Gary James, chief operating officer of Southern Specialties in Pompano Beach, FL, has left that company to take a similar position with L&M Cos. Inc. in Raleigh, NC. Southern Specialties announced Mr. James' resignation in a July 25 press release. He began his new position at L&M July 28 and will be based at the company's Raleigh headquarters. "On behalf of the board and employees of Southern Specialties, we wish to express our appreciation to Gary for his contributions to our company's success over the years," Robert Colescott, president and chief executive officer, said in the press release

If the handling of the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention several weeks ago was the fiasco that many in the industry claim it has been, the way state agencies in North Carolina and Texas and APEAM, the association of avocado growers in Michoacan, Mexico, handled a more recent detection of an unrelated strain of salmonella on avocados in a Charlotte, NC, warehouse is seen by some as a model of competency. A traceback was completed quickly, the specific lots of product involved were recalled and, according to

A sample of Serrano pepper and irrigation water on the same Mexican farm tested positive for the Salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 1,300 people. As a result of the finding, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration expanded its consumer advisory to warn all consumers to avoid eating raw Serrano peppers from Mexico in addition to the raw Jalapeno peppers grown in Mexico. FDA announced the test results at a July 30 congressional hearing, calling it a key breakthrough in an investigation that began focusing on tomatoes in late May but has led investigators to Jalapeno and now Serrano

Brenda Mowrey, a produce buyer for Del Monte Fresh in Kansas City, MO, has one more reason to love Wisconsin potatoes. Ms. Mowrey won a new Harley-Davidson Sportster 883c -- the grand prize of an annual sweepstakes promotion sponsored by the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association. The yearlong direct-mail campaign was designed specifically to reach potato buyers across the United States. The sweepstakes , which featured monthly mailings and prize drawings, concluded in early June with the drawing for the uniquely painted "Spudster" Harley-Davidson motorcycle, featuring a custom

Whenever a commodity organization makes claims regarding the health benefits of its product, no matter how solid the science might be to support a "superfood" status for that product, I think one is naturally inclined to anticipate a certain degree of hyperbole and perhaps even a little spin to make the good news sound even better than it is. I therefore naturally approached the California Table Grape Commission's new document titled The Health Potential of Grapes: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature, with a certain amount of healthy skepticism (as one rightly should). It is a document I

Dawn Gray, who has served as general manager since early 2007 for pipfruit marketer ENZA, based in Auckland, New Zealand, will join The Oppenheimer Group as senior vice president of sales, marketing and categories next spring. Her tenure with the international produce marketer begins officially on April 1. Ms. Gray will take on many of the responsibilities of Oppenheimer Senior Vice President Bob Dunlop, who will retire at the end of 2008 after 24 years in leadership positions with the organization. "This long transition is a bit unconventional, but it actually makes a great deal of sense,"