WASHINGTON -- The Food & Drug Administration has the authority to regulate the produce industry, but it needs sufficient funds, staffing and research dollars to do the job, Tom Stenzel, president of United Fresh Produce Association, said at a Feb. 8 hearing on Capitol Hill.

At the first of a series of food-safety hearings planned in the powerful House Appropriations subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) explored whether the current system needs to be overhauled to prevent future recalls and outbreaks.

As of Feb. 1, Mexican-grown Hass avocados that have met the required U.S. Department of Agriculture protocols may be shipped to California, Florida and Hawaii for the first time in some 80 years.

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is asking for a $10.6-million increase for food safety regulators to better investigate outbreaks related to fresh produce in next year's budget, including an initiative to place U.S. Food & Drug Administration and state inspectors in produce-growing areas.

Ruby Tuesday, a 900-unit casual-dining restaurant chain based in Maryville, TN, has made a commitment to use more fresh avocados on its menu. The chain has added several avocado items to its menu and is testing others.

Ruby Tuesday is scheduled to open its first California store near the Ontario airport in April or May.

During a California Avocado Commission board of directors meeting in January, two Ruby Tuesday executives joined the commission members in their high-tech Irvine, CA, conference room via live video conference from Tennessee.

The National Watermelon Association plans to provide "a slice of North Carolina" to attendees of its 93rd annual convention to be held Feb. 21-25 in Asheville, NC, at the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa.

"This is the first time we have had a convention in the state of North Carolina," Bob Morrissey, the NWA's executive director, told The Produce News. "It will be the single-largest convention that we have ever had. We are anticipating an attendance of 450 to 500 people, and that's huge for us. We set the record in Lake Tahoe last year, and we've already blown that away."

After working more than 40 years in the produce industry, interrupted only by a stint in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1970, Tan-O-on Marketing Inc. founder Gerry Anderson has hung up his potato and produce salesman's hat.

Mostly, that is.

Mr. Anderson, who told The Produce News Jan. 15 that he had officially retired Jan. 1, was actually sitting in the office of the Albuquerque, NM-based brokerage firm, filling in for the operation's new president, Shannon Casey, who was traveling on business.