Careful what you eat

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) has a front-page profile of Dole Food Co. owner David Murdock, focusing on his crusade for good health. That includes, according to the Journal, “quizzing visitors about their eating habits and politely pressing on them Dole's glossy, 516-page ‘Encyclopedia of Foods.’ The L.A.-based Murdock says that the secret to a long and healthy life lies in eating more of the fruits and vegetables his company grows in 94 countries around the world. Murdock, 83, is building a 350-acre biotechnology research institute in Kannapolis, N.C. In Westlake Village, opposite Dole’s headquarters, the California Wellbeing Institute is set to open in November. It will have a Four Seasons luxury resort, conference center and nutrition counseling school. Here’s how the piece opens:

Last year, Dole Food Co.'s owner David H. Murdock negotiated with D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. to handle a massive demolition job in North Carolina. During a tense pause in the talks, Mr. Murdock abruptly gave the company's 285-pound founder a tongue-lashing. "Mr. Griffin, you're fat and you're going to die. You aren't going to live the 18 months to finish this project and your son is going to have to buy a bigger casket to bury you," Mr. Murdock told the 67-year-old D. H. Griffin, as both men recall the conversation. Mr. Murdock, himself just 150 pounds, then offered to add $100,000 to the contract value if Mr. Griffin would drop 60 pounds over the next year. After further discussion, the weight-loss requirement was cut in half and written into the formal contract. In June, Mr. Griffin weighed in at 254 pounds, having shed 31 pounds. Both sides agree he has earned the bonus.

There’s a bit of irony here. Last year, a small outbreak of E. coli was traced to Dole’s bagged salads, resulting in 17 people becoming sick in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Several lawsuits were filed, including one involving a 12-year-old girl who suffered kidney failure after eating the tainted lettuce and who was featured in an edition of NBC's “Dateline.” The suits have been settled. There’s still no explanation for the outbreak, although the incidents of such contamination are supposed to be low.