Select the cells, select Data/Validation, select List, type in your list
just like you did (no quotes):
poultry, red meat, fish
then click the error Alert tab and put in whatever error message you want.
That's it.

"jirl" wrote in message
...
I would like to create a pull down menu to limit what a cell contains. For
example, for a column for food groups, I would like the user to select
from
a list, such as poultry, red meat, fish... I have not found a way to
implement a pull down menu or even if excel allows a pull down menu. Any
ideas?