WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing another rate hike to certify fresh fruits and vegetables at terminal markets and is promising more increases to follow.

The proposed 15 percent increase, which amounts to an additional $2.4 million, is needed to help cover program costs, maintain adequate reserves and update technology, according to USDA. Agriculture officials inspect, grade and certify fresh fruits and vegetables and other products on a voluntary, user-fee basis.

Bell peppers and other row crops in California's Coachella Valley suffered damage as a result of a cold snap that began in the area around Nov. 29.

The extent of the damage in part depends on where crops lie in the Coachella Valley and how long the cold lasts. Temperatures dipped to below freezing the morning of Dec. 5, and similar conditions were also being experienced in California's Imperial Valley.

During a conference call Monday evening, Dec. 11 with produce associations, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration stated that it was unable to confirm the preliminary presumptive positive test results for E. coli O157:H7 that were taken from samples obtained from Taco Bell.

According to an announcement by the Produce Marketing Association, all samples tested by FDA, including those tested by Taco Bell's independent laboratory, were negative for the presence of the pathogen.

WASHINGTON -- Taco Bell's rapid test that fingered green onions as the likely cause of the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak came up negative after more thorough testing, leaving health officials to continue probing for other likely sources, the Food & Drug Administration said in a Dec. 11 press conference.

"There's nothing to implicate green onions right now," said David Acheson, chief medical officer for FDA's Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition.

Mission Produce Inc. in Oxnard, CA, announced its entry into the fresh asparagus industry with its agreement to purchase the assets of Lee Pacific Asparagus in Salinas, CA.

The purchase includes a California and Mexican program which will strengthen Mission's strategic relationship with a Peruvian company to enable a year-round, fresh asparagus program.

WEST CHESTER, PA -- Science, education, free enterprise, creativity and opportunity mesh here at Cheyney University.

Michael Derro, a 30-year veteran of the produce industry, created Herban Farms LLC, a privately owned company built on university property. The project, which went into operation in June, is a greenhouse for simultaneously growing fresh basil and raising thousands of tilapia fish.

Mr. Derro told The Produce News that "Herban" is a play on words, explaining that his farm can be used to grow "herbs" in an "urban" environment.