Newswatch 2010-01-04 (2)

TOMATO SAFETY METRICS UPDATED

WASHINGTON — The United Fresh Produce Association has released “Food Safety Programs and Auditing Protocol for the Fresh Tomato Supply Chain, 2009,” a new set of auditing benchmarks for North American tomato growers, packers and distributors. “This effort was a true collaboration between the tomato industry, our customers and government,” Ed Beckman, president of California Tomato Farmers, said in an announcement. “Not only is there agreement on standardized risk reduction protocol for the entire supply chain, there's agreement that a single commodity-specific audit has greater merit than multiple generic audits.”

IPC LAUNCHES DISPLAY CONTEST

EAGLE, Idaho — The Idaho Potato Commission has announced a call for entrants in its annual retail display contest. Produce department managers can enter the contest by creating a special display featuring Idaho potatoes, Mrs. Dash seasoning blends, Molly McButter products and Idaho dehydrated potato products for at least one week during the Jan. 25 through Feb. 26 contest period. The IPC will award more than $150,000 in cash to winners in three store categories. Additional information is available at www.idahopotato.com/retail.

OKLAHOMA PROCESSOR RECALLS BEEF

OWASSO, Okla. — National Steak and Poultry last week announced a recall of 248,000 pounds of various beef products shipped to Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, Michigan and Washington state, following an outbreak of E. coli illnesses in those states. The company described the recall as a precautionary measure, and said it was cooperating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service.