Thanks to Twitter and my fellow digital mates at Putman Media, the following blog post crossed my desk: PETA Classified as a 'Terrorist Threat by the USDA. After checking Snopes.com to make sure this wasn't a hoax or urband legend, I sat down with my morning beverage of choice and began to read.

This is me. Erin Erickson. FoodProcessing.com web editor and mommy blogger extraordinaire. My job as the web editor doesn't give me a lot of opportunity to declare to readers the most interesting jobs I have in the world: being a parent to two kids ages 13 (a girl) and 7 (a boy). We try to eat healthy at our house; however, time doesn't always let us indulge that fantasy so we rely on the very things I post on FP every day: prepared, packaged and processed foods.

How much media can any one person consume?  As a technologically-impaired geezer, I like to do one (two, when desperate) things at the same time. But according to BIGresearch's latest Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM 11) of 15,727 people, I'm in the minority. Respondents say the only way to keep up with the deluge of media options is to multitask with other media at the same time.

"TV's influence on consumers to purchase products declined, whereas new media options such as web radio, satellite radio, instant messaging and blogging all increased," says Gary Drenik, president of BIGresearch. "Co ...

According to the National Coffee Association, more than 166 million Americans, or one out of every two, “drinks coffee at least daily." That translates to 400 million cups a day, or more than 146 billion cups per year, and makes the U.S. the leading consumer of coffee worldwide.

But caffeine has gone beyond the cup and into other food products. We recently heard about a limited edition (through Feb. 2008) TWIX Java bar from Mars Snackfood US. It's a decadent three layered blend of rich coffee flavored sweet caramel coated over a chocolate cookie and covered in milk chocolate.  A touch of real ...