In what should be a huge boost to the sales of corn-based resin packaging offered by NatureWorks PLA, Wal-Mart has announced plans to begin using some petroleum-free packaging product on Nov. 1, saving the equivalent of 800,000 gallons of gasoline over the next year. Cargill Inc., the parent company of NatureWorks, released information indicating that Sam's Club, which is a division of Wal-Mart, and NatureWorks have been working together for one year on utilizing this more environmentally friendly packaging on some products offered for sale by the United States' largest retailer. NatureWorks

The Dispute Resolution Corp., based in Ottawa, ON, has added a transportation membership category and is now accepting membership applications from carriers and transportation intermediaries, the agency announced in a statement. The DRC's board of directors and general membership recently voted to expand the corporation's services to include disputes arising from the transportation of fresh produce. As a result, produce carriers and transportation intermediaries now have the same access to the DRC's dispute resolution services -- up to and including binding and enforceable arbitration -- which

WASHINGTON -- Twenty-nine cherry companies received warning letters from the Food & Drug Administration in October telling them to stop making unsupported claims about the powers of cherries to prevent and cure diseases on product labels and on their web sites. The 29 companies that received the warnings were marketing dried fruit, fruit juice and juice concentrate as a means for treating or preventing of a variety of diseases, including cancer, heart disease and arthritis. An FDA spokesman said that the agency sends these letters when it sees a "concentration within an industry" of

The Cape Ann Food Cooperative in Gloucester, MA, shut its doors after 31 years in business. The retail end of the co-op's operations served 860 households in the Cape Ann area, offering natural and organic foods to its arts community clientele. "The bottom line is we had been losing money - $154,000 - over the last 10 years," said Judy Parisella, interim general manager of the co-op. The membership voted to keep the co-op going despite the losses, but "that did not translate into green," she said. Noting that one of the mandates of the cooperative had been to fill a need that was not otherwise

The Defense Commissary Agency has scheduled an industry roundtable Nov. 16 at the Airport Marriott in Atlanta to discuss the implementation of its Fresh Fruit & Vegetable program. The roundtable is the result of the success of a recent test to see if a produce business model, based upon commercial practices, could reduce costs to DeCA -- resulting in lower prices and better quality for customers. The DeCA initiative is expected to create significant interest among suppliers in the commercial sector as the agency sells more than $350 million annually in fresh fruit and vegetables. DeCA operates

If one were to ask the average grocery store shopper for his or her opinions about watermelon, the answer would probably relate to it being a tasty summertime treat. The Sundia Corp. aims to capitalize on what it sees as a juicy opportunity to change consumers' ideas about watermelons. Founded just over a year ago and "devoted to providing the premium watermelon experience," the San Francisco-based company has become the first mass-manufacturer of watermelon juice, which it packages in 12- and 64-ounce bottles. While it is currently available only in about 150 retail stores in Northern