Omnivore - From accused scammers to stinky cheese

Mainly unpleasant food in the news

Image MORE “CHRISTIAN” SCAMMERS?: The AJC has reviewed the indictment of the operators of Angel Food Ministries, a Monroe-based nonprofit organization that acquired millions of dollars in donations and federal subsidies to help feed the poor through a nationwide network of churches. The indictment alleges that founders Joe and Linda Wingo (and two others) “siphoned millions of dollars off their nonprofit food ministry — and spent the money to support a lavish lifestyle” during the last 17 years. The real losers in this are the many the ministry actually did help. Ugh....

NOT A CHRISTIAN SCAM: Meanwhile, the Marietta Daily Journal reports that a food pantry in Cobb County is in “desperate” need of support. The economy has decimated donations while the number in need of the church-based service has increased significantly (to over 1800 persons monthly)....

THE PAUSE THAT DOESN’T REFRESH SO MANY: Wow. The soft-drink market is tanking: “The soda industry has a problem. Some of the industry’s largest selling and most famous brands have lost well over a third of their sales in the last decade. When those brands include Sprite, Pepsi, and 7-Up, the erosion is worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year. 24/7 Wall St. examined the major soda brands to find which have been selling less and less.” Check out the link for a list of the hardest-hit....

DON’T DRIVE & DIE: Feel free to fill up your tank at a Race Trac gas station, but you might want to forgo filling up you stomach with a sandwich....

Image HOW ABOUT SOME STINKY CHEESE?:OSHA has sued Whole Foods Market Group Inc. to reinstate a former employee with full back wages and benefits after the company allegedly fired the worker for voicing and reporting workplace health concerns regarding a raw sewage spillage at its store in Miami Beach.”...

AN INTERVIEW WITH LUDACRIS BlackEntertainment.com recently interviewed Ludacris about Straits, the Singaporean restaurant he opened in Midtown four years ago with chef Chris Yeo.

Weirdly, the Ludacris article is headlined with the claim that the singer/actor is entering the franchise market, but there’s not a word explaining that. Still, the interview provides some insight into what Ludacris had in mind when he decided to get into the business.