Fresh Cut Magazine

Fresh-cut processor grows sales in foodservice and retail

Jeff Twyman calls his entry into the produce industry a “strange sequence of events.” A lawyer by trade, Twyman was more familiar with writing contracts than with running a business. He was hired to represent a large national produce company – his first taste of the produce industry. He went on to serve as president of that company, but later returned to law. But Twyman never forgot the industry, and he began searching for a product that needed innovation for the fresh market. He found it in green beans in1985 and spent the next year developing and patenting a shelf-life extension process called the Fresh Start Process, which the company still uses to this day. Green beans weren’t being used with any new processing techniques, and Twyman felt there was a need for fresh, ready-to-eat green beans. So in 1986, Twyman and his wife, Carol, formed…  » Read more

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Food safety initiatives move forward on several fronts

California leafy greens have been under fire after recent E. coli outbreaks, and a number of food safety initiatives are moving forward to make produce safer for consumers. They are taking different forms, with the California leafy green producers recently affirming a regional marketing agreement, a California legislator introducing a bill to mandate state oversight of production and the United Fresh Produce Association (UFPA) testifying on behalf of federal oversight – and responding to a government report that said the food safety chain is “broken.” Voluntary Efforts In January, more than 40 companies that wash, package or ship more than 90 percent of California’s leafy greens signed the California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement. The plan was approved by the California Department of Food and Agriculture in early February. It’s the first plan that’s been proposed by the industry to improve food safety, said Tim Chelling, vice president of…  » Read more

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Spinach, Leafy Green Still Suffer From Recall

According to a research report released Feb. 5 by Rutgers University Food Policy Institute, the produce industry still has work to do to prevent scenarios like the spinach recall. Rutgers’ research indicated a decline in consumption by the 1,200 respondents, but more worrisome was the lack of clear understanding about the products involved in the outbreak. During the height of the coverage, consumers were unsure of the spinach products affected. Almost all identified bagged spinach as affected (95 percent), but 68 percent identified loose bulk spinach as affected and more than 20 percent were unsure about frozen spinach. Consumers in the survey also were unsure of where the produce was grown. About half identified California as the state of origin, but 40 percent responded that they were unsure of where the spinach came from. That means the stickers of origin that processors put on their bagged products…  » Read more

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What Does the Future Hold for Third Party Audits?

Throughout all the discussions about food safety in the last six months, one group has escaped being noticed. I am surprised we haven’t heard more about the third-party auditing companies working in the produce industry. Since the early 1990s, when the fast-food chains first asked for third-party audits, fresh-cut processors have complied, expanding their food-safety programs to cover the standards they advocate. There are numerous sources of information on food-safety standards, and many people take advantage of training seminars, books and articles written on the subject. But, let’s face it, auditors get our attention. If the audit is announced, weeks of preparation ensue. If the audits are unannounced, then food safety has become entrenched throughout production. In fact, audits are so much a part of the processing life that some companies have hired a person just to handle auditors and all of the required recordkeeping…  » Read more

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