Every year, foodies of all kinds look forward to the annual Fancy Food Show, a massive expo that features all that is new to the food world. Moscone Center in San Francisco is packed with exhibitors who are eager to share samples of everything from apple chutney to smelly cheese.

What I find especially fun about the food show is how the feast changes from year to year. Several years ago, the Atkins diet craze brought a landslide of low-carb products. Bread was out. Fake sweeteners were in. It was a terrible year for food. Other years seemed to be all about tea or all about chocolate.

But this year was different. In some ways, the show seemed to be a sea of sameness. Olive oil, cocoa and tea, tea, tea. Chocolate in every form. Nuts galore, cheeses from every corner of the world, and enough sauce to slather the globe.

About half-way through the show, a fellow food writer suggested that this seemed to be a “me too” year. I think she’s right. We saw healthful waters last year. This year we saw lots more. We saw lots of tea last year. More this year.

We saw lots of pomegranate last year. More this year, even more than I expected, since the trend is at least two years old. I tasted pomegranate drink mixes, pomegranate tea cakes by Luna, pomegranate-maple syrup by Sonoma Syrups, and pomegranate marinades.

But as a plodded my way through the rest of the show I realized that there was a distinct difference in this year’s show. Not a sexy new trend, but a difference nonetheless. What I realized is that most of the foods grabbing attention — whether it was dessert or dinner — seemed to be purposefully made to taste good AND to promote good health.

I tasted several kinds of huumus, at least a dozen whole grain cracker breads, and just as many products made with some sort of nut or seed. Other products were infused with antioxidants of some sort, or made with heart-healthy oils. Some of those so-called benefits are laughable, such as the antioxidant benefits of chocolate in a calorie-laden cup of super-sweet cocoa. But overall, this is a great trend. I, for one, hope it sticks.

– Jolene Thym

This, in case you don’t know, is a VERY special season for food writers. December is fun, don’t get me wrong. But January is the REAL DEAL. This is the time of year when our mailboxes are crowded with invitations to the most irresistable dinners and lunches. People send us little samples of their newest and best. We are treated to sips of this and that.

Thanks for our season goes to the Specialty Foods Association, the folks who sponsor the Fancy Food Show, which fills every inch of Moscone Center in San Francisco every year at this time.

Don’t get me wrong. I fully understand that all of these wonderful mailings and invites are mere ploys for free advertisement. I am not confused. But the best part about the whole circus is that some of the products that people are pitching are really terrific. Two years ago, I went to a sumptuous dinner prepared by Basque Chef Gerald Hirigoyen to learn about the lovely spices being introduced by Spice Hunter. Two years ago, and I still remember the courses that were served. Even better for Spice Hunter, I remember the spices they were pitching, Fresh At Hand, a line of spices that deliver flavor on contact with oil or liquid. No simmer time needed.

I will never forget those great parties hosted by Mezzetta. Those Italians know how to throw a party. The drinks flow, but even better is the food prepared using only Mezzetta olives, peppers and sauces. Yum. (And this is a year after the last party.) Hang on. It’s time for a kalamata olive break…

Not that covering the annual Fancy Food Show is all fun. I am already stressing about which shoes will be able to make the 30-mile (seemingly) trek through the halls. I am trying out bags, fully aware that carrying a purse is out of the question. And the coat. We are really hoping for nice weather. A coat can become very heavy at mile 12.

If all goes well and my strategies work, I intend to uncover at least 100 new products that all of you need to know about. I promise to do my best. But please don’t hate me if I have a little fun along the way!

I may have tasted myself silly at the annual San Francisco Fancy Food Show at Moscone last month, but I thought it might be time to share with you a few bites that I did not, and will not likely taste. It is, in fact, highly likely that these undelicious-seeming products will hit the trash can before they are even opened.

First up is the small bag of Caramoo Caramels. I tasted one at the food show and it was so revolting that I can’t bear the idea of trying the other flavors. I just can’t. Tucked in my snack drawer is a small sample of orange-colored Tomb Hot Spice, a spicy popcorn made by Wewoff. I don’t want it, and I can’t honestly foresee a day that I will want it.

Miss Meringue cookies. I don’t think what’s inside this cute little packet is particularly bad, but the idea of eating something that has no real texture, flavor, substance or food value just doesn’t make much sense to me.

Clear plastic tubes of something sweet that look like honey sticks, but they aren’t. They’re some other sweetener that’s supposed to be good for you, only the representative at the booth couldn’t see his way to give me the packaging, so I don’t know what it is.

A Tortuga rum cake. Now this might actually be good, but every day I wake up and I just don’t want rum cake. I want cookies. I want chocolate cake. I want chips and salsa. I want bananas and bok choy. But I don’t want rum cake.

A tiny bottle of Campari, this wickedly bitter liqueur that the public relations representative promises would taste just delicious if I could only get used to the flavor. “It grows on you,” she promises. I don’t get the point of cultivating a taste for something that’s ultimately not so good for me, but I must admit that I do like the color of the libation. It’s bright red. And the bottle is cute, so I might keep this little offering around longer, just for decoration.

–Jolene Thym