With fresh-cut sweet potato sales lagging behind the spike seen in frozen sweet potato sales, Mann Packing, a leading supplier of washed and ready-to-eat vegetables, conducted consumer research to find out how the situation could be remedied.

A hailstorm and high winds cut through south Georgia in a swath as wide as 40 miles at points late afternoon and into the evening of May 22, causing significant damage to crops in major production areas in Tifton and Colquitt counties.

"The unusual part about it was it was such a wide spread, a good 30 to 40 mile swath," said Charles Hall of the Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Association. "Usually when you have hail in Georgia it's a small area, it's not widespread."

The Pacific Northwest cherry industry is using superlatives to describe the 2012 production season. Conditions: "Absolutely ideal," said James Michael, promotions director for Northwest Cherry Growers. "Plenty of blue sky and sunshine." Pollination: "Most growers are reporting a solid set across their trees," Mr. Michael continued. "They say the crop is well spread throughout the trees, almost as if they were painted on."

All bagged lettuce produce by River Ranch Fresh Foods in a specific part of its Salinas, CA, facility from late April through May 12 has been recalled because of random and target sampling that detected contamination with Listeria monocytogenes.

“In the past few months our potato and onion program have been in full swing,” said Stefanie Katzman, the fourth generation family member to work for S. Katzman Produce Inc. at the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Cooperative Market. “We always handled the two commodities, but we have expanded our vender base and have a person solely dedicated to the purchasing and running the program.

Clean hands are the simplest tenet of food safety. Unfortunately, they are also often the most overlooked. Many instances of food-borne illness can be traced back to an agricultural worker who simply did not follow the instructions mothers and grandmothers have been handing down for years: Always wash your hands before handling food.

That can be difficult in some agricultural settings. Commercial hand-washing systems are often expensive and cumbersome. Something so simple can become very complicated in an outdoor setting.