I believe the Atkins diet is great and will become a big success and
I'd like to invest in companies that operate in this space. What
publicly traded companies sell "low carb" stuff?

Hi, Bryan. You asked about publicly traded companies that sell "low
carb" products.

First let me start by saying that you shouldn't consider my mentioning
of any companies as my (or Google's) recommending them as an
investment. I know the Securities and Exchange Commission has rules
involving investment advice, and I just want to make sure I cover the
legal bases in my reply here. (That said, I don't have any stock in
any of the companies I'm mentioning.)

The best known (and most diversified) companies that specialize in the
low carb processed food space, Keto Foods and Atkins Nutritionals, are
private. In fact, that applies to most (if not all) companies in the
low carb space. I looked through descriptions of public companies in
the food industry here:
Food Processing Industry on Yahoo! Finance
http://biz.yahoo.com/p/fodmfgconameu.html

However, you might be able to find investment opportunities in
companies that work with the cornerstone of the Atkins diet, meat.

* Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) sells meat and meat products,
primarily pork and turkey.
Hormel Foods Corporation Profile on Yahoo! Finance
http://biz.yahoo.com/p/h/hrl.html

Hormel Foods Home page
http://www.hormel.com 

* Pilgrim's Pride Corp. (NYSE:CHX) specializes in poultry, selling
both prepared and fresh turkey and chicken in the U.S.

Pilgrim's Pride Corp. Profile on Yahoo! Finance
http://biz.yahoo.com/p/c/chx.html

Pilgrim's Pride Home Page
http://www.pilgrimspride.com 

*Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE:TSN) works with beef, chicken, pork, and
prepared foods.

Tyson Foods Profile on Yahoo! Finance
http://biz.yahoo.com/p/t/tsn.html

Tyson Foods Home Page
http://www.tyson.com 

Alternatively, you might short sell companies that sell anti-Atkins
foods, like breads, grains, pastries, and the like.

Apparently SlimFast, and its parent company, Unilever (NYSE:UL) has
suffered because of the Atkins phenomenon.
"Low-carb fad slims Unilever figures" By Rosie Murray-West
(03/05/2003)
Money.Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2003/05/03/cnslim03.xml

Other candidates to short include: 

* Riviana Foods (NASDAQ:RVFD) which is in the rice business.
Riviana Foods Profile on Yahoo! 
http://biz.yahoo.com/p/r/rvfd.html

* Kellogg Company (NYSE:K) deals in cereals, cookies, crackers, and
other high-carb products.
Kellogg Company Profile on Yahoo!
http://biz.yahoo.com/p/k/k.html
Kellogg Company home page 
http://www.kellogg.com 

I hope that answers your question. 

best,
Pamela

Thank you. This is good work, Pamela.

just saw this article which I thought you might enjoy: 

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030818-474562-1,00.html

yeah, I did too... btw- it fit what you had said about the absence of
publicly traded companies in this area. btw- do you have any new
thoughts about this?

Aha! At last a public company looking to get into the space: 

CoolBrands International Inc. (Cl A) (COB.A) (Canadian stock exchange)

CoolBrands: Low-Carb Bet
Canadian Maker of Eskimo Pie
Scoops Out Ice-Cream Strategy

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB106116458489830200,00.html?mod=mm%5Fhs%5Fmarketing%5Fstrategy

FYI

The Bull About the Beef
http://slate.msn.com/id/2088210/