If you’re noticing a lack of mechanically separated chicken and hydrolyzed corn gluten in your diet, you’re not alone. The tragic ConAgra factory explosion that killed three people near Raleigh, N.C. ended Slim Jim production until this fall. [Update: The factory is reopening on July 27.] It was the only place where the snack sticks are manufactured.

Citigroup analyst David Driscoll cut the stock to “hold” from “buy” due to the explosion, and was quoted as saying that Slim Jim generates $200 million in annual sales and $0.06 a share for ConAgra.

“Slim Jim loyalty is very high,” food industry consultant Jim Degan told the New York Post. “If you eat Slim Jims, you aren’t going to find brand B or C to be an acceptable substitute.”

It’s no tragedy, it’s true, but it shows how an accident in one factory can affect a major company—and, more importantly, corner stores across the country.

Sudden Shortage of Slim Jims Causes Widespread Panic [Minyanville]

(Photo: spidra)