In concert with the Texas Produce Association, Western Growers Assurance Trust will be offering health insurance plans developed for companies in Texas beginning Jan. 1.

WGAT, which is a non-profit entity, has been providing health plans designed to meet the needs of agricultural customers since 1957. Previously, it had operated in California and Arizona providing services for Western Growers Association members in those two states.

Driscoll Strawberry Associates has entered into an agreement to increase its investment and shareholdings in Driscoll's of Chile. According to the firm, this increased investment will make Driscoll's of Chile stronger and aligns it more closely with the overall Driscoll's organization.

On Dec. 3, Mark Bassetti, vice president of customer development for Duda Farm Fresh Foods, headquartered in Oviedo, FL, told The Produce News that reports stating that A. Duda & Sons (the parent company) has sold 2,000 acres of citrus groves in the state's Indian River region to Premier Citrus Packers in Vero Beach, FL, are true. But he added that A. Duda & Sons has no plans to reduce its involvement in citrus fruits, including citrus from Florida.

The Avocado Producers & Exporting Packers Association of Michoacan, which represents the avocado industry in the Mexican state of Michoacan and which is better known by the acronym APEAM, has named Emiliano Escobedo director of marketing, reporting directly to the organization's new chairman and board of directors, who were appointed in July and officially inaugurated Nov. 18 by Mexico President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Food & Drug Administration updated its plan for reforming the agency's food-safety program in a Dec. 1 report, but consumer groups criticized the agency for not doing enough to stem the safety problems caused by domestic and imported foods.

Although the source was not able to be confirmed, the Ontario government has declared the recent E. coli outbreak in southeastern part of the province over.