MONTEREY, CA -- Hatched just three weeks before the start of the Produce Marketing Association's 27th annual Foodservice Conference & Exposition, held here July 25-27, the conference added a town hall meeting to discuss the recent Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak.

PMA President Bryan Silbermann credited Tim York, president of Salinas, CA- based Markon Cooperative Inc., with coming up with the idea for the Saturday afternoon meeting.

Hurricane Dolly swept through South Padre Island on the southeast coast of Texas in late July causing water damage to many hotels -- including the Sheraton, which was scheduled to host the Texas Produce Association convention in late August.

"They've had some water damage and they are not going to be in service for at least a couple of months," said TPA President John McClung. "By that time, we will be in the midst of our citrus season, and a lot of people won't be able to come [down to the island]."

SALINAS, CA -- NewStar Fresh Foods has been notified by the Michigan Department of Agriculture that a test result previously thought to be positive for Salmonella in a sample of fresh cilantro was found July 31 not to be a likely indicator of the presence of the pathogen, rendering unnecessary the national recall conducted July 30 by NewStar.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration immediately notified its California regional office, the California state Department of Health & Human Services and the Canadian Food Safety Agency.

Gary James, chief operating officer of Southern Specialties in Pompano Beach, FL, has left that company to take a similar position with L&M Cos. Inc. in Raleigh, NC.

Southern Specialties announced Mr. James' resignation in a July 25 press release. He began his new position at L&M July 28 and will be based at the company's Raleigh headquarters.

If the handling of the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention several weeks ago was the fiasco that many in the industry claim it has been, the way state agencies in North Carolina and Texas and APEAM, the association of avocado growers in Michoacan, Mexico, handled a more recent detection of an unrelated strain of salmonella on avocados in a Charlotte, NC, warehouse is seen by some as a model of competency.

A sample of Serrano pepper and irrigation water on the same Mexican farm tested positive for the Salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 1,300 people.

As a result of the finding, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration expanded its consumer advisory to warn all consumers to avoid eating raw Serrano peppers from Mexico in addition to the raw Jalapeno peppers grown in Mexico.