We Win An Award …
And The Industry Gets The Prize
As we mentioned in our piece Department of Breaking Your Arm By Patting Yourself On The Back, your friendly Pundit had been nominated for a Jesse H. Neal award for his column “The Fruits of Thought” published in Pundit sister publication, PRODUCE BUSINESS. Now we have learned that we actually won the Neal award. We […]
California’s GAP & GMP Recommendations
When all is said and done, these are the recommendations of the State of California — Health and Human Services Agency, Department of Health Services: RECOMMENDATIONS IN FOLLOW UP TO THE INVESTIGATION OF AN ESCHERICHIA COLI O157:H7 OUTBREAK ASSOCIATED WITH DOLE PREPACKAGED SPINACH GROWING Growing ready-to-eat crops in close proximity to livestock or livestock waste […]
The Spinach Crisis Report Is Out
And From It We Learn…Nothing
The final report on the spinach/E. coli 0157:H7 crisis is out: FDA Finalizes Report on 2006 Spinach Outbreak The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and California’s Department of Health Services (CDHS) today released a joint report on an extensive investigation into the causes of an E.coli O157:H7 outbreak last fall that was associated with contaminated […]
Insightful PMA Food Safety Session
Reveals Buyer Hesitancy
The Food Safety Session at PMA’s Produce Solutions Conference was terrific. A concise, yet comprehensive, review of the issues confronting the trade. In a sign of comity PMA invited Tom Stenzel of United Fresh to update everyone on the regulatory situation. Bryan Silbermann, Lorna Christie and Kathy Means, all from PMA, focused on PMA’s work […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — AgJOBS vs H-2A
Our piece Pundit’s Mailbag — AgJOBS vs. Lou Dobbs featured an important letter from Jim Allen, President, New York Apple Association, Inc. The letter focused on the problems caused because the industry is short of harvesting labor and on the need to lobby for the AgJOBS bill. The letter was widely circulated and brought this […]
Chiquita’s Shame — And Our Ineffective
Anti-Terrorism Policy
The news that Chiquita has agreed to a plea bargain with U.S. Department of Justice as part of which it has agreed to plead guilty and pay a fine of $25 million in five equal annual installments has focused attention on issues of corporate morality. Reading many articles about the announcement makes us think an […]
Pundit Pulse Of The Industry:
Fyffes’ Dr. Laurence Swan
The Produce for Better Health Foundation has launched its Fruits & Veggies — More Matters campaign with a special focus on mothers and the PMA has dedicated $500,000 to partner with Scholastic in support of PBH’s Campaign for Children’s Health — all with the goal of teaching children basic food safety techniques and improving the […]
Technical Difficulties
Many thanks to all of you who wrote to advise that you were receiving your Pundit in a tardy manner. We have experienced some capacity issues due to the enormous growth of our subscriber list and we have put in a temporary solution to speed things up while we await some new equipment and fiber […]
Pundit’s Mailbag —
Reaction To NRA’s Reaction
We’ve been focused on the National Restaurant Association and what it will be doing in the next month in relations to produce safety. NRA Forms Produce Safety Working Group kicked off our coverage over four months ago. National Restaurant Association Soon To Unveil Its Own Food Safety Plan was a substantial interview with an NRA […]
Air Freighted Foods Get
Marks & Spencer Symbol
Marks & Spencer has unveiled a new symbol to appear on all food that has been air-freighted into the United Kingdom: M&S UNVEILS ‘AIR FREIGHTED’ SYMBOL FOR FOOD PACKAGING From this week, Marks & Spencer will start to label food that has been imported to the UK by air. The label, which features a small […]
