Food Roundup: Pesticides Promises at McDonald's, Green Upgrades at Pepsi, and More

(MoneyWatch)  McDonald's to reduce pesticides -- Responding to pressure from shareholders, the burger chain has agreed to look into best practices for reducing pesticide use in its potato supply. Though things are still in a preliminary stage, any changes McDonald's winds up making could have a huge impact, as the company is the country's largest purchaser of potatoes. [Sources: Investor Environmental Health Network, Reuters]

New green initiatives at Pepsi -- PepsiCo announced it's testing new energy-efficient vending machines in the Washington D.C. area. These machines use carbon dioxide instead of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), though in other markets, Pepsi will be testing other forms of coolant as well. And last week PepsiCo's Aquafina introduced a new bottle that uses 50 percent less plastic. [Sources: Just-Drinks, Food Processing]

Bad news for restaurants -- The National Restaurant Association's composite index of restaurant performance has remained low for the past year and a half, but things could get even worse. A recent survey showed that consumers expect the economy to continue going downhill, and will likely eat out less often than they do now. [Sources: QSR Magazine, Seeking Alpha]

Flavored newspaper ads introduced -- A Pennsylvania company has come up with a way to produce flavored strips, called Taste-it Notes, to advertise food products in newspapers. Flavor First created the product in collaboration with US Ink. Unfortunately for both companies, newspapers are closing left and right as more readers turn to the Internet for news updates, but US Ink said the new product might boost newspaper revenues. [Source: FoodNavigator-USA.com]