WASHINGTON — An additional 950,000 students could be snacking on free fruits and vegetables at school next year, bumping up the number to 4 million children nationwide, under grants announced March 23 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund its popular Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program.

John Hubbard, a longtime veteran of the produce industry, will retire from Supervalu’s Eastern Region division April 29 after a career that spanned more than four decades.

Mr. Hubbard began his grocery career in 1963 when he joined Jewell Tea Co. as a utility clerk. He worked at several other retail operations, including the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Loblaw/Peter J. Schmidt Inc.

Target, one of the nation’s larger general merchandise retailers, is expecting to add produce departments to about 400 stores this year, almost doubling the number of stores that handled fresh produce at the end of 2010.

After several weeks of incredibly hot markets on lettuce and many other vegetable items, good production beginning in mid-March sent the f.o.b. prices spiraling down on a number of different crops. In fact, Iceberg lettuce dropped by close to $20 a carton almost overnight.

However, it began raining in parts of California on March 19 and was expected to continue raining into the following weekend.

(Updated Story) WASHINGTON -- Melissa’s/World Variety Produce Inc. said the Salmonella that government inspectors detected in its Serrano peppers is likely an isolated incident, but just in case the company is not selling Serrano peppers from that growing region until federal and state officials conclude their investigation.

The Food & Drug Administration asked the Los Angeles-based firm to conduct a recall after the U.S. Department of Agriculture detected Salmonella on one or two Serrano peppers March 17 as part of its Microbiological Data Program.

PLEASANTON, CA — At a recent food-safety seminar hosted here by the Produce Marketing Association, Bob Whitaker, PMA's chief science officer, stressed the importance of companies involving their sales staffs in food safety efforts.

Dr. Whitaker said that while salespeople are understandably focused on making sales, they also need to be aware of food-safety issues.