WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food & Drug Administration found Listeria in processed celery and in multiple locations at a San Antonio, TX, plant when it inspected SanGar Fresh Cut Produce, the firm being investigated for an outbreak that has resulted in four deaths.

The plant was shuttered Oct. 20 by the Texas Department of State Health Services and ordered to recall all products shipped since January after Texas officials found the outbreak strain in celery and the company reportedly refused to conduct a recall. The state is investigating 10 Listeria cases.

Joined by Idaho Gov. Butch Otter and Lt. Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday, Oct. 27, Nunhems employees, customers and suppliers celebrated the opening of the seed giant's $30 million expansion in Parma, ID.

Three years in the works, the project doubles the size of the Nunhems campus, which serves as its U.S. headquarters.

Castroville, CA-based Ocean Mist Farms recently added a new section to its web site, oceanmist.com, that is dedicated to promoting the company's sustainability initiatives.

Willcox, AZ-based Eurofresh Farms, a year-round producer and marketer of greenhouse-grown tomatoes and cucumbers also located in Snowflake, AZ, has developed and is implementing a benchmark food-safety system to elevate the protection of its produce.

Eurofresh announced the food-safety protocol during the Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition Oct. 15-18 in Orlando, FL.

Mount Vernon, IL-based Frey Farms Produce, one of the larger U.S. grower- packer-shippers of pumpkins, announced Oct. 18 that it has renewed its partnership with CHEP, a leading pallet and container pooling company.

Frey Farms Produce is now transporting its branded pumpkins, watermelons and cantaloupes from its facilities in Florida, Texas, Georgia, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado and Michigan to supermarkets, wholesalers, clubstores, fresh processors and foodservice operators in the United States and Canada on CHEP pallets.