CPG

NEW YORK - A U.S. federal judge is expected to approve a $9 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit against several food companies that sold products containing genetically modified corn, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

NEW YORK - Carbonated soft drink sales increased a mere 0.5 percent in the United States in 2001, an increase of about 54 million cases over 2000, based on preliminary statistics released today from Beverage Marketing Corporation.

ZURICH - Swiss healthcare group Novartis AG and U.S. drinks and snack food giant PepsiCo Inc. have ended their functional foods joint venture less than two years after its launch, Reuters reports.

CHICAGO - Troubled cosmetics maker Revlon Inc. on Tuesday said it has named former Coca-Cola Co. president and chief operating officer Jack Stahl as its chief executive. Stahl, 48, will be the company's third chief executive in five years, Reuters reports.

CAMDEN, N.J. - Campbell Soup Company on Saturday voluntarily recalled one day's production of its 18.7-ounce cans of soup labeled Campbell's Ready To Serve Classic Tomato, because it may contain undeclared milk and soy protein.

IRVINE, Calif. - ConAgra Grocery Products announced on Thursday is voluntarily recalling about 36,000 cases of Healthy Choice Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup because it may have been mislabeled.

CHICAGO - Susan D. Wellington, head of Gatorade's U.S. operations, is leaving just six months after PepsiCo Inc. acquired the brand's owner, Quaker Oats Co., the Chicago Tribune reports.

CHICAGO - Kraft Foods Inc. is once again a target of Genetically Engineered Food Alert, the Washington-based group whose research led to Kraft's recall of taco shells containing StarLink last year, Reuters reports.