WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Food & Drug Administration updated its plan for reforming the agency's food-safety program in a Dec. 1 report, but consumer groups criticized the agency for not doing enough to stem the safety problems caused by domestic and imported foods. Last November, FDA released its much-touted Food Protection Plan, which was launched to improve protections for domestic and imported food in the wake of reports of faulty Chinese imports. The Food Protection Plan signaled a move toward targeting high-risk foods, embracing third-party inspections and renewing its focus on protecting

Although the source was not able to be confirmed, the Ontario government has declared the recent E. coli outbreak in southeastern part of the province over. The outbreak, which sickened 67 people, 29 of whom were confirmed to have the same DNA fingerprint of E. coli O157:H7, began in the regional municipality of Niagara in the latter part of October and also involved the region of Halton, the region of Waterloo, Guelph and Hamilton. Nine people were hospitalized, and two developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that causes blood to clot, destroying red blood cells and can also cause

Salyer American Fresh Foods Inc. has hired Allan Sabatier as its senior vice president of sales and marketing. He joined the company about a month ago, according to Eric Schwartz, president of Salyer American and chief operations officer for SK Foods Group. Most recently Mr. Sabatier was executive vice president of sales and marketing for Irwindale, CA-based Ready Pac Produce Inc. Previously, he worked for eight years for Monterey, CA-based Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc. For five of those years at Dole he worked under Mr. Schwartz as vice president of sales and marketing. Salyer American is

TexaSweet Citrus Marketing Inc. has elected new officers for the new Texas season. They are Mike Martin, president; Yishai Yeshurun, vice president; and Verle Cray, secretary-treasurer. Other directors are Trent Bishop, Paul Heller, Richard Walsh, Jeff Arnold, Fernando Vieto, Eduardo Carrillo, Dennis Holbrook and Fred Karle. "One of our goals this season is to reinforce the message that the industry is strong and healthy," Mr. Martin said in a press release. "Through TexaSweet's promotional efforts, we hope to increase our consumer base throughout the season." The 11-member board oversees the

In recent months, Naples, FL-based Naturipe Farms LLC, an international grower-owned producer and marketer of foods, added four new faces to its team in key positions. Those hires are Mohinder Sikka, senior director of operations; Michael Bentel, director of food safety and quality assurance; Richard Burden, director of transportation; and Robin Doran, director of communications. Mr. Sikka brings more than 10 years of experience delivering process design and operational improvements to companies such as General Motors Corp. and The Home Depot Inc. He joined Naturipe in mid-August and uses the

The National Mango Board in Orlando, FL, strives to affect the foodservice arena and provide restaurants with the tools they need to create excellent mango dishes. This year, the board organized a day with Chef Allen (The Mango Man) Susser for Sodexho and The Cheesecake Factory. The board will also be partnering with Sodexho in the spring and summer of 2009. It will wrap up the year by participating at the International Foodservice Editorial Council conference and updating the foodservice section of Mango.org. "It's important for us to place mango versatility front and center in the