Hershey Foods will discontinue its Ice Breakers Pacs candy in response to criticism that it was packaged in a way that resembled powdered cocaine. The single-serve packets of powdered breath mints came in film that dissolved on the tongue, but police officers and others said the product too closely resembled powdered street drugs.

Restaurants will see a slowdown in growth in 2008 because of the uncertain economy, according to restaurant consultancy Technomic. Revenue for restaurants and bars grew 5.9% in 2007 but will grow only 3.8% in 2008, Technomic predicts.

The Sholl Group II, marketer of selected Green Giant Fresh produce products, has named Jo Gruber as director of strategic business and product development.

Supervisors in California’s Los Angeles County have backed off a plan to ban plastic grocery bags. Instead, officials went with a voluntary program of recommending that grocers encourage their customers to use cloth or other reusable bags.

New Belgium Brewing has joined One Percent for the Planet, a program under which it will donate 1% of its sales to non-profit organizations that promote sustainability. The program supports more than 150 such organizations.

The last dairy on Hawaii’s island of Oahu has announced plans to shut down, leaving the island’s more than 900,000 inhabitants dependent on imported milk. The closing of Pacific Dairy will leave the state of Hawaii with just two dairies, both on the state’s Big Island, whose population will consume most if not all of their products.

Unilever has announced plans to combine all its U.S.-based food businesses, excluding ice cream, into a new unit called U.S. Foods Business Team. Amanda Sourry, currently vice president and general manager of Meal Solutions and New Vitality, will become senior VP and general manager of the new group.

Daniel Stepper, formerly of Coca-Cola, has joined bottled water company Icelandic Glacial as vice president of sales and marketing.