You’ve heard it a million times. ‘Get fries and a drink with that for just a buck more.’ You’re at the register trying to make a quick decision. You’re thinking, ‘more is better,’ and, ‘I don’t have to eat all the fries.’ The pressure is mounting.
By the time you decide to go with the combo meal, you’ve agreed, essentially, to pack on enough calories to get you halfway through tomorrow. It’s true! A study by the Journal of Marketing Research found that diners will eat 85 percent more than they had originally planned, just by taking the bump-up offer.
A Well-Done Steak
Why Bother? Beef jerky is a lot less expensive and tastes pretty much the same. Ordering a steak well-done is essentially asking for a meal with all of the flavor cooked out of it. Food poisoning is no joke, but medium or medium-rare is sufficient.
Chefs agree. One chef known as Chef Geoff sparked a red-hot Reddit meme. when basically stating that anyone who has the audacity to order a steak well done, should be promptly asked to leave.
Watch Out for Diet Cocktails
It turns out that people imbibing in diet cocktails consume more alcohol than other drinkers. One study found that people who consumed bar drinks made with diet soda tested at a blood-alcohol level that was 25 percent higher than those who drank standard cocktails.
Plus, folks tend to order more and eat more when they drink diet mixed drinks.
A Slice of Lemon
Some restaurants offer a slice of lemon with a glass of water. The only problem is, according to a study in the Journal of Environmental Health, 70 percent of lemons tested positive for bacteria. The study discovered that bacteria are passed to lemons and other garnishes by food servers or food preparers’ hands.
Like most garnishes, lemons often are handled with bare hands, sometimes even while they are sliced. While a bartender who is being watched may be more likely to wash their hands, a waiter who is rushing through the kitchen may not feel the same way.
Cocktail Garnishes
Bartenders are not held to the health code standards of restaurants. Bartenders serve drinks, not food, after all. A study at Clemson University by food scientists Paul Dawson and Wesam Al-Jeddawi took a close look at bar drink garnishes.
What they found is wet lemons absorbed bacteria 100 percent of the time, but dry lemons absorb harmful microorganisms 30 percent of the time. Another surprising finding was that 83 percent of the ice in cups harbors bacteria. Just one more reason to go sober.