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Sara Lee Suffers; Soft-serve, Fro-Yo Battle for Dominance

• Sara Lee may sell pies, but these days it’s starting to sound like an investment bank. The company will reportedly post a $1 billion write-down for the fiscal fourth quarter, due to the rising cost of wheat and the weak economy. [WSJ]

• Meanwhile, and unsurprisingly, McDonald’s is faring well in these times of economic hardship. [WSJ]

• Those special ingredients used to make molecular gastronomic creations, as magical as they are, also show up in everything from sexual lubricants to imitation crabmeat to laxatives. [TONY]

• Whether frozen at Pinkberry or atop seared foie gras at Per Se, yogurt is another one of the city’s growing obsessions. You don’t say. [NYO]

• Actually, forget fro-yo, because soft-serve ice cream is the new rage in town, to the extent that “eating soft serve has become what you do when you are in your Manolo Blahniks.” [NYT]

• A lot of chefs don’t seem to mind the DOH meddling with their restaurants’ sous vide processes, even if it requires them to have special operating licenses like the one Country needed to reopen. [NYT]
Related: Breaking: Country Passes Inspection, Will Open Tonight

• In a city like New York, people should be more willing to leave their neighborhoods for dinner and actually experience the diversity of the restaurant scene. [NYT]

• With so many places offering gourmet foods to go, there’s no reason to ever cook. [Citysearch]

Sara Lee Suffers; Soft-serve, Fro-Yo Battle for Dominance