You could try something like this...

@fruit = ();
@meat = ();
@dairy = ();

open (FOOD, "./food.txt");
while(<FOOD>) {
 chomp;
 ($category,$item) = split(/\s+/,$_);
 push(@{"$category"},$item);
}
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But of course, that all assumes you trust your input.

cephas

Originally posted as a Categorized Answer.