U.S. food-manufacturing affiliates of foreign corporations accounted for about $20 billion in food and beverage sales, or 5 percent of the total in 1979. By midi 981, 30 foreign investors had U.S. food manufacturing operations with sales exceeding $100 million each. Of the 119 world's largest non-U .S. food firms, over one-fourth have food-manufacturing investments of this size in the United States.