Food Roundup: Merisant Bankrupt, No Tyson Layoffs, Coffee Growers Sue Cartoonist, and More

Merisant files for bankruptcy — The maker of Equal and other low-cal sweeteners filed for chapter 11 protection today. Competing products like Splenda have been chipping away at Merisant’s market share, and the company has accumulated a lot of debt. But the company said it will continue with its recent launch of PureVia, a stevia-based sweetener, in partnership with PepsiCo. [Source: Wall Street Journal]

Tyson interim CEO: No layoffs planned — Leland Tollett told employees that major layoffs will not be part of the poultry company’s restructuring efforts. The company has been suffering lately and former CEO Richard Bond resigned unexpectedly on Monday. Tollett also said the company will find a permanent replacement for Bond very soon. [Source: Reuters]

Colombian Coffee Growers Federation to sue cartoonist — The organization is suing U.S. cartoonist Mike Peters for linking the Colombian coffee advertising icon, Juan Valdez, to violence. A character in Peters’ Mother Goose cartoon joked, “When they say there’s a little piece of Juan Valdez in every can, maybe they’re not kidding.” Critics say the ad smears the image of Colombian coffee. Apparently oblivious to the U.S. First Amendment, the federation is demanding $20 million. [Source: BBC]

FDA opens Latin America office — The Food and Drug Administration opened a new office in Costa Rica this week. This is the first such satellite office in Latin America, but last month the agency set up shop in Beijing and other Chinese cities. More foreign offices are planned for Latin America as well as India and the Middle East. [Source: Just-Food]

Domino’s investor can have bigger share — The pizza chain upped to 19.95 percent the stake Blue Harbour Group can hold in the company before triggering poison pill restrictions. The previous limit was 15 percent; the fund held an 11.9 percent stake at the end of September. [Source: Reuters]