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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Minnesota-based General Mills and Nestlé SA will cut sugar and salt in the children's breakfast cereals they jointly market outside North America, which is the latest attempt by major food companies to respond to health concerns, Reuters reports.