• Food price increases in Asia are threatening to push millions of people into extreme poverty, though experts expect rice prices, at least, to fall with the spring harvest. [NYT]
• Britney Spears is staying healthy on her Femme Fatale tour by issuing strict instructions that no one offer her junk food or alcohol. If you lack willpower, hire it! [Music/AOL]
• Angels reliever Scott Downs will be on the disabled list for fifteen days after getting a nasty bout of food poisoning. [ESPN]
• A handful of Southern California McDonald’s locations are carrying two new spicy chicken sandwiches: “The Jalapeno Cheddar McChicken” and a “Cheddar Onion McChicken.” [RNR]
• Weight Watchers has begun targeting men — but don’t worry, the commercials run during sports games, so it’s still manly. [Crain’s]
• L.A.’s Hocean Food Corporation, makers of rice noodles, received a warning letter from the FDA this month citing serious concerns about unsanitary conditions. [Food Safety News]
• We knew cocktail ice was a big deal, but this is cool: “Ice acts like your liquid oven, stove or essentially, cold ‘cooking’ device where, through a change in temperature and dilution, individual spirits and modifying elements are melded into a delicious whole.” [WSJ]
• Wal-Mart’s latest arena to conquer is online grocery ordering: the company is testing a pilot program in San Jose, California. [NYT]
• Writer Damien Ma is not down with the Chinese-food scene in our nation’s capital: “If there was to be a contest for ‘Most Pathetic Chinatowns in the US,’ DC’s would rank toward the top,” he asserts. [Atlantic]
