YOUNG HARRIS, GA -- Close to 200 people gathered Sept. 25-27 for the Southeast Produce Council's 2008 fall conference, highlighted by the election of new officers, a workshop on the state of the economy, a golf tournament and plenty of social networking events. The new officers and full board of directors were introduced Friday evening, Sept. 26, at the president's dinner dance: President Tom Page of Supervalu Inc., Vice President John Shuman of Shuman Produce and Secretary Andrew Scott of General Produce Co. David Sherrod of Apio Inc. was elected SPC treasurer but was not in attendance, as

ARLINGTON, VA -- The Food Marketing Institute's CEO Search Committee announced Oct. 3 its selection of Leslie G. Sarasin as president and chief executive officer. Ms. Sarasin will be presented to the FMI board at its October meeting in Boston, and she will start at FMI in early November. "I speak for the entire board when I say that we are very eager to welcome Leslie aboard," FMI board Chairman Steven C. Smith, president and CEO of K- VA-T Food Stores Inc., said in a statement. "She is well connected with our industry and brings a wealth of experience to her new post as well as a great deal

WASHINGTON -- In the wake of the Salmonella saintpaul outbreak, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration is holding two public meetings this fall to gather information on ways to enhance traceability systems for fresh produce. The daylong meetings are planned for Oct. 16 at FDA's College Park, MD, office and for Nov. 13 at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland, CA. The issue of traceability surfaced repeatedly during this summer's Salmonella saintpaul outbreak investigation. FDA officials often pointed to the tomato industry's complex and paper-dependent traceability system as a hurdle

It is said that good things come in threes, and that is certainly the case at Railex LLC. With diesel fuel prices at an all-time high and with no relief in sight, the firm, a division of Riverhead, NY-based ADS Management LLC, is putting the finishing touches on its third state-of-the-art "freight-forward" distribution terminal in Delano, CA. Paul Esposito, Railex's senior vice president of sales and logistics, told The Produce News Sept. 22 that its first Delano train is scheduled to depart Oct. 2 for its Rotterdam, NY, terminal. Mr. Esposito said that he is "excited about the opportunity to

Even in poor economic conditions, people have to eat. But in our society, they have a great bit of discretion concerning how they spend their food dollars, and there is some evidence that supermarkets are benefiting during these difficult times. The Food Marketing Institute has determined that Americans are spending 5 percent more than they did a year ago, and Kellogg's, General Mills and Kraft each registered double-digit sales increases in the second quarter of this year. Many are suggesting that these sales increases are coming at the expense of restaurants, as many chains are reporting a

Michigan authorities quickly named prepackaged lettuce sold by Detroit wholesaler Aunt Mid's Produce Co. as the likely cause of 30 illnesses there, but company President Dominic Riggio says not so fast. The Michigan Department of Community Health issued a Sept. 26 statement that identified industrial-sized packages of Iceberg lettuce as the most likely cause of 30 cases of E. coli poisoning around the state. Six other people in Illinois found to be suffering from the same E. coli fingerprint have been linked to the same outbreak. But Mr. Riggio said that lettuce samples and environmental