Patent ID: 7435930

Claim:
A method of heating a food item in a vending machine comprising: storing a plurality of types of food items contained in containers in a vending machine, each container having indicia thereon to provide information regarding a food item contained therein, wherein a plurality of like food items are stored in a designated area in the vending machine; receiving a food selection; in response to the received food selection, providing a selected container from the area that corresponds to the designated area for storage of food items corresponding to said food selection; reading the indicia on the selected container to determine whether the indicia on the selected container corresponds to the received food selection; if the indicia on the selected container corresponds to the received food selection, heating the selected container and the food item contained therein with a heating device contained in the vending machine and transporting the heated selected container along a pathway to a consumer retrieval area; and if the indicia on the selected container does not correspond to the received food selection, reconfiguring the pathway so as to direct the selected container to a holding bin and delivering the selected container to the holding bin.