Today I was reading a book called "The Omnivore's Dilema" and came accross something that I believe could be useful in your line of research (and I don't remember reading about it anywhere else).In the book, some executive from General Mills is quoted saying that recipes are not intellectual property. So, all you can get is a few months head start with some new product, time enough to establish a brand.
So, if the processes food industry is innovative enough, this fits nicely with the thesis that patents may be unecessary.