The final numbers are in and Produce for Kids, an organization that promotes the benefits of healthy eating and supports worthy causes for children, raised more than $162,000 this fall as part of the "Eat Smart for a Great Start" campaign.

The funds benefit PBS Kids, which provides content, resources and tools that support the positive development of the whole child - the cognitive, emotional, social and physical.

CurrantC has just completed the first major production run of its black currant nectar and nectar-juice blends.

The Staatsburg, NY-based firm has started shipping the first cases of its six new flavors, which are original black currant and black currant-juice blends with boysenberry, blueberry, clementine, passion fruit and strawberry/kiwifruit. The products are destined for the United States and Canada, said Mark Sherburne, CurrantC's director of sales and marketing for North America.

WASHINGTON -- The country-of-origin labeling program, scheduled to go into effect in March, may once again be delayed because the new administration has directed all federal agencies to review former President Bush's end-of-the-term regulations.

In a Jan. 20 memorandum, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel directed federal agencies to stop all pending regulations and yet-to-be-implemented rules, and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials confirmed that the Jan. 16 COOL regulation would be reviewed by new management at the department.

NEWARK, DE -- Produce Marketing Association has urged the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to maintain the high profile of fruit and vegetables as it works to revise the Dietary Guidelines for Americans for the 2010 edition.

In testimony provided to the committee Jan. 29, Kathy Means, PMA's vice president of government relations and public affairs, noted that Americans have a long way to go to reach even the current fruit and vegetable consumption guidelines.

Crop damage assessments caused by the freeze that blanketed Florida Jan. 21 are still coming in, but early reports indicate that corn, lettuce and beans, predominantly in the Lake Okeechobee region, suffered about a 95 percent loss.

"The losses were very significant," said Paul Allen, co-owner of R.C. Hatton Farms in Pahokee, FL. "It was, in my opinion, the worst freeze we've had since 1989. About 95 percent of both corn and green beans in the Lake Okeechobee area were destroyed."

Respected mushroom industry leader and innovator Joseph D'Amico, founder of To-Jo Mushrooms Inc. in Avondale, PA, died Jan. 17 after a five-year battle with cancer. He was 53.

Mr. D'Amico began his career with his family's business in 1974. In 1980, he established To-Jo Mushroom, named after his two sons, Tony and Joe, to pack and distribute fresh mushrooms.