Baking & Snack - May 2008 - 17

NEWS

Rice Chex go
gluten free
General Mills, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, reformulated its Rice Chex cereal to be gluten free. The company replaced barley malt
syrup with molasses, resulting in a product
that may be labeled "gluten free." General
Mills said it has taken steps to prevent
cross-contamination during production
and tested the formula based on proposed
Food and Drug Administration standards.
"This is a revolutionary step forward
for consumers who want easy and affordable access to gluten-free food options,"
said Rohan Thakur, Chex
cereal marketing manager.
"General Mills and Chex recognize the growing consumer
demand for gluten-free
products, and we're pleased
to make Rice Chex, a classic
American breakfast offering,
available to more people."

ABA elects Klosterman as chairman
At the 2008 annual meeting of the American Bakers Association, Kenneth (Chip) Klosterman Jr.
was elected the organization's chairman for the two
years ending in March 2010.
Mr. Klosterman, who has been on the ABA
Executive Committee for six years and the board
for an additional four, is president of Klosterman
Baking Co., Cincinnati, OH.
Mr. Klosterman and a slate of officers were
elected March 30 at the annual board of governors
meeting at the Arizona Biltmore hotel in Phoenix.
Elected first vice-chairman was Allen L. Shiver,
president and c.o.o., Flowers Foods Specialty Group,
Thomasville, GA. The board of governors elected
KLOSTERMAN
as second vice-chairman Reynaldo Reyna, president of Bimbo Bakeries USA, Ft. Worth,
TX. Albert Lepage, chairman of Lepage Bakeries, Inc., Auburn, ME, was elected treasurer.
Renato (Ron) G. Turano, who just completed a 2-year term as chairman, was elected
immediate past-chairman.
"We are enthusiastic and lucky to have such a strong leadership team for our 2008-10
term," said Robb MacKie, ABA president and c.e.o. "The ABA membership and professional staff look forward to working with our new officers to continue the successful path
our organization is on to be a strong and united voice for the baking industry."

NEWS IN BRIEF
National Starch Food Innovation will celebrate the grand
opening of the Texture Center
of Excellence on June 5. Located at
the Bridgewater, NJ, headquarters, the
state-of-the-art research facility is dedicated to the understanding and control of
food texture. The center's work includes
generating innovative new products, especially those based on clean label, natural
and organic ingredients. The event also
marks the launch of the Texture Institute,
which will offer educational and training
programs to help the industry improve the
appearance and texture of all major categories of packaged food.

The Whole Grains Council is
taking the Whole Grain Stamp
program overseas. Beginning
in April, British Bakels, Bicester, UK,
launched the first-ever product outside
of North America to carry the stamp. The
stamp is featured on British Bakels new
BAKING & SNACK / May 2008

Multi Wholegrain Bread Concentrate,
which contains four different types of
grains and rye flour and a minimum of
29 g of whole grain per serving.

The Consumer Price Index
for baked foods and cereal
products in March moved up
1.2% from February, according to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US Department of Labor. The increase comes
on the heels of a 2% gain in February, the
largest in more than 35 years, and is only
the eighth time in the past decade that the
index exceeded 1% growth.

Pepperidge Farm, Inc. expanded its international distribution into Panama. The company
began selling many of its cookie and cracker
varieties including Milano, Bordeaux,
Chessmen and Goldfish at major supermarkets, grocery stores and mass merchandisers
in the Central American country.

Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc.
will open three new bakerycafes in the Kansas City area,
with the first set to open by the end
of the year. This expansion is part of
its national development plan for its
bakery-cafe concept. An affiliate of Sun
Capital Partners, Inc., Bruegger's operates approximately 260 neighborhood
bakery-cafes in 21 states.

The Schwan Food Co. announced a reorganization of
its Schwan's Home Service,
Inc. business unit. The company
eliminated 307 field positions and created
123 new positions to improve focus and
performance of the division. Schwan's
Home Service markets and distributes
approximately 400 frozen food products
under the Schwan's brand through homedelivery and mail-order services.

Baking & Snack - May 2008

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