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By Claudia Assis

Mondelez says it reached ‘peak cost’

Oreo maker Mondelez said it expects revenue growth of about 4%, versus a 5% growth projection it gave markets in July

Mondelez International Inc., the maker of Oreo cookies, Ritz crackers and Sour Patch Kids candy, said late Tuesday it reached “peak costs” and dialed down its expectations for the year.

Chicago-based Mondelez (MDLZ) said that it expected “challenging conditions” to continue in some markets, although it was encouraged by a recent moderation in cocoa prices and signs of a strong cocoa crop this year. Mondelez’s brands also include chocolate and candy maker Cadbury, Toblerone and Brazil’s Lacta chocolates.

“Our teams are focused on executing clear plans for volume improvement, significantly increasing growth investments, and driving meaningful cost efficiencies,” Chief Executive Dirk Van de Put said in a statement.

The company said it expects revenue growth of about 4%, versus a 5% growth projection it gave markets in July. It said its adjusted per-share earnings would drop about 15%, whereas it called for a decline of around 10% in EPS in July.

Mondelez repeated its assertion that the outlook was given “in the context of greater-than-usual volatility, including due to geopolitical, trade and regulatory uncertainty and commodity prices.” It added that it also does not reflect any potential tariff changes to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

Revenues rose in Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa but declined in North America, Mondelez said. The company reported adjusted earnings of 73 cents a share on revenue of $9.7 billion, right around Wall Street expectations.

The stock dived nearly 5% in the after-hours session Tuesday, after ending the regular trading day down 2.4%.

Related: Some people are spending $200 on Halloween candy – and others are skipping the holiday – as ‘greedy’ trick-or-treaters spoil the fun

-Claudia Assis

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Expert judges determining the best of the best in healthcare innovation recognized OMRON Healthcare for its blood pressure monitors with AI-powered AFib detection

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Oct. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Judges in the prestigious Digital Health Hub Foundation 2025 Digital Health Awards recognized OMRON Healthcare as the Best in Class Winner in the Home Health Diagnostics & Monitoring category for its breakthrough blood pressure monitors with AI-powered AFib detection.

The Digital Health Awards, which honor the best of the best in healthcare innovation, heralded OMRON’s evolution of the blood pressure monitoring experience. In a medical device first, OMRON blood pressure monitors featuring IntelliSense™ AFib detection automatically screen for atrial fibrillation during every blood pressure measurement and can provide early detection of elevated risk for a high stroke¹, heart failure², and dementia risk³.

“Our OMRON Healthcare team is thrilled to accept this Best in Class Digital Health Award,” said Alice Koehler, Managing Director of OMRON Healthcare North America. “The digital health category is rapidly maturing and there was a record-setting number of entrants in the competition this year. Thank you to the judges for recognizing our achievement in innovation that empowers people to take charge of their health.” 

“OMRON applied more than 50 years of collaboration with doctors and service to consumers to develop this breakthrough technology,” said Koehler. “The latest AHA and ACC blood pressure guidelines urge regular blood pressure monitoring at home and earlier intervention on hypertension, especially for those over age 40 and for expectant moms throughout pregnancy.”

“Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is widely undiagnosed. The health risks of AFib increase for those with high blood pressure and women in menopause. With OMRON IntelliSense™ AFib detection, we are helping people act on this condition earlier than ever before,” added Koehler.

OMRON blood pressure monitors with IntelliSense™ AFib detection include the OMRON Platinum BP5465, OMRON 10 Series® BP7465, , OMRON Gold BP5360, and OMRON 7 Series® BP7360. These clinically validated blood pressure monitors are listed on the U.S. Blood Pressure Validated Device Listing (VDL), and sync with the OMRON connect app which tracks user readings, analyzes trends and habits, presents insights to explain data, and provides daily reminders and progress reports.

OMRON’s IntelliSense™ AFib detection incorporates over 300 mathematical indices into a machine-learning algorithm that analyzes the pressure pulse wave generated as the blood pressure monitor cuff inflates. A study published in the October 2024 Heart Rhythm Journal⁴ found that OMRON blood pressure monitors with the Intellisense™ AFib algorithm can detect disturbances specific to AFib with remarkable accuracy.

The FDA granted OMRON medical device authorization for Intellisense™ AFib via the agency’s De Novo classification⁵, a regulatory pathway for first-of-their-kind innovations.⁶

The Digital Health Hub Foundation Awards spotlight the most innovative healthtech companies transforming healthcare through technology and recognizing the companies making the biggest impact. Each year, the competition attracts groundbreaking companies from around the world, with the most impactful advancing to the final stage.

The 7^th Annual Digital Health Awards announced the Best in Class and Rising Star winners across all categories during the Grand Finale at HLTH USA in Las Vegas on October 20, 2025. The awards were presented across multiple live stages and celebrated before an audience of global healthcare leaders, investors and innovators.

“This year’s winners represent the best of what digital health has to offer, innovation that is not only transformative, but practical, scalable, and ready to make an impact today. We are proud to celebrate these companies for their vision and commitment to improving healthcare,” said Mark H. Goldstein, Chairman of the Digital Health Hub Foundation.

About the Digital Health Hub Foundation
The Digital Health Hub Foundation’s mission is to support the world’s most innovative healthcare companies in scaling and growing. Since 2017, the organization’s 30,000-member community has been dedicated to fostering innovation, including early-to-late-stage healthcare companies, industry providers, payors, mentors, and investors. Through their annual awards, the Digital Health Hub Foundation brings together the healthcare industry to celebrate and validate the best of the best in health technology.

About OMRON Healthcare, Inc.
OMRON Healthcare, Inc., is the world’s leading manufacturer and distributor of personal heart health products and an innovator in technologies supporting respiratory and pain management care. With over 50 years of medical device category leadership, OMRON is passionate about empowering people to take charge of their health at home through precise technology. Its market-leading products include a full range of home blood pressure monitors, nebulizers and TENS devices. The company’s mission is Going for Zero, the elimination of heart attacks and strokes. With more than 400 million devices sold globally, OMRON provides the world’s most recommended blood pressure monitors by healthcare professionals. OMRON Healthcare strives to improve lives and contribute to a better society by developing innovations that help people prevent, treat, and manage their medical conditions. The company provides products and services in over 130 countries. For more information, visit OmronHealthcare.com.

¹ CDC AFib and Stroke https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/about/atrial-fibrillation.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/atrial_fibrillation.htm
² AFib and Heart Failure https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/atrial-fibrillation/afib-complications
³ PubMed: AFib and dementia https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10568548/
⁴ Heart Rhythm Journal, October 2024 https://www.heartrhythmjournal.com/article/S1547-5271(24)02520-7/fulltext
⁵ FDA De Novo https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/premarket-submissions-selecting-and-preparing-correct-submission/de-novo-classification-request
⁶ FDA De Novo AI First https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-authorizes-marketing-first-device-uses-artificial-intelligence-help-detect-potential-signs-colon

SOURCE OMRON Healthcare

Elon Musk has launched Grokipedia, a crowdsourced online encyclopedia that the billionaire seeks to position as a rival to Wikipedia.

Writing on social media, Musk said that Grokipedia.com is “now live” and its goal is the “truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

Musk has previously criticized Wikipedia for being filled with “propaganda” and called for people to stop donating to the site, which is run by a nonprofit. In September he announced that his artificial intelligence company xAI was working on Grokipedia.

READ MORE: Why does the AI-powered chatbot Grok post false, offensive things on X?

The Grokipedia site has a minimalist appearance with little beyond a search bar where users can type in queries. It states that it has 885,279 articles. Wikipedia, meanwhile, says it has more than 7 million articles in English.

Like Wikipedia, users can search for articles on various topics such as Taylor Swift, the baseball World Series, or Buckingham Palace.

While Wikipedia is written and edited by volunteers, it’s unclear how exactly Grokipedia articles are put together. Reports suggest the site is powered by the same xAI model that underpins Musk’s Grok chatbot, but some articles are seemingly adapted from Wikipedia.

As a huge trove of well-constructed sentences with little restriction on how it’s used, Wikipedia has been a key source used to train AI chatbots, including Grok’s rivals ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. That’s one reason Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Congress said they launched an investigation in August of alleged “manipulation efforts” in Wikipedia’s editing process that could inject bias and undermine neutral points of view on its platform and the AI systems that rely on it.

READ MORE: Citing ‘disruptive’ edits, Wikipedia bars anonymous entries from Congress-linked computers

Wikipedia encourages its volunteer editors to cite nearly every sentence or paragraph with a primary source, and sentences not verified can be challenged and removed. Some of Grokipedia’s entries are thinly sourced, such as an entry on the Chola Dynasty of southern India that has three linked sources, compared to Wikipedia’s that has 113 linked sources plus dozens of referenced books.

Grokipedia’s entry on Wikipedia accuses the site of having “systemic ideological biases — particularly a left-leaning slant in coverage of political figures and topics.”

The San Francisco-based Wikimedia Foundation didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.