Brands upon brands have taken advantage of the gold mine that is blogging. From food to tech to mom bloggers — the opportunity for brands to reach a mass target audience through a few select and influential bloggers that enjoy their product is immense. So large, that many bloggers are able to make a living off of it. [...]

A new partnership between Foursquare and CNN, beginning this Sunday, invites users to check in at local farmers markets to unlock the unique CNN “Healthy Eater” badge.  There are over 10,000 venues across the world where Foursquare users can unlock this badge.  Foursquare has been used strategically to drive consumers to take action, including better [...]

Adding in sick days, lost productivity and even the need to fill up the gas tank more often (1 billion additional gallons of gas are used each year due to increases in passenger weight since 1960), George Washington University researchers found the annual cost of being obese is $4,879 for a woman and $2,646 for [...]

Is overweight and obese the new norm?
In a recent Harris Interactive/Health Day poll, findings show that there is a misperception of what overweight actually is. According to the poll, 30 percent of overweight people think they are a normal size, 70 percent of obese people feel they are merely overweight, and 39 percent of morbidly obese people think [...]

Sure the furry friend deserves a treat once in a while, but be aware of certain treats that should be avoided! Just because grapes and avocado may be healthy picks for humans, these items can cause serious health issues for canines.
CBSNews lists 10 foods that are dangerous for dogs including coffee, ice cream, chocolate, alcohol, [...]

Many consumers are beginning to switch brands based on a new nutritional scoring system called NuVal. According a recent Wall Street Journal article, the scoring systems ranks food  product’s nutrition from 1 (low in nutrition) to 100 (really healthy). Taking the new information into hand, consumers have completely switched brands and even stopped buying products. Grocery store [...]

The FTC wasn’t happy with Nestlé’s ads for Boost Kid Essentials, a beverage that comes with a straw containing probiotic bacteria.
A New York Times story reports that the FTC also took issue with Kellogg for exaggerating health claims for its Rice Krispies saying the science was not there.  The story quotes Marion Nestle (no relation [...]

An recent article in the New York Times highlights yet another reason men and women differ physically. Dr. David Rowlands, a senior lecturer with the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Massey University in New Zealand,  reproduced a study he conducted a few years ago using women rather than his original all-male participants.  [...]

According to a recent survey of social networks  from iVillage and SheSpeaks, 50% of women are fans or followers of grocery, health/beauty or household product brands.  Women are influenced the most by consumer reviews on shopping sites, followed by blogs, posts from friends on Facebook or Twitter, and then posts from Brands.
Take note: women [...]

Moms have been a common target for marketers lately.  The laundry detergent Purex got accolades for its marketing and PR campaign to reach moms.  The campaign, which used mom insights culled from online studies and panels, included social media outreach featuring testimonials from moms showcased on a micro-site.   -Rachel