Three officers from the Food and Drug Administration will join United Fresh Produce Association members and guests in the inaugural Food Safety Demo Center at United Fresh 2010, April 20-23 in Las Vegas.

          With health care reform behind them, Congress is expected to move quickly on food safety legislation, which promises big changes for the fresh produce industry. Attendees to the Food Safety Demo Center will have the opportunity to be one step ahead of the food safety curve with new programming announced today.

          Domenic Veneziano, director of the FDA’s Division of Import Operations and Policy will discuss FDA’s import regulatory policies and inspection practices at the border.

          Additionally, former United Fresh Senior Vice President of Food Safety and Technology and current FDA Senior Advisor for Produce Safety Dr. James Gorny will discuss what FDA has learned from the mandatory Reportable Food Registry and describe newly released guidance for compliance.

          Finally, Dr. Samir Assar, FDA’s director of Produce Safety Staff, will discuss FDA’s plans for GMP Modernization and what changes the fresh-cut and other GMP-regulated facilities can expect in that regulation.

          Also in the Food Safety Demo Center, Drs. Assar and Gorny will discuss FDA’s current thinking on a proposed rule for produce safety and how the industry can best provide input as FDA develops the proposed regulation that could affect all field operations.

          "Each presentation in the Food Safety Demo Center will offer unprecedented opportunities for access to FDA officials at the center of the regulatory aspect of our industry," said Dr. David Gombas, United Fresh senior vice president of food safety and technology. "It is critical for each member of the industry to understand how new policies and regulations will affect his or her business."

          As the produce industry’s only dedicated exhibit area focused exclusively on food safety solutions for all points in the fresh and fresh-cut produce supply chain, the Food Safety and Research Demo Center will help attendees answer pressing questions in this all-important industry field. The Demo Center will also feature cutting-edge research on food safety and quality assurance of produce from national and international researchers and research organizations, providing information and new technologies to the produce industry. Sponsored by the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, the research posters will be available for viewing at all times that the show floor is open and researchers will be available at their posters to discuss their research on Wednesday, April 21 from 4:30–5:30 PM. Posters and their authors include:

Measuring Supply Chain Trends in the Packaging of Stem-free Fresh Sweet Cherries: A Sustainable Approach in Package Design, Produce Characteristics and Expectations

G. Kautsimanis a, J. Harte b, L. Bix a, B. Harte a, M. Whiting c, J. McFerson c,d  and E. Almenar a

a School of Packaging and b Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.

c Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Washington State University, Pullman, Wash.

d WA Tree Fruit Research Commission, Wenatchee, Wash.

Influence of Packaging on the Flavor of Fresh-Cut Apple Slices

Charles F. Forney1, Margaret Cliff2, Patty (Pei-Yi) Liu2 and Peter Toivonen2

1Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre, Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada

2Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre,

Summerland, British Columbia, Canada

Sugar Snap Pea Quality Changes in Relation to Storage Temperature and Atmospheres

Marita Cantwell

Dept. Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, Calif.

Does Chilling Injury Play a Role in Determining the Shelf-life of Fresh-cut Tropical or Subtropical Products? A Case Study with Fresh-cut ‘Kent’ Mango

Sharon Dea1, Jeffrey K. Brecht1, Maria Cecilia N. Nunes1, and Elizabeth A. Baldwin2

1Horticulture Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.

2USDA-ARS, Citrus & Subtropical Products Lab. Winter Haven, Fla.

Successful Control of Watersoaking in Fresh-cut Tomato and Cantaloupe by 1-MCP (SmartFreshTM) Depends on Fruit Ripeness Stage when Cut

Jiwon Jeong, Jeffrey K. Brecht, Donald J. Huber, and Steven A. Sargent

Horticulture Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.

Comparative Shelf Life Study of Blackberry Fruit in Bio-based and Petroleum-based Containers under Retail Storage Condition

MJ Joo a, R.Auras a, J. Harte b, and E. Almenar a

aSchool of Packaging, and bFood Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.

Aroma Compounds in Fresh Cut Pomegranate Arils

John C. Beaulieu, Casey C. Grimm, Steven W. Lloyd and Rebecca E. Stein

Food Processing & Sensory Quality, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southern Regional Research Center, New Orleans, La.

Quality Considerations for Grape Tomatoes in Vegetable Trays

Marita Cantwell

Dept. Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, Calif. 

Factors Affecting the Levels of Wound-induced Oxy-radicals in Romaine Lettuce

Peter M.A. Toivonen and Pascal Delaquis

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, Summerland, British Columbia, Canada

Chitosan Effects on the Infectivity of Human Enteric Virus Surrogates for Future Application in Produce

Doris Helen D’Souza

Dept. of Food Science and Technology, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Knoxville, Tenn.

Biopreservation of Fresh-cut Salads using Bacteriocin Producing Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Commercial Produce

Lihua Fan1, Deana Sharpe1,2, Lisbeth Truelstrup Hansen2, Craig Doucette1 and Sherry Fillmore1

1Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre, Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada

2Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Fate of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli O157:H7 on Romaine Lettuce Following Immersion in PRO-SAN – a Biodegradable Foodgrade Sanitizer

Aubrey F. Mendonca1, David Manu1, Aura Daraba2 and Byron Brehm-Stecher1

1Dept of Food Science & Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

2Faculty of Food Science & Engineering, University "Dunarea de Jos", Galati, Romania

Antilisterial Effects of Gravinol®-S Grape Seed Extract at Low Levels in Aqueous Media and its Potential Application as a Produce Wash

Bledar Bisha, Natalia Weinsetel, Byron F. Brehm-Stecher, and Aubrey Mendonca

Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

Laser Labels: A New Bio-secure Method to Identify Florida Citrus

J. Narciso1, E. Extebarria2, P. Sood2, C. Ference1 and C. Narciso2

1USDA-ARS, Citrus & Subtropical Products Lab. Winter Haven, Fla.

2Citrus Research and Extension Center, University of Florida, Lake Alfred, Fla.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA): Grants Opportunities Related to Fresh and Fresh-cut Produce

Ram Rao

National Program Leader, Food Science and Technology, USDA-NIFA, Washington, D.C.

Field assessment of surface contamination and systemic transference of an attenuated Salmonella Typhimurium to melon fruit from controlled contamination of irrigation water

Trevor Suslow1, A. Sbodio1, A. Tomás-Callejas1, S. Maeda1, F. López-Gálvez2, C. D’lima2 and K.H. Tan2

1Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, Calif.

2Postharvest and Refrigeration Group, Department of Food Technology, Technical University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Murcia, Spain

Assessing the Performance of Modified Moore Swabs as a Low-Cost Method of Large Volume Irrigation Source Surveys

A. Sbodio, S. Maeda, M. Trent, and T. V. Suslow

          University of California, Davis, Calif.

Integrative Approach for the Assessment of Food Safety in Spinach Cultivation

            Eduardo Gutiérrez-Rodríguez and Trevor Suslow

1Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, Calif.

          "Given the importance of food safety within the fresh produce industry, the Food Safety and Research Demo Center became a must at this year’s show," said Dr. Gombas. "Visitors to the center will be able to learn about advances in best practices, audit harmonization, pending legislation and more, all in one stop."

         The demo center is a key part of United Fresh 2010’s theme of ‘Winning is Everything.’ United Fresh 2010 looks to highlight the skills, products and technologies needed to build and maintain a successful, winning produce business, focusing on specialized programming for all segments of the fresh and fresh-cut produce industry.

         For more information, or to register for United Fresh 2010, visit www.unitedfresh.orgor call 202-303-3400.