The Horizon Organic Holding Co. board has voted to approve an extension of the merger agreement with Dean Foods Co. to Jan. 15, 2004. Dean Foods and Horizon Organic announced that they anticipate closing the merger transaction in early January.

Dean Milk Co., a Dean Foods unit in Louisville Ky., voluntarily recalled containers of its 2% reduced fat milk last month because it may have come in contact with eggnog.

More than 168,000 visitors and 6,000 exhibitors gathered for Anuga 2003, which took place October 11 -15, 2003, in Cologne, Germany. Visitor attendance increased 2.5% compared to Anuga 2001. More than 55% of visitors came from outside Germany - an increase of 10% from 2001.

Safeway has taken its Dominick's chain off the sales block and hired a new president Randall Onstead to right the Chicago area chain and perhaps restore its relationship with union employees. One of the first actions Onstead took last month was to announce that some of the poorly performing stores in the 113-unit chain will be closed.

Vietnamese milk processors, including those with fortified products, are launching extensive advertising campaigns with the aim of raising their sales, according to the Vietnamese News Agency. Vietnamese products mainly compete against imports in terms of price, with theirs being 30%-40% lower than foreign products, and recent sales figures show that this has increased local firms' market share.

Japanese Snow Brand Milk Products Co. recently reported a net profit for the half year to Sept. 30 amid intense restructuring efforts, a turnaround from a hefty loss incurred in the wake of a series of food scandals. In its interim earnings report, the company said its net profit came to 392 million yen, or 1.72 yen per share, compared with a year-earlier loss of 45.36 billion yen. Snow Brand Milk's business was ravaged following a widespread food-poisoning case caused by its milk products in 2000.