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Packaged food giant the Kraft Heinz Company announced on Tuesday that its board of directors has unanimously approved a plan to split into two separate, publicly traded companies. The proposed split will essentially reverse a merger between the companies from 2015, which has not provided favorable long-term results. Shares of Kraft Heinz (NYSE:KHC) were down more than 4% in early trading on Tuesday after the announcement. The stock is down 13% year to date and more than 25% over the last 12 months. What will the breakup look like? The names of the two separate companies have yet to be decided. The first company, referred to in the news release as Global Taste Elevation Co., will primarily feature shelf-stable meals. It will include brands like Heinz, Kraft Mac & Cheese, and Philadelphia. The second company, referred to in the news release as North American Grocery Co., will feature a scaled portfolio of North American staples. It will include brands like Kraft Singles, Lunchables, and Oscar Mayer. The proposed separation is intended to be tax-free, with the transaction expected to close in the second half of 2026. According to Kraft Heinz, the split is intended to maximize Kraft Heinzs capabilities and brands while reducing complexity, allowing both new companies to more effectively deploy resources toward their distinct strategic priorities.” “By separating into two companies, we can allocate the right level of attention and resources to unlock the potential of each brand to drive better performance and the creation of long-term shareholder value,” said Miguel Patricio, executive chair of the Kraft Heinz board, in a statement. A question-and-answer session is scheduled for today, Tuesday, September 2, 2025. Mega-merged companies are thinking smaller The proposed split follows a recent trend in which larger companies are splitting into two smaller entities, sometimes undoing the size and scale they’d achieved by merging in the first place. In 2023, The Kellogg Companys board of directors approved a plan to split into two separate entities: Kellanova, which would focus on snack foods, and WK Kellogg Co, which would primarily focus on cereals. The separation was finalized in October 2023. Unilever, meanwhile, announced plans in 2024 to spin off its ice cream division as a separate company. The Magnum Ice Cream Company, which will operate as a stand-alone business featuring brands such as Ben & Jerrys, Magnum, and Wall’s, is expected to go public during the last quarter of 2025. And just last week, Keurig Dr Pepper announced its ultimate plans to split into two separate companies. It will acquire JDE Peets, then operate as two businessesone focused on coffee and another on other beverages, such as sodas and energy drinks.
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E-Commerce
It’s tomato season and Lidia is harvesting on farms in California’s Central Valley.She is also anxious. Attention from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could upend her life more than 23 years after she illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border as a teenager.“The worry is they’ll pull you over when you’re driving and ask for your papers,” said Lidia, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition that only her first name be used because of her fears of deportation. “We need to work. We need to feed our families and pay our rent.”As parades and other events celebrating the contributions of workers in the U.S. are held Monday for the Labor Day holiday, experts say President Donald Trump’s stepped-up immigration policies are impacting the nation’s labor force.More than 1.2 million immigrants disappeared from the labor force from January through the end of July, according to preliminary Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center. That includes people who are in the country illegally as well as legal residents.Immigrants make up almost 20% of the U.S. workforce and that data shows 45% of workers in farming, fishing and forestry are immigrants, according to Pew senior researcher Stephanie Kramer. About 30% of all construction workers are immigrants and 24% of service workers are immigrants, she added.The loss in immigrant workers comes as the nation is seeing the first decline in the overall immigrant population after the number of people in the U.S. illegally reached an all-time high of 14 million in 2023.“It’s unclear how much of the decline we’ve seen since January is due to voluntary departures to pursue other opportunities or avoid deportation, removals, underreporting or other technical issues,” Kramer said. “However, we don’t believe that the preliminary numbers indicating net-negative migration are so far off that the decline isn’t real.”Trump campaigned on a promise to deport millions of immigrants working in the U.S. illegally. He has said he is focusing deportation efforts on “dangerous criminals,” but most people detained by ICE have no criminal convictions. At the same time, the number of illegal border crossings has plunged under his policies.Pia Orrenius, a labor economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said immigrants normally contribute at least 50% of job growth in the U.S.“The influx across the border from what we can tell is essentially stopped, and that’s where we were getting millions and millions of migrants over the last four years,” she said. “That has had a huge impact on the ability to create jobs.” ‘Crops did go to waste’ Just across the border from Mexico in McAllen, Texas, corn and cotton fields are about ready for harvesting. Elizabeth Rodriguez worries there won’t be enough workers available for the gins and other machinery once the fields are cleared.Immigration enforcement actions at farms, businesses and construction sites brought everything to a standstill, said Rodriguez, director of farmworker advocacy for the National Farmworker Ministry.“In May, during the peak of our watermelon and cantaloupe season, it delayed it. A lot of crops did go to waste,” she said.In Ventura County, California, northwest of Los Angeles, Lisa Tate manages her family business that grows citrus fruits, avocados and coffee on eight ranches and 800 acres (323 hectares).Most of the men and women who work their farms are contractor-provided day laborers. There were days earlier this year when crews would be smaller. Tate is hesitant to place that blame on immigration policies. But the fear of ICE raids spread quickly.Dozens of area farmworkers were arrested late this spring.“People were being taken out of laundromats, off the side of the road,” Tate said.Lidia, the farmworker who spoke to the AP through an interpreter, said her biggest fear is being sent back to Mexico. Now 36, she is married with three school-age children who were born here.“I don’t know if I’ll be able to bring my kids,” said Lidia. “I’m also very concerned I’d have to start from zero. My whole life has been in the United States.” From construction to health care Construction sites in and around McAllen also “are completely dead,” Rodriguez said.“We have a large labor force that is undocumented,” she said. “We’ve seen ICE particularly targeting construction sites and attempting to target mechanic and repair shops.”The number of construction jobs are down in about half of U.S. metropolitan areas, according to an Associated General Contractors of America analysis of government employment data. The largest loss of 7,200 jobs was in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California, area. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale area lost 6,200 jobs.“Construction employment has stalled or retreated in many areas for a variety of reasons,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But contractors report they would hire more people if only they could find more qualified and willing workers and tougher immigration enforcement wasn’t disrupting labor supplies.”Kramer, with Pew, also warns about the potential impact on health care. She says immigrants make up about 43% of home health care aides.The Service Employees International Union represents about 2 million workers in health care, the public sector and property services. An estimated half of long-term care workers who are members of SEIU 2015 in California are immigrants, said Arnulfo De La Cruz, the local’s president.“What’s going to happen when millions of Americans can no longer find a home care provider?” De La Cruz said. “What happens when immigrants aren’t in the field to pick our crops? Who’s going to staff our hospitals and nursing homes?” _ An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to the name of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The name is not Immigration Control and Enforcement. Corey Williams, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
In mid-August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an advisory stating that select shrimp products destined for stores in the United States may be contaminated with Cesium-137 (Cs-137), a radioactive isotope that could have devastating health consequences. Now, the FDA has issued additional alerts covering additional products that may be contaminated with the radioactive isotope, including some sold at major grocery store chains like Kroger. Heres what you need to know. Whats happened? In August, the FDA issued a food safety advisory alerting the pubic to potential Cs-137 contamination in select shrimp products. Fast Company previously reported on the potentially radioactive shrimp that were sold at Walmart under the Great Value brand. A few days later, the FDA issued an additional notice expanding the radioactive shrimp recall to additional brands, including Sand Bar, Arctic Shores, Best Yet, Great American, and First Street. At the heart of the recall is shrimp manufactured by an Indonesian-based supplier called BMS Foods. U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) detected Cs-137 in shipping containers at four U.S. ports, which alerted the agency to the possibility of contaminated products. Why is Cs-137 bad? Due to nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s and 1960s, there are already trace amounts of Cs-137 in the environment. But exposure to larger concentrated amountslike contaminated foodcan cause serious health effects. Cs-137 can damage DNA, leading to an increased risk of cancer. Ingestion of Cs-137 can also lead to acute radiation sickness. After the CBPs discovery, the FDA posted two recall notices covering shrimp products sourced from BMS Foods. Now, the FDA has issued another three recall notices expanding the number of potentially radioactive shrimp products consumers should be on the lookout for. What are the latest recalled products? On August 28, the FDA published a new recall alert covering select shrimp products sold at Kroger and other grocery stores. Under this recall, approximately 18,000 2lbs bags of Kroger Mercado Cooked Medium Peeled Tail-Off Shrimp are being recalled due to the possibility of exposure to Cs-137. The recalled products have the following codes: UPC 011110626196, Lot code 10662 5139, Best Before 11/19/2027 UPC 011110626196, Lot code 10662 5140, Best Before 11/20/2027 The recalled products were sold between July 24 and August 11, 2025, at the following grocery stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, New England, Ohio, South Caroline, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, and West Virginia: Bakers Gerbes Jay C Kroger Marianos Metro Market Pay Less Supermarkets Pick n Save Also on August 28, the FDA posted another radioactive shrimp recall notice for approximately 26,460 packages of Cocktail Shrimp 6oz manufactured by AquaStar (USA) Corp of Seattle, Washington, due to the possibility of exposure to Cs-137. The product has the UPC code 19434612191 and the Lot Codes 10662 5106, 10662 5107, 10662 5124, and 10662 5125. This recalled product was sold between July 31 and August 16, 2025 at Walmart stores in Arkansas, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North dakaota, New England, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. Fast Company reached out to Kroger and AquaStar for comment. One day later, the FDA posted yet another recall notice, this one for frozen shrimp produced by Southwind Foods, LLC of Carson, California, due to the possibility of exposure to Cs-137. This recalled shrimp was distributed to unnamed retailers, distributors, and wholesalers in Alabama, Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and Washington between July 17 – August 8, 2025. What should I do if I have the radioactive shrimp products? It should be noted that Cs-137 hasnt been confirmed to be present in all the recalled shrimp products above. Rather, the products are at risk of being contaminated with Cs-137. As of the time of this writing, there are no known illnesses attributed to any of the recalled shrimp products with the potential for Cs-137 contamination. The FDA says that if you have any of the recalled products, you should not consume them. Instead, you should dispose of the recalled shrimp products or return them to their place of purchase for a refund.
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