News
Premium Brands Buys SK Food Group For $42.5 Million
October 19, 2010 5:04 am | CommentsVANCOUVER — Food producer Premium Brands Holdings Corp. says it has reached an agreement to acquire Seattle-based SK Food Group, Inc. for $42.5 million. The Vancouver-based company said Monday the acquisition of SK Food Group, a manufacturer of artisan breakfast sandwiches and wraps, fits "perfectly" with its core strategies.
NJ College Bans Boozy Energy Drinks
October 19, 2010 5:01 am | CommentsTRENTON, N.J. (AP) — It's cheap, it comes in tall cans and it contains caffeine, other common energy-drink ingredients and as much alcohol as four beers. After students at northern New Jersey's Ramapo College were hospitalized last month after drinking Four Loko, the college president ordered that it and similar drinks be banned — and he's encouraging other colleges and the state to follow suit.
FDA Warns Wright Co. Egg To Clean Up Or Shut Down
October 19, 2010 4:50 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — One of two Iowa farms that recalled millions of eggs this summer will start shipping its products to stores again, but the second farm could be shut down if it doesn't clean up, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday. In an Oct. 15 letter to Hillandale Farms the FDA said the company has adequately cleaned up its facilities after it was linked to 1,600 salmonella illnesses earlier this year.
Pepsi To Invest $140 Million In Russian Plant
October 19, 2010 4:45 am | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — PepsiCo Inc. will invest $140 million to build its 10th plant in Russia, a beverage plant in the Rostov region, the company said Monday. The soft drink and snack maker, which is based in Purchase, N.Y., has been ramping up its investments in Russia and other emerging markets to expand its business overseas.
Silk Launches Soybean Traceability Site
October 19, 2010 4:42 am | CommentsBROOMFIELD, Colo. (Silk) -- Silk® Soymilk, the leading soymilk brand in the U.S., today announced a new website ( www.silksoymilk.com/traceit/ ) that allows consumers to trace the origin of the soybeans in each carton of Silk down to the county level. The first-of-its-kind site for soy is intended to provide consumers with additional information about where their Silk soymilk comes from and how it is made.
Nathan's Famous Could Owe Millions In Court Case
October 19, 2010 4:37 am | CommentsJERICHO, N.Y. (AP) — Fast-food chain Nathan's Famous Inc. said Monday that it could owe $2.9 million to $6.1 million in a legal dispute with a licensee and it expects to record a charge of $2.9 million for its second quarter, which ended Sept. 26. Licensee SMG Inc., which makes and sells packaged Nathan's hot dogs, has gone to court with Nathan's Famous Inc.
Lawsuit Claiming Condom In Whopper Is Dropped
October 18, 2010 4:54 am | CommentsMONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A former Vermont man who claimed he bit into a Burger King sandwich and found an unwrapped condom has dropped his lawsuit, with the restaurant agreeing to drop its counterclaim. The man and the store's owners agreed to pay their own legal costs. The plaintiff's attorney, Devin McLaughlin, said Friday that the details of the settlement are confidential and won't be disclosed, but the owner-operator of the Rutland restaurant says forensic analysis of the object and surveillance video prove it didn't originate in the Burger King.
Recalled Frozen Veggies May Contain Glass Fragments
October 18, 2010 4:50 am | CommentsBELLS, Tenn. (AP) — A company in Tennessee is recalling some packages of frozen vegetables because they may contain glass fragments. Pictsweet said Friday that 24,000 pounds of packages were distributed to Kroger stores in the southeastern U.S. and Walmart stores throughout the U.S.
Yuengling In Discussions To Buy Memphis Plant
October 18, 2010 4:48 am | CommentsMEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc., the nation's oldest brewer, has signed a letter of intent to buy a Memphis plant. "The deal obviously isn't closed," David Casinelli, chief operating officer of Yuengling, told The Commercial Appeal. "We're in discussions — serious discussions — and we're hoping to get it done as expediently as possible.
New Red Celery To Hit Markets In Time For Holidays
October 18, 2010 4:44 am | CommentsMINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Is America ready for red celery? A Florida produce company thinks so and has bet consumers will bite on the colorful crunch of its new product. Red celery will hit selected supermarkets Dec. 1 — in time to add some eye-catching color to holiday tables, said Dan Duda, president of Duda Farm Fresh Foods, which was set to unveil the new celery at a produce industry trade show in Orlando, Fla.
Relatives Of Barq's Founder Sue Coca-Cola
October 18, 2010 4:40 am | CommentsNEW ORLEANS (AP) — The great-grandchildren of the founder of Barq's root beer are suing the Coca-Cola Company, claiming Coca-Cola doesn't legally own their share of Barq's. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Louisiana, outlines the long and complicated history of the Barq's family in Louisiana and Mississippi dating back more than a century.
Right-Wing Bloggers: Campbell's Canadian Soup Has Terrorist Link
October 18, 2010 4:36 am | CommentsTORONTO — The controversial Ground Zero mosque in New York and Campbell's Canadian-made tomato soup have nothing in common, one would think. Yet they're being stirred in the same pot by some conservative bloggers in the U.S., who say Islamic terrorists are behind both projects. Pamela Geller, who runs a widely read anti-Muslim site called Atlas Shrugs, is calling for a boycott of some 15 soups made by the Canadian subsidiary of New Jersey-based Campbell Soup Co.
Worker Crushed To Death At Nabisco Factory
October 15, 2010 4:49 am | CommentsCHICAGO (AP) — Investigator say a 62-year-old worker was crushed to death in an accident at a Nabisco factory on Chicago's southwest side. The Cook County medical examiner's office says Patrick Lynch of Oak Lawn was asphyxiated in Wednesday's accident at the bakery plant. Authorities say Lynch was injured while working at a machine that prepares pallets for loading.
Yogurt Co. Switches To Corn-Based Plastic
October 15, 2010 4:46 am | CommentsMONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Concerned moms won't notice much different about the thin plastic containers of organic baby yogurt. But Stonyfield Farm, Inc. hopes they do. Responding to health concerns about possible carcinogens in the former polystyrene containers, the organic yogurt company announced Wednesday it has switched to a plastic made from corn — one of the first plant-based containers for the dairy industry and believed to be the first for yogurt.
Coca-Cola Bottler Plans $1 Billion Buyback
October 15, 2010 4:42 am | CommentsCoca-Cola Enterprises plans $1 billion buyback ATLANTA (AP) — Bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. plans to buy back about $1 billion of its stock within the next 18 months. The company, which sold its North American operations to Coca-Cola Co. for $3.4 billion and is now a new public company, said Thursday that it expects to start the buyback in the fourth quarter.
Egg Farm Proposes Chicken Manure Power Plant
October 15, 2010 4:39 am | CommentsANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — An Annapolis company says a manure-to-energy plant proposed for a Pennsylvania egg farm will process waste from as many as 5 million chickens. Annapolis-based EnergyWorks North America says its EnergyWorks Biopower subsidiary and Hillandale Farms Gettysburg have agreed to build the 2.
Canada Adds BPA To Toxic Substances List
October 15, 2010 4:33 am | CommentsOTTAWA, Ont. (Environment Canada)--The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment, and the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, took action today towards increased controls on Bisphenol A, a chemical that can be harmful to both human health and the environment. Adding Bisphenol A to Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999), enables the development of regulatory risk management measures under CEPA 1999.
Report: Nutrition Rating Should Focus On Calories, Fat & Sodium
October 15, 2010 4:27 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (Institute Of Medicine) — Nutrition rating systems and symbols on the fronts of food packaging would be most useful to shoppers if they highlighted four nutrients of greatest concern – calories, saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium – says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.
FDA Seeks Action Against Juice Company
October 13, 2010 4:59 am | CommentsAt the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice today filed a complaint for permanent injunction against a Brooklyn juice company to prevent it from processing and distributing juice products. Delores H. Campbell and Winston A. Fearon and their company, Juices Incorporated (also known as Juices International and Juices Enterprises), are charged with violating the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by failing to have a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan for certain juice products, such as the company’s carrot and beet juice products.
Canola Processor Expands Canadian Plant
October 13, 2010 4:54 am | CommentsST. LOUIS (AP) — Bunge Ltd. will more than double capacity at its canola processing plant in Altona, Manitoba in Canada, the international agribusiness and food company said Tuesday. The expansion should be complete for the 2012 harvest. The company did not say what it was spending on the project, which is part of an effort to expand four processing plants in Western Canada.
