Totino's

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Totino's and Jeno's are brands of frozen pizza owned by General Mills, which collectively are reportedly the best selling economy frozen pizza brands in the United States.

Rose Totino created take-out and later in 1962, Totino's frozen pizza, eventually becoming a vice-president of Pillsbury Company.^[1] Totino's was acquired by General Mills, with the purchase of Pillsbury. In the 1960s Pillsbury bought the name Totino's from an Italian restaurant Totino's Kitchen based in Pillsbury's home town Minneapolis, Minnesota, that was founded in 1951 (the restaurant announced on August 4, 2007 that it is relocating from its original site near downtown Minneapolis and opened a new location in late March 2008 in Columbia Heights (a north Twin Cities suburb). [1]). The recipe for the frozen pizza differs from the pizza served at the restaurant, though both are thin-crust. Totino's is also one of the most popular brands of pizza rolls, bite-size dumpling-like products filled with pizza toppings.

[edit] Criticism and Recalls

Totino's pizza has been criticized for its high amount of trans fat, each containing three to five grams, well over the two gram a day FDA-recommended limit. In 2006, Totino's completed its phasing out of 100% real cheese in its pizzas.^{[citation needed]} The Three Cheese Party Pizza was the last variety to contain 100% real cheese, and the trans fat doubled from 1.5 grams to 3 grams per serving when they changed the ingredients to include a combination of real and imitation cheeses.

On November 1, 2007, Totino's and Jeno's brand pizza were recalled for potential E. coli contamination. ^[2]

The Totino's name is also given to Totino-Grace High School, a private Roman Catholic high school in Fridley, Minnesota. The high school was originally called Grace, but was changed to the current name after Jim and Rose Totino helped the school stay open during its early days. In addition to their countless gifts to the school, they later gave the school its first million dollar gift.