J.M. Hirsch, the food editor at the Associated Press, writes that the proliferation of foodie culture and its obsessive desire for provenance, coupled with growing worries over food safety — have combined to create a whirlwind of information about food and drink.

Here are the top trends for 2008:

• Local foods

Organic has jumped the shark. Locavore was named word of the year by The New Oxford American Dictionary. But local does not equal safe.

• Varietal

Consumers now want to know the specific varieties of ingredients and breeds of animals it was produced with.

• Food safety

Unlike government, marketers work quickly. For example, some toy catalogs already labeled their products "lead-free" in time for the 2007 holiday season.

Expect food companies to be as nimble, touting new and increased safety measures.

Over a year after I started promoting it, maybe food companies will get serious about marketing microbial food safety and leave the food porn in the gutter.