The Junk Food Empire fights back, part V
The Kennedy-Era U.S. Food and Drug Administration has thrown the Junk Food Empire into chaos. State after state, including Iowa, is banning junk food from SNAP eligibility. Conagra, the company behind Vlasic pickles and Snack Pack pudding cups, explained a recent earnings report this way: "weakening consumer sentiment continues to weigh on results."
The Empire will not die without a fight. The Iowa State Fair paid no attention at all to the health movement this year and local media celebrated its new junk foods like jubilant martyrs to a lost cause. Jokes about obesity in Iowa are safe for another year at least. With the Fair over, empty calorie seekers took heart in two new moves by the Empire. Heinz and Smoothie King teamed up on a Heinz Tomato Ketchup Smoothie, now on the menu at select Smoothie King locations nationwide. Hershey partnered with Mondelez International to launch two new snack products combining two iconic junk food brands: Oreo Reese’s cookies and Reese’s Oreo cups. The former was described as “Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies filled with a mix of Reese’s peanut butter crème and Oreo cookie crumbs” and the latter as “white crème peanut butter cups covered in Oreo cookie crumbs and available in various sizes — king, standard and miniature,” according to Hershey's PR.
Thursday deals
• Beaver Tap (4050 Urbandale Ave., Des Moines) offers $10 country fried breakfasts and $9 tenderloins or shrimp/fish tacos on Thursdays.
• Ruth's Chris (Ashworth Road at Jordan Creek Parkway, West Des Moines) has a Thursday special with their decadent RBAR burgers and fries going for $16.
• Steaks: Sirloin steak dinners are featured specials today at Johnny's Italian Steakhouses (before 4 p.m.), Sully's Irish Pub (860 First St., West Des Moines); Front Row (9956 Swanson Blvd., Clive); Winn’s Pizza and Steakhouse (122 W. Ashland Ave., Indianola), and Hy-Vee Market Grilles. The Station on Ingersoll (3120 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines) has a ribeye special on Thursdays. Gilroy's (1238 Eighth St. West Des Moines) offers ribeyes and sirloins only on Thursdays after 5.
• Sprockets (2314 University Ave., Des Moines) offers a breaded pork tenderloin special on Thursdays for $9.99
• Mariscos El Pirata (6050 S.E. 14th St., Des Moines) offers $2 off all sushi on Thursdays
• ShortE's BBQ (8505 Chambery Blvd., Johnston) has $1 smoked wings Thursdays.
• Jethro's Thursday special is a pound of boneless "wings" for $8.
• Bevy’s Tavern (1300 50th St., West Des Moines) has a special of beef stew and cornbread Thursdays for $13.
• Amruth Indian Grill (9974 Swanson Blvd., Clive) offers an all-you-can-eat dosa (gram/rice flour crepes) buffet on Thursdays 5:30-9 p.m. $18.95.
• Destination Grille (2491 E. First St., Grimes) has a "Comfort Thursday" special chicken fried De Burgo a gluten free spin on DSM's classic, $16
• The Dam Pub (2710 Beaver Ave., Des Moines) has a throwback Thursday special goulash with garlic toast.
• The Continental (407 E. Fifth St., Des Moines) has $7 loaded fries on Thursdays.
• Haiku (1350 31st St., Des Moines) offers free tom yum soup and edamames with lunch entrees today.
• Aldi stores have sales through Tuesday on red grapes at $1.29/pound, peaches for $1.49/pound and avocados at 59 cents.
— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com | 
