News
Snyder's Of Hanover Develops Compostable Packaging
April 26, 2010 5:56 am | CommentsCINCINNATI and HANOVER, Pa. (PRNewswire) — Major U.S. snack foods manufacturer Snyder's of Hanover has developed the first certified, fully compostable outer retail package for multipack salted snacks. The packaging, a renewable, cornstarch-based plastic made with a blend of natural polymers and organic materials, was sourced and co-developed by xpedx®, one of the largest U.
Animal Disease Hot Spots Found Around Yellowstone
April 26, 2010 5:47 am | CommentsBILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The animal disease brucellosis is emerging in new "hot spots" around Yellowstone National Park, according to new research that could complicate efforts to control transmissions of the disease to cattle. Feeding grounds where food is left for elk as well as herds of bison inside the park have long been considered the main sources of brucellosis, which causes pregnant animals to abort their young.
Iowa's Oldest Microbrewery Celebrates Birthday
April 26, 2010 5:46 am | CommentsAMANA, Iowa (AP) — Carroll Zuber remembers the day a quarter-century ago when he found a man snooping around his new brewery. "Can I help you?" Zuber asked him. The stranger, it turned out, was the head brewer for Budweiser and he had made the trip up from St. Louis to check out the beer-making facility in Amana.
Chickens Turn To 'Cannibalism' In Large Pens
April 26, 2010 5:41 am | CommentsMONTMORENCI, Ind. (AP) — As more states move to ban restrictive livestock cages, the campaign to free egg-laying hens from cramped cages and shift them to pens animal rights advocates call more humane could be poised to unintentionally boost deaths among those birds. Researchers say decades of breeding to make the white leghorn hens that lay most of the nation's eggs more productive have also boosted the birds' territorial instincts, making them prone to pecking attacks so fierce they're often called "cannibalism.
McCormick Shakes Up Management
April 26, 2010 5:39 am | CommentsApril, 26, 2010 SPARKS, Md. (AP) — McCormick & Co. Inc. announced a reorganization of some of its management team on Friday. The spice company said Ken Stickevers, vice president and general manager of sales and marketing for the company's U.S. consumer products division, has been promoted to president of the division.
Hostess Closing Ohio Bakery
April 26, 2010 5:38 am | CommentsDALLAS (AP) — Hostess Brands Inc. will shutter an 87-year-old Ohio bakery later this summer and lay off the facility's roughly 100 workers. The company, which makes Wonder bread and various sweets, said it will shut the Akron plant by June 25 and consolidate its operations with another bakery in Northwood, Ohio — nearly 3 hours away.
Ramen Wants To Change The Noodle World
April 23, 2010 5:28 am | CommentsKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — More than a half-century after his father invented instant noodles to feed Japan's war-ravaged masses, Koki Ando says it is time to change the high-calorie, salt-laden fast food into healthier fare for the fastidious. This week, Ando chaired a World Instant Noodles Summit that brought manufacturers together to focus on the food's future: less salt to lure health-conscious customers, better environmental standards and a bigger push for corporate responsibility by donating noodles to disaster victims.
Canadian Slaughterhouse Accused Of Mistreating Horses
April 23, 2010 5:27 am | CommentsFORT MACLEOD, Alta. (CP) — RCMP are investigating conditions at an Alberta slaughterhouse after animal welfare activists were sent a video they say shows horses being shot and then left suffering for long periods of time before being killed. But an industry group says, while the treatment of the horses in the video is deplorable, it's unlikely it was shot at the slaughterhouse in question at the time the activists claim.
Taiwan Customs Official Smuggles Japanese Beef
April 23, 2010 5:25 am | CommentsTAIPEI (Kyodo) — A Taiwan customs official is in custody after allegedly covering up the smuggling of high-grade beef from Japan into Taiwan in defiance of a mad cow disease ban, officials and newspaper reports said. Tang Lung-sheng, a section head at the Taipei Customs Office, is alleged to have protected the smuggling operation that brought in more than 5,000 kilograms of Matsusaka beef over more than a year.
Study Finds Cattle Feed Bad For Ozone
April 23, 2010 5:23 am | CommentsFRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Air officials for years have blamed dairy cow emissions for the unusually high ozone levels in California's San Joaquin Valley, but a new study points more to what goes into the animals than what comes out. The study — funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, California Air Resources Board and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District — initially was intended to measure the impact of animal manure, urine and flatulence on ozone levels.
McCormick Plans Record Rooftop Solar Project
April 23, 2010 5:22 am | CommentsBALTIMORE (AP) — McCormick & Co. says it is teaming with Constellation Energy to develop Maryland's largest rooftop solar power installation at the spicemaker's Belcamp distribution center. The 1.8 megawatt installation follows a nearly 1 megawatt solar installation at McCormick's Hunt Valley site, also developed by Constellation.
Bill To Ban Kids From Energy Drinks Fails
April 23, 2010 5:20 am | CommentsBATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A proposed ban on the sale of energy drinks in Louisiana to children under the age of 16 was soundly rejected Wednesday by a Senate committee, likely scrapping the measure for the legislative session. Sen. Robert Adley, R-Benton, said he offered the bill on behalf of a constituent who raised health concerns about the drinks and who calls the jolts of caffeine popular with teenagers and college students "speed in a can.
Detroit Goes From Cars To Farms
April 23, 2010 5:19 am | CommentsDETROIT (AP) — Detroit, which revolutionized manufacturing with its auto assembly lines, could once again be a model for the world as residents transform vacant, often-blighted land into a source of fresh food. With growing interest in locally raised food, cities including New York, Los Angeles and Seattle are looking at ways to foster and manage urban agriculture.
Value Chain Project To Help Philippine Farmers
April 21, 2010 5:29 am | CommentsDAVAO CITY, Philippines (PRNewswire) — A new $5.4 million project aims to increase the incomes and food security of 25,000 farmers in the Philippines by harnessing local value chains to increase opportunities and sustainability in growing high-value crops like cocoa, coconuts and rice.
Sunny D Plants Achieve Zero Waste Goal
April 21, 2010 5:21 am | CommentsCINCINNATI (PRNewswire) — The Sunny Delight Beverages Co. (SDBC) announced today that all six of its manufacturing sites have already reached their sustainability goal of sending zero waste to landfills by 2013. This goal was achieved by the company's Anaheim, Calif.; Littleton, Mass.; and Mataro, Spain plants in 2009 — four years ahead of schedule — its South Brunswick, N.
Utah Water Named 'World's Best'
April 21, 2010 5:03 am | CommentsBEAVER, Utah (AP) — It's sweet and has a perfect PH balance — water from southern Utah's Tushar mountain range. The spring water was judged the world's best for bottlers in a prestigious contest. The Tushar water beat out 43 global competitors in a February contest sponsored by a Berkeley Springs, W.
Labatt Pulls Equipment From Ontario Plant
April 21, 2010 4:55 am | CommentsHAMILTON, Ont. (CP) — Labatt Breweries is already stripping equipment from its now-closed Hamilton plant. After suddenly shutting down the Lakeport brewery in Hamilton last Friday, the foreign-owned beer giant started stripping vats and other material from the plant this week. Norm Cooper, chairman of the Teamsters local that represented Lakeport workers, was one of about eight workers still in the plant as the dismantling process began.
Bacardi Adds Wind Turbines To Puerto Rico Distillery
April 21, 2010 4:51 am | CommentsSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Rum giant Bacardi Ltd. has installed two wind turbines to help power its Puerto Rico distillery. Joaquin Bacardi, head of the Bermuda-based rum company, says the pair of 137-foot turbines at the Catano distillery are expected to produce 1 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year.
Hormel Closing California Plant
April 21, 2010 4:40 am | CommentsAUSTIN, Minn. (AP) — Food Processor Hormel Foods Corp. said Tuesday that it will close its plant in Turlock, Calif., later this year, eliminating 163 jobs. The plant, which produces its Valley Fresh canned meats, will close by Oct. 29. Hormel is moving production to another facility, which it said will improve purchasing and distribution.
School Lunches Become Matter Of National Security
April 20, 2010 7:34 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — School lunches have been called many things, but a group of retired military officers is giving them a new label: national security threat. That's not a reference to the mystery meat served up in the cafeteria line either. The retired officers are saying that school lunches have helped make the nation's young people so fat that fewer of them can meet the military's physical fitness standards, and recruitment is in jeopardy.
