Manufacturing Sector

New Gelato and Frozen Greek Yogurt Flavors Ben & Jerry's Truck is in Town

With summer weather on the way, grocery freezer cases have some new dessert choices to help us chill. In April, Haagen-Dazs began marketing a line of gelato. And Ben & Jerry's just added three more flavors to its selection of frozen Greek yogurt, which was introduced last year. The gelato comes in ... More >>

5 Lessons From the Sustainable Coffee Culture Panel

If coffee is your preferred source of caffeine, then you may have come across the term "sustainable" in some form or another on a package label. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, sustainability is both a principle and a set of precepts for a productive co-existence between humans and ... More >>

Twinkies May be Back as Early as This Summer

The report of the demise of that golden sponge cake with the creamy filling may have been premature. Twinkies and their Hostess snack brethren could be back by as soon as this summer. Two private equity firms have bought the iconic brands for $410 million, CNN reports. There were no other qualifie ... More >>

Chefs Join Petition to Change Easy-Bake Ovens

Are Hasbro's Easy-Bake Ovens just for girls? Their pink and purple color scheme might suggest so, along with ads and packaging that show only girls playing with the classic toy. Of course, that hasn't stopped generations of pie-curious boys from experimenting with baked goods at a young age. But no ... More >>

Olive Oil Investigations Launched With Public Hearing on Quality & Market Conditions

Olives are on the pressing block. Earlier this week, the U.S. International Trade Commission held a public hearing to launch an investigation into the olive oil industry that was largely fueled by a UC Davis study two years ago. The study reported many of the imported olive oils on our supermarket s ... More >>

Consumer Reports Warns of Arsenic in Rice

Rice, seemingly so bland and innocuous, harbors the same deadly poison beloved by Victorian mystery writers. In a new study, Consumer Reports has found varying levels of arsenic in more than 60 rices and rice products. Among the consumer goods that contained "worrisome levels" of arsenic were organi ... More >>

Cheese, Please: What's the Deal With Mozzarella?

From our 2012 Restaurant Issue, celebrating everything pizza in L.A. In L.A.'s not-so-distant pie past, family pizza night meant Friday evening quibbles over thick versus thin crust, debates over the proportion of marinara sauce to other ingredients and, inevitably, a few irreconcilable topping dif ... More >>

San Diego Comic-Con 2012: Hasbro Listens to Fans with New, Exclusive Toys

Over the course of two seasons, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has emerged as the kid's cartoon with a far greater audience than just children. Adult fans of the show -- known primarily as Bronies, as well as the less frequent term Pegasisters -- have created their own online forums and fan con ... More >>

Things We Wish Existed: Ben & Jerry's (Fan-Made) Breaking Bad Ice Cream

Be still, our twitching hearts. Walter White's signature ice cream flavor doesn't exist just yet. But the good news is that the Ben & Jerry's execs in Vermont have a full two and a half weeks before the season five premiere to make this candy-speckled creation a reality. We can dream, can't we?

The Pikey: Hollywood's Riff on the London Blues

We've always had a soft spot for Welsh rarebit -- pronounced "rabbit" -- an English pub staple that essentially amounts to a layer of yeasty cheese sauce broiled onto toast. The name is sort of an Anglican inside joke, implying that a conniving Welshman might try to swindle by insisting your savory ... More >>

A Brief Guide to L.A. Grocery Stores' Confusing Coupons, Club Cards Contests

Did you ever try to make a shopping list from the grocery store fliers that arrive in most L.A. mailboxes each Tuesday? In theory the promotions are supposed to let us know about all the great deals taking place during the next seven days, starting on Wednesday. But some marketing guru evidently dec ... More >>

Baby Spinach and Bagged Salads Recalled

Two greens producers in Salinas have recalled their products due to bacterial contamination. Taylor Farms is recalling their organic baby spinach, and River Ranch is recalling its bagged salads, Food Safety News reports. Random testing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found Salmonella on a fi ... More >>

Colt Following

Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's Today

It's a lovely day outside -- perfect weather, in other words, for some ice cream. Fortunately, Ben & Jerry's has you covered: today is their annual Free Cone Day whereby they thank their loyal customers with free ice-cream. From noon to 8 p.m., visit your local Ben & Jerry's scoop shop to have you ... More >>

Ben & Jerry's "Taste the Lin-Sanity" Flavor: Stereotypes à la Mode

Boston Ben & Jerry's Twitter pageBen & Jerry's first batch of its limited edition "Taste the Lin-Sanity" flavor​When Ben & Jerry's decided to pay pint-sized tribute to New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin and his spectacular rise in the NBA, they had a few options. Draw inspiration from the ... More >>

Lawsuit Alleges That SunChips Are Not "All-Natural"

Pleasantly surprised that the SunChips and Tostitos you munched on during the Super Bowl were stamped "All-Natural"? Hopefully, you're not a Pats fan, else you're in for another letdown: a lawsuit filed last week against the chips' manufacturer, Frito-Lay, alleges that the snacks are not all-natura ... More >>

Lawsuit Against "Corn Sugar" Can Proceed

Guzzle & NoshWill the real sugar please stand up?​Big Sugar won the latest skirmish in the legal battle against Big Corn when a federal judge ruled that a recently filed lawsuit can proceed. Last month, a coalition of sugar farmers led by C&H Sugar Company filed suit against the Corn Refiners ... More >>

Inside EATaly: On Bread, Olive Oil And Sal The Mozzarella Guy

JGarbeeEATaly's Bread Counter​When we first spoke to Lidia Bastianich about the inspiration behind EATaly, the Italian mega-market in New York that she opened with son Joe and Mario Batali, we had yet to experience the swanky 5th Avenue market churning out thousands of loaves of bread, handmad ... More >>

Q & A With Jackrabbit Cheesemaker D.J. Mitchell: From L.A. To Utah And Back Again

J. GarbeeMitchell Getting Down To Important Pre-SuperBowl Business​Living in a mega-tropolis means those moments of food disassociation are daily occurrences (do you know the name of your coffee bean farmer?), other than perhaps Farmers Market days when you can actually get to know the man beh ... More >>

Honda Civic Owners, Better Check Your Brakes; Class-Action Lawsuit Claims it Could Save Your Life

Honda​A little more than two years ago, Rivella Dunner of Los Angeles bought a new 2009 Honda Civic at a dealership in Woodland Hills. She, like most Civic owners, was psyched that the car was both affordable and supposedly reliable. Thirteen months and 10,433 miles later, however, Dunner was sho ... More >>

Janice Hahn Withdraws Support For Gambol Shipyard

Janice Hahn​The battle over whether to build a new shipyard at the Port of L.A. is over, as Councilwoman Janice Hahn withdrew her support today.The council voted 13-0 today in favor of the Harbor Commission's decision to cut off talks with Gambol Industries, which has been lobbying to build a ship ... More >>

G20 to Address Rising Food Prices

Flickr/John Rohana grocery aisle in Korea​ How long has it been since you thought groceries were cheap? Everyone has noticed the increase in food prices, and now the G20, a group composed of the heads of state of 20 of the world's largest economies, is poised to do something about it. Accord ... More >>

Battle Between Port And L.A. Council Escalates, As Council Claims Authority Over Shipyard Plan

Janice Hahn​The L.A. City Council voted today to wade into a controversy over a proposed shipyard at the Port of L.A., escalating a battle with port staffers who have already rejected the plan.Led by Councilwoman Janice Hahn, the council voted unanimously to review the port's decision to kill the ... More >>

Food Safety Bill Passes in House; Heads to Obama for Signature

After a year in legal limbo and what looked like certain defeat only weeks ago, the House this afternoon passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (a.k.a. S. 510), paving the way for the first overhaul of America's food safety system in seven decades. The vote was 255-144 mostly along party lines (D ... More >>

The 70% Solution: Tasting Notes on Tcho "Fruity" Dark Chocolate

Ben CalderwoodTcho tasting bar with proprietary flavor wheel visible on the package​ The 70% Solution intentionally fudges the numbers by a few percentage points (the pun, Mom's honor, is accidental) to introduce Squid Ink tasters to Tcho, the world's first internet chocolate. Producer: Tcho ... More >>

Tesla Motors Forgoes Southern California Plant; City Of Downey Calls Out Elon Musk As A Liar

Tesla MotorsTesla's Model S.​After flirting with Downey and Long Beach, electric carmaker Tesla Motors has decided to build its next manufacturing plant in Northern California, where the company is based, Downey city officials announced Thursday. City leaders expressed deep disappointment: "T ... More >>

L.A. Could Be Ground Zero For Toyota's Legal Woes

​Torrance-based Toyota Motor Sales USA has asked that 200 sudden-acceleration lawsuits be consolidated into one case to be heard before a federal judge in Los Angeles. According to Associated Press, Toyota lawyer Cari Dawson argued before a U.S. Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in San Diego ... More >>

Mattel Working On Straight-To-Big-Screen-Franchise Toys

barbie.com​Looking to cut out that long wait between childhood phenomenon and big-screen blockbuster, El Segundo-based toymaker Mattel has begun developing toys that have Hollywood storylines and direct-to-film pedigree built in. New York Magazine's Vulture blog reports that Mattel has alrea ... More >>

Councilman Proposes Tobacco Sales Buffer Around Schools

Councilman Bernard Parks.​Following the Los Angeles City Council's approval of a marijuana dispensary ordinance that would establish a 1,000 buffer zone around schools, Councilman Bernard Parks has proposed to establish such a zone for tobacco sales. While few would argue that it's advantageo ... More >>

Chinese Government Sued In L.A. Over Censorship Software

Lenovo​The Chinese government was sued in Los Angeles court this week over its imposition of content-filtering software that is allegedly based on code stolen from CYBERsitter, LLC. The $2.2 billion suit claims that the People's Republic of China distributed "Green Dam Youth Escort" censorship ... More >>

Sugar Shortage, Yes. Crisis? Not So Much.

On August 7th, some of the country's largest food processors, including Mars, Hershey's, General Mills and Kraft, sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stating that the country was on the verge of a massive sugar shortage and that, without raising the quotas on the amount of tariff-free ... More >>

Get Your Marshmallow Fix At Little Flower Candy Co. A Recipe for Homemade Marshmallows

For those us who grew up eating marshmallows out of a plastic bag, those oddly white confections that seemed to taste of nothing but chemicals and stale air, the hand-crafted version is a revelation. Thus marshmallow lovers in this town beat a track to the Little Flower Candy Company in Pasadena, wh ... More >>

Dairy Crisis Sends 101,000 Cows To Slaughterhouse

If lush, green, rolling hillsides dotted with healthy cows chomping on grasses seems like some kind of pastoral fantasy, the reality is turning into a nightmare for California dairy farmers.

Is SoCal Aerospace Crashing -- Again?

In an ominous sign that Southern California's aerospace industry might be repeating the massive downsizing of the 1990s, Northrop Grumman today announced 750 layoffs, to occur within the next few months. According to the Daily Breeze, most of the terminations are expected to fall at the company's El ... More >>

America Without Chevys?

Driving down Vermont Avenue, you might spot, next door to the Islamic Center of Southern California, one of those alarming signs of the times that are multiplying as the economy cartwheels to a crash. It's an anonymous-looking building with a huge parking lot, whose facade simply bears the number 44 ... More >>

Our Daily Bread

She Is Barbie, Hear Her Roar

Designer Tarina Tarantino drapes her favorite feminist icon in pearls

Who's Resurrecting the Electric Car?

Forget those poky little golf cars — the battery-powered muscle car is just around the corner

6 Highs and Lows of American Automobilia

Diebold's Revenge

Steve Cooley goes after a whistleblower

6 Highs and Lows of American Automobilia

Wrenda Hasbro’s Sweet Salvation

Stepping on His Dick

Why Karl Rove should go, and why he won’t

Made In the USA, Part III: US Company Listings A-M

Made in the USA

A guide to Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction

The Artists of Gruyère

Tax Free Speech

Pro-industry Frontiers of Freedom challenges Rainforest Action Network’s tax-exempt status

Offer They Can Refuse

Fashion Victims

If you missed the Smithsonian's Sweatshop Exhibit at the Museum of Tolerance, or don't remember even hearing about it, you're not alone

Some Kind of Blue