It is important to understand that there is no kill step (no boiling, freezing or radiation) in the processing of raw, fresh vegetables, whether it's done in a home kitchen, in a restaurant, in a cafeteria or in a salad-in-a-bag factory. Fresh means fresh. The freezer pouch and the can or jar are the only zero- tolerance food-safety solutions when it comes to vegetables. Fresh-cut, salad-in-a-bag vegetables are safer than fresh, off-the-shelf vegetables. The average cook isn't using any antimicrobial agent in the wash water. The fresh-cut product is washed on the same day it is harvested, not

Emily Marlephansakul has been named executive vice president of the Fresh Produce & Floral Council. She joined the 42-year-old trade association in 2001 following her graduation from California State University at Fullerton. Following her affiliation with the council, she went on to obtain her master's degree while working as member development director and event coordinator. She was promoted to vice president in 2006. Ms. Marlephansakul will assume direct supervision of council staff and handle various operations of the council including finance, committee activities, board of directors and

PHILADELPHIA - Anticipating that high-quality fruit and favorable ocean freight costs will make lemons from Turkey competitive with lemons from California and Arizona, where shippers face high truck rates, Twin Garden Sales Inc. in Harvard, IL, received its first load of Turkish lemons the second week of January. After a two-week voyage, the fruit arrived at the port of New York and then was shipped to Procacci Bros. Sales Corp., here, for distribution. The large Turkish lemons were being handled by Twin Garden's Jack Lambke. Mr. Lambke said that there are several reasons Twin Garden is

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a ruling that clears the way for UglyRipe tomatoes to be shipped outside Florida, superceding standards set forth in the Florida Tomato Marketing Order and enforced by the Florida Tomato Committee. The new USDA rule, published Jan. 17 in the Federal Register, amends the Florida Tomato Marketing Order to exempt the UglyRipe from the shape portion of the USDA grade standards as long as the UglyRipe is grown, packed and distributed under USDA's Identity Preservation Program, which uses the unique genetic fingerprint of a produce variety to assure that it

SALINAS, CA -- Fresh Express, a leading producer of value-added salads in North America based here, announced Wednesday, Jan. 17 that it would provide up to $2 million to fund multidisciplinary research to help the fresh- cut produce industry prevent contamination by the deadly E. coli 0157:H7 pathogen. Although no Fresh Express product has ever been implicated in an outbreak of food-borne illness, the company is funding research in recognition of the benefits it may achieve for both the industry and consumers alike. The company intends to share this research publicly in recognition of the

Several successive nights of prolonged sub-freezing temperatures across much of California Jan. 10-14 have caused extensive damage to the state's Navel orange crop, which was already lighter than last year, and to other citrus varieties as well, with early estimates of losses in the range of 70-80 percent of the unharvested crop and dollar losses expected to top $750 million. Avocados and strawberries were also affected by the freeze. Avocado shippers estimate that anywhere from 10-25 percent of the avocado crop may have been lost to the freeze. Damage to young bud wood may also affect next