By Adam Harringa

It appears Hormel Foods Corp. may have been interested in acquiring the protein supplement Muscle Milk, but has since bowed out of the race.

News service Reuters reported Friday that several companies, including Hormel, were interested in buying Muscle Milk, but now there are only two contenders — Glanbia PLC, an Ireland-based nutritional solutions and cheese company, and Post Holdings Inc., which makes Honey Bunches of Oats, Fruity Pebbles, Grape-Nuts and myriad other cereals.

A Hormel spokesperson said the company does not comment on acquisitions. If Hormel were to acquire Muscle Milk, though, it would likely fill a void in its Specialty Foods division, which last year lost an agreement with Diamond Crystal to sell the Splenda sweetener brand. The division — which includes nutritional products and sweeteners and other single-serving restaurant packets — posted an 11 percent decrease in profit and 16 percent decrease in sales for the first quarter of 2014. It was the only one of Hormel’s five divisions to report a decrease from last year.

Muscle Milk is owned by CytoSport in Benicia, Calif.