Totino's

"Party pizza" redirects here. For the Italian-American baked good, see Italian tomato pie.
Totinos
Product typeFrozen pizza and pizza products
OwnerGeneral 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
Websitewww.totinos.com
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Totino's and Jeno's are brands of frozen pizza products owned by General Mills.

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.[when?] 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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

See also

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. ^ a b 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.