Conagra Inc

Food conglomerate ConAgra Inc. said it's buying International Home Foods Inc., the maker of Chef Boyardee pasta products, Pam cooking spray and Gulden's Mustard, for $1.6 billion in cash and stock. The deal comes amid a flurry of consolidation in the food industry as manufacturers seek to expand their portfolios of brands so they can have more clout with grocers in bargaining for shelf space.

ConAgra Foods Inc. said quarterly earnings fell 14%, after it sold its fresh beef and pork operations as it shifts emphasis to branded food lines. ConAgra, which makes Peter Pan peanut butter, Hunt's ketchup and Parkay margarine, earned $194.9 million, or 37 cents a share, in the fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 24. The results were a penny shy of analysts' average expectations. Omaha-based ConAgra shares closed down 43 cents, or 1.9%, to $22.37 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Other earnings, excluding one-time gains or charges unless noted, include: * Carnival Corp. said net income fell 4.5% in its fiscal third quarter to $396.2 million, or 67 cents a share, but beat estimates by 3 cents. Revenue rose 6% to $1.23 billion, helped by three new cruise ships added to Carnival's 48-vessel fleet. The company said profit was hurt by continuing pressure on ticket prices and significantly higher fuel costs. * ConAgra Inc.

Armed with about 1,300 signatures in opposition to a planned flour mill in West Fullerton, residents will ask the City Council tonight to overturn the project. The city's Planning Commission last month approved the mill proposed by Hunt-Wesson's parent company, ConAgra Inc. of Omaha, Neb. Residents filed an appeal to the City Council, contending dust from the mill would pose health hazards.

ConAgra Inc. said it will shed 7,000 of its 83,000 workers and close dozens of processing plants and storage depots as part of a restructuring aimed at saving $600 million a year. Specific locations were not named. The Omaha-based firm is the country's second-largest food company and is known for brands such as Butterball turkeys, Peter Pan peanut butter and Armour foods.

More than 40 residents and their children who live next to a proposed flour mill protested against the project in front of City Hall following this week's City Council meeting. Residents said they want an environmental study done for the project and carried placards with messages including "No Silos in Our Backyard!" Some wore dust masks over their nose and mouth to represent the health effects they believe the flour mill would cause.