PHILADELPHIA - A single set of standards is critically important as the national produce industry moves with its global partners toward an efficient traceability program. Those standards were detailed at a June 24 meeting, here, as more than 100 produce industry representatives gathered for a presentation about the Produce Traceability Initiative that was part of the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Connections series. Giving the presentation was Gary Fleming, vice president of industry technology and standards for PMA. In his presentation, Mr. Fleming referenced the Public Health

Deloitte & Touche, the court-appointed receiver of Red Zoo Marketing, a greenhouse producer and distributor headquartered in Ruthven, ON, is in the process of indentifying buyers for the business. During the week of June 22, it issued a report titled Certain Assets of a Company for Sale, Red Zoo Marketing - Distributor of Greenhouse Vegetables. The report included a sales process overview stating that the receiver is interested in receiving proposals for the purchase of the right, title and interest, if any, in Red Zoo's machinery and equipment, assets and inventory on an "as is, where is"

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has mobilized a national response team to investigate the cause of a fire which razed one historic building in Wenatchee, WA, and damaged another. A 100,000-square-foot warehouse formerly owned by Stemilt Growers Inc. was destroyed, and authorities indicated that the adjoining Go USA Building was damaged but will be salvaged. Both structures are listed on the city's historic register. Approximately 80 firefighters from Chelan, Douglas and Grant counties were dispatched June 20 to Columbia and Chehalis streets just before 6 a.m. on June 20

WASHINGTON - With a new food-safety bill moving quickly through the U.S. House, the Food & Drug Administration has hired a produce industry expert, Jim Gorny, to work in the Washington, DC, office as an advisor to FDA's food safety office. The FDA has received new money in recent months to staff the resource- starved food program, and the agency will need help in meeting new mandates under food-safety legislation that passed a House committee in June. Dr. Gorny took over as the first full-time executive director of the Postharvest Technology Research & Information Center at the University of

Reflecting the world economy, the global banana marketing situation is complex as it is described by Juan Alarcon, the chief executive officer of Turbana Corp. in Coral Gables, FL. When the view of banana markets is narrowed to North America, it is a scene that does not reflect wider turbulence, he said, noting that it is the European and North American markets that have remained most steady. "The U.S. market has been strong and usually the summertime is a period when demand is low and prices are down," Mr. Alarcon told The Produce News June 10. "This year we don't expect that, but there are

Albert's Organics, a leader in organic fresh foods distribution, is expanding its operations with its eighth distribution center scheduled to open September 14, 2009. The new facility is strategically located in Charlotte, NC, and will service the southeastern United States, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and southern Virginia. Albert's, which is among the larger certified organic distributors of fresh organic produce and other organic and natural perishable foods in the United States, has been in operation since 1982. The company is based in