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(Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune)
Subway sandwiches just got a little less salty.
The restaurant chain said Monday that it has reduced sodium levels in its sandwiches by 15 percent across the board, while its Fresh Fit sandwich line gets a 28 percent reduction. Get the full story »
Freezing weather across the South and Mexico recently damaged such crops as tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers, leading to shortages and price increases. It’s left some restaurants scrambling to revamp such staples as sandwiches and salads.
“It’s sort of like the perfect storm — Florida, Texas and Mexico all get hit with unseasonably cold weather, which decreased the yields of tomatoes and cucumbers,” said Gary Karp, executive vice president for Technomic, a food market-research firm. “It’s going to take about 60 days or so before new tomatoes and other replacement products can come to market.” Get the full story »
Sandwich chain Subway Monday became the fifth company to distance itself from MTV’s controversial new series “Skins,” pulling its advertising from the teen show after a campaign by a parents TV watchdog.
A representative for Subway told The Hollywood Reporter the company would not be running its ads on Monday’s second episode of the drama series about misfit teens who dabble in drink, drugs and sex. Get the full story »
An Extreme Pita interior. (Photo courtesy of Extreme Pita)
Extreme Pita, a Mediterranean fast-food chain concept for health-conscious consumers, opened its first Chicago-area location last week. The Orland Park store is one of 25 the chain has in the works for the region over the next five years.
“There is a real opportunity for us to carve out a niche market in Chicago,” Ray Zandi, vice president of U.S. development for Extreme Pita said, in a statement. “With a large population that has a sizeable segment tending toward health consciousness, Chicago is a natural fit for our vision of inspiring healthy living.”
Founded in 1997, the Mississauga, Ontario-based chain has more than 300 locations, many of them in Canada. But the chain is growing fast in the U.S. Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Chicago-based Technomic described Extreme Pita as a Subway restaurant, but with pita. Customers can watch their sandwiches being custom-made at the counter. Get the full story »
Tessellated cheese on a Subway sandwich designed to provide full cheese coverage. (Tribune)
Subway franchisees on Thursday will begin placing triangular cheese slices on the chain’s subs. Instead of being positioned end to end with overlap, the cheese points will alternate facing up and down along your sandwich. To the geometrically inclined, the term is “tessellating” — positioning shapes in a pattern without overlap and with no gaps.
A suburban Chicago woman who says she got sick after eating a Subway sandwich is suing the restaurant and the chain’s parent company. Forty-six-year-old Alicea Bush-Bailey of Bolingbrook claims Subway failed to prevent an outbreak of salmonella and said the sandwich she ate put her in the emergency room.
The Illinois Department of Health is investigating a salmonella outbreak that has sickened almost 100 people who have reported eating at Subway sandwich restaurants in 28 counties around the state. Get the full story »
