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ByCandiceChoi TheAssociatedPress NEW YORK The newest weapon in the breakfast wars is a biscuit shaped like a taco. Taco Bell is launching a "biscuit taco" this week and ditching its "waffle taco," which got widespread at- tention last year when it was included in the roll- out of the chain's breakfast menu. The swap comes as the chain tries to build on its year-old breakfast business by once again going after the dominant player in the mornings: McDonald's. In a new ad campaign, Taco Bell plans to paint Egg McMuffins as boring, routine food for the brain- washed. In New York and Los Angeles, it is putting up propaganda-like posters for a place called "Routine Republic," with one featur- ing a demonic clown hold- ing what looks like an Egg McMuffin with the words "Routine Rules." National TV ads will feature testimonials from real-life "defectors" saying things like "I admit I used to be a McDonald's fan." It's a continuation of an ad campaign last year that featured real-life peo- ple named Ronald McDon- ald professing their love for Taco Bell offerings. At one point, McDonald's re- sponded by tweeting a photo of Ronald McDon- ald kneeling down to pet a frail Chihuahua, which was once the mascot for Taco Bell. Some referred to the back-and-forth as "the breakfast wars." Whether the biscuit taco has more staying power than the waffle taco re- mains to be seen. Despite the attention the waffle taco initially generated because of its novelty in the fast- food space, there were early signs it might not last. Not long after it was rolled out, Taco Bell Chief Marketing Officer Chris Brandt noted that "some of the things on our menu might run out of gas." The chain has also re- peatedly said the star of its breakfast menu is the A.M. Crunchwrap, which is a grilled tortilla stuffed with eggs and a hash brown along with sausage, bacon or steak. As for its latest offering, a Taco Bell representative said it's "more than just a biscuit, it's a warm, fluffy, buttery biscuit, folded in the shape of a taco" and it's here to stay. Starting Thurs- day, people can get it filled with options like eggs, sau- sage, cheese or deep-fried chicken and jalapeno honey sauce. It has between 370 and 470 calories, depend- ing on the fillings. Already, the launch of a national breakfast menu has helped drive up sales at Taco Bell, which has been trying to redefine itself as a hip brand with its "Live Mas" slogan. In the latest quarter, the chain's sales rose 7 percent at established locations, driven by break- fast, according to parent company Yum Brands Inc. Taco Bell CEO Brian Nic- col said breakfast has been holding steady at about 6 percent of sales. That's com- pared with between 20 and 25 percent for McDonald's, which has been playing up its own offerings by noting it cracks fresh eggs to make Egg McMuffins. It's not clear what im- pact Taco Bell's break- fast is having on McDon- ald's Corp., which has been struggling to hold onto cus- tomers more broadly amid intensifying competition. But others have been push- ing into the breakfast cat- egory more aggressively as well, including Starbucks, which revamped its sand- wiches last year. Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/ candicechoi. FAST FOOD TacoBell'swaffletacoisdead;biscuittacotoreplace By Kristin J. Bender The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Three or- ganic food companies that use spinach in their food have recalled hundreds of thousands of items over lis- teria concerns. Organic food company Amy's Kitchen has volun- tarily recalled about 74,000 cases of frozen and pre- packaged products contain- ing spinach. It comes after one of Amy's suppliers issued a re- call notice saying the Pet- aluma-based company may have received organic spin- ach possibly tainted with the bacteria that causes listeria. U.S. Food and Drug Ad- ministration officials are aware of the recall. The disease can cause serious and sometimes fa- tal infections in young chil- dren, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy indi- viduals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe head- ache, stiffness, nausea, ab- dominal pain and diarrhea, listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women The company reports it has not had any complaints of illnesses from the prod- ucts being recalled in the United States and Canada. The recalled items in- clude vegetable lasagna, tofu vegetable lasagna, gar- den vegetable lasagna, tofu scramble, enchilada verde meal, spinach pizza, brown rice and vegetables bowl, stuffed pasta shells bowl, gluten-free tofu scramble and the breakfast wrap. Rochester-based Weg- mans Food Markets is re- calling roughly 12,540 packages of Wegmans or- ganic spinach due to possi- ble contamination with lis- teria. The 12-ounce product was sold in the frozen food department of the compa- ny's 85 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts between Jan. 27, and March 21. Wegmans' recall started with Coastal Green Vege- table Company in Oxnard, California, which initiated a recall of bulk spinach last Friday due to possible con- tamination with listeria. On Monday, Carmel Food Group today issued a volun- tary recall of certain Rising Moon Organics frozen ravi- oli items over the same con- cern. The Hayward-based com- pany did not say how many packages or cases of the ravioli were produced with the ingredient in question or how widespread their re- call is. Also Tuesday, federal authorities said Blue Bell is expanding the recall of some ice cream products to include 3-ounce cups of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla ice cream that have tab lids because of possible exposure to the listeria bac- teria. The Blue Bell creamery in Brenham, Texas, earlier this month recalled several other products made on the same production line after listeria was detected. Five people developed listeriosis in Kansas after eating Blue Bell products and the FDA says three of them died. ORGANIC FOOD Th re e co mp an ie s re ca ll p ro du ct s ov er l is te ri a fe ar s THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Taco Bell's ad campaign promoting its new offering aims to paint McDonald's Egg McMuffins as boring, routine food for the brainwashed. By Woodland Daily Democrat staff Chinese wine tasting and a tour of the world's most technologically advanced and environmentally friendly winery will be part of a UC Davis conference on the history and modern ap- preciation of Chinese alco- holic beverages, or "jiu." "Understanding Jiu: The History and Culture of Al- coholic Beverages in China," organized by the Confucius Institute at UCD, comes as China is increasingly im- portant in the world for wine production and con- sumption. The event is open to the public; tickets are re- quired. The conference is set from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday, with tours and tastings set from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Sensory Theater at the Robert Mondavi Insti- tute for Wine and Food Sci- ence on the Davis campus. Andrew Waterhouse, UCD professor of viticul- ture and enology, and fac- ulty director of the Confu- cius Institute at UC Davis, will chair the event. Ceci- lia Chang, who owned the Mandarin Restaurant in San Francisco and revo- lutionized the way Ameri- cans eat Chinese food, will offer a personal perspective on current drinking prac- tices, while Darrell Corti of Corti Brothers, specialty food and wine merchants in Sacramento, will lead a panel discussion with the audience. Tours of teaching and the research winery at the Rob- ert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science at UCD will be on tap. The winery is the first in the world to earn LEED Platinum certification, the highest environmen- tal rating awarded by the U.S. Green Building Coun- cil. China's ranking among the top five wine-produc- ing countries in the world and its encouragement of wine consumption make the conference timely, says UCD's Waterhouse. Tickets are $10 for stu- dents and $35 for others for the symposium; $80 for the gala dinner, tour and tast- ing; or $100 for both. CHINESE BEVERAGES Wine tasting, tour offered at UC Davis conference Organic food company Amy's Kitchen has voluntarily recalled about 74,000 cases of frozen and prepackaged products containing spinach. Full color supplement valued at $4.95 will come with Carrier-Delivered copies of The Daily News on Tuesday, March 31 HOME RUN FOR HOME SUBSCRIBERS! Single copies of Playball 2015 Special edition available for $4.95 each at the front counter of The Daily News at 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff starting Tuesday, March 31 ...whiletheylast! To Subscribe to Carrier Home Delivery call the Daily News at (530) 737-5048 ... 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