WASHINGTON - With a new food-safety bill moving quickly through the U.S. House, the Food & Drug Administration has hired a produce industry expert, Jim Gorny, to work in the Washington, DC, office as an advisor to FDA's food safety office.

The FDA has received new money in recent months to staff the resource- starved food program, and the agency will need help in meeting new mandates under food-safety legislation that passed a House committee in June.

Reflecting the world economy, the global banana marketing situation is complex as it is described by Juan Alarcon, the chief executive officer of Turbana Corp. in Coral Gables, FL.

When the view of banana markets is narrowed to North America, it is a scene that does not reflect wider turbulence, he said, noting that it is the European and North American markets that have remained most steady.

Albert's Organics, a leader in organic fresh foods distribution, is expanding its operations with its eighth distribution center scheduled to open September 14, 2009.

The new facility is strategically located in Charlotte, NC, and will service the southeastern United States, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and southern Virginia.

Fresno, CA-based Z&S Fresh Inc., a fresh fruit grower, packer and shipper, recently put its $11 million state-of-the-art cold storage and packing facility on the market to cover some outstanding debts.

By all accounts, 2009 is going to be a good year for the nation's garlic. "Let the fun begin," said William Christopher, partner at Christopher Ranch LLC in Gilroy, CA.

California Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez, who chairs the Senate Committee on Food & Agriculture, sent a letter June 15 to A.G. Kawamura, secretary of the California Department of Food & Agriculture, sharply criticizing him for his "refusal to participate" in a Senate committee hearing scheduled for the following day. The subject of the hearing was "Evaluating the consolidation and elimination of the California Department of Food & Agriculture."