Restaurant chains are under pressure to find new revenue streams as digital ordering, loyalty programs, and screen-based store formats become more common across the industry. McDonald’s is now testing whether those same tools can support an unexpected business line: selling ads for other brands. The idea surfaced publicly at the company’s Investor Day on September 23, when executives outlined a pilot already underway in the U.S.

McDonald’s says a 450-store pilot is already underway

McDonald’s told investors on September 23 that it is testing a commerce media network, a model that allows a company to sell advertising using its own customer-facing platforms and physical footprint. According to Restaurant News and reporting published after the presentation, the pilot is running at about 450 company-owned restaurants in the U.S. and includes digital menu boards and other in-store screens.

During the presentation, McDonald’s highlighted a Geico ad appearing on a drive-thru menu board, signaling that the company is exploring ads from non-competing brands rather than just internal promotions. Morgan Flatley, McDonald’s global chief marketing officer, said the test is intended to generate revenue for the system with limited added cost and without adding operational complexity.

The company also framed the effort as a large-scale advertising opportunity because of its reach. McDonald’s told investors it serves more than 70 million customers a day globally, and company materials tied to Investor Day said the chain now operates more than 45,000 locations worldwide. Industry reporting on the presentation said McDonald’s believes the media network could eventually become a $1 billion annual business.

What is confirmed in the U.S., and what McDonald’s has not yet disclosed

What is confirmed so far is limited but significant: the pilot is taking place in the United States, and it is currently centered on company-owned restaurants rather than franchised locations. That distinction matters because McDonald’s restaurants are overwhelmingly operated by franchisees, and any broader rollout would likely require decisions about revenue-sharing, screen placement, and how advertising fits into daily operations.

The company has not released a full list of affected states, cities, or specific restaurant addresses. It also has not publicly identified all ad categories that may appear on the screens, beyond the example shown during the Investor Day presentation. McDonald’s has likewise not announced a timetable for expanding the pilot beyond those 450 locations.

For customers, that means the experience may vary widely depending on where they order. Some diners and drive-thru customers may see no change at all, while others at pilot locations could begin seeing more third-party content on digital displays. At this stage, the company has only confirmed the test, not a systemwide launch.

Why McDonald’s is exploring ads, and what customers should expect next

McDonald’s is entering a space that has grown quickly across retail. Commerce media networks have become common at companies such as Amazon, Walmart, Target, Kroger, and Instacart, and Restaurant News cited eMarketer data projecting that U.S. commerce media ad spending will top $100 billion by 2028. McDonald’s executives indicated they see a comparable opening because of the chain’s scale, screen-heavy restaurant formats, and frequency of customer visits.

Investor Day materials and executive remarks also tied the effort to McDonald’s broader growth strategy, which increasingly relies on digital infrastructure, loyalty, and restaurant modernization. In that context, advertising is not being presented as a separate side project, but as another way to monetize assets the company already owns, including menu boards, dining room screens, and customer attention during the ordering process.

For customers, the immediate takeaway is that McDonald’s is still in testing mode. The company has not announced national rollout dates, a complete list of participating markets, or whether franchised restaurants will join the effort. What it has said is that the pilot is intended to avoid disrupting the customer experience, while giving the system a potential new source of revenue if the model proves workable.

Seafood restaurant chains have spent the past two years navigating bankruptcies, inflation, and shrinking store counts across the broader casual and quick-service dining business. Against that backdrop, Long John Silver’s is emerging as a quieter story in the category, with recent openings, remodels, and continued same-store sales growth putting the brand back on the radar.

Long John Silver’s is still opening stores and reporting growth

Long John Silver’s is the specific chain drawing renewed attention, and the clearest recent benchmark came on July 31, 2026, when QSR Web reported that the brand’s store count had fallen to slightly less than 500 locations even as same-store sales continued to grow. That matters because the company itself says it once operated a fleet of more than 1,000 restaurants nationally, making its current position a rebuild rather than a first-time expansion.

The brand has also confirmed fresh unit activity in 2026. A company LinkedIn post highlighted three new restaurant openings to start the year in Anderson, South Carolina; Sedalia, Missouri; and Killeen, Texas. In western Pennsylvania, WPXI reported that a Butler Township restaurant reopened on September 8, 2026, after what the station described as a complete remodel.

Recent menu and pricing strategy updates point to a chain trying to drive repeat visits while keeping its seafood identity intact. QSR Web reported last month that Long John Silver’s had posted 16 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth, while company messaging around 2026 promotions has centered on permanent $6 basket offers and seasonal seafood limited-time items.

What the chain’s activity means in local markets

The local impact is clearest in the places where Long John Silver’s has recently opened or reinvested. Anderson, Sedalia, and Killeen each gained newly opened restaurants this year, according to the company’s own announcement, while Butler Township saw an existing store return after a full remodel. Those are concrete signs of capital being directed to selected markets rather than a systemwide retreat.

What is not yet publicly clear is the full state-by-state development pipeline. The company has not released a comprehensive public list of every market slated for openings, remodels, or relocations in 2026, and publicly available location pages do not provide an easy nationwide unit count by state. That means some local construction or permitting activity may point to future stores, but not every project can be treated as a confirmed opening until the company announces it.

Texas appears to be one state worth watching. Beyond the confirmed Killeen opening, state permitting records and local reporting have pointed to additional Long John Silver’s development activity, though not every site has an opening date attached. For readers in markets where the brand has disappeared over the years, that pattern suggests Long John Silver’s is being selective about where it returns and where it reinvests.

Why seafood chains are getting another look

The wider context helps explain why a smaller seafood chain can suddenly look notable again. Nation’s Restaurant News reported that seafood chains as a segment saw sales decline by more than $500 million, or about 1.6%, in 2024, the same year Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy. In that environment, simply maintaining momentum has become a meaningful business story.

Long John Silver’s appears to be leaning on three practical levers: value pricing, menu familiarity, and store reinvestment. QSR Web reported that the company has kept its $6 baskets in market throughout 2026 as part of a two-part strategy, while recent coverage has tied the brand’s sales gains to loyalty efforts, menu promotions, and a push to refresh the customer experience. Company materials also emphasize continued rebuilding work, from remodels to digital programs.

For customers, the near-term takeaway is straightforward. Long John Silver’s is still a smaller chain than it once was, but verified reports show it is opening restaurants, remodeling some older locations, and continuing to compete on low-price seafood meals. That does not mean every market will get a new store, and the company has not published a full 2026 map of affected cities, but the brand’s recent activity shows it remains active in a category many diners may have assumed it had left behind.

IBD is entering 2026 with more visibility, more treatment options, and sharper data than patients had even a few years ago. That is good news, but it also means the conversation is getting more complex.

For anyone living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, the big story is no longer just symptom control. It is about earlier diagnosis, better-targeted care, and protecting quality of life over the long term.

IBD is more common than many people realize

Inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, is the umbrella term for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, two chronic conditions driven by ongoing inflammation in the digestive tract. Crohn’s can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract and often involves deeper layers of tissue, while ulcerative colitis is limited to the colon and rectum. Both can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, bleeding, fatigue, weight loss, and periods of relapse and remission.

The scale of the condition is becoming clearer. New CDC data published in 2026 found that in 2023-2024, 1.6% of U.S. adults had ever been diagnosed with IBD, including 1.2% with ulcerative colitis and 0.5% with Crohn’s disease. That translates to millions of people managing a lifelong disease, and it confirms that IBD is not rare.

The burden is unevenly distributed. The CDC says prevalence rises with age, and women were more likely than men to report ulcerative colitis and overall IBD. White non-Hispanic adults still showed the highest prevalence in the latest national estimates, though public health researchers have also noted that the disease burden is increasingly visible across a broader range of racial and ethnic groups than older data suggested.

The practical takeaway for 2026 is straightforward: IBD should no longer be treated as a niche diagnosis. Primary care physicians, emergency clinicians, schools, and employers are all more likely to encounter patients dealing with chronic flares, complex medication regimens, and the mental strain that often comes with unpredictable symptoms.

Treatment is getting broader, and more personalized

The old IBD treatment model followed a simple ladder: start with milder drugs, escalate slowly, and reserve advanced therapies for later. That approach is giving way to a more tailored strategy in which doctors weigh disease severity, complications, biomarkers, and patient goals much earlier. Groups such as ECCO now emphasize structured algorithms, treat-to-target thinking, and tighter monitoring rather than waiting for symptoms alone to guide every decision.

Biologics remain central, but the field has widened. Anti-TNF drugs are no longer the only major option, and clinicians increasingly use therapies that target different immune pathways, along with small-molecule oral drugs for selected patients. The FDA has also continued to expand pediatric options, including recent approvals involving ustekinumab and golimumab in children with inflammatory bowel disease, a sign that treatment access is improving beyond the adult population.

That does not mean every patient should expect a breakthrough prescription overnight. Advanced drugs can still be expensive, insurance approvals can delay care, and some patients cycle through multiple therapies before finding a durable response. Even so, the direction of travel is clear: more mechanisms, more age-specific approvals, and more individualized decision-making.

Heading into 2026, one of the most important shifts is that success is being defined more rigorously. Gastroenterologists are increasingly focused on healing visible inflammation, reducing steroid exposure, preventing hospitalizations, and lowering the risk of surgery, not just helping patients feel better for a few weeks.

Nutrition, monitoring, and daily life matter more than ever

Medication is only one part of modern IBD care. Nutrition has become a much bigger part of the discussion, especially after ECCO released a dedicated dietary consensus in late 2025 that framed diet as more than supportive advice. The message from experts is not that food alone cures IBD, but that nutrition can influence symptoms, deficiencies, inflammation, and recovery in meaningful ways.

That matters because people with IBD often face overlapping challenges: iron deficiency, low vitamin D, poor appetite during flares, unintentional weight loss, and confusion about elimination diets they find online. The best current approach is individualized, with registered dietitians and gastroenterology teams helping patients distinguish between evidence-based adjustments and overly restrictive eating patterns that may do more harm than good.

Monitoring is also becoming more sophisticated. Instead of relying only on colonoscopy or symptom diaries, clinicians increasingly use blood work, stool markers such as fecal calprotectin, imaging, and regular follow-up to catch smoldering inflammation earlier. That can help explain why a patient feels unwell even when standard tests once looked acceptable, and it can also reduce the risk of waiting too long to change course.

The broader reality for 2026 is that IBD management is becoming more whole-person and more proactive. Patients are being asked to think about sleep, stress, vaccination, bone health, mental health, and cancer surveillance alongside prescriptions. That may sound overwhelming, but it reflects a more mature understanding of the disease and a better chance of protecting long-term health.

Food delivery apps have faced growing scrutiny over how they calculate pay, tips, and job assignments for couriers in major U.S. cities. That scrutiny sharpened in New York City on September 22, 2026, when DoorDash agreed to a $131.5 million settlement tied to its treatment of delivery workers. The case centers on how the company paid Dashers working in the city under local delivery worker rules and what regulators said those workers were owed.

DoorDash’s settlement and the scale of the case

DoorDash agreed on September 22 to pay $131.5 million to settle a New York City enforcement action over delivery worker pay, according to the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the mayor’s office. City officials said it is the largest worker settlement in city history and said the case involved systematic violations of the city’s delivery worker laws. Reuters and the Associated Press reported that the settlement also requires new compliance monitoring.

The city said DoorDash underpaid more than 260,000 delivery workers in New York City between April 2022 and June 2026. According to the mayor’s office transcript of the announcement, the company’s conduct often violated the city’s minimum pay rate for app-based delivery workers. DoorDash, in a public statement, said the settlement includes $12.3 million for Dashers who were underpaid or paid late and more than $83 million tied to a dispute over how to calculate pay for time workers spent online between deliveries.

DoorDash said many payment errors happened because of technical bugs or complex delivery situations, including trips crossing city boundaries, orders with multiple stops, and canceled or partially completed deliveries. The company did not admit wrongdoing in the public materials reviewed, but it said it was making changes and wanted to resolve the dispute. The city said the agreement also covers penalties and oversight intended to improve future compliance.

What is confirmed in New York City, and what is not yet public

What is confirmed is geographic scope: this settlement is tied specifically to New York City workers, not a nationwide group of DoorDash drivers. City officials said the affected population includes Dashers who completed deliveries in the five boroughs, and the enforcement action was brought under New York City’s delivery worker laws. The company has not released a borough-by-borough breakdown of affected workers or payments.

The public announcements reviewed do not provide a full neighborhood-level or ZIP code-level list of where underpayments were concentrated. They also do not publicly identify how much any individual worker will receive under the city settlement. Officials instead described the total amount and the categories it will cover, including worker payments, disputed calculations, penalties, and compliance terms.

This case is also separate from an earlier New York state settlement over tips. In that February 2025 matter, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a $16.75 million settlement after an investigation found DoorDash used customer tips between May 2017 and September 2019 to subsidize guaranteed pay for delivery workers. Notices to eligible workers began going out in April 2025, according to the attorney general’s office and the settlement administrator, but that case concerns a different period and a different pay practice.

Why this happened and what customers should expect next

The immediate cause of the 2026 settlement is New York City’s enforcement of delivery worker protections, especially the city’s minimum pay framework that began being enforced in December 2023. According to the mayor’s office and the consumer protection department, the settlement is designed to address failures involving minimum pay, trip-distance limits, disclosures, pay transparency, and tip transparency. DoorDash said part of the dispute also involved how worker time logged into the app should be counted between deliveries.

Broader context matters here. New York City created a minimum pay rate for app-based restaurant delivery workers after years of organizing and debate over low per-order earnings, unpaid waiting time, and opaque algorithmic systems, according to city officials. DoorDash said that since the rule took effect, New York City Dashers have earned more than $1 billion and average pay per active hour before tips is roughly $30, showing how central the city’s pay formula has become to the economics of app delivery.

For customers and restaurants in New York City, the immediate change is not a service shutdown announcement or a confirmed change to delivery availability. What the settlement does mean is that DoorDash must operate under a new monitoring system with the city, according to the official announcement. The company said it is working to improve compliance, while city officials said enforcement of delivery pay rules will continue as app-based food delivery remains a major part of the local restaurant economy.

Quick-service chains are increasingly using new store formats to drive traffic, improve operations, and modernize how customers interact with legacy brands. KFC is now making that strategy central to its U.S. recovery effort with a newly unveiled prototype in McKinney, Texas, outside Dallas. The company and trade publication Nation’s Restaurant News say the location is designed to test whether a different physical layout can help reignite customer interest in the brand.

KFC opens a new prototype in McKinney as a live test for future stores

KFC said its new “Open House” prototype made its debut in McKinney, Texas, during the week of September 24, 2026, and Nation’s Restaurant News reported that the 3,400-square-foot restaurant is intended to serve as a learning lab for the brand’s U.S. comeback plan. The design includes oversized windows, flexible indoor and outdoor seating, a breezeway, digital screens, self-order kiosks, dual drive-thru lanes, a dedicated mobile-order lane, and a delivery pickup area. KFC also built in a “celebration booth” and table-service elements, signaling that the company is testing more than just kitchen flow.

The company has tied the prototype directly to what KFC U.S. President Catherine Tan-Gillespie has described as the brand’s “four Ps” strategy: product, promotion, place, and price, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. In that framework, the new restaurant is the clearest expression yet of the “place” component. KFC’s global press materials from June 15, 2026, also identified McKinney as one of the first examples of its next-generation restaurant design, describing it as an open-concept format meant to reinterpret the chain’s heritage with more modern energy.

KFC has not said that the McKinney design is a finalized blueprint for all future U.S. locations. Instead, company executives told Nation’s Restaurant News that the prototype is meant to test what can be scaled, including labor deployment, digital ordering, daypart expansion, and menu simplification. That makes the launch significant not because of a large initial rollout, but because the company is using one highly visible store to gather operational data before wider adoption.

Texas is the confirmed launch market, but a broader rollout is still undefined

For now, the confirmed geography is narrow: McKinney, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, is the debut market for the new format. KFC’s global announcement in June said the Texas restaurant was expected to open in late summer, and reporting from Nation’s Restaurant News and QSR Magazine this week places the unveiling in late September 2026. That makes North Texas the first place where customers can see how KFC wants its next generation of U.S. restaurants to look and function.

What is not yet known is how many additional Texas locations, if any, will follow in the near term. KFC has not released a full list of future Open House sites in Texas, and it has not announced a statewide development count tied to this design. Nation’s Restaurant News reported that one franchisee, Stewart Restaurant Group in Minneapolis, has committed to opening another prototype, but no opening date for that location was publicly confirmed in the source material.

That leaves McKinney as both a local opening and a national test case. For Texas diners, the practical impact is immediate at one site, not systemwide. Customers at the McKinney restaurant can expect features not standard across older KFC units, including breakfast service, expanded beverages, a snack-focused “Go Bucket,” and a more digitally forward ordering setup, while other Texas markets may not see those changes unless KFC later confirms expansion.

The redesign is tied to KFC’s effort to reverse weak relevance and build higher sales

KFC executives have framed the redesign as a response to a brand challenge rather than a routine remodel program. Tan-Gillespie told Nation’s Restaurant News that KFC concluded the chain remained “loved but latent,” meaning consumers recognized the brand but were not engaging with it often enough in the present. The company’s comeback plan, first outlined in 2025, has already included refreshed marketing, new value offers, and the return of menu items such as potato wedges and popcorn chicken.

The McKinney prototype adds a real-estate and operations layer to that plan. According to Nation’s Restaurant News, KFC is using the site to test what executives called “AUV-maxxing,” or finding ways to increase average unit volumes through expanded dayparts, catering, beverage sales, and occasion-based visits rather than focusing only on cost cutting. The prototype’s menu is smaller than a traditional KFC menu, but the company says that is deliberate: executives told the publication the goal is to offer variety and customization with less back-of-house complexity.

For customers, the near-term takeaway is that KFC is experimenting with a different kind of visit, not just a different building. The company said the prototype blends digital tools with more visible in-person service, including lobby hosts and drive-thru order takers using handheld devices. KFC has stated that whatever works in McKinney could eventually inform changes across the U.S. system, but for now the company is treating the restaurant as a measured test rather than a chainwide conversion.

Fast-food burger chains have spent 2026 leaning harder into bigger sandwiches, sharper value offers, and upgraded flagships as they compete for traffic in a tougher spending environment. Carl’s Jr. moved directly into that fight on September 9 with the launch of the Angus Maximus, a new limited-time burger introduced under what the company calls its “Burger Revolution” platform.

Carl’s Jr. introduces Angus Maximus and ties it to a launch deal

Carl’s Jr. announced on September 9 that it had rolled out the Angus Maximus as the first limited-time burger under its new systemwide cooked-to-order standard, according to the company. The chain said the burger includes two charbroiled 100% Angus beef patties, melted American cheese, sliced onions, dill pickles, and special sauce on a toasted brioche bun. Carl’s Jr. also said the sandwich carries 5.7 ounces of Angus beef and is priced at $5.99 for a limited time at participating locations.

The company framed the launch as a direct quality-and-value move in the broader burger category. In its announcement, Carl’s Jr. said the Angus Maximus delivers what it described as standout value among major fast-food burger offerings, measuring the offer at about $1.05 per ounce of beef. Brand president Iwona Alter said the new burger is intended to lead a broader operational shift centered on hotter, fresher, and more consistent burgers.

The introductory promotion is part of that push. Carl’s Jr. said new My Rewards members can get a free Angus Maximus with any purchase at sign-up, with the offer running from September 2 through October 27. The company has not said how many customers it expects to redeem the deal.

The launch is national, but participating locations may vary by market

Carl’s Jr. said the Angus Maximus is available at participating restaurants, which means access may vary by location. The company operates more than 1,000 restaurants in the United States, according to its September 9 announcement, but it has not released a market-by-market list showing every restaurant that is carrying the burger or every store honoring the introductory rewards offer.

That means customers in any given city will likely need to check app or in-store availability rather than assume uniform participation. The company confirmed the offer is tied to participating locations, and it has not published a comprehensive city-by-city breakdown. No separate regional launch schedule was listed in the company’s announcement.

The timing places Carl’s Jr. into a burger competition that has become increasingly national in scope. Axios reported in February that McDonald’s was preparing a nationwide limited-time launch of its Big Arch Burger starting March 3, while Burger King was refreshing the Whopper for the first time in nearly a decade. That report underscored how the largest chains were using bigger builds and core-menu upgrades to compete for attention and spending.

Chains are leaning on bigger burgers as traffic pressure persists

The broader context for the launch is a fast-food sector trying to restore momentum after years of price increases and softer guest traffic. Axios reported that major chains have been using larger burgers, more beef, and new sauces to persuade customers that higher-priced sandwiches still deliver value. The same report said retail 100% ground beef reached $6.75 per pound in January, up nearly 22% year over year, adding cost pressure even as brands continue to promote beef-heavy items.

Carl’s Jr. tied its own move to customer expectations around freshness and consistency. In its release, the company said the new cooked-to-order process is meant to avoid the temperature and texture issues that can come with traditional holding systems. Alter said the change reflects guest feedback and a broader effort to raise standards across the brand’s burger lineup.

For customers, the practical takeaway is straightforward: the Angus Maximus is now on menus for a limited time at participating Carl’s Jr. restaurants, and new rewards members can access the introductory free-burger promotion with a qualifying purchase through October 27. The company has not announced an end date for the sandwich beyond describing it as a limited-time offering, but it has made clear that the burger is intended to introduce diners to its new cooked-to-order standard.

The nation’s restaurant rules do not usually change with a single announcement, but the FDA’s latest update is the document many state and local agencies use when they revise food safety requirements for restaurants, food trucks, school cafeterias and grocery prepared-food counters. On September 17, the agency released the 2026 FDA Food Code, narrowing broad food safety guidance into specific operational changes that restaurants may eventually see reflected in inspections. For operators and diners alike, the most immediate differences involve employee illness paperwork, glove use, cooling practices and clearer language around allergens and mobile food businesses.

The update adds new written policy requirements and revises several operating standards

The FDA said on September 17 that it issued the 2026 FDA Food Code, a biennial model code used by state, local, tribal and territorial regulators to oversee retail and foodservice operations. The agency said the code includes an exception allowing double gloving under specific circumstances, a new requirement for written employee illness policies that must be maintained and available, and an alternative cooling process for foods at retail. According to the FDA, the update also touches sanitizer temperatures, consumer advisories, vending machine controls, food donations and the inspection report form.

A separate FDA summary of changes shows how detailed the revisions are. The agency added a new section for employee illness policy documentation, moved cleanup procedures for vomiting and diarrheal events into a separate section, and amended cooling provisions to allow a regulator-approved alternative method. The same summary says the code now includes a new defined term for “mobile food establishment” and revised language around “food establishment” to clarify that commissaries are included.

The FDA also revised glove-related language in the personal hygiene section. Its summary says the code adds new public health reasoning on glove hygiene, including information on double gloving and glove types. For restaurants, that means the changes are not limited to one headline item but spread across definitions, recordkeeping, handling procedures and inspection standards.

What it means locally depends on when states and cities adopt the model code

The FDA Food Code is not a federal mandate for restaurants, and that is the most important point for local operators. The agency describes the code as a model set of uniform provisions for regulators, not a self-executing national rule, which means restaurants in any given city or county will not necessarily face new inspection standards immediately. Adoption happens through state, territorial, tribal or local rulemaking, and timelines vary.

That makes the local impact uneven, at least for now. The FDA says the model code is widely adopted by agencies regulating more than one million restaurants, retail food stores, vending operations and foodservice sites in schools, hospitals, nursing homes and child care centers. But the agency has not released a single nationwide schedule showing when each jurisdiction will adopt the 2026 edition, and many states are still operating under earlier versions in their own codes.

For restaurant owners, food truck operators and local health departments, the practical effect is that inspections may not change overnight. What is confirmed is that the FDA has published the new model language and a formal summary of changes. What is not yet known is which states, counties or cities will move first, or whether every jurisdiction will adopt all of the new provisions without modification.

The changes reflect newer food-safety priorities, not a one-off rewrite

The FDA says the Food Code is updated every two years to reflect advances in food safety science, regulatory practice and emerging industry trends. That helps explain why the 2026 edition reaches beyond traditional temperature-control issues and into areas such as allergen cross-contact clarification, specialty mushroom hazards, dehydration and freeze-drying guidance, and updated definitions for newer operating formats such as mobile food establishments. The code also adds the term “food safety management system,” signaling a stronger emphasis on prevention rather than only enforcement after violations occur.

FoodSafetyTech, summarizing the changes from the 2022 edition, reported that the code tightens allergen safety expectations, pushes for more active managerial control and increases documentation requirements tied to daily compliance. Those themes are consistent with the FDA’s own change log, which shows more written policies, more inspection-report revisions and more detailed language around employee health practices. The Conference for Food Protection, along with the USDA, CDC and EPA, contributed to the model through the biennial process described by the FDA.

For customers, the biggest takeaway is not a visible dining-room change but a back-of-house shift toward documentation and standardized procedures. As states decide whether to adopt the 2026 code, diners may eventually see the results in how restaurants train staff, handle allergens, document illness policies and manage food cooling, with the FDA positioning the update as its latest model for more consistent retail food safety oversight nationwide.

Across the food manufacturing industry, companies have continued consolidating older plants as operating costs and production efficiency pressures reshape where products are made. In Sacramento, Blue Diamond Growers has now moved into another visible stage of that shift, with new layoffs tied to the long-planned closure of its historic facility. The latest reduction shows the California shutdown is still unfolding more than a year after the company announced it would wind down the site.

Blue Diamond confirms another round of Sacramento layoffs

Blue Diamond Growers cut 31 jobs at its facility at 1802 C Street in Sacramento effective September 4, 2026, according to a California WARN notice filed with the Employment Development Department. The notice lists the action as a permanent closure, making clear the reduction is part of the company’s previously announced plan to shut the Midtown Sacramento plant rather than a temporary slowdown. That latest filing adds to a series of 2026 cuts connected to the same closure.

State WARN records and recent reporting show earlier layoff rounds affected 40 workers on August 7, 56 workers on August 21, and 93 workers on August 28 at the same Sacramento operation. KCRA previously reported that Blue Diamond had also outlined a broader 2026 layoff schedule as the plant moved toward closure, with a major final phase expected during the wind-down. The company first announced the Sacramento closure on June 6, 2025.

At the time of that 2025 announcement, Blue Diamond said the winding down of the plant would take place over roughly 18 to 24 months and affect about 600 employees. The cooperative also said some workers would be offered severance, outplacement support, retention incentives during the transition, and in some cases opportunities to move to other company locations. Blue Diamond’s corporate headquarters, the company said, would remain in Sacramento.

What the closure means in Sacramento right now

The confirmed impact is centered on Sacramento, where Blue Diamond is closing a long-standing manufacturing complex that has been part of the city’s food-processing economy for generations. The facility identified in the WARN filings is the company’s Sacramento plant at 1802 C Street, and each newly reported layoff round this summer has been tied to that same closure process. For local workers, the effect is not theoretical: the job losses are arriving in stages rather than all at once.

What remains less clear is the full current breakdown of which departments or job categories are being eliminated in each late-stage round. Blue Diamond has not released a comprehensive public list of all affected Sacramento positions tied to the September 2026 notice beyond what appears in state filings and prior company timelines. Public reporting has also indicated that some roles were retained temporarily to keep parts of the plant operating during the transition.

Local workforce agencies have already been involved. The Sacramento Employment and Training Agency said about 130 Blue Diamond workers attended a June job and resource fair aimed at connecting displaced employees with employment assistance and retraining options. California’s WARN guidance also directs laid-off workers to local America’s Job Center resources, underscoring that the state treats these filings as part of a formal job-loss transition process.

Why Blue Diamond is shutting the plant and what comes next

Blue Diamond tied the closure directly to plant economics when it announced the move in June 2025. In the company’s statement, President and CEO Kai Bockmann said the historic Sacramento buildings had become “too costly and inefficient” to operate, and the cooperative said manufacturing would be consolidated into its existing plants in Salida and Turlock. That explanation has remained the central, publicly stated reason for the closure.

Company materials describe Blue Diamond as a grower-owned cooperative with large California processing operations, and the Sacramento shutdown is part of a broader effort to streamline those operations. The shift is notable because Sacramento has long been associated with the company’s identity, but Blue Diamond said the practical manufacturing future would be in facilities better suited to modern production needs. Regional reporting has also described the Sacramento site as a decades-old industrial complex facing structural and logistical limits.

For residents and customers, the immediate effect is primarily on employment and the city’s industrial footprint rather than on almond products disappearing from store shelves. Blue Diamond said in 2025 that production would continue through its Salida and Turlock plants, and KCRA reported the company’s Sacramento closure was being executed in phases rather than as a single-day shutdown. As of late September 2026, the plant closure is still in progress, and the latest WARN filing shows the final chapter has not yet fully concluded.

Drive-thru restaurant real estate has become one of the most contested assets in fast food as beverage chains race to expand without waiting on new construction. That competition is now centered on the remains of Salad and Go, the Arizona-founded chain that shut down after filing for Chapter 11 in Texas. The fight drew in Dutch Bros and 7 Brew, two fast-growing coffee brands that saw immediate value in former Salad and Go sites across Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and Oklahoma.

7 Brew emerged as the auction winner after a court-approved bidding fight

The core event is now clear in court records and follow-up reporting: 7 Brew, through Brew Culture LLC, submitted the top bid for 73 former Salad and Go locations, beating Dutch Bros in a bankruptcy auction held in late August and disclosed on September 1, according to Bloomberg Law, QSR Magazine, and Arizona local reporting. The winning offer was about $143.2 million and covered leases plus related assets tied to 41 Arizona sites, 20 Texas sites, and six each in Nevada and Oklahoma.

Dutch Bros had entered the process earlier with a proposed $105 million agreement for up to 65 Salad and Go locations, including 51 in Arizona and Nevada and another 14 leases in Texas and Oklahoma, according to court filings cited by azfamily and Dutch Bros’ own investor materials. That earlier agreement effectively set the floor for the asset sale and positioned Dutch Bros as the initial front-runner.

The case changed after 7 Brew challenged the sale path and pushed for an auction, arguing that a broader bidding process could produce more value for creditors. A bankruptcy judge then approved a targeted auction between the two coffee chains for the remaining available leases, with prior reporting indicating the wider lease portfolio once approached roughly 130 sites before the sale was narrowed to the assets still in play.

Arizona has the largest share of the locations, but not every future conversion is confirmed

Arizona is the most affected state because it accounts for 41 of the 73 locations included in the winning bid, according to the notice described by Bloomberg Law and local Arizona reports. Texas follows with 20 sites, while Nevada and Oklahoma each account for six. That state-by-state breakdown gives Arizona the biggest footprint in the transaction and the clearest local impact.

What remains unconfirmed is exactly which cities will see new 7 Brew stores first and which former Salad and Go buildings, if any, could face delays, reassignment, or other disposition during the bankruptcy process. Reporting has identified at least one Tucson address in court paperwork, but the companies have not released a comprehensive public list of all future converted locations by city. Dutch Bros likewise had not publicly mapped every site it expected to reopen when it first announced its own acquisition agreement.

For customers, the practical takeaway is that many former Salad and Go drive-thrus are likely to remain food-and-beverage properties rather than sit dark for long. The sites are attractive because they were already built for drive-thru traffic, making them faster to repurpose than ground-up projects. Dutch Bros has said in investor materials that converted sites it acquires are expected to open in 2027, and 7 Brew’s winning bid signals that at least part of that strategy may now shift to a rival operator instead.

The bankruptcy sale reflects both Salad and Go’s collapse and the premium on drive-thru space

The reason this fight happened is rooted first in Salad and Go’s collapse. The chain announced that all locations would close permanently with final guest service on August 5, 2026, after filing for Chapter 11, according to company communications reported by KJZZ and AZPM. AZPM reported that Salad and Go had 156 locations across Arizona, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Texas at the time of the shutdown.

Bankruptcy filings described in Law360 reporting said the company was seeking to sell leases tied to roughly 140 drive-thru locations and expected sale proceeds to pay creditors in full. That helps explain why rival bidders were willing to pay so much for leasehold interests instead of starting from scratch. In the current restaurant market, permitted drive-thru sites in established trade areas can carry strategic value beyond the equipment left inside.

The broader context is the continuing expansion race among beverage chains, especially those built around quick service and high car traffic. Dutch Bros described the former Salad and Go portfolio as a way to accelerate growth in key markets, while multiple reports said 7 Brew pressed for an auction specifically because it believed the assets were worth more than the original agreement reflected. For residents in the affected states, the immediate change is already complete: Salad and Go is gone, and the next chapter for many of those addresses is now tied to 7 Brew’s winning bankruptcy bid, subject to final court process.

Dairy alternatives have expanded quickly in the U.S., but the newest products are not oat, almond, or soy drinks. Instead, scientists and food companies are focusing on cow-free milk made with biotechnology, and a 2026 peer-reviewed study says the land savings could be substantial. That matters well beyond specialty grocery shelves because land use has become a central issue in food, climate, and agricultural policy.

A new study put numbers on cow-free milk’s land footprint

The latest benchmark came in a study published February 26, 2026, in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. Researchers found the land footprint of precision-fermentation milk in the UK could be 94% to 96% lower than the footprint of cow’s milk, according to the paper. The authors estimated that replacing 20% of the UK’s cow’s milk with precision-fermentation milk by 2050 could release 851,000 to 866,000 hectares of land.

The same study projected that a 50% replacement could release 2.128 million to 2.165 million hectares, while a full replacement could release 4.257 million to 4.330 million hectares. The researchers wrote that even the lowest replacement scenario would free more than one-third of the land required for the UK Climate Change Committee’s 2050 land-use measures. They also said the findings suggest precision-fermentation dairy could help relieve broader land pressures tied to food production and climate goals.

The paper focused on the UK, not the United States, and it did not conclude that those exact figures would transfer directly to American farming systems. The authors stated that country-by-country assessments would still be needed because dairy land footprints vary by production system. What is confirmed, though, is that scientists now have a recent peer-reviewed estimate suggesting cow-free dairy could sharply reduce land demand where it scales.

The U.S. market already has products, but the national rollout remains limited

In the U.S., the best-known commercial example has been Bored Cow, a beverage launched in May 2022 by Tomorrow Farms in partnership with Perfect Day, according to the companies. Perfect Day says its animal-free whey protein is made by fermentation and is molecularly identical to whey protein from cow’s milk. The company also says the ingredient received a “no objections” letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration through the GRAS process.

That means the American market already includes products that use dairy proteins without cows, even if they remain far less common than plant-based milks. The companies have not released a comprehensive state-by-state distribution map in the materials reviewed for this article, so a full list of affected U.S. cities and regions is not publicly confirmed here. What is clear is that these products are positioned differently from almond or oat beverages because they aim to replicate dairy proteins rather than replace them with plant ingredients.

A separate milestone came on February 25, 2025, when Boston-based Brown Foods announced it had showcased what it described as the first lab-made whole cow milk. In that release, the company said its “UnReal Milk” contains essential dairy proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that make up 99% of conventional cow milk, based on its testing and third-party analysis cited in the announcement.

Why companies and researchers are pursuing it

The central reason is resource use. The 2026 Frontiers paper said precision fermentation avoids the need to raise animals and grow feed, which is why its land-sparing potential could be significant. The study also cited an earlier life-cycle assessment of Bored Cow that reported land use of 0.016 square meters per kilogram, versus 0.374 square meters per kilogram for conventional milk, a difference of about 96%.

Companies are making similar sustainability arguments. Brown Foods said in its February 25, 2025 announcement that its lab-made milk is estimated to have an 82% lower carbon footprint, use 90% less water, and require 95% less land than conventional dairy. Those figures come from the company, not an independent regulator, and represent a product still at an early showcase stage rather than a mass-market rollout.

For shoppers, the immediate takeaway is that cow-free dairy is no longer just a research concept. Some U.S. products already use fermentation-derived dairy proteins, while newer efforts are trying to produce full milk without livestock. The broader commercial scale, price, and geographic availability are still developing, but the newest peer-reviewed land-use data gives the category a clearer factual basis as companies continue expanding.