Grocery stores with pharmacies maintain up to three months' inventory of some prescription drugs. The company plans Y2K tests at Kroger stores this summer to make sure they are ready, he added. Nestle USA, which owns brands such as Stouffer's and Libby's, said it would see a drop in the firm's first quarter sales next year if consumers begin hoarding food. Such actions would pull sales forward into 1999 and dampen first quarter 2000 sales as consumers eat their way through accumulated products. The food companies said they were most concerned about the U.S. Agriculture Department's Y2K preparations to keep the federal food stamp program operating smoothly.
Food stamps account for a large amount of grocery sales in inner city neighborhoods.
The impact of the millennium bug on electric power, water, natural gas and communications are also crucial to keep food moving through the supply chain, they said.