More email, more rebuttals



Don't know who did the research, but this is interesting. It would be more interesting if it were true.



Shortly after reading the following e-mail content, I happened to look at the label of a jar of Heinz sandwich slice pickles. Yep...."Made in Mexico"



Check some of your Heinz products.



"Sen. John Kerry keeps talking about U.S. corporations leaving this country and setting up shop in foreign countries, taking thousands of jobs with them. He is right, because that has happened. However, he is trying to blame it on George W. Bush.



As far as I know, Bush has not moved one factory out of this country because he is not the owner of a single factory.



That cannot be said about Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz-Kerry.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Kerrys own 32 factories in Europe and 18 in Asia and the Pacific. In addition, their company, the Heinz Company leases four factories in Europe and four in Asia. Also, they own 27 factories in North America, some of which are in Mexico and the Caribbean.



I wonder how many hundreds of American workers lost their jobs when these plants relocated in foreign countries. I also wonder if the workers in Mexico and Asia are paid the same wages and benefits as workers in the United States.



Of course they're not. However, Kerry demands that other companies that relocate should pay the same benefits they did in the U.S. Why does he not demand this of the Heinz Company, since he is married to the owner?



If Kerry is elected, will he and his wife close all those foreign factories and bring all those jobs back to America? Of course they won't. They're making millions off that cheap labor.



A cursory search on Google will reveal this press release.

H.J. Heinz Company Confirms Its Widely Held Public Ownership And Non-Partisan Status



Business Editors



PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 22, 2004--In light of some misleading speculation, the H.J. Heinz Company would like to make clear that neither Mrs. Teresa Heinz Kerry, Senator John Kerry nor any member of their family is involved in the management or board of the H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ). They have no involvement in the Heinz(R) Ketchup business or any of the company's other brands or products.

The H.J. Heinz Company, in accordance with its corporate governance policies, is a non-partisan organization.

Neither Mrs. Heinz Kerry nor Senator Kerry nor any of the Heinz trusts or endowments - either individually or collectively - holds a significant percentage of shares of the H.J. Heinz Company. In 1995 the Heinz Endowments and family trusts sold a large percentage of Heinz shares in a secondary share offering to diversify their holdings. As a result, their current holdings are under 4 percent.

There is no connection between any philanthropic programs of the H.J. Heinz Company and its Foundation and the Heinz family interests (including the Howard Heinz Endowment, the Vira Heinz Endowment, and the Heinz Family Philanthropies).

Currently, 60% of the sales of the H.J. Heinz Company are outside the United States and to accommodate those customers by providing facilities closer to those markets, the company maintains a number of overseas facilities that provide products for consumers in those markets. This allows Heinz to pack the freshest ingredients, tailor its recipes to local tastes and deliver the final products in a timely and efficient manner. In the United States, Heinz makes its flagship ketchup in factories in Fremont, Ohio; Muscatine, Iowa; and Stockton, California.



ABOUT HEINZ: H.J. Heinz Company is one of the world's leading producers and marketers of branded foods in ketchup, condiments, sauces, meals, soups, seafood, snacks and infant foods. Heinz is a global family of leading brands, including Heinz(R) Ketchup, sauces, soups, beans, pasta and infant foods (representing nearly one-third of total sales), Ore-Ida(R) french fries, Boston Market(R) and Smart Ones(R) meals and Plasmon(R) baby food. Heinz's 50 companies have number-one or number-two brands in 200 countries, showcased by Heinz(R) Ketchup, the world's favorite ketchup. Information on Heinz is available at www.heinz.com/news.



1) Heinz Corporation is a private R&D firm.



2) HJ Heinz Co. is a publicly traded company of which Mrs. Kerry niether sits on the board of directors, is not an officer of the company nor is she listed as one of the largest stock holders.



The Heinz family sold the company in 1987, and retained no management role.





http://www.snopes.com/politics/kerry/heinz.asp

So there you go.