Now that the Food & Drug Administration has proposed two new food-safety regulations, Produce Marketing Association experts jumped in front Jan. 17 to lay out the new proposals and field questions from members during back-to-back webinars.

Required under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, the two regulations, released Jan. 4, propose new safety standards for produce and new preventive controls for a wide variety of FDA-registered food facilities. Comments on the more than 1,200-page rules are due May 16.

The office staff of the New York Apple Association in Fishers, NY, was bubbling with excitement on Jan. 17 when the U.S. Postal Service notified them that the Northern Spy apple, an older but beloved cooking apple, was chosen as one of four U.S. apples to represent a new postcard stamp collection.

Marc Holbik, director of grower relations for Ecoripe Tropicals in Medley, FL, told The Produce News that the company carries a widely diverse line of Asian fruits and vegetables.

“The line was developed specifically for a wide range of Chinese, Indian and Southeast Asian cuisines,” said Mr. Holbik. “These foods and the dishes they are used in have become increasingly popular in North America.”

Peter Forrence, one of three cousins who own Forrence Orchards in Peru, NY, told The Produce News that the key to the eastern apple deal this year is that there are limited supplies. Overall, New York’s apple production is down by 60 percent due to freeze and frost damage.

“Supplies are running out rapidly,” said Mr. Forrence. “And demand continues to be strong. The Western U.S. had a sizeable crop, and some of that fruit is working its way to the East to fill the demand.

In a time where many recent college graduates are struggling to start their careers let alone find any sort of employment, 23-year-old Chloé Varennes is the exception.

After graduating a little over a year ago from California Poly-San Luis Obispo with a degree in business administration and a concentration in marketing and minor in packaging, Ms. Varennes has not only already begun a promising career in the produce industry, she’s also managed to snag her dream job.

Several successive nights of freezing temperatures in California's San Joaquin Valley and in coastal growing areas have kept growers busy implementing costly frost-protection measures in the hope of preventing or minimizing damage to citrus, avocados and strawberries.

Some vegetable crops in the southern coastal areas may also be affected by the cold, but are said to be of less concern.