Food Roundup: KFC Potholes, Acai Scam, Unhealthy Restaurants, and More

KFC offers free pothole repair — The fried chicken chain has contacted mayors across the country to find out who might be interested in the first ever corporate-sponsored road fix-up. KFC will then choose from the respondents four cities at random and pay to fill potholes and do other maintenance. Some of these potholes will then be branded with the words “re-freshed by KFC,” though with a nonpermanent chalk that will eventually wash away. [Sources: Shop Talk, PRNewswire]

Gatorade G2 and Dunkin’ Donuts coffee top new product list — PepsiCo’s low-calorie Gatorade G2 was the most successful new product last year with $159 million in sales, according to IRI’s annual list. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee was in second, at $112 million, followed by ConAgra’s Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers and General Mills’ Progresso Light soups. [Source: Just Food, Food Business Net]

Con artists use acai berry for phishing — Online scammers have persuaded thousands of people to hand over their credit card numbers by promising them free samples of diet pills made from acai, a Brazilian berry purported to help with weight loss, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. CSPI said acai is not a miracle fruit and there is no evidence that it helps with weight loss. Hype for acai grew after the berry was mentioned on the shows of Oprah Winfrey and Rachael Ray, but both stars have publicly denied they endorse the product. [Source: CNN (h/t BevNET.com)]

‘America’s Unhealthiest Restaurants’ named– Authors David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, who wrote the book “Eat This, Not That,” have released a list of the country’s unhealthiest restaurant chains, based on calories-per-portion and other factors. Applebee’s, IHOP, Outback and T.G.I. Friday’s
all got failing grades for failing to provide nutrition information. But another restaurants on the list, Denny’s, just announced it will roll out healthier menu options beginning in June. [Sources: Chain Leader, Food Business News]

More soybeans expected in 2009 — This year may see a record soybean crop, as higher planting costs for corn, wheat and other crops are pushing farmers towards soybeans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is updating its estimates. [Source: Bloomberg (h/t Ag Observatory)]