Food/Drink

TO AN AVID HOME-BREWER like me, colder temperatures mean stouts, porters and, the true star of the season, hard apple cider. I salivate thinking about each part of the pastoral process: picking apples with pals, pressing them into “soft” cider, mustering up the will to not chug it all in one go. Mercifully, it takes little effort to turn that juice into something as refined as anything you could buy at your local liquor store. It starts with the apple. For any lucky people with an apple tree in their yard or neighborhood,…

WASHINGTON—Nutrition advocates and food-industry groups are revving up for a fight over whether an additional label should go on the front of many packaged-food items to more clearly indicate if they pose a health risk.A long-running debate over what those new labels should look like—and if they should be required—is heating up ahead of a White House conference on hunger, nutrition and health later this month. The Food and Drug Administration already requires most packaged foods to display a detailed nutritional label,…

SEATTLE—Behind a secure door at Starbucks Corp. SBUX 0.59% headquarters lies a technology lab where the chain is plotting its renewal. That includes rethinking the onerous path its baristas must take to make a Frappuccino.Inside the 20,000-square-foot space called the Tryer Center, baristas working in a mock-up of a Starbucks cafe walked back and forth between refrigerators, blenders and syrups to make a single blended coffee topped with cold foam and caramel drizzle.…

Heather Hoffmeyer aimed to keep a low profile on one of her first days of class this summer term at Butler University.Instead, she started with a clang.The 22-year-old aspiring physician assistant walked into her classroom juggling a backpack, medical equipment and lunch. She also toted her Hydro Flask, a stainless-steel water bottle she has brought nearly everywhere since acquiring it during undergraduate studies. As she swung her backpack around to sit down, the Hydro Flask slipped out of a side pocket and fell to the…

Obesity kills millions every year, yet drug companies and doctors have mainly focused on treating diseases caused by excess pounds, such as diabetes, rather than waistlines themselves. One reason for that is the stigma that comes with the condition: Many in the medical field still see excess weight as a lifestyle condition that should be addressed solely through healthier eating and exercise. A much bigger problem, though, has been the dearth of safe and effective drugs. That has left the gigantic business of weight loss…

SPRINGDALE, Ark.— Tyson Foods Inc. TSN -2.28% has fallen behind competitors in the business it has long dominated: chicken.Tyson Chief Executive Donnie King said he is committed to fixing the nation’s largest chicken operation, which produces roughly one-fifth of the U.S. supply. The effort now faces a test, as profits from Tyson’s beef business are projected to decline this year from record levels, while the company has committed millions…

Coca-Cola and other companies are expanding into alcoholic drinks as consumer demand rises. Photo: Jakub Porzycki/Zuma Press…

Now playing at a theater near you: a suspense drama over whether there will be enough popcorn for the summer moviegoing season.The plot was palpable at CinemaCon, an annual convention for movie-theater operators this spring. The Las Vegas event floor had a festive vibe, coming after two years of pandemic-darkened screens. A-list vendors such as Mars Wrigley (M&M’s, Snickers, Twix) hawked sugary wares near makers of polyester theater-worker vests and seating experts modeling the latest in auditorium recliners.…