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SAN FRANCISCO - An activist group called the GE-Free Markets Coalition and regional anti-GE food groups are organizing "the National Day of Action" on June 8 as part of a multi-year campaign to get GE foods out of grocery stores.

PURCHASE, N.Y. - PepsiCo Inc. said it will unite all of its North American beverage operations, including Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade, in a new division led by one of its most senior beverage executives.

LAKELAND, Fla. - Publix Super Markets Inc. has launched a Web site to support its purchasing and reverse auction program.

LONDON - Britain's Marks & Spencer Plc has signed a three-week exclusivity deal with New York-based Gristede's Foods Inc. on the sale of its U.S. Kings supermarkets unit, UK papers said on Sunday.

Food retailing has never been a haven for aspiring women executives. But that's changing, thanks to Elizabeth, Carole, Larree, and a number of others.

NEW YORK - Leading pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc. has sent a letter to Farmland Industries Inc., offering to buy the company's beef and pork operations, people close to the situation told The Wall Street Journal.

NEW YORK - McDonald's Corp. is exploring how to use its restaurant locations to sell items other than food, Wednesday's Wall Street Journal reported.

PHILADELPHIA - In an effort to organize employees at Norristown, Pa.-based Genuardi's Family Markets, five United Food and Commercial Workers union locals are planning a big campaign over Memorial Day weekend, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.