FORT WAYNE, Ind. – On most days, Andrea Deckard can be found in her home office, digging through stacks of coupons and grocery receipts for money-saving tips and recipes that she can share with readers of her MommySnacks blog.

That is when the stay-at-home mom isn’t being wined and dined by giant food companies.

Earlier this year, Frito-Lay flew her to Los Angeles to meet celebrities like model Brooke Burke and former Spice Girl Melanie Brown while pitching her on its latest snack ad campaign.

More recently, Nestle paid to put her and 16 other so-called “mommy bloggers” – and one daddy blogger – up at a posh Southern California hotel, treated them to a private show at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, and sent packages of frozen Omaha Steaks to their families while they were away learning all about the company’s latest product lines.

In return, Deckard and her virtual sisterhood filed Twitter posts raving about Nestle’s canned pumpkin, Wonka candy and Juicy Juice drinks.

“People have accused us of being corporate shills,” said Deckard, a Monroe, Ohio, mother of three whose junkets have also included a free trip to Frito-Lay’s Texas headquarters. Deckard, noting that she is up front with her readers about such trips, said they are educational for her and her fans, and “just fun.”

Others aren’t so sure. As food companies big and small scramble to woo parents-turned-bloggers, nutrition activists worry that the food industry is funding an advertising campaign for its products without consumers realizing it.

The growing trend is fueling legal and social debate over how bloggers disclose what goodies they get. New guidelines released last month by the Federal Trade Commission say bloggers must divulge financial or product compensation they get in exchange for writing about a company’s products. The regulations go into effect Dec. 1.

But critics worry that the guidelines are too vague and will hold bloggers to a different, or more stringent, standard than traditional media outlets.

“They’re treating blogging like it’s pornography,” said Elisa Camahort Page, co-founder of the online community group BlogHer. “They think you’ll know unethical blogging when you see it.”

Whatever one may think of mommy bloggers, there has arguably never been a better time to be a parent with Internet access. An estimated 42 million women take part in social media services each week, and 55 percent of them are regularly reading, writing or responding to blogs, according to a 2009 survey by BlogHer.

In some ways, the marketing push has been happening for years: Companies hawking everything from diamonds to digital cameras have long been eager to get parent bloggers to write posts that tout their products.

But recently, say these bloggers, it has been food companies that have upped the ante, bombarding them with free trips and mountains of edible loot.

Starbucks, eager to get working parents drinking Via instant coffee, sent limousines to shuttle bloggers in New York City for a private lunch with executives. They left with bags stuffed with coffee and offers of bottomless future refills.

Fast-food purveyor Taco Bell flew a group of bloggers from Maryland, Michigan and Missouri to California for a retreat in the spring, paid for their lodging and let them spend the day creating new taco and burrito concoctions.

The rationale is pure economics. The food industry – restaurants, supermarkets and manufacturers – has seen sales slide during the recession and is looking for new ways to reach customers. And the people online they want are parents.

“They handle the family budget,” said Amanda Vega, an industry consultant that specializes in social media and public relations. “People read them and believe them.”

Also, they are rarely critical. Christine Young, owner of the From Dates to Diapers blog, has a closet full of free baby products she never liked. She hasn’t mentioned them in her blog.

They’re still there, sitting on the shelves, waiting to be donated.

“My business is not to bash companies,” said Young, 32, who lives in the Sacramento area. “My business is to create buzz for the products and services we enjoy.”