NEW YORK, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- News surrounding a particularly virulent strain of E. coli bacteria associated with contaminated spinach, topped the charts as the country's No. 1 food-related news story in 2006, according to a recent survey of the nation's food editors.

The survey was conducted by Hunter Public Relations, one of the nation's leading public relations agencies serving the food and beverage industry. Based in New York, Hunter Public Relations reached out to more than 1,200 food editors across the country for this survey.

In September, E. coli traced to farmed spinach from California's Salinas Valley killed three people and infected more than 200 in 26 states. Adding to consumer's food safety concerns, in just the past week, more than five-dozen people have been sickened by scallions contaminated with the bacteria.

Will this actually effect how consumers shop? When asked if the recent rash of food scares will motivate people to shop at green markets so that they know where their fruits and vegetables originate, 63 percent said no.

Listed at No. 2 in the survey is the school soft drink ban. In response to the growing threat of lawsuits and state legislation, the country's top three soft-drink companies announced that they would remove sweetened carbonated soft drinks and iced teas, from school cafeterias and vending machines.

Securing the No. 3 spot is organic goes mainstream. Organic food will soon be available to the tens of millions of Americans who cannot currently afford it. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest grocer, plans to roll out a complete selection of organic foods in its 4,000 stores. Just as significant, the company says it will price all this organic food at only a tiny premium over its already-inexpensive conventional food.

Moms rejoice! In an effort to deal with high childhood obesity rates, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Health and Human Services issued a report urging food companies to develop products that are more nutritious and to "review and revise" their marketing practices. Industry urged to offer more nutritious foods for children turned up at No. 4 in the survey.

Putting the "whole" back in "whole grains" claimed the No. 5 spot. In an effort to help consumers sort through a confusing -- and sometimes misleading -- array of foods that purport to contain whole grains but often do not, the FDA issued an official definition. According to the FDA's new guidelines, "whole grain" includes "cereal grains that consist of the intact and unrefined, ground, cracked or flaked fruit of the grains whose principal components -- the starchy endosperm, germ and bran -- are present in the same relative proportions as they exist in the intact grain." Examples include: barley, buckwheat, bulgur, corn, millet, rice, rye, oats, sorghum, wheat and wild rice.

Since Americans now consume about one-third of their caloric intake outside of the home, the FDA has released a report encouraging restaurants to include lower calorie choices in their marketing efforts and on their menus. The FDA urging restaurants to help downsize America came in at No. 6 in the survey.

Not far behind, Big Apple holds the fat, claimed its place on the survey at No. 7.

Just this past week, the New York City Board of Health voted to make New York the nation's first city to ban artery-clogging artificial trans fats at restaurants. The plan will prohibit the city's 20,000 restaurants from serving food that contains more than a tiny amount of artificial trans fats.

High-fructose corn syrup has become the nutritional "bogeyman du jour." With scientific articles and news reports noting that obesity rates have climbed at a rate remarkably similar to that of high-fructose corn syrup consumption, more people than ever before are trying to eliminate this sweetener from their diets. Voters ranked the so-called "devil's candy" No. 8 in the survey.

Low-fat diet benefits rejected was such a surprise that it ranked at No. 9 on the survey. Contradicting the popular belief that a low-fat diet is a cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle, a major study found that low-fat diets do not protect women against heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer, or colon cancer.

The No. 10 spot was all about Rachael. In addition to hosting three of the Food Network's top-rated television shows, authoring a series of cookbooks that have sold more than two million copies, and serving as editor-in-chief of Every Day with Rachael Ray, Ms. Ray launched a one-hour daytime syndicated show, The Rachael Ray Show, which currently ranks #5 in the daytime talk category.

In addition to ranking the year's top food stories, those surveyed were asked their opinions on several hot topics within the industry. Whole grain products, organic foods and ready-to-eat meals topped the list of what they thought would be in shopper's carts in 2007. When asked if home economics should be reinstituted in school so that youngsters have the opportunity to learn about healthful foods and how to cook them, a whopping 49 percent said yes. SOURCE Hunter Public Relations

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