LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. film and television writers gave their top two movie awards on Sunday to “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Argo” in the final Hollywood guild awards show before next week’s Oscars.

Writer Mark Boal won the Writers Guild of America award for Best Original Screenplay for “Zero Dark Thirty,” which chronicles the intense U.S. manhunt and daring raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Feb 15 (Reuters) – Burger King Worldwide Inc, the
third-largest U.S. hamburger chain, on Friday posted
higher-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by cost cuts and
new holiday sweets, premium sandwiches and special deals that
boosted restaurant sales in the United States and Canada.

Total fourth-quarter operating costs and expenses plunged
more than 40 percent to $292.6 million as the fast-food company
spent less on everything from food and packaging to payroll and
rents.

Feb 13 (Reuters) – Whole Foods Market Inc, the
largest U.S. natural and organic grocery chain, said on
Wednesday that sales at established stores so far this quarter
softened from the prior period and its shares fell 5.3 percent
after the close.

Whole Foods is the best-performing publicly held U.S. grocer
and its shares often dive when its results and forecasts do not
exceed expectations.

Feb 13 (Reuters) – Anti-obesity advocates who want to curb
Americans’ sugar habit on Wednesday asked the government to set
a safe level for added sugars in soda and other beverages.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which
is leading the regulatory push, has urged the government to take
actions to reduce Americans’ sugar consumption since the 1970s.

By Lisa Baertlein

(Reuters) – Anti-obesity advocates who want to curb Americans’ sugar habit on Wednesday asked the government to set a safe level for added sugars in soda and other beverages.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which is leading the regulatory push, has been urging the government take actions to reduce sugar consumption by Americans since the late 1970s.

Feb 13 (Reuters) – Anti-obesity advocates who want to curb
Americans’ sugar habit on Wednesday asked the government to set
a safe level for added sugars in soda and other beverages.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which
is leading the regulatory push, has been urging the government
take actions to reduce sugar consumption by Americans since the
late 1970s.

Feb 13 (Reuters) – Penny-pinching U.S. diners plan to eat
out more this year and spend less on each meal, according to a
new forecast released by consulting firm AlixPartners on
Wednesday.

Those intentions threaten to squeeze restaurant operators,
who are grappling with rising costs for beef and other popular
ingredients as they increase spending on advertising and special
deals to stay ahead of rivals in a brutally competitive
industry.

Feb 5 (Reuters) – Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc
reported higher quarterly profit on Tuesday, despite higher
costs for beef and other ingredients that took a bite out of
margins.

The results from the popular burrito chain come as U.S.
restaurant companies virtually across the board are bracing for
higher food prices due to last summer’s historic U.S. drought.

By Lisa Baertlein

(Reuters) – KFC parent Yum Brands Inc (YUM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Tuesday said time, not ad spending, is the cure for a steep sales decline at its restaurants in China that was sparked by a food safety scare late last year.

The fast-food operator makes more than half of its overall sales in China, and customers there began shunning Yum’s restaurants in December after news reports and government investigations focused on chemical residue found in a small portion of its chicken supply.

Feb 5 (Reuters) – KFC parent Yum Brands Inc on
Tuesday said time, not more advertising spending, is the cure
for a steep sales decline at its restaurants in China sparked by
a food safety scare in the country that accounts for more than
half of the fast-food operator’s overall sales.

“We totally underestimated the impact of this incident,” Yum
Chief Executive David Novak said on a conference call with
analysts.