It's Monday, and that means it's time to take a look back at the most-popular stories that appeared on Food Manufacturing during the previous week. From changes at Campbell Soup to Kellogg Company closing its operations in Venezuela, we've got it covered in this edition of Food Manufacturing: Last Week In Review.
1. Campbell Soup CEO Out, Strategic Review Under Way
The top executive at Campbell Soup will retire and the company is undergoing a strategic review as it tries to revive sales that have been under pressure due to shifting American tastes and rising costs. Denise Morrison, who has been has been CEO since 2011, is being replaced immediately by Keith McLoughlin, who will lead the company on an interim basis.
2. Bumble Bee CEO Indicted On Charge He Fixed Canned Tuna Price
U.S. prosecutors filed a criminal charge Wednesday against the CEO of Bumble Bee Foods as part of an ongoing investigation into price fixing in the packaged seafood industry. A grand jury in San Francisco indicted Christopher Lischewski on one count of price fixing, alleging that from November 2010 to December 2013 he conspired with others in the industry to eliminate competition by setting prices for canned tuna.
3. Kellogg Latest US Brand To Ditch Crisis-Wracked Venezuela
Kellogg Co. closed operations in Venezuela and laid off 300 workers Tuesday at a time of widespread hunger in the crisis-wracked South American nation. The Battle Creek, Michigan-based company said in a statement that it ceased operations as a result of the "current economic and social deterioration" in Venezuela.
4. UN Health Agency Aims To Wipe Out Trans Fats Worldwide
The World Health Organization has released a plan to help countries wipe out trans fats from the global food supply in the next five years. The United Nations agency has in the past pushed to exterminate infectious diseases, but now it's aiming to erase a hazard linked to chronic illness.
5. 3 Tips To Better Manage Food Allergens
With millions of Americans affected by food allergies, it is crucial for food and beverage manufacturers to understand what exactly food allergens are and implement processes to control and manage all types of allergens in their products.
6. Kent Quality Foods Recalls 308,000 Pounds Of Hot Dog And Sausage Products
Kent Quality Foods, Inc., a Grand Rapids, Michigan establishment, is recalling 308,430 pounds of various beef, pork, and turkey ready-to-eat hot dog and sausage products due to misbranding and an undeclared allergen, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced.
7. Cold Spring Brewing Company Acquires Carolina Beverage Group, LLC
The combined company is being named Carolina Beverage Group and will be headquartered in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. By combining Cold Spring and Carolina Beverage Group, LLC, Brynwood has created one of the largest independently owned contract manufacturers in the beverage sector for numerous well-known national and international brands.
8. North Carolina Beer Distribution Law: Brewers' Suit Bubbling
The Charlotte breweries claim in their suit that the law is unconstitutional because once they've sold more than 25,000 barrels in a year, they're required to give up pricing and sales control of their products to middlemen for virtually as long as their beers are brewed. Brewers hitting that cap must sell everything to a wholesaler, which then sells to stores or taverns.
9. Norway Salmon Tech Coming To Atlantic Canada For First Time
A company that farms salmon in Maine and New Brunswick says it's using a new approach to combating the epidemic of sea lice that has never been used in Atlantic Canada before. Cooke Aquaculture says it's adding a new vessel that'll use warm-water baths to remove lice from fish. The company says it's a Norwegian technology called the "Thermolicer."
10. Lawmakers Repel Challenge To Much-Criticized Sugar Program
The U.S. sugar industry on Thursday won an easier-than-expected victory over food processors, soft drink manufacturers and candy makers trying to rewrite the government's much-criticized sugar program, a web of price supports, loans and tariffs that props up prices for the commodity.
