Peep Shows, De-Snootinizing French Food, Hello Kitty Wine

Clown College: McDonald's opened a "Hamburger University" in Shanghai, China, to train managers for its expected thousand-store expansion in the country over the next six years. via Nation's Restaurant News

EPA Actually Does Something: The EPA joined the FDA in investigating bisphenol A's effects on the environment and human health. via CHOW.com

Adios, Shrimp: The U.S. State Department banned imports of Mexican wild-caught shrimp that's fished in ways that threaten endangered sea turtles. via Scientific American

Raw Milk: Trendy or Deadly...or Both?: After 12 illnesses in the Midwest were linked to a raw milk dairy contaminated with a dangerous bacterium, campylobacter, the FDA went public last week with some get-tough language about the potential dangers of unpasteurized, a.k.a. raw, milk. Whole Foods got nervous and pulled raw milk from its shelves in four states. via Wall Street Journal

Hot Easter Peep Show: The Washington Post held its fourth annual Peeps art contest, featuring a Peeps tribute to Korean War vets and other absurd dioramas. via Washington Post

A Good Read: Adam Gopnik looks at Le Fooding, the French food movement that is challenging the traditional Michelinized ideas of what good French cuisine means in the New Yorker.

Thread of the Week: A cry for help on the "Professional Hot Dog Vendors Forum" on roadfood.com from a first-timer vending at a music festival reveals some inner workings of food cart economics and prompts an important question: which cheese is "faster," slices or sauce form?

Deaths, Firings, Recalls, and Other Endings:

Michael Ruhlman was fired by Restaurant Hospitality magazine when they found some really old things he’d written on his blog disparaging Snackwells.

Protesters organized by the Organic Consumers Association picketed Chez Panisse, because they’re mad that the executive director of San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission is also executive director of the Chez Panisse Foundation’s. Allegedly SFPL gave away toxic sludge to be used as fertilizer.

Debuts, Openings, and Other Beginnings:

ChopChop, a quarterly food magazine and website aimed at kids, launches.

The European Union "trademarks authority" has given the green light to a German marketing firm that wants to make a beer called Fucking Hell.

The Exchange Bar & Grill: Soon-to-open Gramercy Park restaurant whose menu prices will fluctuate based on supply and demand.

Hello Kitty Wine: "Smooth with almond reminiscence."