FoodBozo.com

Restaurants across Canada are taking a bite out of the competition by doling out free breakfast.

By 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, the breakfast sandwich assembly line at the Subway restaurant on Granville St. in downtown Vancouver was in overdrive—English muffin, pre-cooked egg, sliced ham and cheese, then into the oven. Brush away crumbs. Repeat. Despite the frantic pace, the lineup spilled out the door and down the street, drawn by that siren call of the tired and hungry morning consumer—a free breakfast and coffee.

There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but when it comes to breakfast, fast-food chains are doling out meals and coffee to anyone who’ll take them. Last November, Burger King Canada gave away free coffees every Friday, having earlier handed out complimentary breakfast sandwiches. Subway’s one-day breakfast and coffee giveaway was its second in 10 months. Meanwhile, McDonald’s has blitzed the morning crowd with free coffees five times since 2009, with each event lasting between one to two weeks.

The goal is invariably the same each time—to get as many new people as possible to try their offerings with the hope that some moochers come back for more as paying regulars.

Read more: Free food fight

Novak Djokovic’s remarkable winning streak coincides with a dramatic change in his eating habits.

A simple allergy test could have led to one of the most dominant stretches in tennis history. Since Novak Djokovic’s nutritionist discovered last year that he was allergic to gluten, the tennis star has switched to a gluten-free diet and is staying away from most processed carbohydrates.

That means no pizza, pasta, pretzels or various other starchy foods that don’t necessarily begin with “p.” Djokovic made the change last year. Since then he’s made the final of the U.S. Open, won the Davis Cup and Australian Open, defeated Rafael Nadal four times, and is currently on a 39-match winning streak, the third longest of the Open era. So much for the idea of a carbo boost.

Those with an allergy to gluten often have trouble digesting the protein, which can lead to various medical issues. When he received the positive allergy test, Djokovic played it safe and cut out the starches altogether.

Read more: Is Novak Djokovic’s new, gluten-free diet behind his win streak?

The substance that’s found in wheat and other common grains is making us fat, many people contend.

Turkey and tomato on wheat. Whole-grain pasta. Healthy, right? Maybe. But more and more people believe these foods are parts of a potentially disastrous trap. They claim that sluggishness and weight gain can be blamed on an insidious substance hiding in wheat and many other common grains: gluten.

Avoiding gluten has become big business. Sales of gluten-free products grew about 30 percent a year from 2006 to 2010, and will hit $3.9 billion by next year, according to the market research company Packaged Facts. Supermarket shelves are filled with gluten-free breads, soups, and cake mixes—even gluten-free ketchup and soy sauce. According to market research firm Mintel, 10 percent of new foods launched in 2010 featured a “gluten-free” claim, up from only 2 percent 5 years earlier.

Read more: Is Gluten Making Us Fat?

“Bottomless” breadsticks, salads, pancakes, and fries are true diet disasters.

Remember the story of Hansel and Gretel? How the witch of the woods lured them into her edible candy hut and gave them piles and piles of free food—just so she could fatten them up and turn them into stew?

Well, think about that old fairy tale the next time a waiter drops a plate of “free” food on your table. For years I’ve been recommending the best foods to buy, and warning about menu items that might make you fat. But our newest Eat This, Not That! research reveals that some of the worst dietary sins aren’t ordered at all. They just come to your table for free!

Read more: The Worst “Free” Restaurant Food

Standing in the supermarket checkout line waiting for your food to scan can be as much fun as watching paint dry. But if you watch carefully and spy a scanner price error, you could score that grocery item for free.

Mistakes on electronic price scans are common at the grocery store. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has found that errors occur in 1 out of every 32 regularly priced items. Errors are more common on sale items, with 1 out of 28 items being overcharged to consumers. The cost of being overcharged at the till can add up to many dollars per month per family.

Read more: Watch the price scanner to get your food for free

Restaurants throughout the country are feeling the sting of the slow economy, just like you. In order to improve their bottom line and get families to eat out more often, many have initiated programs where kids eat free with the purchase of adult entrees. National chains, such as Bennigan’s, TGI Friday’s, and IHOP are promoting these deals, and local mom-and-pop restaurants are starting to do the same.

Read more here: 14 Places Kids Eat Free