News
Trial Set For June In Suit Over Milk Prices
February 15, 2011 3:49 am | CommentsLOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Dairy farmers across the Southeast hope to prove what they claim is a conspiracy to drive down the price they're paid for milk. The lawsuit against Dean Foods and others is scheduled to be tried in June in U.S. District Court in Greeneville, Tenn. Dairy farmer John Kalmey told The Courier-Journal of Louisville that there is no competition for milk in the Southeast.
Convenient Store Sues Subway Over 'Footlong'
February 15, 2011 3:46 am | CommentsDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa-based convenience store has asked a federal judge to rule that the word "footlong" is part of the general English language and not the special property of the Subway restaurant chain. Ankeny-based Casey's General Stores Inc. filed a lawsuit against Subway in U.
Eating More Fiber Could Mean Living Longer
February 15, 2011 3:40 am | CommentsCHICAGO (AP) — Eat more fiber and you just may live longer. That's the message from the largest study of its kind to find a link between high-fiber diets and lower risks of death not only from heart disease, but from infectious and respiratory illnesses as well. The government study also ties fiber with a lower risk of cancer deaths in men, but not women, possibly because men are more likely to die from cancers related to diet, like cancers of the esophagus.
Candy Maker Names New President
February 15, 2011 3:38 am | CommentsBETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania candy maker whose products include Peeps, Mike and Ike, and Peanut Chews says David Yale has been named president and chief operating officer. Just Born Inc. co-CEO David Shaffer said in a statement Monday that Yale will work with the privately held confectioner to increase its market.
Starbucks Brews Single-Serve Coffee Deal
February 15, 2011 3:35 am | CommentsSEATTLE (AP) — Starbucks Corp. has brewed up a deal to provide single-serve coffee to half a million hotel rooms, a major step into a small but fast-growing market. The company announced Tuesday that it will provide coffee for Courtesy Products' CVI single-serve coffee systems beginning this fall.
Photo Of The Day: The Bitter Side Of Chocolate
February 15, 2011 3:17 am | Comments(AP) — In this June 30, 2005 file photo, children living in a cocoa producing village walk back from the fields carrying wood and food stuff on their heads on the outskirts of the town of Oume, Ivory Coast. This month, activists say you may want to think twice before biting into a piece of Valentine's Day chocolate.
Process Safety And Food Manufacturing Course Announced
February 14, 2011 4:01 am | Comments(Chilworth)-- The manufacture of food products such as flour, sugar, bread, biscuits, confectionary and milk powder involves the storage, handling and processing of powders, liquids and gases. Many of the powders handled are combustible and some liquids and gases are flammable including: - Sugar, flour starch, savory flavorings and vitamin powders - Low flashpoint liquid flavorings - Natural gas for fueling ovens - Ammonia for refrigeration - Hydrogen for hydrogenation of oils and fats For this reason, manufacturers of food products need to comply with legislation such as ATEX and DSEAR.
Saving The Earth, One Beer At A Time
February 14, 2011 3:53 am | CommentsSOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Before he started "saving the earth, one beer at a time," all inventor Eric Fitch knew about home brewing was that it could make quite a mess. Once, he accidentally backed up the plumbing in his apartment building by dumping into his garbage disposal the spent grain left over from his India Pale Ale home brew.
Energy Drinks Linked To Health Problems In Children
February 14, 2011 3:49 am | CommentsCHICAGO (AP) — Energy drinks are under-studied, overused and can be dangerous for children and teens, warns a report by doctors who say kids shouldn't use the popular products. The potential harms, caused mostly by too much caffeine or similar ingredients, include heart palpitations, seizures, strokes and even sudden death, the authors write in the medical journal Pediatrics.
Meatpacking Reforms Face Tough Opposition
February 14, 2011 3:44 am | CommentsST. LOUIS (AP) — The Obama administration's effort to overhaul antitrust rules for the meatpacking industry with the toughest regulations since the Packers and Stockyards Act was passed 90 years ago has run into strong opposition from Republicans. The reforms, which would redraw the balance of power between meat companies and the farmers and ranchers who raise animals for them, have been one of the administration's signature efforts in addressing the growing concentration of corporate power in agriculture.
Production Of Valentine's Day Cocoa Not So Sweet
February 14, 2011 3:40 am | CommentsJOHANNESBURG (AP) — Activists say some of the cocoa in your Valentine's Day chocolate probably came from a West African country where the president is clinging to office. And they note that hundreds of thousands of young children also had a role in producing it. Activists are harnessing Ivory Coast's political crisis to add momentum to their campaign to force the world's chocolate makers to improve their labor practices.
Workers End Strike At Venezuelan Coca-Cola Plant
February 11, 2011 4:00 am | by Follow Food Manufacturing On Twitter | CommentsCARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Workers at a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Venezuela have ended a strike that lasted nearly a month and drastically cut back production of soft drinks in the country, the company said Thursday. Coca-Cola Femsa de Venezuela SA said it signed a new contract Wednesday night with workers at its plant in the northern-central city of Valencia.
Tyson To Pay $5.2M To Settle Mexican Payoff Claims
February 11, 2011 3:58 am | by Follow Food Manufacturing On Twitter | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — Meat producer Tyson Foods Inc. is paying $5.2 million to settle with the U.S. government over claims that its Mexican poultry subsidiary made payoffs to get products certified for export. Tyson says it voluntarily reported that improper payments of more than $100,000 were made by Tyson de Mexico to two Mexican government veterinarians who certified chicken products for export in 2007.
Kraft Plans More Price Hikes
February 11, 2011 3:55 am | by Follow Food Manufacturing On Twitter | CommentsPORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Kraft Foods Inc., like many of its peers, is feeling some pricing pressure. The company reported Thursday that price increases it made to cope with higher ingredient costs are not going to be enough to sustain its profitability and it plans further hikes this year.
Hershey Official: Charity Is Rife With Corruption
February 11, 2011 3:53 am | by Follow Food Manufacturing On Twitter | CommentsHARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A former official involved with the multibillion-dollar charitable trust that controls the Hershey candy company is claiming in a court filing that board members used the trust's considerable assets to pad their bank accounts and treat themselves to luxury hotel stays, limousine rides and free golf.
New Food Safety Law Protects Whistleblowers
February 11, 2011 3:48 am | by Follow Food Manufacturing On Twitter | CommentsMINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Food industry workers who become whistleblowers gained protection against retaliation from their employers with a little-noticed provision in the sweeping food safety law President Barack Obama signed last month. The Food Safety and Modernization Act is best known for sections that aim to prevent foodborne illnesses, allow the Food and Drug Administration to order recalls and make it easier to trace contaminated food to its source.
Photo Of The Day: On Fire For Chilies
February 11, 2011 3:34 am | by Follow Food Manufacturing On Twitter | Comments(AP) — A customer holds a bunch of chilies at a market in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011. In spice-crazed Indonesia, a meal without fresh chilies is almost unthinkable. But prices have soared as much as 10-fold in recent months, some say because of climate change, driving up inflation and pulling everyone from housewives to the president into the debate.
Photo Of The Day: Freedom To Speak Up
February 11, 2011 3:25 am | by Follow Food Manufacturing On Twitter | Comments(AP) —This Feb. 3, 2009, file photo shows the Peanut Corporation of America processing plant in Plainview, Texas. Kenneth Kendrick, who had been assistant manager at the plant, spoke out about unsanitary conditions there after a salmonella outbreak that killed nine and sickened hundreds.
