And now for the Bottom 100?

1) Mislabeled seafood. In an investigative story last fall, the Boston Globe found half the seafood they tested was mislabled: http://bo.st/rjBKkv v

2) Did anyone watch 60 Minutes last night? How about those Chinese truffles? http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57354702/truffles-the-most-expensive-food-in-the-world/

I've always found red velvet cake to be one of the most vile foods I've ever come across, and last year I learned that there is such a thing as *blue* velvet cake. The images I saw on google made me gag. Ack ack ack.

Also the proliferation of vodkas flavored like "fluffed marshmallow" or whipped cream. Oy.

Maybe it's just me, but it really gets under my skin when people go gluten free or dairy free because it's trendy and not for allergen related purposes.

This one comes under just plain scary - the expansion of GMO's, now going into alfalfa. Europe is fighting GMO's and the Chinese have issued a study that disproves Monsanto. http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/01/the-very-real-danger-of-genetically-modified-foods/251051/

Good one boulangere!

Torrential downpours from April to July, ruining our tomato crops and delaying some crops- like watermelon- until October.

Ammonia treated meats- like the "chicken" used to make chicken patties and nuggets. So gross.

Arcane canning & jamming laws- in states like mine (Ohio) that give a significant advantage to volume producers like Smuckers by charging a hefty tax per volume...up to a couple thousand jars. Then a flat fee applies- meaning I could pay the same in fees to make 1,000 jars as Smuckers pays to make 100,000.

Tornadoes and long-distance friendships.

Anything ending in the letters -ista.

Congress caving into the big food companies and declaring pizza a vegetable. Disgraceful.

2011 saw the largest Class 1 (i.e. potentially lethal) meat recall in history, involving 36 million pounds of Cargill turkey tainted with multi-drug resistant Salmonella.
The listeria outbreak in cantaloupes was also the deadliest U.S. foodborne illness outbreak in 100 years.
Germany's E. coli outbreak over the summer was also the deadliest on record -- anywhere.

Severe drought and heat in Central Texas ... so difficult for our farmers and ranchers to keep going (many have not) and hella hard time on those of us with backyard gardens. Be Gone La Nina!!!!

94. Severe weather damage to crops in the southeast including peanuts, pecans and oranges.

95. Outbreaks of food borne illness from listeria (a really bad one), e-coli and our everyday pal salmonella. Sometimes these have been due to egregious processing plant conditions including some repeat offenders. Stay away from those "triple washed" greens.

96. Seeing Ferran Adria's face on a bottle of Star Olive Oil. That's right out of "Ratatouille".

97. Anne Burrell is beginning to scare me. At times she reminds me of The Bride of Chucky.

98. Evan Kleimann announces that she's closing Angeli in LA. She's an icon.

99. Elevated hair on television chefs. See Anne Burrell, Guy Fieri and many others.

100. Rachael Ray/Guy Fieri's "Celebrity Chef Cookoff". I'd like to see RR in "The Celebrity Pineapple Swallow." That would put "Man Versus Food" to shame.

Huffpost on AOL. Because I don't care about celebrity break-ups, don't want to hear about grisly discoveries, and detest yellow journalism in general. But that's just me.

(does it have to be food related??)

Two funerals, my sister in law & mother in law... Looking forward to a much better 2012!