It was not yet 11 a.m. at the Partin Settlement Elementary School in Kissimmee, Fla., on a sunny day last October. But lunch service necessarily begins early when there are 838 children to feed, and the meal was already well under way. Danielle Hollar walked calmly amid the lunchroom chaos, holding a large, raw, uncut sweet potato in one hand and a tray filled with tiny cups of puréed sweet potatoes in the other. That Hollar does not get frazzled even among hundreds of jabbering children is one of the talents she brings to her job. That she is tall and blond and slim, and many of the students seem to have school-kid crushes on her, is another.

Arthur Agatston, the Miami cardiologist who created the popular low-carb South Beach Diet, is no stranger to chocolate.

Low-carbohydrate diets, the embattled alternative to low-fat eating, have gotten a new boost: a new study has found low-carb diets help people shed pounds more quickly than low-fat regimes.

It is not my imagination. Whole-wheat pasta tastes much better than it did 10 years ago. If consumers partook in a blind taste test today, most would be hard pressed to tell the difference between a dish of the best brands of whole-wheat pasta and those made with white flour.

Miracle Muffins today announced the introduction of four new flavors. The new flavors are Blueberry, Chai Spice Black Tea, Chocolate Black Cherry and Gingerbread. These flavors complement the three existing flavors of Banana, Black Cherry and Cinnamon Green Tea.