News
Marie Callender Products Pulled Due To Salmonella
June 18, 2010 4:35 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — ConAgra Foods is recalling all Marie Callender's brand cheesy chicken and rice frozen meals after they have been possibly linked to a salmonella outbreak in 14 states. The company said it was recalling the meals after it was informed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of a possible link between the meals and 29 illnesses.
Campbell Soup Recalls SpaghettiOs
June 18, 2010 4:34 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — Campbell Soup Co. is recalling 15 million pounds of SpaghettiOs with meatballs after a cooker malfunctioned at one of the company's plants in Texas and left the meat undercooked. The Agriculture Department announced the recall late Thursday. Campbell spokesman Anthony Sanzio said the company is recalling certain lots of the product manufactured since December 2008 "out of an abundance of caution" because officials don't know exactly when the cooker at the Paris, Texas, plant malfunctioned.
Danone To Merge With Russian Dairy
June 18, 2010 4:33 am | CommentsST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — France's Danone announced on Friday a deal to create the largest dairy in Russia and the former Soviet Union by merging its operations in the region with a Russian firm. Danone said that by combining its operations with Unimilk total sales in the former Soviet Union — including countries such as Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus — would reach euro1.
Indiana Brewery Plans Expansion
June 18, 2010 4:33 am | CommentsBLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — A small brewery in southern Indiana plans to start selling its beer around the state as a new facility will boost its production capacity by 1,000 percent. The Bloomington Brewing Co. has been selling its beer for 14 years at one restaurant: Lennie's, in Bloomington.
Beef Processor To Pay $2M For Fish Kills
June 18, 2010 4:32 am | CommentsPHILADELPHIA (AP) — Federal authorities say a suburban Philadelphia beef processor has agreed to pay $2 million in penalties and damages to settle allegations that it violated clean water laws leading to three fish kills in the Schuylkill River basin. Officials said Wednesday that the consent degree was reached with JBS Souderton, formerly Smithfield Beef Group, which operates the Montgomery County rendering plant.
Arizona Lab Testing Fish For Oil Contamination
June 18, 2010 4:31 am | CommentsPHOENIX (AP) — Arizona's public-health laboratory will be a key player in the federal government's effort to find out whether oil is contaminating seafood in the Gulf of Mexico. The Arizona Department of Health Services lab is among four state facilities nationally that will team with four federal labs to measure the impact of the massive British Petroleum oil leak on the region's seafood.
Lindt To Process Cocoa In New Hampshire
June 16, 2010 4:44 am | CommentsSTRATHAM, N.H. (AP) — Swiss chocolate maker Lindt has finished a big expansion of its New Hampshire factory with the addition of a cocoa-processing plant that's transforming beans into chocolate under one roof in the United States. It's a milestone for the U.S. headquarters of the company, which is based in Kilchberg, Switzerland.
Nestle Sues Sara Lee
June 16, 2010 4:44 am | CommentsPARIS (AP) — Nestle SA has launched a patent infringement lawsuit against U.S. rival Sara Lee Corp. over a product that it says unfairly uses its popular capsule-based Nespresso coffee machines, the Swiss food giant said Tuesday. Nestle said it is suing Sara Lee in France, where the U.
Shrimp Prices Expected To Rise
June 16, 2010 4:43 am | CommentsThe Gulf oil spill probably won't steal shrimp from your plate, but it may take a bigger chunk out of your wallet to get them there. Though much of the Gulf of Mexico remains open to commercial fishing, Louisiana's biggest seafood item is down to just 30 percent of normal production, according to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board.
Panel Wants Gov't To Cut Sodium Intake
June 16, 2010 4:43 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — An advisory panel is encouraging the government to recommend that Americans reduce their salt intake — even though they acknowledge that it won't be easy. The panel, appointed by the Agriculture and Health and Human Services Departments, makes dietary recommendations every five years that serve as the basis for the government's popular food pyramid and for a range of federal nutrition programs, including school lunches.
Regulators May Expand E. Coli Testing
June 16, 2010 4:42 am | CommentsYAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — The food industry and government regulators have focused for years on finding the most virulent strain of E. coli bacteria, which has killed hundreds of people and sickened thousands every year. But they don't regularly test for six less common E. coli strains that can cause illnesses equally as serious.
Campbell Ships Low-Salt Soups
June 16, 2010 4:41 am | CommentsCAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Campbell Soup Co. said Tuesday that it will begin shipping 21 varieties of its lower sodium soups this month. The company has been gradually reducing the amount of sodium in its products over several years and said these soups have 25 to 45 percent lower sodium than earlier levels.
Wholesale Prices Fall In May
June 16, 2010 4:41 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices fell for a second straight month in May, the first time that has happened in a year, reflecting big declines in the cost of energy and food. The Labor Department says wholesale prices dropped 0.3 percent in May following a 0.1 percent decline in April.
FIFA: Brewer Used Mini-Dresses As World Cup Marketing Ploy
June 15, 2010 5:20 am | CommentsJOHANNESBURG (AP) — FIFA is defending itself for questioning more than 30 young, blonde women who showed up for a World Cup match in orange mini-dresses that are the symbol of a beer advertising campaign in the Netherlands. Soccer's governing body says the outfits, which the women wore to the Netherlands-Denmark game Monday at Soccer City, were an ambush marketing campaign by the Dutch brewery Bavaria NV.
Olive Oil Production Moves Beyond Italy
June 15, 2010 5:19 am | CommentsBERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Call it the EVOO evolution. Extra-virgin olive oil, once the domain of Spain and Italy, is popping up in surprising new places. It's on the up-and-up Down Under, growing in Croatia and is becoming such an industry in South America that a Chilean producer is bringing two products to the U.
Brazil Poised To Lead Agricultural Boom
June 15, 2010 5:18 am | CommentsROME (AP) — The rising economies of Brazil, China, and India will see strong growth in their agricultural sectors in the next decade as output remains stagnant among big importers in Western Europe, international experts forecast Tuesday. Russia and Ukraine will also make big gains while high prices, which had caused riots over the cost of staples like rice and bread in some developing countries in 2008, will likely ease somewhat, according to a report by the U.
Coca-Cola Wants Industry To Fight Soda Taxes
June 15, 2010 5:18 am | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — The soft drink industry has to work together to make sure proposed soda taxes never come to pass, the chief financial officer of soft drink giant Coca-Cola Co. said Monday. Gary Fayard told analysts at a meeting that shoppers will continue to buy soft drinks even if prices go up — which taxes would do — but the industry's profits would be hurt and it doesn't want to see taxes passed.
ConAgra Buys American Pie
June 15, 2010 5:17 am | CommentsOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — ConAgra Foods Inc. said Monday it's acquiring American Pie LLC, a maker of desserts and frozen dinners under the Marie Callender's and Claim Jumper brand names. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to close in 30 days. American Pie makes pies, fruit cobblers and pie crusts under license from Marie Callender's and Claim Jumper.
Hershey Plans $250M Upgrade
June 15, 2010 5:15 am | CommentsHARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Chocolate maker The Hershey Co. said Monday it will spend $250 million to $300 million to modernize several facilities and cut costs as part of a plan that is intended to save $80 million a year and could mean big changes for the company's hometown. Hershey made the announcement after its board unanimously approved the plan.
Foreign Competition Hurts U.S. Mint Production
June 14, 2010 4:49 am | CommentsSAN PIERRE, Ind. (AP) — Larry Wappel strode into one of his peppermint fields, stirring up a refreshing fragrance as he brushed past deep-green plants holding the potent oil that gives a cool burst of flavor to toothpaste, candies and other products. When Wappel planted his first peppermint fields in northern Indiana's mint-growing region in 1988, the U.
