Fresh Cut Magazine

An Industry Affected

Just as I sat down at my computer to write this month’s column my e-mail dinged – letting me know I had a new message. Hoping it wasn’t another unwanted junk mail, I clicked open the mail program only to find yet another announcement of a food-borne illness outbreak linked to produce. This time, the alert came from PMA. And it was informing members that FDA had traced an outbreak of Salmonella to tomatoes eaten in restaurants. While at the point of the e-mail there was no risk to public health, the outbreak had sickened 98 people in 19 states. The e-mail also stated that the strain of Salmonella identified in this outbreak was not the same as the one identified in the earlier outbreak of Salmonella in tomatoes eaten in restaurants. In this e-mail there also was news about a voluntary recall of cantaloupes caused by…  » Read more

---

Washington’s Stemilt Growers adds flavor to fresh-cut apple slices

Stemilt Growers introduced a new take on fresh-cut fruit at the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit in October. The Wenatchee, Wash., company launched its new line of fresh-cut apples for the retail market, AppleSweets, apple slices “infused” with flavor during processing. The fresh-cut, flavor-infused apples will be available nationwide in January. The company hoped to introduce them earlier, but new equipment is being installed in its Wenatchee processing plant, so the Fresh Summit debut was a “soft introduction,” said Roger Pepperl, director of marketing for Stemilt. The fresh-cut facility is about three blocks from the company’s headquarters, and although the building isn’t new, it has been completely refurbished. AppleSweets were introduced with two “natural” lines and two flavored lines. The natural AppleSweets come in two lines: sweet or tart. The sweet apple slices are Galas, Cameos or Cripps Pinks, and the tarts are Granny Smiths. They will be…  » Read more

---

Buyer group writes to industry associations, calls for food safety pipeline

Eight produce buyers, representing millions of dollars, are encouraging the produce industry to develop new food safety measures for produce. Amerifresh, Kroger, Safeway, Sysco, Costco, Markon Cooperative, SUPERVALU and Wegman’s Food Markets are demanding that the three industry trade associations work together to develop measurable and enforceable safety standards before the end of the year. In a letter to the Produce Marketing Association, United Fresh Produce Association and Western Growers Association, the buyers outlined 10 steps to ensure safe lettuce and leafy greens that they said had to occur by Dec. 15. If the process is not completed by that date, the companies said they would create their own working group to “establish a meaningful certification program with objective criteria.” The letter also calls for the food safety standards to be applied to additional crops by Feb. 15, 2007. “It is incumbent on the produce industry, and our representative…  » Read more

---

Fresh Focus: Getting Americans to Think Produce

As I was strolling through the grocery store after Halloween, I noticed a lot of baking ingredients stacked in the center aisle for attention. Apparently, Americans still bake a lot of cookies, candies and pies during the holiday season, even though we love convenience foods. It started me thinking about fresh-cuts and how they fit on our holiday groaning boards. Are Americans thinking of fruits and vegetables when they plan their menus? How can our industry get more involved in recipe development and food preparation? Many companies already include recipes on their packaging or on their Web sites. How did they find these recipes, and is there a way to approach this methodically so recipes are tested and verified as tasty or healthy? Old Family Recipe The lettuce company I worked for many years ago sold endive in bags printed with a salad dressing recipe that came from…  » Read more

---

Package design and cold chain management go hand in hand

Fresh-cut produce is the fastest growing segment of the produce industry, and customers are looking for convenience, freshness, quality and safety when they purchase fresh-cut products. But the produce packaging is often the last step a company takes in preparing a new product for the market, said Jeff Brandenburg, packaging consultant and president of The JSB Group, Greenfield, Mass. Attention is paid to developing safe products, extending shelf life and managing field to fork progress, but less is paid to the bag or carton that the produce is stored in from the time it’s processed until it’s opened by the customer. Brandenburg said clients often ask him at the tail end of development for a generic package that will improve the quality of their produce. That’s not a question he likes to hear, because all a package can do is extend shelf life. “The packaging will never…  » Read more

---