Bacon Is Still Trendy; LA Gets Another Shake Shack

Five things to know today

Good morning, readers of Eater. On this day in 1965 astronaut John Young smuggled a corned beef sandwich aboard the first Gemini spacecraft flight. Spoiler: The sandwich didn't fare well in a zero gravity environment, and NASA was not amused. In more recent news, Shake Shack's manifest destiny; the rise and rise and rise of bacon; Civet poop coffee's dirty little secret; and much, much more:

— Shake Shack continues its conquest of the West: At least one more LA-based location is confirmed and three others are rumored to be coming soon.

— Is bacon... over? Nope. One of the past decade's trendiest ingredients continues to grow — despite the rise of kale, reports Bloomberg. The rise in pork consumption has a lot to do with fast food: "Fast-food restaurant owners like McDonald's Corp. are selling more bacon, and the price of pork bellies used to make the rashers has surged 30 percent this year." But this doesn't mean Americans are eating more pork than beef. Bloomberg crunched the numbers and found that the rise in American pork consumption has more to do with exports to countries like Japan and Mexico.

— Last year's cucumber salmonella outbreak is now over. What cucumber salmonella outbreak? The one that killed people and got over 900 others sick. The CDC has concluded its investigation. Neither the governmental agency nor private investigations uncovered the source of the outbreak.

— Cat poop coffee, otherwise known as civet poop coffee, or the priciest coffee in the world, has one little known dirty secret: The animals responsible for this in-demand, pricey coffee are "being viciously poached in their native Asian habitat with traps that clamp onto their feet, sometimes severing their legs." Is civet poop coffee the new foie gras?

— Speaking of poop, the Verge has instructions for how to make your own poop emoji peeps. Full recipe here. Because why not?

— Finally, watch chef Wylie Dufresne make eggs Benedict:

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