_ 1859 A&P opens first store and goes on to become nation's first grocery chain

_ 1886 Cola-Cola goes on sale in Atlanta

_ 1911 Crisco introduced

_ 1932 Fritos Corn Chips first marketed

_ 1940 The first Dairy Queen soft ice cream stand opens

_ 1944 U.S. government orders commercial breads be made with enriched flour

_ 1953 C.A. Swanson and Sons introduces 98-cent TV Dinner

_ 1955 Ray Kroc opens first McDonald's restaurant

_ 1967 High-fructose corn syrup commercially developed

_ 1975 Consumption of soda surpasses coffee and milk in the United States

_ 1981 Lean Cuisine Frozen Dinners introduced

_ 1988 Wal-Mart begins selling groceries

_ 1988 Kentucky Fried Chicken expands to 7,700 restaurants worldwide

_ 2000 Major food industry mergers as Kraft acquires Nabisco and Unilever acquires Best Foods

_ 2004 McDonald's phases out Supersize portions

Source: James Tillotson, a business and food policy professor at Tufts' Friedman School of Nutrition.