So, 2015 is almost over, and a lot has happened: the dress, gay marriage, and Donald Trump. But, most importantly, a lot of stuff has happened to food, from the highs of all day breakfast (we’re big fans of that) to the lows of finding out about Chipotle’s E. coli outbreak. So here are 2015’s 15 biggest moments in food:
Girl Scouts Introduced Three New Cookie Flavors
Photo by Sol Lee
2015 (and the end of 2014) was a big year for Girl Scouts. First, they introduced online ordering. Then, enter a trio of new cookie flavors: Toffee-tastic, Trios, and Rah-Rah Raisin. Two of which are gluten free. The only way to make this news more exciting is to pair these new cookies with wine.
Beyoncé Started A Meal Delivery Service
Photo courtesy of collegecandy.com
In February, Beyoncé created a 22-day delivery service for non-GMO, gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free vegan meals. Luckily, you still have time to eat like Beyoncé and order one of these meals for yourself. Find out how here.
Capri Sun Discontinued High-Fructose Corn Syrup
Photo courtesy of shescribes.com
Whaaaaa? The drink that you always ate with your school lunches has been healthified. Instead of corn syrup, Kraft is using sugar, sucralose (is that worse or better than corn syrup?), and stevia. Speaking of healthified foods, Hershey is also thinking about getting rid of corn syrup in its products. This is how we reacted to no more corn syrup.
Chipotle Released Their Secret Guacamole Recipe
Photo by Lily Lou
Secrets, secrets, are no fun unless you share with everyone. Chipotle revealed their biggest secret: how they make their amazing guacamole that so many people are willing to spend an extra $1.80 for. Turns out, it’s super easy and only requires six ingredients. Find the recipe here.
McDonalds Sold Lobster Rolls
Photo by Anthony Nomakeo
It’s pretty surprising when the fast food restaurant that normally serves greasy Big Macs begins selling lobster. And, for only eight bucks. And, yes, it’s actually made with real lobster. We tried it, and it actually was not bad. It kinda makes up for its Pay With Lovin’ campaign that forced random people to hug for free food.
Dominos Enforced Emoji-Ordering
Photo courtesy of visitkoreatown.org
It turns out Domino’s loves emojis as much as Hillary Clinton does. In May, Domino’s let people order pizzas by tweeting or texting them pizza emojis. (@Dominoes???) No one knows what happens when you tweet them the new taco emoji, though.
Starbucks Introduced New Frappuccinos
Photo courtesy of starbucks.com
No more having to order off of the secret menu and annoy your baristas because Starbucks introduced six new flavors: Red Velvet Cake, Cotton Candy, Cinnamon Roll, Lemon Bar, Caramel Coca Cluster, and Cupcake. Obviously, when we found out about this news, we had to taste test them for ourselves. They also introduced a mini size for frappuccinos, so all non-regulars can be even more confused by Starbucks’ sizes.
Whole Foods Introduced Plans For A Cheaper Grocery Store
Photo courtesy of leshistorymonth.com
To borrow the words of DJ Khaled, Bless up. Now you can get your asparagus water for a little less at “365 by Whole Foods Market” which will open in 2016.
Hot Dog Pizza Became The Hybrid Food of 2015
Photo courtesy of pizzahut.com
Just as we thought 2014 was the year of the hybrid food, Pizza Hut introduced to us a hot dog-stuffed crust pizza, which features mini hot dogs as the crust of a pizza. It doesn’t get more ridiculous than this.
Kale Creeped Its Way Onto Fast Food Menus
Photo by Laura Lim
Kale needs to stop, like, asap. First, it began when McDonalds had a kale breakfast bowl. Then it spread to Chick-fil-a. Have these restaurants even tasted kale? Let’s stop this now. Kale was so 2014, anyway.
Ariana Grande Licked Display Doughnuts
Photo courtesy of mashable.com
Ariana Grande licking doughnuts was definitely the biggest celebrity scandal of 2015. First, she entered a doughnut shop with a few of her friends and began to lick display doughnuts. And, to add salt to the wound, she began talking about how she hated America. Yes, this really happened.
Chipotle Had An E. coli Outbreak
Photo by Heather Harris
Chipotle addicts, beware: in November and December, Chipotle closed down some of its stores in the east and west coast because of people getting sick from E. coli found in their food. Chipotle is releasing updates on this.
Scientists Found Carcinogens In Bacon
Photo by Christin Urso
In November, the World Health Organization released a report that processed meats, such as hot dogs, bacon and sausage, were likely to increase people’s risks of cancer. Like we needed another reason why bacon was bad for us. But, luckily for us, it’s not a huge risk — so turn that frown upside down and don’t be afraid to snack down on some delicious bacon recipes.
McDonalds Served All Day Breakfast
Photo by Daniel Acker
While it might seem like McDonalds has been stealing a lot of headlines with attempts to catch up with newer fast-casual restaurants, all day breakfast has been one of their most successful campaigns. However, you might still have to wake up before 10:30 am to catch some of your less popular favorites since this all day breakfast menu is limited. White Castle also began serving all day breakfast in 2015. Who’s next?
People Got Upset Over Starbucks Cups
Photo by Justin Schuble
After Starbucks started serving drinks in holiday cups, a few people got offended by its redesign and declared it a war on Christmas. But let’s be real, this was actually a war on diversity.
DJ Khaled Told The World The Keys To Success
Gif courtesy of firstwefeast.com
One minute he’s a DJ, the next he’s a Snapchat mogul. If you’ve ever tuned into DJ Khaled’s Snapchat (@djkhaled305), you’ve most likely seen the “keys to success” which, according to Khaled, are water, turkey bacon, chicken sausage, and outdoor massages. Hopefully Khaled has some keys to a successful new year for us as well.