Attorneys for General Mills Inc. pleaded their case in front of a federal judge on Friday over claims that its Yoplait Greek-style yogurt is neither Greek nor yogurt. The Golden Valley-based company asked U.S. District Judge Susan Nelson to throw out the consumer fraud lawsuit, which was filed by Minneapolis law firm Zimmerman Reed.

Golden Valley-based General Mills will start shipping more than three dozen new yogurt products next month as it tries to revitalize its U.S. yogurt business. Some of the new items include a 100-calorie Yoplait Greek yogurt and Yoplait Fruplait.

The Twin Cities man who gained national television attention earlier this month for setting a box of Cheerios on fire outside General Mills headquarters in Golden Valley, has died of a heart attack. Michael L. Leisner, 65, of Andover, staged his one-man protest over the cereal maker's support for same-sex marriage.

Golden Valley-based General Mills Inc. says that its fiscal first-quarter profit went up 35 percent, with acquisitions lifting sales, the Associated Press reports. The results in the latest quarter were aided by the food maker's purchase of a controlling stake in Yoplait International and Food Should Taste Good, a natural snack foods company.

General Mills did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. The Massachusetts-based natural snack foods company makes tortilla chips and sweet potato chips.

The Golden Valley-based company came out Thursday to voice its opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Minnesota. "We do not believe the proposed constitutional amendment is in the best interests of our employees or our state economy -- and as a Minnesota-based company we oppose it," General Mills said in a statement. The Pioneer Press notes General Mills and Little Canada-based St. Jude Medical are the only two major corporations in Minnesota to publicly oppose the marriage amendment.