In what could provide fodder for board room discussions at the H.J. Heinz Co., the Pittsburgh ketchup company held onto its place atop a customer satisfaction index -- while showing just enough weakness to send up a few flags.

Heinz still ranks number one on the American Customer Satisfaction Index's update of the manufacturing/non-durable goods sector. Yet the University of Michigan project showed it dipping from last year's 91 out of 100 to a score of 87, a 4 percent dip, keeping it just ahead of Hershey, Kraft and Mars, which each scored 86 out of 100.

The company just seemed glad to hang onto its ranking. "Heinz is delighted to be the top ranked food company for the seventh consecutive year," said company spokesman Michael Mullen. "The survey results illustrate once again, that Heinz offers high quality food products to our consumers."

Even with the dip, there's obviously no need to panic, said Claes Fornell, a Michigan professor who heads the index. Still, "If I were Heinz, I would look at this as a warning signal," he said.

Although he doubted the company's core products have changed, he said Heinz may have been distracted this year by a battle with activist investors. Dissatisfied with the company's stock performance and marketing strategy, the investors kept the spotlight on for several months as they fought to win five seats on the board. Last week, two dissidents attended their first official board meeting as members.

Meanwhile, the competition stayed busy. Researchers found both Kellogg and Sara Lee improved their scores by 5 percent. The first added a new line of healthier alternatives while the second shed less successful product lines to focus more on its core business.