A recent study by Swiss and British scientists has determined that preferences for food--specifically chocolate--could be linked to a chemical signature that's programmed into our metabolic systems. The study breaks new ground in metabolic type research, and could help to eventually design healthy diets customized to an individual's needs.

The Whole Foods Market chain said Tuesday that it would stop offering plastic grocery bags, giving customers instead a choice between recycled paper or reusable bags.

Whole Foods Markets from New Jersey to Virginia began giving away one free reusable bag per customer yesterday to encourage shoppers to “BYOB” – Bring Your Own Bag.

After receiving a set of strange blueprints in the mail, you build an extraordinary food-making contraption and open a restaurant. Your goal? To make food and satisfy customers while you explore the truth behind the weird mailing.

In response to customer requests for fortune cookies with actual predictions rather than cryptic sayings, Wonton Foods recently updated their offerings to include messages like: "Today is a disastrous day. . ."Here's what you should do if you get one of these "bad news" cookies.

Christmas, also referred to as Christmas Day or Christmastide, is an annual holiday falling on December 25 or January 7 that honors and celebrates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. His birth, which is the basis for the transcultural Western calendar, has been determined by modern historians as having occurred between 8–4 BC, and is traditionally told to have taken place in a stable within the city of Bethlehem. The specific date of celebration for Jesus' birth is traditional, and is generally believed to have been influenced by the dates of pre-Christian festivals—usually the Roman festival of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti—rather than having been based on historical data or reference.Modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, church celebrations, and the display of various decorations—including the Christmas tree, lights, mistletoe, nativity scenes and holly. The jolly mythological figure Santa Claus (or Father Christmas) is also a large part of Christmas, whereas he is traditionally believed by millions of children as being a bringer of gifts on or before Christmas Day. Santa is generally believed to be the result of the syncretization of Saint Nicholas with elements from pagan Nordic and Christian mythology, and owes his modern appearance mostly to 19th century media.Christmas is celebrated throughout the Christian population, but it is also celebrated by many non-Christians, usually because of its cultural status and its non-sectarian winter-related traditions. The holiday is widely celebrated around the world, including in the United States, where it is celebrated by 96% of the population.The word Christmas originated as a contraction of "Christ's Mass". It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038, compounded from Old English derivatives of the Greek christos and the Latin missa. In early Greek versions of the New Testament, the letter Χ (chi), is the first letter of Christ. Since the mid-16th century Χ, or the similar Roman letter X, was used as an abbreviation for Christ. Hence, Xmas is often used as an abbreviation for Christmas. After the conversion of Anglo-Saxon Britain in the very early 7th century, Christmas was referred to as geol, the name of the pre-Christian solstice festival from which the current English word 'Yule' is derived.