Spudman

New industry guidance for cantaloupe available

A new resource, “The National Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for Cantaloupes and Netted Melons,” is now available to help companies that grow, harvest, sort, pack, process or ship cantaloupes in developing production practices that address risk and minimize microbial hazards. It is applicable for companies of all sizes and the use of all production practices, from primary production to the packing and transport of fresh cantaloupes. The guidance is the result of a yearlong…  » Read more

---

California growers focus on getting their cantaloupe safety message out

California melons will begin bearing a “Buy California Grown” sticker in an effort to distinguish the state’s crop from others. Steve Patricio, president of Westside Produce and the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board and a grower himself, said that contamination outbreaks like the recent one surrounding melons grown at Chamberlain Farms in Indiana and a recall of melons from Burch Farms in North Carolina after samples tested positive for listeria – not to mention last year’s…  » Read more

---