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 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.

The U.S. Department of Justice spent four years looking into whether the Fridley-based manufacturer encouraged doctors to use the product in ways not described on the FDA-approved label. Medtronic denies any wrongdoing, but still faces civil lawsuits and agreed to pay $85 million in March to settle a federal securities lawsuit.

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.

Forbes magazine has once again recognized St. Paul-based Ecolab and Golden Valley-based General Mills on this year's list of the “The World’s Most Innovative Companies." Ecolab ranks No. 31 and General Mills is 50th out of 100 global companies. Both Minnesota-based firms were on the magazine's 2011 list.

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.

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 is coming under fire by nearly 20 children’s advocacy, health and public interest groups for violating a federal law to protect children's privacy, the New York Times reports. The coalition claims five well-known companies, including the Golden Valley-based cereal maker, are encouraging kids, who play games or use other features on their websites, to provide email addresses of their friends without seeking parental consent.