With two sons playing summer baseball, and each boy on a house team as well as a travel one, my husband and I feared we would be challenged with one of our favorite warm-weather pastimes (after watching our sons play baseball, of course): outdoor grilling. Thankfully there are an increasing number of fish, meat and poultry options that I would consider to be “grill ready.”

Rising bacon prices are affecting sales at grocery, but not foodservice — for now.

It’s that time of year when consumers typically experience increased media attention to food safety, as most foodborne pathogens grow fastest at summertime temperatures and high humidity.

The perceived healthfulness of foods and beverages continues to be a major factor influencing purchase decision, according to the hot-off-the-presses “2011 Food & Health Survey: Consumer Attitudes Toward Food Safety, Nutrition & Health.”

I am a daily-deal junkie. From Groupon to You Swoop, I welcome these e-mailed invitations to explore local businesses — in particular, ethnic cuisines that I never would have tried before. In my field, I also call it “market research.”

For all the hype that low-carb dieting received during the past decade, you would think that center-of-plate proteins would avoid carbohydrate ingredients in order to not tarnish their good name.

Consumers continue to demand positive value, quality and health benefits when it comes to the protein products they purchase for their families.

Spices have long been recognized as ingredients that provide flavor to foods, in particular, meat, poultry and fish. But some of them also possess hidden talents.

There’s a great deal of confusion about the term “natural” when it comes to food and beverage marketing, as product developers have been given very little guidance from federal authorities regarding its use. At best, the FDA disqualifies some ingredients from being called natural, as they have been deemed artificial or synthetic.