The food industry is the complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population. Only subsistence farmers, those who survive on what they grow, can be considered outside of the scope of the modern food industry.The food industry includes:Regulation: local, regional, national and international rules and regulations for food production and sale, including food quality and food safety, and industry lobbying activitiesEducation: academic, vocational, consultancyResearch and development: food technologyFinancial services insurance, creditManufacturing: agrichemicals, seed, farm machinery and supplies, agricultural construction, etc.Agriculture: raising of crops and livestock, seafoodFood processing: preparation of fresh products for market, manufacture of prepared food productsMarketing: promotion of generic products (e.g. milk board), new products, public opinion, through advertising, packaging, public relations, etcWholesale and distribution: warehousing, transportation, logisticsRetail: supermarket chains and independent food stores, direct-to-consumer, restaurant, food services

Bayer HealthCare announced, following consultation with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that it will withdraw the current liquid formulation of Leukine marketed in the US.

Scarcity of water and arable land means that the boom in food prices could last longer than most expect.The report, published by the UK-based consultants Bidwells Agribusiness, said the boom – until now fuelled by rising demand from emerging countries and the biofuels industry – would be exacerbated by supply constraints.

Arecent Taster's Choice column about frozen spinach prompted a mini-storm of e-mail from readers who were dismayed to learn that the panel's favorite brands came from China."It surprised me," Stockton business consultant Nancy McPherson told me in a follow-up phone call. McPherson buys lots of fresh spinach that's grown in the United States and h

2007 was without doubt the year of the locavore and 100 mile diet. So what will emerge in 2008? Without the aid of any kind of real research or expert consultation, I give you my best guess at what will be hot by, um, next week or the next 51…

I was once embarrassed when a fellow consultant talked down to a waiter in a coffee shop I regularly attended. When I asked him to apologise to the waiter, his response was: "Don't worry about it, he's just a waiter. How hard is it to bring food to a table?"