General Foods said it will shed most...

General Foods said it will shed most of its 2,000-member corporate staff as part of plans to divide the White Plains, N.Y., company into three businesses--all reporting to Philip Morris, the parent company. The three new operating companies will be General Foods Coffee & International, which will continue producing coffee products such as Maxwell House; General Foods U.S.A., with responsibility for Jell-O, Kool-Aid, Ronzoni pasta, Post cereals and Birds Eye brands, and Oscar Mayer Foods, which makes processed meats.