WASHINGTON -- The Food & Drug Administration is now investigating two tomato-related outbreaks, with the latest blamed for nearly 100 illnesses in 19 states. "It's been a busy year," Dave Daigle, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, said when referring to the earlier tomato outbreak and the California spinach investigation. Ninety-eight people in 19 states located mainly in the eastern portion of the United States have been infected with Salmonella newport, said CDC. Cases from this outbreak surfaced in June and ended Oct. 20, leading federal health officials to

Redner's Markets Inc., an employee-owned company based in Reading, PA, that currently operates 40 Warehouse Markets and 12 Quick Shoppes throughout eastern Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland, announced the promotion of Gary M. O'Brien to vice president of retail perishable operations and Richard J. Stiles to director of produce operations. Both changes take immediate effect within Warehouse Markets operations. Mr. O'Brien will supervise all facets of the meat, produce and bakery departments within Redner's Warehouse Markets, with responsibility for implementing inventory control, and

Early indications are that volumes were down for the Idaho-Eastern Oregon onion region, but recent numbers provided by the Idaho-Oregon Fruit & Vegetable Association show that even those initial findings were higher than what is actually in storage. Candi Fitch, executive director of the association, said that a Nov. 1 storage survey "puts numbers to the talk that the Idaho-Eastern Oregon onion crop is down considerably." Initial USDA figures had yields estimated at up to 575 hundredweight per acre, but Ms. Fitch said that the region's wet spring during planting and excessive heat in July

Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) and Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) hosted a "Spinach Is Back" congressional luncheon Nov. 16 in Washington, DC, with a number of administration and public health officials to raise awareness that fresh, safe spinach has returned to store shelves and is an important part of a healthy diet. Joining the congressmen at the event were U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns and his wife, Stephanie; Food & Drug Administration Director of the Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition Robert Brackett; ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN)

Sausalito, CA-based Barbara Adams has toiled away building her food web site BeyondWonderful.com since launching it in September 2004. Only recently has it started reaching critical mass, growing dramatically with a broader audience. BeyondWonderful.com delivers information and perspective largely from the San Francisco Bay area on farms, markets, vineyards and beyond, all leading finally to the kitchen. "[The web site] has been growing by leaps and bounds within the last two months," Ms. Adams said. "It's a small site that's doubling every three or four days. I credit that to the experts."

Another cantaloupe wholesaler is recalling cantaloupes after the Food & Drug Administration detected Salmonella during routine sampling. Arizona-based Rio Vista Ltd. is recalling 62,640 cartons of "Llano" and "Nature's Partners" cantaloupes shipped throughout the United States and Canada from Oct. 31 to Nov. 6. FDA detected Salmonella during sampling Oct. 30 and Nov. 10. The firm began withdrawing the products from the market on Nov. 6, then issued a press release Nov. 17. The straw-colored melons were distributed for sale in bulk and packed in cardboard cases containing six to 15 cantaloupes