Food

Plavix, the brand name for the blood-thinning drug taken by millions of people with heart disease to avoid heart attacks and strokes, will soon be on pharmacy shelves in generic form. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave approval to the generic versions this week. Plavix, whose generic name is clopidogrel, was made and marketed through a partnership of Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb. It had U.S. sales of about $6.7 billion for the 12 months ending March 31, 2012, according to IMS Health.

In an annual rite known as Upfront Week, NBC, Fox, ABC, CBS, and the CW just presented their lineups for the 2012-13 TV season to advertisers in New York. The ceremonies took place in some of the city's most august concert Halls (Carnegie, Avery Fisher, Radio City Music) over four days. The broadcast companies introduced only 20 new series for the fall (down from 27 last season). NBC led the pack with six new shows. Fox and the CW had half that many. Like it or not, an awful lot of familiar faces will be returning in the fall.

Just downstream from an industrial recycling operation and a stone's throw from a sewage treatment plant, a fisherman casts his line toward the passing barge traffic and watches it drop into the Delaware River. A couple eating lunch watch curiously. "No way would I ever eat anything from there," the woman says. The fishers who frequent the pier in Camden's Waterfront South neighborhood have heard it all before. That they're crazy, that they're going to grow an extra head or get sick from eating what they catch.

Revel, Revel, Revel . . . . That's all the noise one hears these days coming from the Jersey Shore - especially when it concerns new prospects for dining. Granted, the gleaming $2.4 billion tower of Atlantic City's latest casino resort is hard to miss. And with more than a dozen restaurant concepts involving some very big names, its spring debut has no doubt been the biggest food news to hit this casino town since the Borgata began A.C.'s high-end remake. Jose Garces should have Philadelphians' attention right off the bat with three restaurants: an outsize version of Amada with ocean views and flamenco; a jumbo Village Whiskey clone for gourmet burgers and booze; plus Nuevo Mex concept with a Distrito Cantina serving margaritas and a replica Guapo's Taco truck.

An investigation into how six Conestoga High School student got sick eating food laced with marijuana has led to the arrest of two people on pot-selling charges, Tredyffrin Township police said Monday. The students became sick on Thursday and police learned the student who put the marijuana in the food had bought the drug from Justin Mendenhall, 19, of Exton, police said in a statement. Undercover officers set up a buy from Mendenhall and at 8 p.m. Friday they arrested him at the Daylesford Train Station in Berwyn, police said.

The students were told to bring in an unusual ingredient, or a dish made with one, and for Justin Graham, that had to be alligator. "I had it once in Florida when I was 7 or 8," said Graham, 21 now and a senior at St. Joseph's University on City Avenue. He arranged for a friend to drive up from Louisiana with alligator tail packed in a cooler and proceeded, sans recipe, to make spicy alligator popcorn. (Flavor some flour with lemon pepper; dust cubes of alligator meat; deep-fry in a wok or whatever.

AMERICAN FRIED Yes, the fat's still in the fire at fast-food restaurants, but increasingly it's not the same fat. Jack in the Box restaurants have joined in switching to vegetable oil to fry foods. Last month, McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's announced that they would change to vegetable oil from a combination of vegetable and animal fats. The companies said the change would mean food, notably french fries, with no cholesterol and with less saturated fat. Arby's and Kentucky Fried Chicken also fry their food in vegetable oils.

Bravo hit "Top Chef" has tricked out an 18-wheeler and is roaming the country, setting up cook-offs between former cheftestants on the James Beard Award-winning show. It'll be Jennifer Carroll vs. Eli Kirshstein when "Top Chef: The Tour" rolls into town Wednesday with events at 10:30 a.m., noon and 1:30 p.m. at LOVE Park, JFK Boulevard and 16th Street. Free. Events include a "Top Chef" Horseshoe Toss. Details at bravotv.com . Summertime on the Delaware River gets some of the old buzz back with the planned opening tomorrow of Morgan's Pier (221 N. Columbus Blvd., morganspier.com )

  Throughout the 2011 baseball season, the Daily News was inundated with emails and calls. Nonetheless, Phillie Phoodie is back for another season as the guardian of Phanatics' taste buds. This year, the Phoodista will sample new offerings at Citizens Bank Park, as well as some nearby eateries that are popular game-day stops for Phillies fans. We may even hit the road to taste test some of the region's minor league ball parks.   First up: Outlet: Panini's, at Section 133. We went: Pregame, 12:30 p.m. Wait: None.

In the quest to green Philadelphia, officials are turning to the city's kitchen sinks. At an event Thursday, the city will unveil a pilot program to install garbage disposals in 200 Point Breeze and West Oak Lane homes. The goal is to reduce the food waste going to the landfill, which costs the city $68 a ton just for the tipping fee. Instead, residents will be encouraged to pulverize their veggie trimmings, orange rinds, and leftovers in the disposal, sending it to the city's treatment plants, where it will provide fuel for electricity generation and be transformed into fertilizer.

A ban on mass outdoor feedings for homeless people in city parks, including open space along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, will take effect June 1. The Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department filed a notice Monday with the city's records commissioner of its intention to follow through with the ban. The move follows the opening of the new Barnes Foundation last week and coincides with significant investment by public and private donors...

An investigation into how six Conestoga High School student got sick eating food laced with marijuana has led to the arrest of two people on pot-selling charges, Tredyffrin Township police said Monday. The students became sick on Thursday and police learned the student who put the marijuana in the food had bought the drug from Justin Mendenhall, 19, of Exton, police said in a statement. Undercover officers set up a buy from Mendenhall and at 8 p.m. Friday they arrested him at the Daylesford Train Station in Berwyn, police said.

Performance artist Robert Karimi, in character as chef Mero Cocinero Karimi, makes a claim as big as a half-pound bacon cheeseburger: He can teach people to improve their diets without ever uttering such unappetizing words as healthy or nutritious. During a cooking demonstration at Reading Terminal Market on Tuesday, he proved his point by persuading two 11-year-olds, waffle cones in hand, to put a dollop of his radish-greens, mint, onion, and lime dip on top of their ice cream. Sometimes, success lasts only as long as ice cream on the tongue.

A Camden man wanted for fatally shooting another Camden resident at a fast food restaurant three weeks ago was arrested last night and will be arraigned today, authorities said. David Porrata, 33, allegedly killed Franklin Parker, 36, on April 27 at a Crown Fried Chicken on the 200 block of Broadway, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said. The shooting, which began as an altercation between Porrata, his friend and a group of other men about 5 a.m., was captured on the store's surveillance video.

DEAR ABBY: Between juggling the joys and challenges of home life and staying productive at work, it's easy for women to make quick decisions now that could affect their health later on, or to miss early signs of medical problems altogether. To help women take control of their health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Women's Health and the General Services Administration's Federal Citizen Information Center have created the free Healthy Women's Action Kit. It contains tips that can help women of every age. The topics include: buying contact lenses online, mammograms, hypertension, cholesterol, Pap tests, menopause and hormones, and more.

WHEN I travel, I go to supermarkets. Unlike most touring shoppers, I never pause at store windows displaying jewelry and haute couture. But whether I'm in Aix or Antwerp New Orleans or Naples, I make a beeline for the local grocery store to peruse aisles of preserves, inhale the scent of coffee and pick up toothpaste sporting foreign labels. More than one pal at home has benefited from my wanderings, gifted with a tub of New Zealand clover honey or a pound of chicory-laced coffee from Rouses on Royal Street.

JERUSALEM - Egyptian and Palestinian officials said Sunday that they were close to reaching a deal with Israel that would end a mass hunger strike by Palestinians in Israeli jails. About 1,600 Palestinian prisoners are on strike, most for a month, but three have refused food for more than 70 days. They launched the strike to press their demands for better conditions and an end to detention without trial. An Egyptian-drafted proposal calls for Israel to move prisoners currently held in solitary confinement to regular cells, and allow families from Hamas-ruled Gaza to leave the seaside strip to visit imprisoned relatives, an Egyptian official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.