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Sara Lee Frozen Bakery has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Spokane, Washington-based pie maker Cyrus O’Leary’s Pies. The transaction is the latest in a series of initiatives at Sara Lee Frozen Bakery aimed at growing its presence in the in-store bakery (I.S.B.) category, which began last August with the acquisition of Superior Cake Products, Inc.

Nutraceuticals can encompass a wide variety of health-related products including vitamins, supplements, mineral blends, and even various foods like energy bars. Many of these formulations involve the fine blending of as many as 40-50 components, including powders and trace elements.

A traceback investigation by the FDA did not find a single, common source of blackberries linked to a hepatitis A outbreak.

Dean Foods Company and some of its subsidiaries have entered into an asset purchase agreement with Dairy Farmers of America by which DFA will acquire a substantial portion of Dean Foods’ business operations. If the agreement is approved, DFA will acquire 44 of the Dean Foods’ fluid and frozen facilities and the real estate, inventory, equipment, and all other assets necessary to operate such facilities (aka the “Stalking Horse Assets”).

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is spearheading a North America-wide pilot program aimed at implementing Why and How to Measure Food Loss and Waste: A Practical Guide, a program launched in March 2019.

Heartland Catfish Company has completed part one of a two-part expansion that will bring additional freezing and processing capacity to the company’s Mississippi headquarters. The two-pronged expansion will bring up to 40 new jobs to the catfish processor. 

Twinlode Automation, an integrator of warehouse automation and storage systems, announced it has become an official member of the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW). Twinlode Automation has long held expertise in the movement of time-sensitive food and produce items as they are moved from field to store shelves, and the decision to join the IARW underscores that commitment and better positions the company for being more deeply involved in the industry.

While much of the work involving the standardization of communication in the overall food supply chain is finished, there is still work needing to be done regarding the standardization of IIoT sensor data. I asked Nenad Ivezic, leader of the Process Engineering Group in the Systems Integration Division of the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Engineering Laboratory, to fill us in on the particulars.