Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American

consumer packaged goods Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), also known as consumer packaged goods (CPG), are products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost. Examples include non-durable household goods such as packaged foods, beverages, toiletries, can ...

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

headquartered in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. Conagra makes and sells products under various

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, and

food service The foodservice (US English) or catering (British English) industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations, and many ...

establishments. Based on its 2021 revenue, the company ranked 331st on the 2022

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

History

Founding and success

ConAgra was founded in 1919 by Frank Little and Alva Kinney, who brought together four grain mills as Nebraska Consolidated Mills (NCM) at

Grand Island, Nebraska Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 53,131 at the 2020 census. Grand Island is the principal city of the Grand Island metropolitan area, which consists of Hall, Merrick ...

. The headquarters were moved to Omaha in 1922. The company ran at a profit until 1936, when Kinney retired. In 1940, the company began producing

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cul ...

at its own mill, and in 1942 ventured into the livestock feed business. That year, NCM president R. S. Dickinson opened the company's first out-of-state facility in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

with a flour mill and animal feed plant. After researching new uses for its flour, NCM funded the establishment of the Duncan Hines brand of cake mixes in 1951 as a way to market more flour. This venture was very successful, leading the company to its current place as the third largest flour miller in the U.S. However, this did not lead NCM to consider other food ventures, and instead it sold its Duncan Hines assets to

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

in 1956. As American households purchased more and more prepared and instant foods in the 1950s and 1960s, NCM chose not to expand into the businesses that used its flour, instead turning in the opposite direction and focusing more on raw foods like poultry and expanding its livestock feed business. ConAgra Foods logo

Decline and comeback

In 1971, Nebraska Consolidated Mills changed its name to "ConAgra Foods", with "ConAgra" being a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsC. Michael "Mike" Harper, an experienced food industry executive, took over the firm and brought it back from the brink of bankruptcy. Nonetheless, ConAgra's business model left it vulnerable to volatile commodity prices. In response, the company set off on a two-decade-long buying spree, purchasing over one hundred prepared food brands, starting with its 1980 purchase of

Banquet Foods Banquet Foods is a subsidiary of Conagra Brands that sells various food products, including frozen pre-made entrées, meals, and desserts. The brand is best known for its line of TV dinners. Banquet was founded in 1953, with the introduction of ...

. It moved heavily into the frozen food business and the packaged meat industry, and then picked up a selection of other brands from firms like RJR Nabisco and Beatrice Foods (including

Hunt-Wesson Hunt's is the name of a brand of preserved tomato products owned by Conagra Brands. The company was founded in 1888, in Sebastopol, California, as the Hunt Bros. Fruit Packing Co., by Joseph and William Hunt. The brothers relocated to nearby Sa ...

and

Swift-Eckrich Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food processing company founded in 1894. In 1987, its international food operations were sold to Reginald Lewis, a corporate attorney, creating TLC Beatrice International, after which the majority of ...

) among others, as the

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money ( leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loa ...

s of the 1980s resulted in the divestiture or breakup of many major American consumer product firms. In 1993 alone it purchased $500 million in smaller firms, and in 1998 it purchased another $480 million in brands from

Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco' ...

Modification of business areas and further acquisitions

In 2002, ConAgra Foods sold its fresh meat operations under the name Swift & Company to Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, Inc. and Booth Creek Management. In 2006, ConAgra Foods sold its Chicago-area-based refrigerated meats business ( Butterball, Eckrich,

Armour Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...

) to Smithfield Foods. ConAgra maintained a presence in Chicago by moving its

business there from California. In 2007, ConAgra acquired Watts Brothers Farms, a vegetable processing and agricultural operation, including an organic dairy. On November 27, 2012, ConAgra officials announced the company was purchasing Ralcorp, pending Ralcorp shareholder approval, for approximately $4.95 billion. Stockholders of Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. would receive $90 per share. The deal completed in January 2013 and made ConAgra the largest private-label packaged food business in the United States.

Exit from Nebraska and rebranding

On October 1, 2015, ConAgra announced that it would cut about 1,500 jobs and relocate its headquarters to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

as part of a restructuring plan. The move of headquarters from Omaha to Chicago was completed in late June 2016 with the opening of their new HQ at the

Merchandise Mart The Merchandise Mart (or the Merch Mart, or the Mart) is a commercial building located in downtown Chicago, Illinois. When it was opened in 1930, it was the largest building in the world, with of floor space. The Art Deco structure is loca ...

building. It is the first time since 1922 that ConAgra has not been headquartered in Omaha and the first time in the company's history, dating back to its 1919 founding, that the headquarters will not be in the state of Nebraska. On July 14, 2014, ConAgra announced that it had acquired TaiMei Potato Industry Limited, a potato processor in Shangdu, Inner Mongolia. This acquisition expands ConAgra Foods' Lamb Weston operations in a market that has growing demand for frozen potato products. On November 18, 2015, ConAgra announced it was spinning off its Lamb Weston division into a separate company that would be based in

Kennewick, Washington Kennewick () is a city in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima rivers and across from the confluence of the C ...

. They also announced that ConAgra Foods would be renamed as Conagra Brands in 2016. Thomas Werner and Timothy McLevish were named executive and executive chairman. The

Lamb Weston Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. is an American food processing company that is one of the world's largest producers and processors of frozen french fries, waffle fries, and other frozen potato products. It is headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, a suburb o ...

() spinoff was completed on November 9, 2016, with the new company headquartered in the suburbs of

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...

, with major manufacturing facilities in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. At the same time, ConAgra Foods changed their name to Conagra Brands (now with a lowercase A), complete with a new logo.

Recent history

On September 22, 2017, Conagra announced that it was acquiring Angie's Artisan Treats, maker of Angie's Boomchickapop popcorn. The acquisition was completed on October 23, 2017. On June 27, 2018, Conagra Brands announced the acquisition of

Pinnacle Foods Pinnacle Foods, Inc., is a packaged foods company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, that specializes in shelf-stable and frozen foods. The company became a subsidiary of Conagra Brands on October 26, 2018. History The company was fou ...

for $8.1 billion. The acquisition closed on October 26, 2018. On December 8, 2020, Conagra announced that it was selling the

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

brand to Post Holdings. The transaction was completed on January 25, 2021.

Governance

The board of directors are: Mogens C. Bay, Stephen G. Butler, Steven F. Goldstone, Joie A. Gregor, Rajive Johri, W. G. Jurgensen, Richard H. Lenny, Ruth Ann Marshall, Gary M. Rodkin, Andrew J. Schindler, and Kenneth E. Stinson.

Products

Conagra produces a wide array of food products including

cooking oil Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic liquid fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. It is also used in food preparation and flavoring not involving heat, such as salad dressings and bread dips, and may be called edible oil ...

frozen dinners A frozen meal (also called TV dinner (Canada and US), prepackaged meal, ready-made meal, ready meal (UK), frozen dinner, and microwave meal) is a packaged frozen meal that comes portioned for an individual. A frozen meal in the United States an ...

hot cocoa Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener like whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolat ...

, hot dogs,

peanut butter Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers. Peanut butter is consumed in many countri ...

and many others. Some of ConAgra's major brands include Act II, Hunt's,

Healthy Choice Healthy Choice is the name of a brand of refrigerated and frozen foods owned by ConAgra Foods. According to ConAgra's official corporate history, it came into being after then-ConAgra CEO Charles "Mike" Harper suffered a heart attack in 1985. Fo ...

, Marie Callender's, Udi's Gluten-Free, Orville Redenbacher's, Slim Jim,

Reddi-wip Reddi-Wip is an American brand of sweetened whipped cream propelled from its container by nitrous oxide. It is produced by Conagra Brands and is sold in varieties such as Original, Extra Creamy, Fat Free, Zero Sugar, and Barista. In 2019, two n ...

, Egg Beaters, Pam, Angie's Boom Chicka Pop, Earth Balance, Glutino, Hebrew National, Duke's,

Chef Boyardee Chef Boyardee is an American brand of canned pasta products sold internationally by Conagra Brands. The company was founded by Italian immigrant Ettore Boiardi in Milton, Pennsylvania, U.S., in 1928. History After leaving his position as head ...

, Home Menu and

Bertolli Bertolli is a brand of Italian food products produced by multiple companies around the world with the trademark owned by Mizkan Holdings. Originating as a brand of extra-virgin olive oil, in which it was the global market leader, pasta sauces an ...

ready meals.

Partnership with Feeding America against child hunger

The

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

ConAgra Foods Foundation has pledged a five-year commitment of $10 million to Feeding America to fight child hunger. Additionally, ConAgra Foods founded the ''Child Hunger Ends Here'' campaign in 2013 that would donate up to 3 million meals equivalent to Feeding America by donating one meal for each code submitted to the campaign's website by consumers.

Criticism

Environmental issues

Conagra has been criticized for its lack of response to global

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. A 2006 report by Ceres, a non-profit organization that works to address global climate change and other

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

issues, entitled "Corporate Governance and Climate Change: Making the Connection", measures how 100 leading global companies are responding to global warming. Companies in the report were evaluated on a 0 to 100 scale. ConAgra scored a total of 4 points, the lowest of any of the food companies rated. In a 2009 ranking by ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', ConAgra ranked 342nd out of U.S. 500 largest corporations in terms of overall environmental score. In 2003–2004, ConAgra participated in a

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is a Minnesota state agency that monitors environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that hav ...

voluntary investigation and clean-up program. Through the program, the company cleaned up a property previously used for

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense soli ...

ore processing and constructed a new office/warehouse building. This voluntary program offers "future liability protection". On January 7, 2014, a California Superior Court found that ConAgra and its co-defendants were liable in creating a public nuisance due to lead-based paint the companies sold. Ten local governments in California filed the suit and the court ordered Conagra, NL Industries and Sherwin-Williams to pay $1.15 billion to remove or abate the lead in homes located in those cities and counties. Although ConAgra never produced paint, it assumed the liabilities of W. P. Fuller & Co., a San Francisco-based paint producer, through a series of acquisitions. The disposition of ''The People v. ConAgra Grocery Products Company et al.'' in the California 6th Appellate District Court on November 14, 2017, is that

Labor issues

In May 2003, ConAgra and its subsidiary Gilroy Foods agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle charges of hiring discrimination brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The charges involved a July 1999 Teamsters strike at a plant in King City, California, then owned by Basic Vegetable Products LP but later purchased by ConAgra. In August 2001, the company negotiated with the union an end to the two-year strike with a new contract that would recall workers based on seniority. However, the recall process excluded workers who were on leave at the time of the purchase including those out due to work injury or pregnancy. Others were denied jobs due to a history of previous injury or illness, despite their having no restrictions on returning to work. According to the EEOC, most of the 39 workers who were excluded from the recall process had been working at the plant for 10 to 30 years and were primarily

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

and female. The company's

Greeley, Colorado Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 17.12% since the 201 ...

, plant had been cited almost 10 times from 1999 to 2002 for violating worker safety. In July 2004, six people were killed in a shooting inside the ConAgra Foods plant in Kansas City, Kansas.

Fraud and bribery

In 1997, ConAgra pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges that its Peavey Grain unit illegally sprayed water on stored

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

to increase its weight and value and also bribed federal inspectors. The company agreed to pay $8.3 million to resolve the charges, which included a $4.4 million criminal fine, $3.45 million as compensation for illegal profits and $450,000 to reimburse the U.S. Department of Agriculture for storage and investigation expenses. Conagra had also paid $2 million to settle a related civil case filed by a group of Indiana farmers. Multinational Monitor, a corporate watchdog organization, named Conagra one of the 'Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990s'.

Demolition of historic site

In 1988, ConAgra threatened to relocate from Omaha to Denver, Chicago or Minneapolis if the city didn't help find a new location for its headquarters. Charles Harper, the chief executive of Conagra at the time, requested that the city of

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest c ...

demolish a historic site, one of the largest on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. Omaha approved the demolition of over 20 historic structures in ''

Jobbers Canyon Historic District Jobbers Canyon Historic District was a large industrial and warehouse area comprising 24 buildings located in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, US. It was roughly bound by Farnam Street on the north, South Eighth Street on the east, Jackson Street on th ...

'', a 19th-century warehouse district along the banks of the Missouri River in

Downtown Omaha Downtown Omaha is the central business, government and social core of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, U.S. state of Nebraska. The boundaries are Omaha's 20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east and the centerline ...

, Nebraska. The demolition made room for a sprawling new corporate campus and headquarters, and prompted protests and lawsuits from historic preservationists. Harper had described the structures as "some big, ugly red brick buildings." The

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...

asked that the historic legacy of a city and region not be held hostage to the narrow corporate preferences of a single commercial enterprise, but Conagra refused to reconsider. The Jobbers Canyon district was adjacent to another historic district, the Old Market, which has proved to be an important center of cultural, tourist, and residential development in Omaha. Omaha's then-planning director, Marty Shukert, said it was more important to keep the city's downtown core healthy than to keep the historic district. Others noted that the district was in disrepair and ConAgra's new headquarters have been an aesthetic and economic improvement for the city. In 2015, Conagra announced the relocation of its headquarters to the 100 year old historic Merchandise Market, in Chicago, in spite of the demolition of Jobbers Canyon.

Accounting issues

On May 23, 2001, ConAgra Foods, Inc., announced that it would restate its earnings for 1998, 1999 and 2000, due to accounting and conduct matters at its United Agri Products Cos. unit. For fiscal 1998, revenues was cut from $24.27 billion to $24.19 billion. On March 24, 2005, ConAgra Foods, Inc. announced that the results for fiscal 2003 and 2004 would be restated to reflect a reduction in after-tax profits of $150 million to $200 million in total.

Genetically modified food

In 2002, Conagra and other major food and beverage companies including

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manufa ...

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company or ...

Kelloggs The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toast ...

, Sara Lee, and H. J. Heinz Co. spent millions to defeat Oregon Ballot Measure 27, which would have required food companies to label products that contain genetically modified ingredients. According to the

Oregon Secretary of State The secretary of state of Oregon, an elected constitutional officer within the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Oregon, is first in line of succession to the governor. The duties of the office are auditor of public accounts, c ...

, ConAgra contributed $71,000 to the campaign to defeat the state ballot initiative. Throughout 2012, ConAgra contributed $1,176,700 to a $46 million political campaign known as the Coalition Against the Costly Food Labeling Proposition, sponsored by food producers. The organization's goal was to oppose the California citizen's initiative, known as Proposition 37, demanding mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients. Although the proposition was defeated, there was strong consumer backlash against the coalition's opposition. Consumer advocates encouraged nationwide boycotts of coalition members, and movements were started in several other states to enact similar labeling requirements. As a result, ConAgra and others in the Coalition met with

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

(the largest food retailer in the U.S.) to seek a nationwide labeling system for genetically modified foods, instead of trying to defeat the measures in every state.

Product incidents

2002 ''E. coli'' outbreak

Conagra recalled 19 million pounds of

ground beef Ground beef, minced beef or beef mince is beef that has been finely chopped with a knife, meat grinder (American English), mincer or mincing machine (British English). It is used in many recipes including hamburgers, bolognese sauce, meatloaf, ...

in July 2002 with '' E. coli'' bacterial contamination. It was the third-largest recall up to that time. That meat was linked to the illnesses of 19 people in six Western and Midwestern states.

2006–2007 ''Salmonella'' outbreak

In February 2007, Conagra recalled jars of

and Great Value brand

with the product code "2111" on the lid, because they were linked to a ''

Salmonella ''Salmonella'' is a genus of rod-shaped (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two species of ''Salmonella'' are '' Salmonella enterica'' and '' Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' is the type species and is ...

'' outbreak. Ultimately, the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georg ...

(CDC) documented more than 628 individuals who were stricken with ''Salmonella'' poisoning in 47 states that could be traced back to Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter. Of those, 20% were hospitalized, according to the CDC, which reported no deaths associated with the outbreak. Since Peter Pan (but not Great Value) is only made at one plant, the recall included all Peter Pan jars sold in the U.S. between May 2006 and February 2007. In May 2015, the company agreed to plead guilty to releasing products tainted with ''Salmonella'' into interstate commerce. Sentencing was delayed by U.S. District Court Judge W. Louis Sands, who ordered nationwide newspaper advertisements searching for victims of the outbreak so the government could supply Victim Impact Statements for inclusion in the pre-sentence report.

Diacetyl

On September 4, 2007, the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association recommended reduction of

diacetyl Diacetyl (IUPAC systematic name: butanedione or butane-2,3-dione) is an organic compound with the chemical formula (CH3CO)2. It is a yellow liquid with an intensely buttery flavor. It is a vicinal diketone (two C=O groups, side-by-side). Diacet ...

in butter-like flavorings, such as those used in popcorn, due to cases of the potentially fatal disease

bronchiolitis obliterans Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO), also known as obliterative bronchiolitis, constrictive bronchiolitis and popcorn lung, is a disease that results in obstruction of the smallest airways of the lungs (bronchioles) due to inflammation. Symptoms inclu ...

or "Popcorn Workers's Lung" appearing among plant workers exposed to diacetyl fumes, as well as in one case that involved a popcorn consumer. The next day ConAgra Foods announced that it would soon remove diacetyl from its

Jiffy Pop Jiffy Pop is a popcorn brand of ConAgra Foods. The product consists of popcorn kernels, oil, and flavoring agents contained within a foil-covered, disposable aluminum pan. Once the paper outer covering is removed, the pan is held by an attached han ...

and Orville Redenbacher's popcorn products.

2007 ''Salmonella'' outbreak

On October 11, 2007, Conagra asked stores to pull the

Banquet A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...

and generic brand chicken and turkey pot pies due to 152 cases of ''Salmonella'' poisoning in 31 states being linked to the consumption of Conagra pot pies, with 20 people hospitalized. At that time, both the USDA and Conagra decided in favor of a consumer advisory and against a recall. ConAgra said the issue stemmed from pies not being cooked thoroughly in older microwaves, and that the package's heating instructions would be changed to reflect different microwaves. However, the plant in Marshall,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, where the pot pies were manufactured closed on October 11 as well. By October 12, a full recall was announced, affecting all varieties of frozen pot pies sold under the brands Banquet, Albertson's, Food Lion, Great Value, Hill Country Fare, Kirkwood,

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cinci ...

, Meijer, and Western Family. The recalled pot pies included all varieties in 7-oz. single-serving packages bearing the number P-9 or "Est. 1059" printed on the side of the package. By October 14, 174 cases of ''Salmonella'' poisoning in 32 states were linked to consumption of the contaminated ConAgra pot pies, with 33 people hospitalized. Public interest groups criticized Conagra for the delay in issuing the recall, a decision which Conagra defended by saying the recall was a precaution. At the time of the recall, the USDA had still not identified the source of the ''Salmonella'' contamination. On October 17, the Colorado Department of Public Health reported that "An investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state public health departments involved a large cluster of illnesses caused by ''Salmonella'' that identified these products" and stated that, "Nationally, at least 211 individuals from 35 states have become ill." From January 1 through December 31, 2007, the CDC identified a total of 401 cases in 41 states.

2009 Slim Jim plant explosion

On June 9, 2009, at 11:27 am ET, an explosion rocked the Slim Jim manufacturing plant in Garner,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

resulting in the collapse of a section of the facility's roof and wall. Three workers were killed, a fourth died from burn injuries five months later, while 67 others – including three firefighters – were hospitalized for burns and exposure to

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous ...

gases. The explosion happened when natural gas was purged into the interior of the building during commissioning of a new, gas-fired water heater. This explosion was directly responsible for an amendment to the National Fuel Gas Code prohibiting fuel gas piping systems in large buildings from being purged indoors. On March 3, 2010, ConAgra announced that the Garner plant would close in approximately 18 months, and Slim Jim production would be moved to a plant located in

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. On the day of the closing, it was also announced that former Slim Jim spokesperson Randy Mario Poffo, known professionally as Randy Savage, died in a car accident after suffering heart complications while driving and striking a tree.

References

External links

* {{Authority control, state=expanded Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Food and drink companies established in 1919 1919 establishments in Nebraska Food recalls Food manufacturers of the United States Condiment companies of the United States Multinational food companies