1.   A butcher at a Prisunic, a French supermarket chain, in the Paris region, who preferred to remain anonymous, said older people were the most frightened.

2.   Docks de France SA, the French supermarket operator weighing a hostile takeover bid from a rival, expects to say today whether it accepts.

3.   French supermarkets such as Carrefour and Promodes, the principle importers of foreign meat, issued statements about the origins of their meat.

4.   French supermarkets may put on a dazzling display of imported oranges, but there are no domestic growers to complain.

5.   In response to the legal limit on new stores and a sluggish home market, French supermarket chains have been consolidating and pushing abroad.

6.   Meanwhile, smaller French supermarket chains are rushing to expand in order to stay out of the clutches of larger rivals.

7.   Most French supermarkets offer five or six commercial syrup brands.

8.   Shares in the food retailer fell amid speculation it could make a bid for the French supermarket operator, Docks de France SA.

9.   She said French supermarket Carrefour could suffer a similar fate.

10.   The French government has done the same, a move which has obliged French supermarket companies to expand through acquisitions at home and to develop abroad.