Snake turned up in a Texas Starbucks, and you don't want to know where

Ask any Starbucks employee. They've seen it all when it comes to a store bathroom. One example of what a circus baristas deal with on a daily basis turned up in a Starbucks in San Antonio, Texas: A snake was found in the toilet. Businessman Bruce Ahlswede stumbled across what he described as a python, and alerted the barista that her duties had just expanded from pouring coffee to snake-wrangling.

 "I said, 'Hey you've got a snake in your bathroom, and she's kind of freaking out,'" Ahlswede said. When the staff and customers crowded into the bathroom to see, the reptile disappeared down the toilet, striking fear in the hearts of all. Let’s hope there's a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf across the street where Starbucks staff can go for relief.

http://now.msn.com/snake-in-starbucks-toilet-in-texas-startles-man

Starbugs: Coffee chain Starbucks to stop using insects to colour food and drinks

STARBUCKS said it will phase out the use of a red dye made from ground up insects that the company uses to color some of its beverage and food products.

The Seattle-based coffee giant said it will no longer use cochineal extract, which is processed from crushed beetles, to color some of its red-tinted products.

"After a thorough, yet fastidious, evaluation, I am pleased to report that we are reformulating the affected products to assure the highest quality possible," Cliff Burrows, the company's US president, said in a statement posted to the company's blog.

Instead, Starbucks will start using lycopene, a tomato-based extract, to tint offerings that need red coloring, including strawberry banana smoothies and miniature donuts.

"Our intention is to be fully transitioned from existing product inventories to revised food and beverage offerings near the end of June across the US," Burrows said.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/starbugs-coffee-chain-starbucks-to-stop-using-insects-to-colour-food-and-drinks/story-fn7j19iv-1226333912518