News
Seafood Industry Touts Safety Despite Oil
May 14, 2010 4:27 am | CommentsNEW ORLEANS (AP) — With oil still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, leaders of the state's seafood industry met Thursday to discuss ways to get out the message that Louisiana seafood is safe to eat and available, if not as abundant as before an April 20 offshore rig explosion. The Louisiana Seafood Promotion Board adopted a draft budget for the use of $2 million granted to the agency by BP PLC, which operated the rig owned by Transocean Ltd.
George Weston Hunting For Acquisitions
May 14, 2010 4:24 am | CommentsTORONTO (CP) — The head of food conglomerate George Weston Ltd. tried to reassure investors Thursday that the Canadian bakery and grocery giant is combing the investment landscape for ways to spend the billions of dollars of cash on its balance sheet. At the company's annual meeting, president and chairman Galen Weston Sr.
Venezuela Forcefully Acquires Mexican Company
May 14, 2010 4:21 am | CommentsCARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez's government ordered the expropriation Thursday of a Mexican-owned food company that is one of the largest operating in Venezuela. A notice in the Official Gazette announced the "forced acquisition" of the property and assets of Molinos Nacionales CA, or Monaca.
Congress May Change Wine Shipment Rules
May 14, 2010 4:19 am | CommentsLOWDEN, Wash. (AP) — Try to be a wine connoisseur in Dickinson, N.D. Gordon and Sandee Schnell had a hard time until the state changed its rules in 2001 and allowed wineries to buy permits to ship directly to residents — one case of wine per person, per month. But now Congress is considering legislation that could limit wineries' ability to sell and ship directly to consumers.
Leprino Foods Building New Cheese Factory
May 14, 2010 4:18 am | CommentsDENVER (AP) — Greeley city officials say Leprino Foods has submitted plans to begin building a new cheese factory. Greeley Community Development Director Becky Safarik says Leprino submitted its construction plans this week. Denver-based Leprino said in 2008 that it would build a cheese plant in Greeley on the site of the former Western Sugar processing plant.
Washington State Candy Tax Starts In June
May 12, 2010 6:05 am | CommentsEVERETT, Wash. (AP) — When it comes to candy, Washington will soon be a state of the taxed and taxed-nots. Come June 1, the state will begin adding sales tax onto the price of gum and most but not all candy products. If you've got a sweet tooth, you need a spreadsheet to figure out whether your favorite goodie is about to get more expensive.
Lawyer Denies Dole Conspiracy Claims
May 12, 2010 6:03 am | CommentsLOS ANGELES (AP) — A Texas lawyer testifying against Dole Foods denied Tuesday that he was one of a group that allegedly conspired with a Nicaraguan judge to commit a massive fraud against the firm. Charles Benton Musslewhite denounced the claims of a conspiracy with the judge to fix sperm tests for men claiming to have been sterilized by exposure to pesticides on Dole banana plantations.
Capcom Goes From Video Games To Winery
May 12, 2010 6:01 am | CommentsNAPA, Calif. (AP) — After years of overseeing the company that gave the world "Resident Evil," ''Street Fighter" and other gore-fest games, Kenzo Tsujimoto is trying his hand in the equally competitive — if less bloody — world of Napa winemaking. But if you are hoping to see some "Street Fighter" sauvignon blanc, prepare to be disappointed.
Green Mountain Buys Diedrich For $300 Million
May 12, 2010 6:00 am | CommentsWATERBURY, Vt. (AP) — Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. has completed its $300 million acquisition of Diedrich Coffee Inc., one of four roasters licensed to produce K-Cups for the top-selling single-serve Keurig brewing system. The K-Cup brand is owned by Green Mountain, which is based in Waterbury.
Power Outage Kills 1500 Pigs
May 12, 2010 5:58 am | CommentsKNOX, Ind. (AP) — An owner of a northern Indiana hog farm says about 1,500 pigs died of apparent suffocation after a power outage caused a loss of ventilation. N&L Pork Inc. co-owner Brad Lawrence says electricity went out over the weekend to the farm near the Starke County community of Knox.
Judge Rejects Slaughterhouse Mistrial Motion
May 12, 2010 5:56 am | CommentsWATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A judge has rejected a motion for a mistrial after an Agriprocessors Inc. supervisor testified he received death threats at work. Defense attorneys asked for the mistrial Tuesday on the second day of the child labor violation trial of the former plant manager Sholom Rubashkin in Black Hawk County.
Dole Workers Could Lose $2.3M Settlement
May 11, 2010 5:16 am | CommentsLOS ANGELES (AP) — Six Nicaraguan banana workers who Dole Food Co. attorneys have accused of fraud will get a chance to explain their position on Tuesday when their attorneys speak before a California judge at a hearing. The men, who claimed in the lawsuit that exposure to pesticides made them sterile, received $2.
Lettuce Recall Expands As FDA Investigates E. Coli
May 11, 2010 5:15 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — A recall of romaine lettuce that has sickened students with E. coli poisoning is expanding as the government tries to find out where the contamination occurred. The Food and Drug Administration said late Monday that a food distributor in Moore, Okla., is recalling romaine lettuce that came from the same farm in Yuma, Ariz.
Underage Slaughterhouse Workers Testify
May 11, 2010 5:14 am | CommentsWATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A former underage worker cried Monday while testifying she was exposed to harsh chemicals at an Iowa slaughterhouse where she and other teens worked 12 hours a day, six days a week. Yesenia Cordero Mendoza, now 18, was one of two former underage workers to testify against former manager Sholom Rubashkin, who faces 83 child labor violation charges stemming from a May 2008 raid at the plant in which 389 illegal immigrants, including 31 children, were detained.
USDA Strengthens Salmonella Standards For Poultry
May 11, 2010 5:10 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Agriculture is setting new standards for the levels of salmonella and another pathogen in young chickens and turkeys as part of an effort to strengthen food safety. The new standards would hold poultry slaughterhouses more accountable by decreasing the number of samples allowed to test positive for the pathogens.
Ag Director Settles In
May 11, 2010 5:09 am | CommentsYAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Jay Manning remembers Dan Newhouse's first Cabinet meeting a little over a year ago. Newhouse, the newly named state Director of Agriculture and a lifelong Republican, was seated at a table of Democrats and liberal lawyers like then-Ecology Director Manning and Gov.
Canadian Cattle Farmers Owe $33 Million
May 10, 2010 4:57 am | CommentsWINNIPEG (CP) — More than 1,000 cattle farmers in Manitoba have yet to repay nearly $33 million of government loans they took out after the discovery of mad cow disease closed markets to Canadian beef and cattle. An official with Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. says 288 of the loans, worth $4.
Feds Check Arizona Farm In E. Coli Outbreak
May 10, 2010 4:56 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — Romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Ariz., may be the source of a widespread E. coli outbreak that has sickened students in three states. Federal investigators are looking at a farm in Yuma as a possible source for the outbreak, according to the distributor who sold the lettuce.
Allen Foods Plans Kansas Plant
May 10, 2010 4:55 am | CommentsTOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A company that makes baked goods plans to build a 135,000-square-food production plant in Topeka, bringing about 52 jobs to start. Officials of Allen Foods announced the project Friday. Regional vice president Dick Bay says prep work on the site is expected to begin soon, and the plant could be open by May 2011.
