The cuisine of the United States is a style of cooking derived from the United States. The cuisine has a history dating back before the colonial period when the Native Americans had a rich and diverse cooking style for an equally diverse amount of ingredients. With European colonization, the style of cookery changed vastly, with numerous ingredients introduced from Europe, as well as cooking styles and modern cookbooks. The style of cookery continued to expand into the 19th and 20th centuries with the influx of immigrants from various nations across the world. This influx has created a rich diversity in the country that has also created a unique regional character throughout the country. In addition to cookery, cheese and wine play an important role in the cuisine. The wine industry is regulated by American Viticultural Areas (AVA) (regulated appellation), similar to those laws found in countries like France and Italy.Mainstream American culinary arts are similar to those in other Western countries. Wheat is the primary cereal grain. Traditional American cuisine uses ingredients such as turkey, white-tailed deer venison, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup, indigenous foods employed by Native Americans and early European settlers. Slow-cooked pork and beef barbecue, crab cakes, potato chips, and chocolate chip cookies are distinctively American styles. Soul food, developed by African slaves, is popular around the South and among many African Americans elsewhere. Syncretic cuisines such as Louisiana creole, Cajun, and Tex-Mex are regionally important. Fried chicken, which combines Scottish and African American culinary traditions, is a national favorite. Iconic American dishes such as apple pie, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various European immigrants. So-called French fries, Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed. During the last two decades of the twentieth century, Americans' daily caloric intake rose 24%, as the share from food consumed outside the home went from 18 to 32%. Frequent dining at fast food outlets such as McDonald's is closely associated with what government researchers call the American "obesity epidemic." The popularity of well-promoted diets such as the Atkins Nutritional Approach has sent sales of "carb-conscious" processed food soaring.Americans generally prefer coffee to tea, with more than half the adult population drinking at least one cup a day. American liquors include bourbon and Tennessee whiskey, applejack, and Puerto Rican rum. The martini is the characteristic American cocktail. The average American consumes 27.1 US gallons (22.6 imp gal/102.6 L) of beer per year. American-style lagers, typified by the leading Budweiser brand, are light in body and flavor; Budweiser owner Anheuser-Busch controls 50% of the national beer market. In recent decades, wine production and consumption has increased substantially, with winemaking now a leading industry in California. In contrast to European traditions, wine is often drunk before meals, substituting for cocktails. Marketing by U.S. industries is largely responsible for making orange juice and milk (now often fat-reduced) ubiquitous breakfast beverages. Highly sweetened soft drinks are widely popular; sugared beverages account for 9% of the average American's daily caloric intake, more than double the rate three decades ago. Leading soft-drink producer Coca-Cola is the most recognized brand in the world, just ahead of McDonald's.