NORWALK, CA -- Food safety was the topic of discussion at the Fresh Produce & Floral Council membership luncheon, held here Oct. 1 at the Norwalk Marriott. Neil Checketts, senior director of food safety and food defense for Wal-Mart and the featured speaker at the event, spoke about a myriad of food safety topics that confront retailers, foodservice operators and consumers.

Mr. Checketts first focused upon risk factors for retailers. He said that Wal- Mart founder Sam Walton once said, "The bigger Wal-Mart gets, the more important it is that we think small."

NEW YORK -- Ocean Spray is once again bringing the beauty and the mystique of the cranberry harvest to the public with its "Bogs Across America" tour.

The tour's first stop was Oct. 7-9 at New York City's Rockefeller Center, marking the "Big Apple Bog's" third year at the world-famous location.

Michigan officials delivered some bad news to California leafy green growers Oct. 9 as they said that the E. coli outbreak that appears to have sickened over 40 people in the region is linked to California-grown lettuce.

Based on illness dates, shipping dates and delivery dates, Michigan authorities have narrowed the cause of the outbreak to California lettuce, according to Jennifer Holton, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Agriculture. State officials are focusing their investigation on Iceberg lettuce shipped during a span of a few days in mid-August.

OTTAWA -- The Canadian Produce Marketing Association announced Oct. 10 changes within its organizational structure to meet the growing needs of members as the industry evolves in a climate of rapid change and fluctuating government regulations.

Dan Vach?, who started working for Ryan Instruments 37 years ago and remained with the firm and its successors ever since, left Sensitech Inc. Sept. 30 and said he is pursuing other opportunities.

Mr. Vach? began his long career with the Redmond, WA-based recording instrument company in the summer of 1971 while he was attending a nearby community college.

The produce wholesaler named by Michigan authorities in an E. coli outbreak probe said that it will resume shipping Iceberg lettuce with new food-safety precautions, although it questions the epidemiological evidence that associated its lettuce with the outbreak in the first place.

On Sept. 26, Michigan officials named Detroit-based Aunt Mid's Produce Co. as the wholesaler responsible for selling bagged, industrial-sized packages of Iceberg lettuce that were served in restaurants and institutions, including colleges and a jail, where people got sick.