Fast Food

Everybody knows that the safest bet if you want to eat healthy is to cook at home so you can control the ingredients. But that's not always an option when you're traveling or just crazy-busy. A new Food Court Survival Guide from cookinglight.com addresses that dilemma and offers six relatively healthy choices from McDonald's, Taco Bell, Starbucks and other fast-food restaurants.

Sodium, saturated fat and calories were the key considerations for the guide, according to the author, Katherine Brooking, M.S., R.D. While salads and sandwiches with grilled chicken are obvious choices, there were a few surprises on the list. Two items, including the Fresco Grilled Steak Soft Taco from Taco Bell, have beef, which is often considered a no-no for people trying to eat healthy. There's also a "Wok Smart" entrée from Panda Express that's not bursting with sodium (a common pitfall with fast food, says Brooking) and has only 250 calories. In other words, it's not only low in calories -- it's too low in calories for lunch, which should be 350 to 500 calories or more, depending on your individual calorie needs, says Brooking. (She suggests adding some extra brown rice and perhaps another side if you need a full meal).

Anyone who's ever tried to eat French fries in the car or has squeezed packet after messy packet of ketchup onto a burger knows that those little condiment packages can be annoying (and sometimes impossible to open at all).

Heinz feels our pain. For the first time in decades, the ketchup company is revamping the way it packages ketchup on-the-go, the Associated Press reported.

Heinz has created the Dip & Squeeze package, a single-serving ketchup packet that has a cup for dipping and an end that can be torn off, making it easier to both dip and squeeze with less mess.

"The packet has long been the bane of our consumers," David Ciesinski, vice president of Heinz Ketchup, told the AP. "The biggest complaint is there is no way to dip and eat it on the go."

The packet also holds three times as much ketchup as the traditional Heinz ketchup packet.

Ever wonder what happens when people find fault with a fast-food joint? Kyla Jones considers herself a reasonable person. As someone who has worked in customer service, she knows what it's like to be on the receiving end of an unwarranted phone tirade. Still, after receiving shoddy treatment from a KFC manager in Columbus, Ohio, she didn't hesitate to call the company's hot line to lodge a complaint.

In 2008, Jones and a companion began eating dinner around 8:30 p.m. at a KFC restaurant that closed at 9. Within ten minutes, they were approached brusquely by a manager and asked to leave without being allowed to finish their meals.

"We're closing in ten minutes, you have to go," Jones recalls him saying. "Do you want a box to put it in?" "He was just really abrupt and acting like us being there was a huge inconvenience," the 48-year-old continues. "Nothing like, 'I hope you're enjoying the food, but our employees need to go.' I sat there like a stunned deer in the headlights."

Denny's is hoping the second time is the charm as it attempts to re-create the success of last year's Grand Slam breakfast giveaway promotion that it advertised during the Super Bowl.

The casual-dining chain will run an ad during Super Bowl XLIV between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints, announcing that customers can come to participating restaurants on Feb. 9, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. for free Grand Slam breakfasts, Nation's Restaurant News reported.

It's not easy going green, but California might soon get its first eco-friendly McDonald's, the Press-Enterprise reported.

Tom and Candace Spiel, owners of McSpi Inc., which operates nine McDonald's franchises in southern California, are planning to tear down their Riverside, Calif., restaurant and rebuild with an eye on the environment.

"Someone needs to be early adoptees of the latest and best practices, and we're looking to see what we can do to make a positive impact on our community and our environment. This seems like one step forward in that direction," Candace Spiel told Slashfood.