News
Del Monte's Income Falters Due To Floods
November 2, 2010 5:42 am | CommentsCORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc.'s net income sagged 49 percent in the third quarter as the prior-year period was helped by a large income tax benefit and banana production costs rose. The seller of prepared and fresh fruits and vegetables reported Tuesday that its earnings fell to $14.
Farmers Profit By Pushing Products Onto Big-Name Menus
November 2, 2010 5:34 am | Commentsby David Mercer, Associated Press Writer CHAMPAIGN, Illinois (AP) — Ted Higginbottom was happy to see a dish heavy on peanuts this week on the menu at an Asian chain restaurant, but he said the Mandarin Kung Pao didn't land there by chance. The 60-year-old Texas peanut farmer said his industry has pushed hard to get peanuts onto menus at restaurants like Pei Wei — a national, 163-location chain owned by P.
Molson Coor's: Cheap Swill Is Out, Craft Beer Is In
November 2, 2010 5:23 am | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — Molson Coors Brewing Co., brewer of Blue Moon and Coors Light, reports results for its third fiscal quarter on Wednesday, before the market opens. WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Molson Coors is increasingly focusing abroad and in emerging markets such as China to woo new drinkers to its Coors Light brand.
Kellogg's 3Q Income Falls On Weak Cereal Sales
November 2, 2010 5:19 am | CommentsBATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — Kellogg Co.'s third-quarter net income fell 6 percent as cereal sales softened, competition intensified and the effects of a cereal recall lingered. The world's largest cereal maker had warned investors it would be a weak quarter and lowered its guidance twice in the past few months.
Activists And Dolphin-Hunters Debate Fiercely, Get Nowhere
November 2, 2010 5:17 am | Commentsby Jay Alabaster, Associated Press TAIJI, Japan (AP) — An unprecedented meeting between conservationists and leaders of the dolphin-hunting village depicted in the Oscar-winning film "The Cove" ended in bitter disagreement Tuesday. The carefully organized meeting in Taiji was jolted beforehand when the film's star, Ric O'Barry, said he would boycott because severe restrictions had been imposed on the media covering the talks.
InBev Antitrust Suit Falls Flat
November 1, 2010 3:19 am | CommentsST. LOUIS (AP) — The latest quest by 10 Missouri beer consumers who tried to block InBev's $52 billion takeover of U.S. beer giant Anheuser-Busch fell flat Wednesday when an appeals court refused to resurrect their antitrust lawsuit. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge's decision to throw out the lawsuit last year.
Slaughterhouse Owner Guilty Of Animal Cruelty
November 1, 2010 3:18 am | CommentsMONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The co-owner of a now-closed Vermont slaughterhouse has been fined $2,000 after pleading no contest to an animal cruelty charge. The attorney general's office said 52-year-old Frank Perretta of Grand Isle changed his plea on Wednesday to the misdemeanor charge accusing him of excessively shocking a calf at the Bushway Packing plant in Grand Isle.
BPA Linked To Low Sperm Count
November 1, 2010 3:18 am | CommentsCHICAGO (AP) — Chinese factory workers exposed to high levels of the plastics chemical BPA had low sperm counts, according to the first human study to tie it to poor semen quality. The study is the latest to raise health questions about bisphenol-A and comes two weeks after Canada published a final order adding the chemical to its list of toxic substances.
Coca-Cola Opening Facilities In China
November 1, 2010 3:17 am | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — Coca-Cola Co. announced Friday that three new bottling plants in China worth a total of $240 million are opening and near completion They are part of the company's plan to spend $2 billion in three years in China, a key market for the Atlanta soft drink maker. CEO Muhtar Kent made the announcement at a plant in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, that will be the company's largest production facility in China when it starts production next month.
Sauce Maker Chooses Utah For New Facility
November 1, 2010 3:12 am | CommentsHURRICANE, Utah (AP) — A food manufacturer has announced plans to open a new facility in Washington County with more than 160 employees. The Spectrum of St. George reports Litehouse Inc. plans to invest $10 million in the local economy when it opens the Hurricane facility in the second quarter of 2011.
Judge Fines McDonalds For Making Worker Fat
November 1, 2010 3:12 am | CommentsSAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian court has ordered McDonald's to pay a former franchise manager $17,500 because he gained 65 pounds while working there a dozen years. The 32-year-old man said he was forced to sample food products each day to ensure that quality standards remained high because McDonald's hired "mystery clients" to randomly visit restaurants and report on the food, service and cleanliness.
7 More Sick From Drinking Raw Milk From Minn.
October 29, 2010 4:39 am | CommentsMINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Illnesses in seven more people have been tied by to the consumption of raw milk from a farm in Sibley County that was implicated in an E. coli outbreak earlier this year, the Minnesota Department of Health reported Thursday. Three people were infected with a bacterium called campylobacter jejuni and the other four with a parasite, cryptosporidium parvum, after drinking raw milk.
54,000 Pounds Of Pork Recalled
October 29, 2010 4:34 am | CommentsWASHINGTON, D.C. (USDA)-- Autentico Foods, a Hawaiian Gardens, Calif., establishment, is recalling approximately 54,000 pounds of ready-to-eat pork products that it did not produce in accordance with its food safety plan, failing to take the steps it had determined were necessary to produce safe products, the U.
Judge Says No New Trial For Slaughterhouse Exec
October 29, 2010 4:29 am | CommentsDES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A judge on Wednesday denied a request for a new trial for a former Iowa kosher slaughterhouse executive convicted of financial fraud after an immigration raid at the plant. Sholom Rubashkin's attorney claimed Rubashkin should get a new trial because Chief U.
Food Industry Announces Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labeling
October 29, 2010 4:25 am | CommentsWASHINGTON, D.C. (GMA)- America’s leading food and beverage manufacturers and retailers joined forces today in the fight against obesity and announced their commitment to develop a new front-of-package nutrition labeling system. The unprecedented consumer initiative will make it easier for busy consumers to make informed choices when they shop.
$700,000 Worth Of Food Seized From Warehouse
October 29, 2010 4:22 am | CommentsEAST POINT, Ga. (AP) — Federal authorities seized more than $700,000 worth of rice and other items from what regulators described as a rodent-infested metro Atlanta warehouse. U.S. Marshals acting on a court order sought by the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday seized the products from the warehouse operated by Sun Hong Kai Holding Inc.
FDA Acts Against Rodent-Infested Distributor
October 29, 2010 4:17 am | Comments(FDA)--The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that Peng Bandith, owner of the Lao Trading Company of Nashville has signed a consent decree that permanently prohibits Lao Trading Company from distributing food held under insanitary conditions in interstate commerce. The consent decree, approved by the U.
Expenses Bring Dr. Pepper Snapple Earnings Down
October 27, 2010 4:55 am | CommentsPLANO, Texas (AP) — Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc.'s earnings fell 5 percent in the third quarter, pinched by strike-related costs and higher expenses. But revenue and sales volume edged higher, and the beverage maker raised its full-year earnings guidance. Net income for the three months ended Sept.
Tight Supply Of Cattle Will Keep Beef Prices High
October 27, 2010 4:51 am | CommentsLUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Americans love their beef, but with prices expected to remain high for the next few years and other options plentiful, their loyalties might be challenged. Average retail prices of beef have climbed from $4.18 per pound in July 2009 to $4.44 per pound last July, a change largely due to a tight supply of cattle.
USDA Announces $9.6M To Help Small Producers
October 27, 2010 4:47 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (USDA) – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the Risk Management Agency (RMA) has awarded $9.6 million in Partnership Agreements to provide producers with opportunities to learn more about managing risk in their businesses, which provides an important educational opportunity for limited-resource and underserved farmers and ranchers.
