Nonfoods

PITTSBURGH - Up to 70 cases of salmonella poisoning throughout Pennsylvania had been linked to a deli product sold at Sheetz convenience stores by Friday afternoon, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health said it expected the number to continue to increase throughout the weekend.

LAKEVILLE, Minn. - Grist Mill Co., based here, is voluntarily recalling Fruit & Nut Trail Mix Granola Bars and Muesli Cereals, sold under retailer brand names, because they are potentially contaminated with salmonella.

BOULDER, Colo. - Wild Oats Markets, Inc., the nation's No. 2 natural and organic supermarket chain, will be moving into the Cincinnati market with a new store opening in the Deerfield Town Center July 21.

EDMONTON, Alta. - Planet Organic Health Corp., which runs large natural food supermarkets in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, will pay CAN$4 million (US$3.034 million) in cash and stock for Sangster's, a 35-store national chain that sells vitamins and supplements.

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration issued rules last week prohibiting nervous system tissue and other cattle parts from being used in human food, dietary supplements, and cosmetics, according to published reports.

WASHINGTON - Retail prices for food at the supermarket dropped 2.5 percent in the second quarter of 2004, according to the latest American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) market basket survey. The informal survey on the total cost of 16 basic grocery items showed a decrease of 99 cents from the 2004 first-quarter survey.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - It has now become much simpler for food stamp recipients to buy groceries in California, since the last of California's 58 counties, Amador, Calaveras, Lake, Mendocino, Placer and Tuolumne, have implemented the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) system.

Sales and merchandising may center on the winter holidays, but the time is always right for an exciting hors d'oeuvres assortment.