Irwindale, CA-based Ready Pac Foods Inc., a premier producer of convenience fresh foods including fresh-cut produce, has hired several senior sales professionals and has announced a reorganization.

Ellis Fleisher Produce Co., long a leader on the Philadelphia Regional Produce Market, has closed its doors. As of April 24, the firm had not filed for bankruptcy protection and was working with suppliers to meet its obligations.

Another Philadelphia wholesaler who is intimately involved with the situation told The Produce News April 24, "Discovery is still going on and it's too early for anyone on this market to comment." He noted that any public discussion of the situation at the discovery stage could only make matters worse for creditors.

Al Gore, a former vice president of the United States and Oscar winner for his "An Inconvenient Truth" documentary about global warming, has canceled his long-scheduled speaking engagement at next week's All Things Organic trade show and Conference in Chicago.

On Thursday, April 26, the Harry Walker Agency, which represents Vice President Gore, contacted the Food Marketing Institute to say that Mr. Gore canceled for "personal reasons," and no other information was given.

The families of three elderly women who died after eating spinach allegedly tainted with E. coli bacteria have reached a settlement with Natural Selection Foods, Mission Organics, Dole Food Co. and its subsidiary Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc.

The three women -- Betty Howard, 83, of Richland, WA; June Dunning, 86, of Hagerstown, MD; and Ruby Trautz, 81, of Bellevue, NE -- were hospitalized and later died of complications that their lawyer said could be traced back to the E. coli outbreak that sickened more than 200 people nationwide in August and September of 2006.

Litehouse Inc., based in Sandpoint, ID, plans to showcase its new organic products at this year's United Fresh Produce Association convention and trade show, dubbed United Fresh Marketplace.

Litehouse will exhibit in booth No. 9635 and will be represented by owners, a sales director and the marketing team, Director of Brand Marketing Paul Kusche told The Produce News.

The family-owned business markets a full line of salad dressings, dips, marinades and toppings throughout the United States and Canada to health- conscious citizens in both countries.

While he applauds the industry's current efforts with regard to food safety initiatives, former Wal-Mart produce executive Bruce Peterson believes that at least the same amount of energy should be spent on developing a sophisticated trace-back program.

"The problem in my mind is not food safety. The problem is the consumer reaction to an isolated outbreak in a given commodity," he said.