Pundit Rewind LXVXI
The Pundit originally ran the Pundit Rewind on September 21, 2006. We continuously update it in order to keep everyone organized with respect to reference material on this subject; we have updated it with new items and run it again today. Spinach Crisis Summary With so much having been written in so short a time, […]
Botulism And Carrot Juice Summary LVXI
We’ve been asked to make available in one place our coverage of the recall by Wm. Bolthouse Farms of certain 100% carrot juice products and the broader implications of this issue for food safety. This piece is updated regularly and will be re-run to include new coverage of this outbreak and issue. We initiated our […]
Buyer-led Food Safety Initiative
Recap XLIII
There is an ad hoc group that started it all. The National Restaurant Association has its group working on a program and the Food Marketing Institute held a conference. All these buyer-led initiatives can get confusing, so to assist the trade in keeping track of them all, we are publishing this recap of coverage all […]
Contrasts Between Produce Shows
One of the things that stood out at Fruit Logistica in Berlin is the cultural differences between Europe and the U.S. In Berlin it was hard to find a booth without some food and drink for guests. The large booths featured large hospitality areas with food and beverages. The Chiquita booth, which was truly beautiful […]
Another Blow To Sunkist
As if the freeze and the loss of Bee Sweet Citrus wasn’t enough, it seems that a charter ship deal that gave Sunkist a material advantage in selling to Japan is now over. While at Fruit Logistica, a friend in the banana business tells us that Sunkist has benefited from a special arrangement with Lauritzen-Cool […]
US Buyers Should Follow
British Lead In Food Safety Standards
To its enormous credit, the California Marketing Agreement component of the Western Growers Association’s proposed solution to the spinach/lettuce E. coli 0157:H7 crisis is a program that it can actually make happen. In fact, the board is in the process of being chosen right now. This is the dilemma with both United’s proposal for government […]
California Food Safety Seal
Bound To Cause Consumer Confusion
It looks like the California Marketing Agreement, having been certified by the state and with the board soon to be appointed, will actually be affecting the trade and food safety very soon. Yet for many reasons, any state-based, commodity-specific plan is problematic for an industry that operates on a national and international scale. We’ve dealt […]
United’s Regulatory Call Faces Big Hurdles
We recently spoke kindly of the announcement by United Fresh that it was calling for mandatory government regulation of the produce industry. It was quite a turn-around for United, as one of the leaders of the Buyer-led Food Safety Initiative pointed out to the Pundit that it seemed like just yesterday that Tom Stenzel, CEO […]
Botulism And Carrot Juice Summary LVX
We’ve been asked to make available in one place our coverage of the recall by Wm. Bolthouse Farms of certain 100% carrot juice products and the broader implications of this issue for food safety. This piece is updated regularly and will be re-run to include new coverage of this outbreak and issue. We initiated our […]
Pundit’s Pulse Plus! — Costco Clarification
Following the publication of our piece pundit’s Pulse of the Industry: Costco’s Dale Hollingsworth, Dale Hollingsworth contacted us to provide further information and clarification to his interview on February 8. Craig Wilson, assistant vice president of food safety and quality assurance, shared his comments as well: Dale Hollingsworth, corporate produce buyer, Costco My interview may […]
