Providence, RI-based United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) has acquired full equity in Trudeau Foods, a Minnesota-based natural, organic and specialty foods distributor. Trudeau Foods will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of UNFI, and the deal affords UNFI the ability to expand in the markets of Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where Trudeau Foods was established.

The production plant owned by Hillside Candy LLC, Hillside, NJ, is now Safe Quality Food (SQF) Level 2 certified for its HACCP-based food safety plan. The SQF code is recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative.

Karoun Dairies, Turlock, CA, took home four awards from the American Cheese Society conference in Madison, WI, including first place in the Yogurts with No Additional Ingredients category for Karoun Yogurt.

Coinciding with October’s Non-GMO Month, a slew of non-GMO news came in from industry companies.

While all of its products are currently non-GMO, Reed’s, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, will start progressively labeling its products as GMO-free over the course of the next year, according to the company, which sells natural sodas and kombucha.

In November 2013, Nasoya, Ayer, MA, will begin displaying the Non-GMO Project Verification seal on its product packaging. The brand’s tofu products had long been produced using non-GMO ingredients, says the company.

The full line of Glee Gum from Verve, Inc., Providence, RI, has been Non-GMO Project Verified, making it the first line of chewing gum to display the seal, according to the company.

The Clif Bar Family Foundation’s initiative Seed Matters has unveiled four new fellowships totaling $500,000, which are being awarded to Ph.D. students studying organic plant breeding. The five-year grants are going to Ryan Gregory, who researches at Texas A&M and Texas Tech University; Zachary Jones of North Carolina State University; Claire Luby of University of Wisconsin-Madison and Louisa Winkler of Washington State University.

Published in WholeFoods Magazine, November 2013