A ban imposed Dec. 21, 2004, on apple exports to Taiwan was lifted April 26, with exports from the United States approved to resume April 27.

According to a letter from Francis K. H. Liang of the Washington, DC-based Economic Division of the Taipei Economic & Cultural Representative Office in the United States, the Taiwan Bureau of Animal & Plant Health Inspection & Quarantine "agreed [April 26] to resume U.S. apple imports into Taiwan April 27, 2005, and the phytosanitary certificate of apples should be issued on or after that date."

Gahl Crane is a walking advertisement for Prime Produce International in Lake Forest, CA.

The 23-year-old sales representative is a vegetarian who tends his own garden and eats three or four avocados - the company's exclusive product - a day. "It's absolutely my favorite food in the world," Mr. Crane said. "Being a vegetarian, I need its protein and vitamins to meet my dietary needs."

Kingston Cos. in Idaho Falls, ID, announced that David J. Peterson has been retained as adviser to the president for the company's planned expansion into new markets and products.

Initially, Mr. Peterson will advise on the companys entry into the sales and marketing of organically farmed fish. He will also help direct the companys servicing of the fresh produce retail and foodservice markets.

In mid-April, with 200 loads of onions per day leaving the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, truck rates were skyrocketing and shortages were apparent.

"Call me back later," Melinda Goodman of Four Seasons Trading Co. in Donna, TX, said Friday afternoon, April 15. I'm looking for trucks and I just cant find any.

If a Vidalia onion is certified sweet, does that detract from the "Vidalia" brand of onion, which already implies sweet onions? A Georgia Superior Court judge on April 19 answered that question: No.

National Onion Labs Inc. in Collins, GA, was the immediate winner in the legal case. But David Burrell, president of the company, insists that American consumers are the real winners.

WASHINGTON - When the Dietary Guidelines boosted the daily recommended allowance of fruits and vegetables to five-to-13 servings per day from five-to-nine servings, the produce industry eagerly awaited the design of the new graphic that would guide consumers in making smart dietary choices.

On April 19, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its long-awaited redesigned food pyramid to mixed reviews from members of the produce industry.