Trading Partners

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - Fresh Brands, Inc. announced yesterday that it had discovered a mistake that resulted in the understatement of its cost of goods sold for 2001, 2000 and 1999.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. - ACNielsen announced that its Web-based category management intelligence system, Category Business Planner (CBP), will soon include information from Raley's, a leading West Coast retailer. Raley's owns and operates Raley's Superstores, Bel Air Markets, and Nob Hill Foods.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Wal-Mart and Safeway were two of the most notable names among the many retailers nationwide affected by the second largest beef recall in history.

NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J., and WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Lowes Foods, an operator of 102 grocery stores in North Carolina and Virginia, has chosen NeXpansion's Endless Aisle technology to expand its product selection.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. and PRINCETON, N.J. - The Meat and Poultry Data Standards Organization (mpXML) and the Uniform Code Council Inc. (UCC) have announced an initiative to synchronize efforts to develop global electronic trading standards for perishable meat and poultry products.

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration ruled Tuesday that water laced with nicotine is illegal, ending a California company's bid to begin selling bottles later this month, The Associated Press reports.

CHICAGO - European plans to label gene-altered foods and require data tracking their movement threatened a new transatlantic trade row on Wednesday as U.S. grain sector officials said they are unworkable and would lead to higher food costs, Reuters reports.

NEW YORK - Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP has filed a class action lawsuit against A&P on behalf of a shareholder group, alleging that the company violated the federal securities laws by issuing materially false and misleading statements that artificially inflated the market price of its securities.