Compiled by Mark DeSorbo

Buffet gone bad

KENNESAW, Ga.—Health officials here have determined that a buffet restaurant was the source of a salmonella outbreak that may have killed one patron and sickened more than two-dozen others.

Lab tests found an unusual strain of salmonella in the restaurant's kitchen floor drain. But according to the Georgia Division of Public Health, exactly how the salmonella, berta, contaminated patrons of the Golden Corral was not determined.

One infected person who ate at the restaurant, which previous health inspections had shown to be clean, died. That patron, however, had other health conditions and officials said it isnt known whether the infection contributed to the death.

The restaurant was scheduled to reopen in mid-September after receiving a perfect health inspection score from Cobb County health officials. Restaurant owner Charles Winston voluntarily closed the restaurant Sept. 3 for cleaning and to allow health inspectors to collect samples from various parts of the restaurant. Winston also hired a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention foodborne disease expert to confirm that the restaurant was ready to re-open.

Chip giant constructs in Chengdu

HONG KONG—Chipmaking giant Intel Corp. says it will build a $375 million assembly and test plant in western China that is slated to begin operations in 2005 or 2006.

Construction on the plant in Chengdu, located in the Sichuan province, will begin in the second half of 2004 and is expected to be completed in 2005, Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy says.

The company plans to invest about $200 million initially, followed by $175 million over an unspecified period of time. The plant will employ about 675 people, mostly hired locally. Intel already has a testing and assembly plant in Pudong, China (outside of Shanghai), and has invested $500 million there since it opened in 1999, according to Mulloy.

Infineon swooshes to Shanghai

SHANGHAI—While it is no stranger to the region, Infineon Technologies AG has opened its China headquarters in this bustling techno-metropolis.

The memory maker has set up several agreements there, including a 300-mm manufacturing deal with Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC); has facilities in Wuxi and Xian in place; and employs 800 people in the country—a number Infineon expects to climb to 3,000.

“We have set ourselves ambitious goals in China and are confident that we can achieve them,” chief executive officer Ulrich Schumacher said in a statement. “In the next five years, we aim to double our market share in China from its current 5 percent to 10 percent.”

The move, Schumacher adds, will help “safeguard” jobs at Infineon's headquarters in Germany as well as other locations. “It is extremely important for the success of Infineon to be involved in this fast-growing market,” he says.

The new headquarters will house central administration, as well as a large software center.

Pow Tien Tee, who has been appointed managing director of the subsidiary, says Infineon Technologies China has been organized as a holding company to provide a “high degree of flexibility for entering into new partnerships and joint ventures with other Chinese companies.”