comScore reports on which sites in the food category get the most traffic, and explains that food website visitors tend to skew affluent and female.

Food is both universal and social; people love to talk about it and share it with others. Food-focused websites have been popular for years, and a new wave of "foodies" is now boosting traffic levels across a number of food sites. By mixing together recipe databases with social interaction, the most popular food-related sites now enable consumers to interact and share their experiences with each other in online communities.

• Traffic to the Hobbies-Lifestyle: Food category grew to 39 million unique visitors in July 2006, marking a 23-percent increase versus year ago. Foodnetwork.com led the category with 8.4 million unique visitors in July 2006 (up 21 percent).  McDonald's ranked second with 5 million visitors (up 219 percent), driven by their Pirates of the Caribbean summer promotion.
• Recipe-sharing drives much of the activity in this space, as nine of the top ten websites in the category feature a free recipe finder on the home page.
• Food sites that enable users to share experiences with one another posted some of the biggest traffic gains. Recipezaar.com rose 60 percent to 1.9 million visitors in July, Allrecipes.com increased 51 percent to 4.8 million visitors, and Cooks.com grew 48 percent, reaching 3.4 million visitors.
• Females were nine percent more likely than the norm to visit sites in the category. Affluence was also a factor in category visitation. Individuals with household incomes above $100,000 were 19 percent more likely than the norm to visit the category.

About comScore Networks
comScore Networks provides unparalleled insight into consumer behavior and attitudes. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than two million consumers who have given comScore explicit permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. comScore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its patent-pending technology, comScore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. comScore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. comScore services are used by global leaders such as AOL, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Nestlé, Bank of America, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, GlaxoSmithKline and Orbitz. To be in touch directly, email comScore.