Kraft Foods plans to shed about 1,600 positions this year as it reorganizes and prepares to split itself into two independent public companies by year end, the maker of iconic snacks such as Oreos and Ritz crackers said yesterday.

The move will reshuffle Krafts operations in East Hanover, where the food giant currently employs about 1,050 people, according to company spokesman Michael Mitchell. The company is relocating the business management functions of its Planters nut brand, about 38 positions, to the Chicago area, and will remake the East Hanover campus into the North American hub of its soon-to-be-launched global snack foods company.

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