News on Food Trends from the United States

Washington state potato growers have settled processing contracts with the J.R. Simplot Co. and H.J. Heinz Co. for the 2008 growing season.Simplot will pay growers a $240-per-acre "energy surcharge"under the new contract, Potato Growers of Wa...

Burger King Corp. on Friday said it signed a licensing agreement with Seattle-based Mobliss Inc to create downloadable mobile phones games featuring Burger King branded product.

Same-store sales at Wendy's International Inc. have increased again, but the company's third-quarter results show a drastic slowdown in growth after a first-quarter jump-start. The Dublin-based fast-food chain said sales at company-owned U.S. restaur...

Chicago shows signs of becoming a national player in the organic food movement. With the nation's only USDA-certified organic retail bakery and one of the few organic pizza restaurants -- not to mention the recent rise of caterers and meal-delivery b...

Market perspective for organic potatoes. This project was conducted by Joe Guenthner and Gina Greenway in the Agricultural Economics &Rural Sociology Department at the University of Idaho, Jennifer Miller at the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives...

The Idaho Potato Commission is marking its 70th anniversary this year. Formed in May 1937 and originally (and only briefly) known as the Idaho Fruit &Vegetable Advertising Commission, the IPC has been actively promoting Idaho potatoes since its in...

Dividing carbohydrates into 'good' and 'bad' carbs is misleading, and cannot be used as a measurement to prevent overweight and obesity, according to a review of scientific literature on the contentious topic.According to Gaesser, diets high in carboh...

P&G may get as much as $7 billion for Duracell, $3 billion for Folgers and $3.5 billion for Pringles, said Ali Dibadj, a New York-based analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein &Co. Chief Financial Officer Clayton Daley Jr. said last month that P&a...

An investment group that includes a company led by former CKE Restaurants chairman and chief executive William Foley has emerged as a third potential bidder for Wendy’s International Inc. Fidelity National Financial, a title insurance and investment co...

Perhaps no company has more at stake than chip-giant Frito-Lay, the world's biggest producer of snack foods, with $10 billion-plus in annual sales. Home of Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos and Tostitos, Frito-Lay represents 36 percent of parent company Pepsi...

McDonald's Corp. shares dipped lower Thursday after Moody's Investors Service downgraded its ratings, citing the fast-food chain's adoption of a more aggressive financial strategy. Shares fell 24 cents to $54.56 in Thursday trading.

The Idaho Potato Commission welcomes Kent Beesley as Retail Promotions Director/West. Beesley will be responsible for educating retailers on how Idaho Potatoes can help boost profits in the potato category in grocery stores and other venues where potat...

Moody's Investors Service said it cut McDonald's senior unsecured notes and debt ratings to 'A3' from 'A2', citing higher debt levels which will be required to support the fast food giant's shareholder initiatives.

Today the board of directors of ConAgra Foods, Inc., (NYSE:CAG) announced two items related to the company's capital allocation program: The quarterly dividend has been raised to $0.19 per common share. This new rate will start with the Dec. 3, 2007...

A proposed bill that calls for emergency regulatory action to protect workers from diacetyl, a chemical linked to lung disease, has met with resistance from the Bush administration.The bill, submitted to the House of Representatives, would require the ...

Arby's Restaurant Group Inc. has inked development deals to open 35 new Arby's restaurants across the nation. The Atlanta-based franchiser of the Arby's restaurant system said the agreements include four new and 13 existing franchisees to develop Ar...

As potato farmers nationwide dig up and truck in this year's crop, they're being held for the first time to guidelines aimed at preventing a food safety scare similar to the deadly E. coli outbreak in spinach last year. Besides watching the weather a...

The owner of 134 Wendy's restaurants wants to make a bid for the third-largest hamburger chain with the help of two private-equity firms. David Karam, president of Cedar Enterprises, told The Columbus Dispatch for a story Wednesday that he and his par...