Excerpts: The primary objective of this directory is to provide a convenient reference source that details the size and diversity of the 200 largest U.S. manufacturers of food and tobacco products. The operations of many of the companies listed below are so varied and complex, and information on them is so scattered, that neither the average citizen nor the specialized researcher can adequately comprehend the far-reaching role that these firms play in our everyday lives. The food and tobacco processing industries comprise a very substantial portion of the U.S. economy. In 1975 these industries shipped $181 billion worth of goods, which accounted for 17 percent of all manufacturing shipments. Processed items accounted for most of the $214 billion spent by U.S. consumers on food, beverages, and tobacco; moreover, food expenditures amounted to 22.2 percent of all personal consumption in 1975. The top 200 food processing firms accounted for a major portion of all domestic production and together hold most of the leading positions in most of the processed food industries. The main body of the directory is divided into three sections: The first section lists the top 200 firms alphabetically. Next to each firm's name are several estimates of company sales, sales ratios, expenditure ratios, profitability, and other information referring to the company as a whole. The second section ranks all 6,600 products of the top 200 food firms by industry categories corresponding to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) System used by the Census Bureau and other U.S. Government agencies. The SIC system categorizes products together that are similar in their use of constituent materials and methods of production. The third main section of the directory lists the products alphabetically, divided into two parts—food and tobacco products first, non-food products second. Next to each product is the name of the company that markets the product.