WASHINGTON -- A new survey has found that some state health investigators miss asking questions about fruit and vegetable consumption during initial interviews with people suffering from foodborne illnesses. State and local health departments play a key role in investigating foodborne illness outbreaks by contacting people with laboratory-confirmed illnesses, recording possible exposures to pathogens, conducting inspections of food establishments and performing DNA analyses. Policies that govern state investigations vary widely across the country, an issue the produce industry discovered

Mike Aiton, who served for many years as senior vice president of sales and marketing at Sun World International LLC, has left Sun World to take a post as director of marketing for Prime Time International in Coachella, CA. "The Prime Time family is thrilled to have Mike join our sales and marketing team," Mark Nickerson, managing partner of Prime Time, said in a Nov. 9 press release, the day Mr. Aiton started his new job. Mr. Aiton will be responsible for new business development and new product development at Prime Time. "Mike's vast produce marketing experience will help us build new

Liberty Fruit Co. Inc. in Kansas City, KS, is expanding its facility by 30,000 square feet, enabling it to consolidate its repacking division for better productivity and efficiency. The expansion is expected to be complete in March 2010 and will allow the produce distributor to increase its warehouse capacity by 50 percent and add to its produce storage capability and workforce. Arnold Caviar, owner and chief executive officer of Liberty Fruit, addressed a group of city and Wyandotte County dignitaries, company officials and employees prior to the groundbreaking ceremony Nov. 9. He said, "As

The Pacific Northwest has reason to be proud of its tree fruit industry. The region is the nation's largest producer of apples, pears and sweet cherries. And information provided by the region's commodity boards presents an optimistic picture about prospects during the current season, in terms of both quality and volume. Dennis James, director of marketing for the Pear Bureau Northwest, characterized the 2009-10 crop succinctly. "It is really outstanding," he told The Produce News in early November. "It is one of the best crops. Retailers have identified that they will be committing to profit

WASHINGTON -- Federal food-safety regulators will hold a two-day meeting next month to hear from the food industry and other experts on ways to build a whole-chain traceability system for all foods, not just fresh produce. The Food & Drug Administration and the Food Safety & Inspection Service are joining forces to hold the Dec. 9-10 meeting, here, because the agencies said they need to increase the speed and accuracy of traceback and traceforward operations. "FDA and FSIS intend the public meeting to stimulate and focus a discussion about the core elements of product tracing systems, gaps in

Julian Lipschitz, whose 41 years in the produce industry included 11 years on the sales desk for Fruit Patch Sales LLC in Reedley, CA, is "truly a legend," said Tim Dayka, a partner in Dayka & Hackett LLC in Reedley, CA, where Mr. Lipschitz worked for one year prior announcing his retirement in June. During Mr. Lipschitz's employment at Fruit Patch, the company became the largest shipper of tree fruit in the United States and its sales increased more than fivefold to $178 million, Mr. Lipschitz said. When asked what he considered to be the highlight of his career, Mr. Lipschitz cited his part