A year after the U.S. Department of Justice cleared the actions of the Eastern Mushroom Marketing Council in Wayne, PA, the group was hit by a new series of class-action suits. The suits were filed in mid-February in the U.S. District Court Eastern District, Pennsylvania, according to Jack Crooks, chief executive officer of the council. The suits claim that actions taken by the defendants artificially raised mushroom prices in 2001. Mr. Crooks, who joined the council staff on June 20, said that the council was first challenged for buying mushroom facilities earlier this decade. The council

After several years spent refining production, Brooks Tropicals now has steady volumes of Caribbean Sunrise papayas this year, and the company is optimistic that it will be able to capitalize on the rise in consumption of the fruit in the U.S. marketplace. Mary Ostlund, director of marketing for the Homestead, FL-based firm, said that Caribbean Sunrise is a Solo papaya variety with many qualities that make it attractive to U.S. consumers. Chief among them are the manageable size and the flavor of the fruit. "Solo is smaller than the large Maradol-type papaya variety," said Ms. Ostlund. It is

Industry organizations have been in existence for many years. These groups serve the purpose of promoting product, educating people and promoting good fellowship among members. There are thousands of organizational groups from many worldwide industries. I'll bet you never heard of some of them. I am fascinated by some of their names: the Soap & Detergent Association, International Society of Explosive Engineers, Distilled Spirits Council and the National Association of Tower Erectors. In the produce industry, there are many organizations that serve a multitude of valuable purposes. An earlier

Relaxed grade standards for field-grown red and green leaf lettuce have been published by the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service in the Federal Register and will go into effect March 23. While this is the first time there have been grade standards for these field-grown items, previously USDA inspectors would grade the product against the tougher standards in place for greenhouse-grown red and green leaf lettuce. Tom Oliveri, director of commodity services and trade practices for Western Growers Association in Irvine, CA, was one of only two industry representatives that submitted comments

Three produce suppliers began shipping radio frequency identification-tagged cases to Publix supermarkets last month in a pilot program that will test the web-based tracking system and involve nearly 300 stores across Florida. "We're excited by the results so far," said Maria Brous, media and community relations director for Publix Super Markets Inc. We started reading RFID shipments in late January. So far, Publix has read over 600 tagged cases of celery, cauliflower and pineapple, which are being shipped to nearly 300 stores, said Ms. Brous. Publix operates 875 stores in Alabama, Florida

An ocean vessel laden with 60 million pounds of fresh Idaho chipping potatoes is currently on its way to Hiroshima, Japan, marking the first time that fresh potatoes from the United states have been allowed into Japan since an import ban went into effect 55 years ago. The potatoes must go into processing and are not yet permitted to be marketed through fresh-market channels, but it is a start, and Idaho Potato Commission President Frank Muir is hopeful "that in time, the Japanese government will open up the door even wider to fresh potatoes as we demonstrate our credibility with them" with