Sara Lee

More than two months ago, Sara Lee Corp. called in the unions at its bakery in the northeast Iowa town of New Hampton and told them it would close the plant unless the unions came up with "something" to make it change its mind.The threat drew nationwide attention, mostly for the way Sara Lee handled it.New Hampton had raised the money to lure Sara Lee to town in 1971. Two years ago, the town and the state government came up with another $1 million package to persuade Sara Lee to stay. At the time, the company indicated that it would be around for at least five more years.

Investors unloaded shares of Sara Lee Corp. and ConAgra Foods Inc. yesterday after a news report suggested the two food manufacturers may get caught up in a federal probe of Columbia-based U.S. Foodservice's accounting practices. The Wall Street Journal, citing an anonymous source close to the investigation, said representatives of the two giant food manufacturers may have colluded with U.S. Foodservice executives to inflate the size of rebates vendors pay in exchange for meeting certain sales goals.

JP Foodservice Inc. of Columbia said yesterday that it has formed a special committee of independent directors, the next step in its proposed $946 million purchase of Sara Lee Corp.'s food-service business.The three-member group, headed by David Abramson, retained investment banking and legal firms to help in the evaluation. It hired Smith Barney Inc. and Morgan Lewis Githens & Ahn as financial advisers and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as legal counsel.In late November, Sara Lee, maker of Hanes underwear and Sara Lee cakes, offered to sell its PYA/Monarch food-service business to JP. The proposal called for Sara Lee to receive about $821 million in JP stock, or 52.4 million shares.

MOM, making that brown bag lunch just got easier. The Sara Lee Corp. has found a way to bake crustless bread. That's right, a slice of bread without the crust that doesn't lose its shape and packs a more nutritious punch than a slice of white bread. For decades, kids have eaten around the crust, torn it off or convinced the lunch-makers at home to do away with those brown edges on their peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And moms usually complied. All it took was a few quick strokes of a knife.

CHICAGO - Consumer products giant Unilever announced plans yesterday to spin off the baked goods unit of newly acquired Bestfoods, and Sara Lee Corp. immediately surfaced on analysts' lists of potential acquirers. The announcement comes amid a flurry of takeovers and sales in the food industry as companies try to sharpen their focus and grow to thrive and control costs. Earlier this month, Unilever completed its takeover of Bestfoods. with brands such as Hellmann's mayonnaise and Skippy peanut butter.

The number of deaths traced to contaminated meat from a Sara Lee Corp. processing plant in Michigan has climbed to nine, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported yesterday. In addition, three women have suffered miscarriages.The outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes has been identified in 62 people in 12 states since August, with five new cases confirmed in Arizona, health officials said.Nine adults have died and three women suffered miscarriages after eating hot dogs and possibly delicatessen meats containing Listeria bacteria, the federal health agency said.

* Item: Sara Lee New York Style Cheesecake* What you get: 6 servings* Cost: About $7* Preparation time: 30 seconds to thaw in microwave, 10 minutes or more to thaw on counter* Review: These new premium cheesecakes from Sara Lee garnered mixed reviews in our house. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Crumble tasted like an ice cream cake that wasn't quite up to par. But the Mixed Berry Swirl (flavored with cherries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries) was great. Rich and creamy, the swirls of berry flavoring tasted fresh and sweet.

DALLAS -- A Dallas investment group said yesterday that it bought the operating assets of Electrolux Corp. from Sara Lee Corp. and three banks for an undisclosed price to expand its holdings in the direct-sales industry.Closely held Engles Urso Follmer Capital Corp. said it acquired most of Electrolux, a direct seller of vacuum cleaners and floor-care products, from Sara Lee, Wells Fargo & Co., Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and BankBoston Corp.Engles Urso formerly was the U.S. arm of Sweden's Electrolux AB, a maker of appliances and outdoor products.

JP Foodservice Inc. said yesterday earnings for its fiscal first quarter were 51 percent below last year because of a one-time charge to account for the acquisition of two companies.Without the charge, earnings would have risen 91 percent in the first quarter of 1997, which ended Sept. 28, the company said.JP earned $1.8 million, or 9 cents a share, compared with $3.7 million, or 21 cents per share, for the same quarter a year before. Without the $5.3 million (17 cents a share) charge for the acquisitions, earnings per share would have been 26 cents.

CHICAGO -- Corporate budget-cutters may be taking a hard look at the bottom line, but where charitable contributions are concerned, there's still a soft spot for the needy.If anyone suffers from a slowdown of corporate giving, it's likely to be arts and cultural activities.In 1983, following the last recession, total cultural giving declined 15 percent, while total corporate donations jumped 25 percent, according to the American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel."From talking with other people in the field, I believe corporate giving patterns are changing," said Sara Levy, manager of community relations for R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. "There is deep concern to protect programs already being funded and a tendency to direct funding to core needs of society."