Totino's

Last updated
Totinos
Totinos.svg
Product typeFrozen pizza and pizza products
Owner General Mills
CountryUnited States
Introduced1951;73 years ago (1951) (Totino's)
1968;56 years ago (1968) (Jeno's)
MarketsWorldwide
Previous ownersRose and Jim Totino (Totino's)
Jeno's Inc. (Jeno's)
Pillsbury Company
Website www.totinos.com

Totino's and Jeno's are brands of frozen pizza products owned by General Mills.

Contents

History

Jim Totino founded a take-out pizzeria in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1951. It was expanded it to a full-service restaurant,[ when? ] which closed in 2011. [1] Totinos founded a frozen-pizza manufacturing company. The Totinos sold their frozen pizza business to the Pillsbury Company, where Rose Totino was named as vice-president. [2] Totino's brand was acquired by General Mills with its purchase of Pillsbury.

Separately, Jeno Paulucci developed a series of food businesses starting in the late 1940s, including the Chun King line of Chinese foods. [3] After selling Chun King in 1966, he founded Jeno's Inc. in 1968, where cook and product developer Beatrice Ojakangas developed Pizza Rolls, [4] [5] a type of egg roll filled with pizza ingredients. The first pizza roll flavor was cheese. [3] In 1985, Paulucci sold his Jeno's Pizza Rolls brand to Pillsbury for $135 million. [6]

The Jeno's line of pizza rolls was rebranded as Totino's in 1993. [7]

Health and nutrition issues

On November 1, 2007, Totino's and Jeno's brand pizza were recalled for E. coli contamination. [8]

Totino's products contain cheese substitutes made with hydrogenated oil. [9] Totino's products have been criticized for their high amount of trans fat [10] and sodium. [11] In 2011, Consumer Reports rated Totino's as "only fair for nutrition" because of "high total fat and trans fat and low fiber." [12] [13] By at least October 2013, packaging on Totino's brand pizza now indicates 0 trans fat per serving.

See also

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References

  1. "Totino's Italian Kitchen in Mounds View to close after 60 years". twincities.com. 7 June 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  2. "Rose Totino". Great American Leaders of the 20th Century. Harvard Business School. n.d. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
  3. 1 2 Slotnik, Daniel E. (November 25, 2011). "Jeno Paulucci, a Pioneer of Ready-Made Ethnic Foods, Dies at 93". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  4. Johnston, Louis D.; Riley, Susan E. (May 19, 2021). "How (American) Chinese cuisine gave birth to the Minnesota-invented pizza roll". MinnPost . Retrieved March 1, 2024.
  5. Dean, Lee Svitak (October 9, 2016). "Adventure of a lifetime". Star Tribune . pp. E7. Retrieved March 1, 2024 via Newspapers.com.
  6. Finkelstein, Matt (2007-11-02). "The Master Chef". Inc.com. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  7. "Totino's History". Totino's. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  8. "Ohio Firm Recalls Frozen Meat Pizzas Due to Possible E. Coli O157:H7 Contamination" (Press release). Food Safety and Inspection Service. November 1, 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-02-09. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
  9. "Pizza Makers Whip Dairy Lobby, Duck 'Imitation Cheese'". Ocala Star-Banner . June 10, 1987. Retrieved October 31, 2012 via Google News.
  10. Rem, Kathryn (January 18, 2012). "Kathryn Rem: Investigating the contents of packaged foods  Trans Fats Have Not Gone Away". GateHouse News Service. Archived from the original on 20 Jan 2013. Retrieved 2019-11-01 via Journal Star.
  11. "Processed-Food Makers Criticized on Sodium". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 13, 1986. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  12. "Shop Smart: Frozen pizzas can satisfy even adults". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Consumer Reports. January 30, 2011. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  13. Perrin, Gail (November 30, 1988). "Frozen Pizzas May Be High in Fat". The Boston Globe . Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved October 31, 2012.