Latest News From Food safety

California Giant Berry Farms, Watsonville, Calif., is blockchain compliant with the IBM Food Trust, allowing all points of the company’s berry supply chain to access data.

COVID-19 virus outbreaks from coast to coast, worker protests and complicated social-distancing logistics are realities of managing labor, with no clear end to the pandemic.

The Center for Produce Safety is hosting a series of five weekly web seminars for its annual CPS Research Symposium during June and July.

Raley’s has hired Jen Warner as chief administrative officer, overseeing the company’s food safety, sustainability and other programs.

The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, is reviewing updated processes relating to water metrics and soil amendments.

United Natural Foods Inc. is recalling packages of organic fresh basil from Colombia because it might be contaminated by Cyclospora.

The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, Sacramento, has appointed Willette Crawford to compliance officer.

Grower-shippers in California’s Salinas Valley were experiencing varying degrees of success as they struggled to cope with the continuing COVID-19 crisis this spring.

IFoodDecisionSciences Inc. has acquired traceability provider HarvestMark from Trimble.

After months of collaboration, U.S. and Mexican papaya industry stakeholders have a food safety document specifically designed for the tropical fruit.

With travel bans due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, on-site audits have been disrupted, and the United Fresh Produce Association has a web seminar to answer importers’ questions.

The Center for Produce Safety has released the agendas for the five weekly web seminars that have been scheduled in place of its annual research symposium.

The Food and Drug Administration has concluded an investigation into an E. coli outbreak linked to clover sprouts, and the Centers for Disease Control and Protection said the outbreak is over.

Registration is open for the Center for Produce Safety’s Research Symposium weekly web seminars, a five-part series in place of the annual meeting that was cancelled by COVID-19 restrictions.

Vic Smith, the CEO of JV Smith Cos., has joined the board of directors of Kenmore, Wash.-based iFood Decision Sciences (iFoodDS), a software company specializing in food safety.

Let’s explore a challenging, complex and sensitive food safety question: How can our industry operate more safely in proximity to concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs)?

Scott Horsfall, who has been the CEO of the of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement since it was established in 2007, plans to retire next March.

It’s a disturbing paradox during the COVID-19 pandemic: Food banks are seeing skyrocketing demand with hours-long waits while growers are forced to waste tons of food.

Rä Foods Wild About Sprouts, Sacramento, Calif., donated more than 6,000 cases of fresh produce to Sacramento, Yolo, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties to help during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Summerland, British Columbia, donated 945 pounds of Arctic Golden fresh apple slices to Feeding America, which has a network of 200 food banks in the U.S.

UPDATED: The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement has scheduled another web seminar for retailers, foodservice operators and other buyers, with an emphasis on COVID-19 updates.

As the COVID-19 pandemic separates inspectors from on-site duties, NSF International has demonstrated the ability to conduct food safety audits using smartglass technology.

Demand for fresh produce has skyrocketed at food banks from coast to coast since the COVID-19 pandemic forced non-essential businesses to close, leaving many workers without pay.

H&C Food Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y., is the third business to recall enoki mushrooms from South Korea because of possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

NEW YORK CITY — Throngs of commuters jostling each other on sidewalks and on sardine-can subway trains are a thing of the recent past, and at least some residents hope it will be a returning thing of the near future.

AgSafe, Modesto, Calif., has promoted Theresa Kiehn to acting president and CEO.

Western Growers has launched an interactive website that allows the public to participate in discussions relating to leafy greens food safety and the industry to follow the process to strengthen those guidelines.

The Food and Drug Administration is extending the comment period for establishing a laboratory accreditation program for testing food.

The Food and Drug Administration is asking importers to send records required by the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Foreign Supplier Verification Programs electronically.

The Food and Drug Administration’s Frank Yiannas has a message for consumers: food is available and it is safe.

Atlanta-based Aptar Food + Beverage is launching InvisiShield packaging technology, which kills pathogens and extends shelf life.

The Produce Marketing Association, citing misinformation about produce and the industry in the COVID-19 crisis, is launching a campaign to connect directly with consumers to assure them produce is available and safe.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is extending audit certifications that expire on or before May 31 by 60 days.

In times of recession, consumers eat at home more, but they also splurge on those food purchases for home rather than splurge by eating out, says a food-marketing expert.

The new coronavirus has motivated precautions such as temperature checks for employees entering facilities and delayed the expansion of Little Leaf Farms, Devens, Mass., 35 miles outside of Boston.

Even though New York state ranks No. 1 for the most COVID-19 cases in the U.S., people still have to eat, and that means Hunts Point Produce Market, Bronx, N.Y., is as essential of a business as it ever was.

Registrar Corp., Hampton, Va., has acquired Vinca LLC, which provides online training for food safety management systems.

Sid Wainer & Son, New Bedford, Mass., has rerouted daily operations and postponed a COVID-19 food rescue pop-up following a fire at its distribution center. 

While world headlines are fixed on the coronavirus COVID-19, the banana industry is concerned, as well, about stopping the spread of Fusarium Wilt tropical race 4 — commonly called TR4 or Panama disease.

NEW YORK — Online grocer FreshDirect, Bronx, N.Y., has partnered with all five borough presidents to launch a citywide food drive to help ease the recent spike in food insecurity due to the new coronavirus COVID-19.

By April and May, the logistics of transporting fresh fruit and vegetables will be in jeopardy from the COVID-19 pandemic more than the production of fresh produce, according to the United Nations.

Guan’s Mushroom Co., Commerce, Calif., is calling all cases of 7.05-ounce packs of enoki mushrooms from South Korea because of possible Listeria Monocytogenes contamination.

The Food and Drug Administration is addressing food safety concerns about the coronavirus COVID-19 through an extensive Q&A that cover

Clover sprouts from Jimmy John’s restaurants and a Chicago grower that have been linked to an E. coli outbreak came from a common seed lot.

Wholesalers, shippers and distributors are strategizing how to handle drastic changes in buying, selling, and how they manage employees as coronavirus COVID-19 has spread.

Inspections of California and Arizona leafy greens, as outlined in the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreements for those crops, continue despite the spread of COVID-19.

The Food and Drug Administration has suspended enforcement of verifying Food Safety Modernization Act audit requirements for importers and food facilities because of the coronavirus COVID-19 spread.

To help alleviate supermarket food shortages due to the new coronavirus COVID-19, Baldor Specialty Foods will make home deliveries available to people in a 50-mile radius of its Bronx, N.Y. headquarters.

The Food and Drug Administration will answer questions in a March 18 teleconference on how the coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting food safety and food supplies.

Chicago Indoor Garden is recalling all of its products containing red clover sprouts, after the Food and Drug Administration advised consumers to avoid them.