Sara Lee says CEO Brenda Barnes is recovering from a stroke

Sara Lee says CEO is recovering from stroke

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. — Sara Lee Corp.’s CEO Brenda Barnes is recovering from a stroke, the food maker said Monday.

Last month the company said Barnes, 56, would take a temporary medical leave but declined to specify the reason.

“I know there has been a lot of speculation on my condition, so I want to take the opportunity to provide some details,” Barnes said in a statement. “I suffered a stroke a few weeks ago, and I am now in the process of recuperating.”

CFO Marcel Smits is handling CEO duties until Barnes returns.

Sara Lee said it would provide an update on Barnes’ condition and plans by its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call Aug. 12.

Board member James Crown has taken over Barnes’ role as chairman.

Barnes is a former PepsiCo executive who joined Sara Lee as president and chief operating officer in 2004 and became CEO in 2005.

During her time as head of the company, Barnes has helped Sara Lee streamline — trimming jobs and unprofitable plants and shedding a number of business units to focus the company on its food business.

That includes overseeing the spinoff of its clothing company Hanesbrands Inc. in 2006, the end of some low-profit meats business in 2008 and the recent sale of its personal care products business to Unilver NV and Ambi Pure air-freshener business to Procter & Gamble Co.

Sara Lee, with annual revenue of about $13 billion, makes food under the labels Ball Park, Hillshire Farm, Jimmy Dean, Sara Lee and others.

Shares of Sara Lee rose 35 cents to $14.98 in midmorning trading.