Retail Beat

• Wegmans chef will give Thanksgiving 411 with #Turkey911
  Mark Makovec, executive chef at Wegmans Food Markets, will use Twitter in the days leading up to Thanksgiving to answer questions on preparing dishes. "We know our customers are especially busy during the holidays, and this is a way to provide some on-the-go guidance in a way that some find most convenient," he said. The Gourmet Retailer (11/16)     

• Kroger and Coca-Cola push recycling in Nashville, Tenn.
  Nashville, Tenn., residents can win a $50 Kroger gift card when they participate in Coca-Cola's Recycle and Win program. Single-family residences will receive information about the program, along with stickers to affix to recycling bins. The Tennessean (Nashville) (tiered subscription model) (11/17)     

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Trend-Spotter

• Can you turned canned food into a gourmet meal?
  Canning was invented in response to an 18th-century challenge by Napoleon Bonaparte, who was looking for a way to keep food safe and portable for his armies. Today, practical aspects of canned food keep it popular, while chefs increasingly are showing cash-strapped consumers how to create culinary masterpieces by opening a few cans. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Food & Beverage (11/19)     

• Investors await Tyson and Hormel quarterly reports
  Tyson Foods and Hormel Foods will post results this week for their fiscal fourth quarter, and investors will be looking for the impact of a drought that increased the price of grain. Retail beef prices are expected to rise 4% to 5% in 2013, while margins for turkey and chicken are strained by higher costs. The Wall Street Journal (11/18)     

• Holiday flavors move in new directions
  Restaurants and food-makers are introducing unusual limited-time items for the holidays, including Pringles chips in a White Chocolate Peppermint flavor and Jones Soda in Candy Cane, Gingerbread, Sugar Plum and Pear Tree varieties. A Gingerbread Cookie Sundae is available at Burger King, and a Gingerbread Shake, with or without Jim Beam, is sold at Red Robin restaurants. USA Today (11/18)     

	Pass it on. Cans are America's most recycled packaging. Go to Cancentral.com/sustainability to download our sustainability report.

Fresh Ideas

• Vegetables find their place on the dessert tray
  Vegetables increasingly are used in desserts beyond carrot cake and sweet potato pie, according to Food Technology magazine, which says the trend has led to treats such as tomato sorbet and chocolate-beet baked goods. Vegetables can be used in place of some high-fat ingredients and offer a natural alternative to artificial colorings. United Press International (11/18)     

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Health, Nutrition & Pharmacy

• Kroger wins American Cancer Society philanthropy award
  The American Cancer Society gave its 2012 Excellence in Philanthropy Award to Kroger, recognizing the retailer's support of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and Relay for Life events. Kroger is one of 19 companies recognized because it provided at least $1 million last year. Progressive Grocer (11/16)     

• Children in poorer areas have higher obesity risk
  A study in Social Science & Medicine found that children living in middle-class areas were 17% more likely to become obese and those in poor communities had a 28% increased risk of obesity compared with children in more affluent neighborhoods. Neighborhoodwide initiatives as well as individual-level programs are needed to help address childhood obesity in the U.S., researchers said. HealthDay News (11/16)     

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Supplier News

• Kellogg unwraps additional snacks
  Kellogg has introduced products including Nutri-Grain Fruit Crunch granola bars, Special K Blondie Brownie Bites and a Berry Streusel variety of Special K Pastry Crisps. Other launches: Mixed Nut and Peanut varieties of FiberPlus Antioxidant Protein Chewy bars, Keebler Chips Deluxe Triple Chocolate cookies and Keebler Peanut Butter-filled Fudge-dipped pretzels. Food Business Review (11/16)     

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Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by FMI dailyLead® readers in the past week.

• Hostess' demise ends a golden era (CNNMoney)

• Retailers weigh merits of self-checkout (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

• Price Less Foods sells groceries at cost (Supermarket News)

• Voluntary guidelines address digital couponing (Supermarket News)

• Report shares opportunities to woo younger shoppers (Progressive Grocer)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

FMI Spotlight

• Missed the Shopping for Health webinar?
  Hear from Cary Silver of Rodale and Cathy Polley of FMI on how customers are shopping healthier and what retailers can do. The recording is available in the FMI webinar archive. To get a copy of the Shopping for Health 2012 report, visit the FMI Store.     

Food Safety and Security

• Listeria concern prompts Publix to recall cakes
  Publix Super Markets voluntarily recalled 45 kinds of cake after supplier Maplehurst Bakeries warned of possible listeria contamination. No illness has been linked to the products, which were distributed to Florida stores between Nov. 11 and Thursday. The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (11/16)     

Daily Quote

Nature never said to me: Do not be poor. Still less did she say: Be rich. Her cry to me was always: Be independent." --Nicolas Chamfort, French writer