Industry News

The Packer Growers are generally pleased with a review of cantaloupe packing operations, but some industry insiders question the value of the Food and Drug Administration’s 2013 inspection tour and the preliminary report released recently.A more detailed report is in the works but FDA officials decided to delay it until the produce safety rule — due to be published by Halloween —…

The Packer After inspecting 17 operations, federal officials report that fresh cantaloupe packinghouses are generally following good agriculture practices even though tests at nine of the companies showed listeria contamination. The inspections by the Food and Drug Administration were part of the agency’s follow-up efforts after a 2011 cantaloupe-related listeria monocytogenes outbreak that sickened more than 150 nationwide and killed more…