Cummins Confidential : Portable Foods Manufacturing / Kelloggs / Kellanova – Barefaced Liar Gemma Penk’s New Venture Part 2

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If you thought the first instalment was a gut-punch, exposing Gemma Penk’s slimy trail from Cummins’ HR hell to Kellanova’s snack sweatshop in Wrexham, brace yourself. That piece laid bare the discrimination, job slaughter, recalls, antitrust dodginess, and child labour whispers swirling around Portable Foods Manufacturing like a bad stench. But fuck me, there’s so much more filth piled up on this corporate behemoth that one rant wasn’t enough. Kellanova, the rebranded Kellogg’s hiding behind a fresh coat of paint, keeps serving up scandals thicker than their sugary sludge. We’re diving deeper into the rot – strikes that crippled production, a CEO’s idiotic blather that sparked boycotts, toxic dyes poisoning kids’ breakfasts, and the founder’s twisted legacy that’s resurfacing like a buried corpse. Penk’s probably buried in paperwork at Portable Foods, spinning this shit into gold for her bosses, but we’re not letting it slide. This is part two, because accountability doesn’t stop when the dirt overflows.

The Strike That Broke the Bowl: 2021 US Worker Revolt

Remember how Kellanova treats its workforce like disposable napkins? Well, rewind to 2021, when 1,400 US employees said enough is fucking enough and walked out for over two months. These were the poor bastards grinding away in plants across Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, churning out the very cereals that line supermarket shelves. Organised by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, the strike hit hard against a proposed two-tier wage system that screwed new hires with shittier pay, slashed benefits like healthcare and pensions, and forced endless overtime without fair compensation. All while the company raked in pandemic profits – hypocritical pricks exploiting frontline workers who’d kept the lines running through Covid hell.

The walkout started in October and dragged into December, with picket lines freezing in winter winds and boycotts erupting online. Consumers smashed boxes in viral videos, unions rallied support, and the pressure finally cracked Kellanova into a new contract. But the damage? Lingering resentment and a spotlight on their global labour abuses. Over in the UK, Portable Foods might not have faced the same heat yet, but with Penk overseeing HR in Wrexham, you can bet similar grievances are bubbling under. This isn’t ancient history – it’s a pattern of squeezing the life out of workers, and it’s infuriating.

Tone-Deaf Tosser: CEO’s ‘Cereal for Dinner’ Fiasco

Fast forward to 2024, and Kellanova’s top brass proves they’re as out of touch as a silver-spooned aristocrat. CEO Gary Pilnick, in a CNBC interview, casually suggested cash-strapped families eat cereal for dinner to beat inflation and soaring food prices. “Cereal for dinner is something that is probably more on trend now,” he blathered, as if flogging overpriced Frosties as a meal solution was genius. Meanwhile, cereal costs had skyrocketed 28% in four years, lining company pockets while punters struggled.

The backlash was swift and savage – social media exploded with outrage, boycotts trended under #BoycottKelloggs, and critics slammed it as Marie Antoinette-level bullshit. “Let them eat flakes,” mocked the headlines, highlighting Pilnick’s multimillionaire hypocrisy. Kellanova tried to spin it as a cheeky marketing ploy, but it reeked of corporate greed mocking economic hardship. Tie this to Portable Foods’ output of those addictive bars in Wrexham, and it’s clear: they’re peddling junk as necessity while workers get shafted. It’s enraging – a company profiting off poverty, with HR hacks like Penk likely covering the tracks.

Toxic Treats: The Artificial Dyes Debacle

Kellanova’s not just sugary poison – it’s literal chemical crap. In 2024-2025, protests erupted over artificial food dyes like Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6, and Blue 1 in US cereals such as Froot Loops and Apple Jacks. These petroleum-based nasties, linked to hyperactivity, ADHD, allergies, and even cancer risks per health studies, are banned or restricted in the EU, UK, and Canada. Yet Kellanova kept shoving them into American bowls, using natural alternatives elsewhere. Advocacy groups like the Environmental Working Group stormed the Michigan HQ in October 2024, delivering petitions with over 400,000 signatures demanding removal.

By mid-2025, pressure from rallies, FDA petitions, and state bans (California’s Red No. 3 outlawed from 2027, West Virginia’s school restrictions by 2028) forced a climbdown. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton investigated for consumer protection violations, securing a deal for Kellanova to phase out dyes by 2027. They denied solid health links but admitted the shift – too little, too late. Portable Foods’ Wrexham site churns similar snacks; who knows what’s in the UK supply chain? With Penk in HR, expect any whistleblowers to be strategically ghosted and silenced. This shit’s vile – poisoning kids for profit, and it’s got to stop.

Founder’s Filth: Eugenics and the Dark Legacy

Dig to the roots, and Kellanova’s rotten from the start. Co-founder John Harvey Kellogg wasn’t just a cereal inventor – he was a eugenics zealot pushing “race betterment” in the early 20th century. This quack doctor ran the Battle Creek Sanitarium, promoting circumcision, clitoral treatments with acid, electric shocks, and enemas to curb “impure” urges, all while advocating sterilisation to “rid society of imbeciles.” Corn Flakes? Marketed to suppress libido, part of his pseudoscience crusade.

These horrors resurfaced in 2025 media, amid debates on corporate ethics and plant-based trends he ironically pioneered. No, it’s not direct to today’s ops, but it stains the brand – a legacy of control and bigotry. Kellanova distances itself, but the whispers persist. In Wrexham, under Penk’s regime, it’s a reminder: companies built on twisted ideals keep exploiting. Fuck that heritage; it’s time to bury it.

Wrapping this up, Kellanova’s empire is a festering wound – strikes, tone-deaf execs, toxic additives, and a founder’s nightmare. Gemma Penk’s now embedded in this mess at Portable Foods, likely polishing the turd to the detriment of real people. If part one pissed you off, this should light a fire. Demand better, boycott the bastards, and hold them accountable. The workers – and the public – deserve it.

Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project

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