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The summer movie season starts around Memorial Day, and movie companies are striving to turn around their box office woes of last year by putting out what they feel to be high quality films like “Mission: Impossible III,” “X-Men 3,” and “Debbie Does Everyone and Everything In Sight 26.” (But let me tell you, you almost have to see “Debbie Does Everyone and Everything in Sight 25” to get the full impact of the sequel.) Among the films vying for your ticket dollar is “An Inconvenient Truth,” a documentary by Al Gore addressing, surprise surprise, global warming. It hasn’t even...

Food Police Indict SpongeBob Thursday, January 19, 2006 By Steven Milloy Who would ever think that loveable cartoon characters, such as SpongeBob SquarePants, threaten public health? Well the “food police” apparently do, and this week they announced a lawsuit against Viacom and Kellogg to stop the companies from marketing snack and fun foods to kids.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A consumer group wants to keep Tony the Tiger from promoting sugary cereals on the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon show or anywhere else kids are watching.   The Center for Science in the Public Interest said on Wednesday it would sue Kellogg Co., the maker of cereals such as Frosted Flakes, and Viacom Inc., which runs the Nickelodeon cable network, if the companies do not change some marketing practices aimed at children. The Center said letters had been sent to Kellogg and Viacom saying it would settle for a commitment from the companies within 30 days rather than sue....

In October 2004, enterpreneur Rocco Monteleone started a cereal bar called Bowls in Gainesville, Florida. Located in a college town with no other cereal bars, Bowls appeared likely to be a successful venture. However, recently cereal bar chain Cereality (which has no locations in Florida) threatened Bowls with lawsuits should Bowls tread on Cereality's turf. Cereality has patents pending to give them an exclusive right to six business methods, including "displaying and mixing competitively branded food products" and adding "a third portion of liquid." If these patents are approved by the U.S. Patent Office, Cereality would have a complete monopoly...

Anti-cancer compound found in beans, nuts, cereals Wed Sep 14, 7:03 PM ET Eating a diet rich in beans, nuts and cereals could help to prevent cancer because the foods contain a natural compound that inhibits the growth of tumors. Scientists at University College London (UCL) said on Thursday that the substance called inositol pentakisphosphate, which is also found in lentils and peas, could also help researchers develop new therapies against the disease. "Our study suggests the importance of a diet enriched in foods such as beans, nuts and cereals which could help prevent cancer," said Dr Marco Falasca, of...

An upmarket Hong Kong grocery store is being prosecuted after a customer allegedly discovered 575 beetles in a jar of cereal, officials and media reports said today. The customer, lawyer Philip Dykes, said the breakfast cereal was “too organic for my liking”, according to the South China Morning Post. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has charged the grocer store with providing “food not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by the purchaser”, said Emily Mak, a department spokeswoman. The lawyer allegedly found the beetles and 17 larvae in the plastic jar, which he bought in 2003, it was...

HONG KONG -- An upscale Hong Kong grocery store is being prosecuted after a customer allegedly discovered 575 beetles in a jar of cereal he bought, officials and media reports said yesterday. The customer, lawyer Philip Dykes, said the breakfast cereal was "too organic for my liking," according to the South China Morning Post. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has charged the Great grocer store with sale of "food not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by the purchaser," said Emily Mak, a department spokeswoman. The charge carries a maximum fine of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars, $1,589 Cdn,...

A Sydney man has pocketed £415 - after auctioning a piece of breakfast cereal resembling ET. Chris Doyle came up with the idea after hearing how a US woman sold an old toasted sandwich, said to look like the Virgin Mary for £15,000. Mr Doyle thought he too could be in the money when he spotted a piece of Nutri-Grain resembling ET. Collectors from around the world bid 40 times over eBay for the thumbnail-sized grain, the Daily Telegraph reported. Mr Doyle, a graphic designer, said: "I was just trying to find someone who feels the same way about ET...

Calling Suzy Oatmeal and Franny Farina Aug. 1, 2004 I have received a disturbing letter from Mr. Frank J. Phillips, who describes himself as both a patriot and a Latin teacher. I didn't realize we still had Latin teachers, but I'm glad we do, because contrary to what you think (and as a member of the news media, I know exactly what you think) Latin is not just an old dead language spoken by old dead guys who are no longer relevant because they are old and dead. In fact, Latin is the ''mother tongue'' (or ''alma mater'') of our...

By KARREN MILLS, AP Business Writer MINNEAPOLIS - Strong sales of Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms cereals, along with boosts from the acquired Pillsbury line, helped General Mills Inc. more than double its second-quarter earnings. General Mills on Wednesday reported net earnings of $276 million, or 73 cents a share, up from $131 million, or 41 cents a share, in the second fiscal quarter of last year. During the quarter, the Golden Valley-based company booked charges of $14 million, or 4 cents a share, related to relocating production from former Pillsbury facilities being closed and other...

AMID calls for a major initiative on obesity, research suggests that parents should seek an alternative to the quick-fix carbohydrate breakfast out of a box, writes Robert Matthews The experts warned that it would happen, and last week it did. The first cases of adult-type diabetes were found in teenage children, triggered by a condition now reaching worrying proportions in the UK: obesity. A year ago, medical researchers revealed that the prevalence of fat children has doubled since the mid-1980s, with more than one in 10 in this country now classed as overweight. The finding prompted dire warnings about the...

<p>WASHINGTON — Most kids expect a toy or a coupon when they reach to the bottom of a cereal box, not a hateful message or pornographic image.</p> <p>But that’s exactly what a number of unsuspecting consumers have been finding in their boxes of Honeycomb and Alpha-Bits cereal. Word of the inserts reached the ears of Washington lawmakers, who last week passed a bill that would make such product tampering a federal crime.</p>