Dieters are so involved with trying to eat virtuously that they are more likely than non-dieters to choose unhealthy foods that are labeled as healthy, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. It seems dieter focus on food names can work to their disadvantage. “Keeping your weight-loss goal in mind as you scan the lunch menu at a café, you are careful to avoid pasta selections and instead order from the list of salad options,” write authors Caglar Irmak (University... ...Read more »

The Federal Court has ordered two restaurants to pay a penalty of $13,200 each for misleading customers as to the price of meals in their menus on Sundays and public holidays. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took action against two New South Wales restaurants – Helmos Enterprises (NSW) Pty Ltd, trading as Georges Bar and Grill, and Gourmet Goody’s Family Restaurant Pty Ltd, trading as Steersons Steakhouse. The ACCC alleged that the menus failed to tell customers... ...Read more »

Taco Bill Mexican restaurant in South Melbourne, Victoria has won the overall national I Love FOOD Awards 2010, run by cable network Lifestyle FOOD, for Australia’s favourite place to eat out. Voted by Lifestyle FOOD viewers and the Australian public, the online poll allowed diners to choose their favourite restaurants across 26 cuisines. Around 100,000 voters participated this year, with voting results going into Lifestyle FOOD’s annual Eat Out Guide. Taco Bill has won the award for... ...Read more »

The NSW Food Authority has swooped in on illegal backyard ready-to-eat meat manufacturers, issuing 27 penalty notices, five improvement notices, four prohibition orders and ten warning letters. “An investigation was conducted following concerns at a growing number of dodgy backyard butchers producing ready to eat meat products,” said Primary Industries Minister Steve Whan. Minister Whan said that ‘ready to eat meat’ refers to meat products that may be raw, uncooked, cooked,... ...Read more »

Dimmi, a new online service, allows restaurants to take bookings online 24 hours a day. The service provides restaurants with online electronic reservation diary software, which can be used for phone bookings as usual, or remotely for online bookings. Real-time information on table availability is stored in the system, and diners confirm their bookings on the spot. The service also reminds customers via email of their reservation. Dimmi has also partnered with many of Australia’s online restaurant... ...Read more »

A Canberra restaurant has been closed and its owner fined $1500 after it was discovered that food was being prepared in the car park behind the restaurant. The owner of the Tak Kee Roast Inn, Kin Wah Wong, was convicted in the ACT Magistrates Court of three food safety offences relating to food preparation on dirty premises (including a dirty chopping block and rusty knife), and defrosting and food preparation in the car park without protection from contamination. The court was told that the violations... ...Read more »

The latest ABS retail trade figures show that sales in March rose 0.3%, seasonally adjusted, compared with a fall of 1.2% the previous month. Sales rose, in seasonally adjusted terms, across five retail industry groups: Clothing, Footwear & Other Personal Accessory Retailing (1.4%), Department Stores (1.1%), Other Retailing (0.9%), Cafes, Restaurants & Takeaway Food Services (0.7%) and Food Retailing (0.3%). Sales fell in Household Goods Retailing (-1.0%). Cafes, restaurants and takeaway... ...Read more »

KFC has announced that its iconic red KFC bucket will turn pink at US outlets, in support of breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The Colonel’s suit and the KFC headquarters will also turn pink as part of the “Buckets for the Cure™” campaign, which began today and will run until May 23. “Through our Buckets For the Cure campaign, the KFC family nationwide is helping to reach millions of women and men with breast health education, and attempting to make the single... ...Read more »

The latest ABS retail trade figures show that sales in February fell 1.4%, seasonally adjusted, compared with a rise of 1.1% the previous month. Most states experienced a drop in sales this February, except for Tasmania, which rose by 1.5%, and the Northern Territory which rose by 0.8%. In original terms, Australian turnover decreased 11.9% in February 2010. On the positive side however, Australian turnover increased 3.4% in February 2010 compared with February 2009. The only industry category with... ...Read more »

Yum! Brands announced the opening of its first Indian Taco Bell outlet yesterday in Bangalore. Yum! is focused on developing Taco Bell into its third global brand after KFC and Pizza Hut, currently the second most profitable brand in the United States. Over the past few years, the Company has expanded Taco Bell beyond Canada and Puerto Rico to other markets including Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Guam, Iceland, Philippines, Dubai, Spain and Cyprus. “We’re delighted to... ...Read more »