Food Roundup: Cards Help Recalls, Burger King Body Spray Returns, and More

Stores notify customers via loyalty cards — Some supermarket chains are using data from loyalty cards to contact customers who have purchased recalled products, such as peanut butter contaminated with salmonella. Costco, for example, has contacted more than 1.5 million customers. CSPI has urged other stores to follow suit. [Source: Daily Bread]

Supervalu promotes African-American vendors — The supermarket chain has teamed up with Coca-Cola to celebrate Black History Month. In addition to setting up displays and giving away samples of foods from black-owned companies, Supervalu is also sponsoring an essay contest, with $150,000 in scholarship prizes. [Source: Progressive Grocer]

Interstate Bakeries Corp. emerges from bankruptcy — After four and a half years, the maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread has reorganized and come out of bankruptcy. IBC stock has been delisted and ownership will now be shared between a group of investors, including Ripplewood Holdings. [Source: Food Business News, AP]

FTC extends Whole Foods talks to March — The Federal Trade Commission said it wanted to allow more time to reach “a mutually agreeable settlement” with Whole Foods. The FTC was investigating the chain’s 2007 purchase of Wild Oats for possible antitrust violations, even though many stores have already been converted. [Source: Reuters]

Burger King brings back body spray — The $4 burger-scented fragrance is on sale again, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Burger King hasn’t released sales figures yet, but it says the body spray, called “Flame,” sold “like wildfire” when it was first released in mid-December. [Source: foodservice.com]