"conagra" news and stories

So much public attention has been focused on the growing problem of childhood obesity that it's become easy to forget that, for an alarming number of kids, the problem they face is just the opposite of a few too many Happy Meals.

An estimated one in four children in America don't know where their next meal is coming from, according to ConAgra. The food conglomerate, which is better known for its myriad household brands, from Chef Boyardee and Manwich to Marie Callender's and Peter Pan, is stepping up its campaign to end child hunger in the U.S.

Uh-oh, SpaghettiOs!

Both Campbell's Soup and ConAgra are issuing recalls on processed foods because of potential food safety issues.

Campbell's is recalling about 15 million pounds of canned SpaghettiOs with Meatballs because they contain meatballs which may be under processed, Examiner.com reported.

ConAgra issued a national recall of all Marie Callender's Cheesy Chicken & Rice frozen meals because of a potential link to an outbreak of salmonella Chester that has left 29 sick in 14 states, USA Today reported.

King Krinkz

One fast food chain won't even make you get in the car to enjoy fried fare.

Burger King announced Tuesday that it is teaming up with ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston to launch a line of microwaveable Burger King-branded crinkle-cut french fries nationwide this fall. It seems now, you can "have it your way" in the comfort of your own home.

Burger King's microwaveable seasoned crinkle-cut fries, dubbed "King Krinkz" will be the first product in the line to hit stores, including Wal-Mart, in early September. King Kolossalz extra-large crinkle-cut fries and King Wedgez seasoned potato wedges will be released shortly after the King Krinkz hit stores.

Looking inside the Slim Jim. Photo: Rachel Been

When Macho Man Randy Savage snaps into a Slim Jim, what exactly is he snapping into?

According to manufacturer ConAgra, the Slim Jim was invented by Philadelphia sausage-maker Adolph Levis in 1928. The cellophane-wrapped sausage sticks were originally sold in jars that sported an illustration of a "tall, elegant man complete with top hat and cane" named "Slim Jim."

Today's Slim Jim, with an ad campaign that lets you create an avatar and wander around "Spicy Side," is likely a far cry from the original. And it's got Wired wondering where that meat stick comes from.

Sweet potato fries. Photo: Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission

Sweet potatoes, long touted for their nutritional attributes, are soon to make a cameo in the fast food world.

To keep up with the mushrooming demand for sweet potato fries -- a snack which about a decade ago was primarily available from eateries that stocked their condiment caddies with liquid aminos and stuffed their Reubens with tempeh -- ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston has announced plans to build the world's first large-scale facility dedicated to sweet potato processing. According to a release, the Louisiana plant will allow Lamb Weston to meet the sweet potato fry needs of the nation's "largest quick-service restaurant chains."

"Sweet potatoes are a strategic priority for ConAgra foods," CEO Gary Rodkin says in the announcement.

René Simon, director of the Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission, isn't bothered that the deep-fryer has helped turn the spotlight on his state's signature Beauregard sweet taters (which, weirdly, many Louisiana farmers call "yams," a misnomer that entered the Pelican State's vocabulary at the behest of a 1950s marketing exec).

"This is the South," he laughs, telling Slashfood: "Don't we fry everything?"