News On French Fries and Potato Specialties from Northern America

McCain Foods Limited announced its sponsorship of the United Nations (UN) International Year of the Potato 2008, at the official launch today in New York.The United Nations General Assembly has declared that the potato should be a major component in st...

Four Queens restaurants were recently slapped with fines for trans fat violations during routine inspections, placing them among the first establishments to be punished under new laws that require city eateries to switch to alternative oils, margarin...

Fruit juice maker Lassonde Industries Inc. (TSX:LAS.A) is buying McCain Foods Canada’s aseptic beverage business in a $13.9 million deal that will eliminate 25 jobs.The agreement involves moving production equipment from Toronto to Grand Falls, N.B., w...

The Idaho Ethanol Processing LLC plant, located across from J.R. Simplot Co.'s French fry processing plant on Idaho 19, was reopened in September by Westway Holdings Corp., a New Orleans-based subsidiary of ED&F Man Holdings Ltd. of London. ED&amp...

The U.S. local food movement -- which used to be elite, expensive and mostly coastal -- has gone mainstream, with a boost from environmentalists who reckon that eating what grows nearby cuts down on global warming. But do food miles -- the distance e...

In composite design, the simplest solution tends to be the best. A case in point is an industrial spring arm manufactured by Gordon Composites Inc. (Montrose, Colo.) for the Iso-Flo vibratory conveyor system built by Key Technology Inc. (Walla Walla, ...

Keith Esplin, executive director of Potato Growers of Idaho, on this years crop:    “I think as far as the crop, growers are pleased with what they found,” he said. “Yield and quality are better than thought.”Esplin said growers were expecting ...

Food giant ConAgra has joined a voluntary industry initiative to reduce its marketing to children as part of a widespread move to improve kids' nutrition and reduce the rates of obesity.Yesterday's pledge follows a call for information from the chairm...

Washington state potato growers have settled processing contracts with the J.R. Simplot Co. and H.J. Heinz Co. for the 2008 growing season.Simplot will pay growers a $240-per-acre "energy surcharge"under the new contract, Potato Growers of Wa...

Harvest time is here and Idaho farmers are busy digging up their fields.  But the hot weather we saw this summer has taken a toll on the local crop. The fields are pretty much dug up, with a few stragglers left behind.  While farms say the quality o...

Today the board of directors of ConAgra Foods, Inc., (NYSE:CAG) announced two items related to the company's capital allocation program: The quarterly dividend has been raised to $0.19 per common share. This new rate will start with the Dec. 3, 2007...

For the marketing year July 2006 - June 2007 (MY07), the United States Potato Board (USPB) reports total US potato exports were valued at a record $1,000,252,000. On a volume basis, total exports were 1,108,391 metric tons (MT). This represents an inc...

Is a French fry just a fried potato? Oh, no. Chefs such as Brasserie Beck’s Robert Wiedmaier have been serving up gourmet versions of the fast food classic. Before diners dunk those $7 orders of fries into chef Robert Wiedmaier’s house-made mayonnais...

ConAgra Foods, Inc., (NYSE:CAG) one of North America’s leading packaged food companies, today reported results for the fiscal 2008 first quarter ended Aug. 26, 2007. Diluted EPS from continuing operations was $0.36, including net $0.02 per diluted sha...

ConAgra Foods, an Omaha, Neb.-based food processing company, has an agreement to purchase the Prosser facility from Stanwood, Wash.-based Twin City Foods. The purchase is scheduled to close in the next 30 days, and does not include the facility in El...

Wallace McCain, chairman of the board of MapleLeaf Foods Inc. and co-founder of one of the world's largest frozen food companies McCain Foods, will receive the coveted Ernst &Young Entrepreneur Of The Year(R)2007 Ontario Lifetime Achievement Award...

Jim Tiede operates a farm with his son Alex in the Flat of Pleasant valley and the harvest has just begun. Jim said he didn't expect this year's potato yield to be as good as last year's record crop, but he was encouraged by what they found once they ...

Bill Brewer, executive director of the Oregon Potato Commission, said that potato growers are looking for a return to normal production in 2007. "So far, we're happy with the quality,"Mr. Brewer told The Produce News. "Potato growers are...