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POSTED: Monday, August 24, 2009

Finding 'function' in food

When did a trip to the supermarket suddenly become a walk through a pharmacy?

Pricewaterhouse Coopers released a report noting that snacks and many other foods are being pumped with a variety of nutrients in hopes that people can rationalize eating them. There's a term “;nutraceuticals”; being used in the industry, apparently.

Perhaps it's time to step back and take a look at what's really going on with our nutrition.

Our society has become one that needs things fast and easy. And it looks like it's spreading to the foods we eat.

Anyone for a real meal?

Price jump for the java junkies

What would you pay to fix that caffeine fix?

At Starbucks, it'll be about 30 cents more for a frothy splurge like Frappuccinos and caramel macchiatos. But the good news for the company's basic-coffee drinkers: its coffee of the day and lattes will drop by about 15 cents.

While raising prices in a recession might seem counter-intuitive, marketing experts say there is method to the mocha madness. “;Given that McDonald's is capturing some of the consumers less interested in the premium that Starbucks offers, then the consumers left out for Starbucks are the consumers willing to pay more, so Starbucks says, 'Let's charge them,'”; says J. Miguel Villas-Boas, a marketing professor at the Haas School of Business of the University of California.