around among a few different judges already.

On April 3rd, DietGoals filed an amended complaint in that original case, attempting to add in a huge list of new defendants -- including Bravo and a bunch of others (many of whom we'll discuss in a bit). On May 24th, the magistrate judge denied DietGoal's motion to file that third amended complaint with all those other parties.

That brings us up to this week, in which DietGoal filed a bunch of lawsuits against a variety of companies (those it had tried to lump into this lawsuit) -- with each one being sued individually. So... yes, there's the lawsuit against Bravo, but also suits against AllRecipes.com, CalorieKing, ConAgra (for having a product nutrition search engine on its site -- no, I'm not kidding, check the complaint), General Mills, Nestle, Nutrisystem, Food.com, SparkPeople, Time, Inc. (for RealSimple.com), WebMD and some others as well.

Basically, it looks as though the DietGoal is operating under the premise that anyone who offers recipes online should have to pay it some money. Of course, all of this should make you wonder: was a patent really needed for the sake of encouraging companies to put databases of recipes online?

Filed Under: food, patent troll, recipes
Companies: dietgoal

DailyDirt: Burger Innovations From Around The World

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The USA has no monopoly on hamburger innovations. Sure, Americans probably eat more burgers than any other country, and we came up with the drive-thru and drive-in processes for burger orders. But the possibilities for burgers have no limits, and here are just a few global developments in the world of burger technology.

• In Germany, McDonald's crowdsourced a few new menu suggestions which were released as actual products for sale over the month of May. The "Pretzelnator" was the first item -- offering folks a ham & cheese sandwich on a pretzel-like bun. [url]
• In Japan, the phrase "have it your way" translates to "put as much bacon as humanly possible on my Whopper, please." Japanese Burger Kings will put 15 slices of bacon on your burger for about 100 yen, and for about 7,000 yen, that's 1,050 slices of bacon on your order. [url]
• Pizza Hut in Dubai has added cute little cheeseburgers to pizza crust. They've also added mini chicken fillets on pizza crusts and cream cheese, too. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: bacon, burgers, food, pizza, pretzelnator, whopper
Companies: burger king, mcdonalds, pizza hut

Is Photographing A Meal 'Taking Intellectual Property Away' From A Chef?

from the not-getting-the-point dept

Via Rob Hyndman, we discover that at least one chef believes that taking photos of food he cooks, and then posting them on the internet, is "taking" his "intellectual property." We've discussed in the past how restaurants are yet another area where a lack of copyright protection has actually helped innovation thrive. But, that doesn't mean that some chefs don't still feel excessive levels of ownership over certain aspects of what they do. We've occasionally seen lawsuits between similar restaurants, but could you take it even further?

The article linked above, from Eater, talks to a number of different chefs to get their opinion on diners photographing the food that they're served. Most seem to have a grudging acceptance of the practice. The first chef, Sean Brock (from Husk and McCrady's in Charleston, South Carolina) appears to be the most enthusiastic, saying that he actually loves it when diners photograph the menu, because it even helps remind him what they made and also puts more pressure on the cooking staff to make sure the plates look good. However, a couple chefs down, there's RJ Cooper (from Rogue 24 in DC). He admits that they allow (non-flash) photography, mainly because he can't really stop it. But he's certainly not happy about it. After being asked if his opinion about people photographing dinner had changed, he said:

No, I still have the feeling. You're there for the dining experience with your companion, not to take photos of food. They publish food photos without your consent, which is taking intellectual property away from the restaurant. And also, generally, the photographs are terrible.

I'm curious how this is "taking intellectual property away from the restaurant." Unfortunately, it seems like yet another sign of the kind of "ownership culture" that is being spread by copyright maximalists these days -- encouraging the world to think they have "ownership" over things they have absolutely no rights to. The restaurant can legally refuse to serve someone, or kick someone out of their restaurant for taking a photograph if they wanted (though, that would likely hurt the restaurant's reputation), but there simply is no serious intellectual property issue in having someone take a photograph of the dinner they were served. Is there a lawyer crazy enough to make an argument that the cooking and plating process creates enough creativity in a "fixed" manner that it deserves copyright? Perhaps, but even then I'd have a hard time believing the photograph was not perfectly legitimate fair use.

All in all, I think it's unfortunate that we keep seeing more and more examples of people believing they "own" aspects of culture and can prevent others from sharing them, and regret that this is what our culture has become in an era where kids are being (incorrectly) taught that copyright is just like "property" for things you create. It leads people into thinking they "own" anything they do.

Filed Under: food, husk and mcrady's, photography, rj cooper, rogue 24, sean brock

DailyDirt: There's Nothing That Can't Be Deep Fried And Eaten

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

We know it's bad for our health, but somehow we just can't get enough of artery-clogging fried foods because they taste so good. If you get tired of dry oven-roasted Thanksgiving turkeys, try deep frying them next time. Deep frying is not only a quicker way to cook a turkey, but it also produces a very moist and juicy bird with super crunchy skin. (However, deep frying whole turkeys is dangerous if not done properly -- take it from William Shatner, who nearly burned down his house trying to deep fry a turkey.) Fried turkey isn't particularly unusual, but there are some pretty crazy, deep fried food ideas out there. Here are a few examples.

• In Austria, McDonald's recently offered a sandwich called the McRibster, which was essentially a McRib that had been breaded and fried. And as if that weren't enough, it also came with bacon and cheese (and some healthier stuff like lettuce and onions). [url]
• Fried butter balls first debuted at the State Fair of Texas in 2009. However, the Iowa State Fair took it to the next level last year with a 2-ounce stick of butter, dipped in cinnamon honey batter, deep fried, and then covered in a sugar glaze. [url]
• Every year, the San Diego County Fair features some interesting deep fried foods. Some examples include: fried Krispy Kreme chicken sandwiches, fried Twinkies, fried avocados, fried brownies, fried Klondike bars, fried frog legs, deep fried Girl Scout cookies, and deep fried Kool-Aid. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: butter, food, fried, girl scout cookies, kool aid, mcribster, state fairs, twinkies
Companies: krispy kreme, mcdonalds

DailyDirt: Expensive Meals

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

A nice meal is a nice meal, regardless of the price. But if you want to show off your considerable fortunes, try serving up a few of these ingredients in your next culinary creation. (Maybe if you're a newly-minted billionaire, recently married... and have a penchant for killing your own food?)

• If you like really expensive vegetables, forget white asparagus, hop shoots are where it's at. But unless they're specially cultivated, the shoots will turn green and become tough and rope-like. [url]
• European white truffles go for thousands of dollars per pound, found by trained dogs (not pigs who will sometimes eat the fungus). Time to start cultivating these in a lab -- or at least a quick DNA test to confirm the species... [url]
• About 150 flowers are needed to produce one gram of saffron -- and a lot of human labor. Fortunately, it doesn't take a lot to impart its flavor into foods, but avoid the fake stuff and don't buy ground saffron. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: asparagus, expensive, food, fungus, hop shoots, meals, saffron, truffles

DailyDirt: Hot Dogs!

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The weather is warming up, and backyard barbecues are getting dusted off. What's easier to grill than a good old hot dog? Absolutely nothing. Here are just a few links to get you in the mood for some delicious dogs.

• The Brits have outdone themselves with a new culinary creation: Pizza Hut UK has created a hot dog stuffed pizza crust. American ingenuity just isn't what it used to be. [url]
• If you're really into hot dogs with plentiful toppings, just check out some MLB ballparks. Warning: if you don't like hot dogs, this is a slideshow of more than 20 hot dogs smothered in condiments that'll probably make you sick. [url]
• The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is trying to get people to stop eating hot dogs... with scary billboards that suggest hot dogs are deadly. Some of the billboard ads look like parodies of anti-smoking campaigns, so it's difficult to take them too seriously (though the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council isn't laughing). [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: ballparks, food, hot dogs, pizza, toppings
Companies: national hot dog & sausage council, physicians committee for responsible medicine, pizza hut

DailyDirt: Sketchy Meats For Sale

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

A lot of vegetarians were likely inspired by The Jungle (the novel about the meat packing industry), but a lot has changed in the field of meat since the early 1900s. However, transparency about how animals are treated before they're served onto dinner plates could perhaps use a little more work. Here are just a few recent stories that are starting to gross out some meat-eating Americans.

• Gerald Zimstein coined the term "pink slime" and the substance has been in the news because of its "yuck" factor. But pink slime isn't particularly unhealthy -- or at least it hasn't been proven so (yet?). [url]
• Tuna scrape is almost like hamburger meat, and its use in sushi could become another kind of pink slime issue. So be careful with those spicy tuna rolls... [url]
• The use of antibiotics in food production might be getting out of hand, but fortunately, we can reduce antibiotics in the meat industry by using vaccines and other techniques. The concern is that we're slowly creating a world of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. [url]
• The enzyme transglutaminase is also known as "meat glue" -- and creating frankenstein steaks from cheap cuts of meat. While transglutaminase is generally safe and naturally occurring, the danger of using it comes from gluing together pieces of meat that may have bacteria contamination -- and when the glued-together meat is merely seared on the outside, the rare inside isn't properly cooked (and not sterile like the inner part of a single piece of meat). [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: antibiotics, food, hamburgers, meat, meat glue, pink slime, sushi, the jungle, transglutaminase, tuna scrape

DailyDirt: Bacon A La Mode

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Bacon is an almost universally-loved food item -- it's salty and fatty and meaty all at the same time. So it's not too surprising that people will try to add bacon to almost any dish. Everything is better with bacon... and here are some examples that test that assertion.

• The makers of Baconnaise and Bacon Baby Formula have created a bacon-themed coffin for sale. For about $3,000 plus shipping, you too, could be preserved in a casket that looks like bacon. [url]
• Bacon-scented hand sanitizer is a great way to pickup stray dogs. Or to get your hand bitten... [url]
• Burger King has introduced a bacon sundae to its menu. It's not available at every location yet -- only a few hip places around Nashville, Tennessee. [url]
• Jack in the Box has a bacon milkshake that packs 773 calories into 16 ounces of bacon-flavored refreshment. No actual bacon was harmed to create this milkshake, just bacon-flavored syrup. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: bacon, baconnaise, coffin, food, hand sanitizer, nashville, sundae
Companies: burger king

DailyDirt: Actually, It *Is* Soylent Green...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

People eat a lot of weird things, but most folks frown upon cannibalism. Some forms of cannibalism are more socially acceptable than others. Here are just a few examples of people eating other people (or parts of them).

• Ingesting placenta capsules doesn't sound like a very modern way to get vitamins and nutrients. But there are other ways to eat placentas -- dried and powdered, roasted, raw... uh. Yum? [url]
• Three people in Brazil have confessed to murdering and cooking up their victims for food. The murderers actually made empanadas out of their victims and sold them as meals to neighbors. [url]
• Armin Meiwes, the German cannibal, describes how he likes to prepare human flesh for dinner -- and insists he's just a normal guy. Meiwes is also serving a life sentence for killing and eating Bernd Brandes in 2001. [url]
• Two Dutch TV hosts have eaten each other's surgically-removed flesh. Their meat was cooked, but unseasoned -- without fava beans or a nice Chianti sauce. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: armin meiwes, brazil, cannibalism, food, germany, soylent green, vitamins