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Kraft Foods Inc said that splitting into two companies would lead it to cut about 1,600 jobs in North America this year and that its 2011 profit should be slightly higher than it had previously forecast.

The maker of Twinkies, Sno Balls and Wonder Bread is trying to lose the fat. Hostess Brands is hoping to cut its high costs as it heads back into bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than a decade.

North Korea says that before Kim Jong Il's death the United States offered to provide food aid if Pyongyang halted its uranium enrichment program. North Korea responded angrily to the offer Wednesday, with a Foreign Ministry spokesman accusing Washington of "politicizing" food shipments.

The Food and Drug Administration says it will limit the presence of one type of antibiotics in meat, saying they could increase human resistance to the drugs. The agency said Wednesday it will restrict the use of cephalosporin antibiotics, which are often given to cattle, swine, chickens and turkeys before slaughter. The drugs are used to treat pneumonia, skin infections and other diseases in humans.

Several more national retailers have joined Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in pulling a batch of powdered infant formula from their shelves.

Wal-Mart says it has recalled a quantity of infant formula this week after a baby died in Missouri... Wal-Mart said it is pulled a batch of Enfamil from its stores nationwide that matched the size and lot number of the formula that may have sickened the baby in Missouri, Gee said. That lot number is ZP1K7G. The baby formula was purchased from a Wal-Mart in Lebanon, Missouri. After the purchase, a 10-day-old infant died from a rare bacterial infection, CNN affiliate KYTV reported.

Horses could soon be butchered in the U.S. for human consumption after Congress quietly lifted a 5-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspections, and activists say slaughterhouses could be up and running in as little as a month....

The price of food at home is projected to rise by 4 to 5 percent this year, and another 2 to 3 percent next year, according to the Agriculture Department. That’s adding another financial worry for many people already living with tight budgets thanks to the weak economy and high jobless rate.

Consumers paid more for food and gas last month, although inflation outside those volatile categories was tame. The Labor Department says the Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent in September, below a 0.4 percent rise in August. Excluding food and energy, so-called core prices increased 0.1 percent, the smallest rise since March.

“Burgers are one of America’s most iconic foods and everyone has a different definition of a perfect burger,” says Food & Wine’s Daniel Gritzer. “You can talk to 10 different people and find there are 10 different takes on what is a perfect burger.”