With federal disease officials having turned their attention to Serrano and Jalape?o peppers in their ongoing Salmonella outbreak probe, some importers of hot peppers from Mexico have stopped shipping product.

According to a U.S. Food & Drug Administration update posted Monday, July 14, since April, 1,167 people infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.

The Food Network has launched a new program this summer and "Driscoll" strawberries will be featured in an episode to air July 28.

"How'd That Get on My Plate?" featuring Food Network host Sunny Anderson follows the journey of a single ingredient (such as eggs, strawberries, garlic, honey or apples) as it moves from its raw state into a finished, iconic product. From the farm to the factory to the market, Ms. Anderson travels the country showcasing the technology and innovation it takes to produce today's favorite foods.

WASHINGTON -- Florida tomato growers, already decimated from this year's drop in crop value, now find themselves having to make tough decisions on whether to plant for next year's crop with a Salmonella warning still hanging over some of their products.

The ongoing outbreak continues to tarnish the overall produce industry and put Florida tomato growers in the "untenable position" of trying to plan for next year's crop, said Mike Stuart, president of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ -- "We are finally into the South African season," Marc Solomon said July 10. "We had a very slow start with late crops" from not only South Africa, but Chilean and Peruvian citrus as well.

Mr. Solomon is the president of Fisher Capespan U.S.A. LLC, which has offices here and in Montreal.

On July 10, Fisher Capespan was among a number of importers receiving South African citrus brought to the port aboard a green reefer refrigerated break-bulk ship docked at the Gloucester Marine Terminal, here.

Terrence (Tip) Murphy, a veteran of some of the more visible produce operations in the country, including Chiquita Brands International and Ready Pac Foods, died Sunday, July 13, after suffering a heart attack while playing golf with his friends. He was 48.

Most recently, Mr. Murphy worked at Ready Pac Foods, where for the past 16 months he served as its Eastern division vice president of retail sales.

According to Matt McLean, founder and chief executive officer of Uncle Matt's Fresh, the organic produce arm of Uncle Matt's Organic, the number of organic citrus growers and the amount of acreage dedicated to organic citrus that the company manages are rising at a steady and healthy pace.

"We currently manage over 1,000 acres of citrus groves that include 15 different family-owned farms," Mr. McLean said in a press release. "This number is expanding every day as we help conventional groves transition to organic."