FREEHOLD, NJ -- With the New Jersey spring vegetable deal starting a bit earlier than normal this year, the Super Foodtown here was already featuring a good number of local items the third week in May -- a prelude to summer when this supermarket will be strongly promoting the vast array of items the Garden State has to offer. The Jersey deal so far is "off to a good start," Vincent Villone, produce supervisor of the Norkus Foodtown Group, said the third week in May. "There are a lot of commodities so far this season." With the volume of Jersey vegetables increasing every day, Mr. Villone knew

While not as prominent as strawberries or blueberries in the minds of consumers, raspberries hold a position of note in the berry patch, vying with blackberries for the third spot. The fragile raspberry tends to have a low yield. Raspberries from California are available from summer through early fall. The Pacific Northwest has raspberries in the late fall and Chile has raspberries in the winter. Watsonville, CA-based California Giant Berry Farms harvests raspberries from May to November, depending on the weather. The company's raspberry harvest typically enjoys two peaks: one in early June

(The following information is from a June 2 alert from the Produce Marketing Association.) U.S. public health authorities have now linked a foodborne illness outbreak to round red and/or Roma/plum tomatoes. To date, the outbreak, caused by Salmonella saintpaul, has sickened 57 people in Texas and New Mexico from April 23 through June 1. Other states (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas and Utah) have reported about 30 S. saintpaul illnesses total but have not linked them to any food item yet. Authorities also updated other details, now reporting that the outbreak began in late

HAMMONTON, NJ - The season's first "Southern Kiwi" are in the distribution pipeline. Nick Pacia, owner of A.J. Trucco Inc. in New York, met The Produce News at the Hammonton, NJ, warehouse of Lucca Freezer & Cold Storage Inc. to show this reporter the kiwifruit, which arrived break bulk May 15 at the port of Wilmington in Delaware. "It's beautiful," Mr. Pacia said of the product. The fruit had "plenty of size," which was mostly in the 30- to 33-size range. "The size profile is very good; much larger than last year. The sugars are beautiful." This crop, he said, "is ideal for promotion at

Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are assessing the extent of damage sustained by Colorado agricultural producers in Weld and Larimer counties following a powerful tornado and hailstorm prior to the Memorial Day weekend. The areas sustaining the heaviest damage were Windsor, Greeley and Dacono. Windsor -- a populated rural city in Weld County -- was the epicenter of a mile-wide twister that unleashed its wrath shortly before noon on May 22. The city's Cornerstone subdivision looked like a war zone after the tornado peeled away roofs like sardine can tops, damaged or collapsed

HealthPro Brands Inc. has started selling Fit, its fruit and vegetable wash, in the United Kingdom, where the company hopes its launch of sales of natural products to health-conscious consumers pays off. In May, England became the first country to begin selling Fit at Whole Foods Market, the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods. "We see it as a $100 million market in Europe," said HealthPro Brands President and Chief Executive Officer Todd Wichmann. "We think the latest launch will kick start the business there." The company has been selling its produce wash for over a year in