WASHINGTON  Federal food safety officials warned processors and repackers about a recall of basil after saying a California company was not doing enough to alert its consignees to the problem.

Majestic International Spice Corp. in Montebello, CA, is recalling its dehydrated Extra Fancy Basil in 12.5-kilogram bags because FDA said that it found the product contaminated with Salmonella Blockley during routine sampling.

Salinas, CA-based Epic Roots LLC, a grower and distributor of specialty greens, has announced the introduction of "Chard Mix," a ready-to-cook, multi-colored assortment of Bright Lights chard and Salad Savoy.

Bright Lights is a new generation of Swiss chard with delicately flavored brightly colored leaves of gold, orange, pink, red and white. Salad Savoy is a member of the cabbage family, while chard is actually a beet green that is grown for its delicious and nutritious leaves rather than its root.

The Produce Marketing Association's task force moved forward with its effort to create a laymans DVD for using radio frequency identification. The task force met Aug. 18 in Dallas.

Michael McCartney, principal of QLM Consulting and chairman of Produce Marketing Associations RFID produce action group, said that the DVD will be ready before PMAs Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition in Atlanta in early November and will be on hand at the convention. The cost of the DVD has yet to be determined, Mr. McCartney said.

The California table grape season begins in May, but more than half the crop is shipped from September forward.

According to the California Table Grape Commission, "Typically 55 percent of the crop is shipped after August 31 of each year. Furthermore, out of 63 commercial varieties of fresh California table grapes, 49 of them are available during the September-through-December time period," including 14 major varieties.

Those varieties include seedless and seeded grapes in the green, red and blue-black categories.

Jeff Ritts has joined Domex Inc. in Yakima, WA, as an organic specialist.

The recent agreement between Domex and Blue Bird Inc. to market Blue Bird's organic product lines created the need for a dedicated organic account representative.

"Jeff brings a unique array of talents to our Domex team," company President Robert Kershaw said in a statement. His passion for the industry is clearly evident and his experience in organic and conventional fruit is a perfect fit for our current and future organic goals.

"I'm really concerned about some people down there. Our biggest concern right now is the people who live down there," Marta Maitles, director of communications for Dole Fresh Fruit Co. in Westlake Village, CA, told The Produce News Aug. 30.

Ms. Maitles was speaking of Gulfport, MS, where Dole maintains a large facility to receive fruit imported from Latin America. Gulfport took the devastating brunt of the force of Hurricane Katrina.

National news reports have indicated rising fatality numbers in Mississippi in the hurricanes wake.