GM, Hormel Form Bond Between Cars, Food

The food company that gave the world Spam is teaming up with General Motors Corp. to use pork and turkey byproducts to help make car parts. Financial terms were not disclosed. Hormel Foods Corp. will supply GM with a binding agent made from the animal protein collagen. The binder will be used to form sand molds used for casting metal parts, said Joel Johnson, Hormel’s president, chairman and chief executive. Richard Schreck, GM’s principal research scientist, said the collagen binder “GMBond” helps reduce costs in producing metal parts. GMBond will be made in Austin, Texas, where Hormel is based. For now, Hormel is the sole licensee of GMBond.