• People are talking about star-rating systems for restaurants ever since the L.A. Times decided to drop theirs, and Jonathan Kauffman says he doesn’t care much about them. However a friend of his makes the valid point, “If restaurant critics drop stars, they’re ceding them to Yelpers.” [SFoodie]
• Meanwhile, Michael Bauer weighs in again to defend his own star system, pointing out that he tends to give higher ratings to good food that’s a great value. [Between Meals/Scoop]
• Remember that proposed state law that would ban food trucks from parking within a 1500-foot radius around schools? It’s been amended to the much more manageable distance of 500 feet, or approximately one block. [Eater]
• Bad news, carnivores: A daily serving of red or processed meat may be correlated to an increased mortality rate of up to 13 percent. [NPR]
• Tech stuff and music aren’t the only attractions of this year’s SXSW; competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi showed up and broke the world grilled-cheese-eating record. See video if you can stomach it. [HuffPo]
• Yesterday was Mitt Romney’s birthday; he claims his favorite bday dinner is his wife’s meatloaf cakes, but we bet it’s something like caviar- and gold-leaf-topped filet mignon. [NYT]
• Some scientists are claiming that genetically modified foods may be good for you, with side effects like helping stave off obesity. Hmmm. [Guardian UK]
