Starbucks Will Donate All Unsold Food; Taco Bell Headed to China

Today in food news you need to know: Starbucks has figured out a solution to reducing food waste; another big food manufacturer is jumping on the GMO labeling bandwagon; Taco Bell is expanding to China; Oreo's research & development department continues to work overtime; and cookbook queen Chrissy Teigen has some thoughts on fast food.

— What does Starbucks do with all those leftover breakfast sandwiches at the end of the day, anyway? The company just announced it will begin donating all unsold food from its U.S. stores to food banks. (Starbucks already donates its pastries, but now will also include all perishable food items.) The initiative, which was inspired by store employees who felt bad about throwing away unsold food, will provide an estimated 5 million meals by the end of the year.

— The next big food company to announce it will voluntary label its GMO foods is Mars. The candy company — which makes M&Ms and Snickers, among other things — is making the move ahead of the debut of a new Vermont law that would legally require all GMO foods to be labelled as such; an attempt to thwart states from enacting such laws failed to make it past the Senate last week. General Mills made a similar announcement earlier this week; expect more brands to follow.

— Fast food giant Yum Brands just can't resist the giant Chinese market: It plans to open the nation's first Taco Bell before the end of 2016. But Yum has had big problems in China thanks to recent food safety scandals that hurt business, to the point that the company actually spun off its Asian business into a separate entity. Will China's hunger for Doritos Locos tacos make it all worthwhile?

— Oreo apparently never got that memo about not messing with a classic, as the cookie maker continues to unveil new flavors. Next on the docket is reportedly strawberry shortcake (artificially flavored, of course) which frankly sounds kind of gross? You do you, Oreo.

— Model and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen went on a tweeting spree about her favorite foods, and she apparently eats more fast food than one might expect from a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition star: