D.D. Williamson, Louisville, Ky., has acquired the Dinesen Trading Co., Port Washington, Wis. The acquisition of the natural color manufacturer will broaden the range of food and beverage color products available from D.D. Williamson. The company will operate Dinesen’s color manufacturing facility in Wisconsin as the central source for its expanded natural colors operation. The D.D. Williamson spectrum of natural colors will now feature annatto, turmeric, paprika and carmine, in addition to the elderberry and chokeberry products acquired through its July acquisition of the natural colors business of Artemis International Inc.

Degussa AG, Dusseldorf, Germany, has agreed to sell its food ingredients operations to Cargill, Minneapolis, for $670 million. The Degussa management board decided in August 2004 to divest its food ingredient business in order to provide it with the opportunity for further development into a leading global position. After selling the fruit systems activities in early 2005, today the Degussa food ingredients business unit consists of the texturant systems and flavors business lines.

In December, Chr. Hansen, Milwaukee, Wis., and Mengniu Dairy, China’s No. 1 milk producer, hosted an international workshop on healthy probiotic bacteria in Beijing. More than 120 visitors, including Chinese and overseas scientific experts and business partners, heard about new research results and the future of probiotic bacteria in China.