WASHINGTON -- Facing an urgency in the field and in Congress, the United Fresh Produce Association singled out immigration reform as its most important issue, attracting top congressional and Bush administration officials to respond to the crisis at the Washington Public Policy Conference, held here Sept. 13.

While it is unclear whether the agriculture industry will see Congress create a stable workforce this year, the group traveled to Washington to tell its story about the cost of not fixing the foreign worker system.

NAPLES, FL -- The Florida Tomato Exchange and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange held their annual membership meetings as part of the Joint Tomato Conference held here Sept. 5-10 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Representatives from both organizations discussed several issues currently affecting the Florida tomato industry. Both groups also appointed their respective boards of directors.

WASHINGTON -- The Food & Drug Administration expanded its consumer warning to all fresh-bagged spinach and announced that California-based Natural Selection Foods LLC was recalling an array of salad products in response to the outbreak.

"Based on current information, FDA advises that people not eat fresh spinach or fresh spinach containing-products that are consumed raw," according to FDA's Sept. 15 advisory. The agency said it would continue daily press briefings on the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak if necessary.

Rainier Fruit Co. in Selah, WA, and Wenatchee-based Columbia Marketing International, both major players in the Northwest fruit industry, recently teamed up for distribution of Grapple apples.

Exclusive rights to process, package, market and sell the apple product were granted to Rainier and CMI in August by Grapple Fruits LLC, which owns the patent on Grapple apples.

According to Suzanne Wolter, marketing director for Rainier, product will start shipping in early October, and retail distribution will be across the United States.

Retailers and foodservice operators are scrambling to remove bagged spinach products the day after the U.S. Food & Drug Administrative advised all consumers not to eat the products as FDA officials try to narrow the cause of a multi-state outbreak.

Fifty people in eight states have been linked through DNA fingerprinting to an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that health officials say may be attributed to bagged spinach products. The first illness was confirmed Aug. 25, said FDA, and the agency is working to identify the product brand. One person has died.