"small" news and stories

The San Jose Mercury News recently featured an article about Belfast Sparkling Cider, apparently a longtime favorite among Chinese communities in California. With roots dating back to Irish immigrants and California's gold rush, the cider has now become a niche favorite, found at many Chinese restaurants in San Francisco. The Mercury piece goes over several theories of how the soda rose to such prominence among Chinese Bay Area residents, speculating on taste, price and location. There is apparently little marketing needed for the stuff, since it's had a loyal following for decades.

What could possibly be the world's most confusing naming system, the Wendy's "biggie" sizing, is coming to an end. The company, which is the 3rd largest burger chain in the US, decided that the names "small," "medium" and "large" are easier for customers to use, despite the fact that they have been imposing the "biggie" sizes for over a decade.

Unfortunately, the change might not be all that less confusing to customers. The old sizing system was small (16-oz.), medium (20-oz), Biggie (32-oz.) and Great Biggie (42-oz.). The new system is small (20-oz.), medium (32-oz) and large (42-oz.), with no extra large; each size is significantly larger than it was only 1 week ago, with the smallest size eliminated, not to mention that it is different (still larger) than other fast food restaurants.

Reuters mentions that this change to larger drink sizes comes after the company, in an attempt to promote their food as healthier, nearly eliminated trans fats from their foods. Calories must be "healthier," then, right?

 

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