Asked to recall the top food-related stories of 2008, food editors focused on issues with global significance. The sixth annual year-end survey, conducted by Hunter Public Relations (www.hunterpr.com) reached out to more than 900 food editors and bloggers across the U.S.

Experts at Perrier-Jouet agree that many individuals are looking forward to popping open a bottle of champagne and toasting the season. While there is no denying that this is often the preferred celebratory practice for New Year's Eve, many will admit to being intimidated by that bottle of bubbly and are often misinformed when it comes to the facts about champagne.So here is what you need to know.

President-elect Barack Obama has selected former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, a strong proponent of ethanol and other bio-fuels as a way to reduce our reliance on foreign oil, as his agriculture secretary. One of the first major decisions the President-elect and Vilsack may have to make is whether to grant the ethanol industry’s requests for billions in federal aid in the stimulus bill, which Mr.

Researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno, discovered that coffee can be turned into an alternative fuel other than caffeine: biodiesel, reports Scientific American. That means you can have your coffee and drink it too. Using coffee grounds given to the team by Starbucks, material scientist Mano Misra and his colleagues found old grounds work fine.

Sweets don’t cause hyperactivity, eating late won’t put on pounds and there is no cure for a hangover, according to researchers Rachel Vreeman and Aaron Carroll at the Indiana School of Medicine. They combed through previous scientific studies and searched the Web for evidence to support or refute common beliefs such as one tagging poinsettia plants as toxic. Don’t worry, they aren’t, reports Reuters.

The FDA put it’s long-awaited stamp of approval on rebaudioside A, a natural zero calorie sweetener derived from the herb stevia, deeming it safe for use in foods and beverages and clearing the way for it to be used and marketed in a variety of products, reports The Wall Street Journal.

“Lesser evil foods and beverages are the biggest piece of the healthy foods pie,” according to a recent study by Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ).  The study defines Healthy foods as lesser evil, functional and natural and organic. So-called lesser evil foods are those which are modified to remove or reduce an unwanted ingredient -- such as trans fats, MSG, sodium, fat or calories -- for health or nutrition purposes,.
 

They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but  it seems the tables have turned as increasing numbers of British men, (inspired by celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay), are taking up cooking in a bid to seduce women, reports Daily Mail.

Nestle has officially launched Glowelle, a beauty drink dietary supplement that "protects and hydrates the inner and outer layers of the skin," includes a proprietary blend of high-antioxidant vitamins, botanical and fruit extracts, and phtyo-nutrients, in the U.S., reports MediaPost.

Advertisers and brand managers have new challenges to face as Americans are less aware of new product launches than ever before, according to the seventh annual Most Memorable New Product Launch Survey (MMNPL), conducted by Schneider Associates, Mintel International and IRI.