Bob Backovich passing

Another industry giant has passed too soon. Bob Backovich, retired from Safeway since 1993 after 39 years with the company, died on Monday, June 30.

From the several conversations I had today with those who knew him well, Bob was a commanding personality who lit up a room when he walked into it. He was demanding, but no one in his employ wanted to do anything more than excel for him.

Our condolences to Bob's family and many in the industry who knew and loved Bob. Memorial services will be July 10 in Carlsbad, Calif.

Healthy Watermelon news

A Packer staffer, who shall remain nameless, suggested we "get this up" as soon as we can.

USA Today writes that watermelons have Viagra-like properties in relaxing the blood vessels to treat erectile dysfunction. I recall George Costanza finding similar properties in mangoes in a classic (is there any other kind?) Seinfeld episode.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/07/watermelon-can.html

Watermelon's status as an Independence Day staple, combined with new research on the food's Viagra-like effects, may link the melon and fireworks in a whole new way, Science Daily reports. A compound in watermelon relaxes blood vessels "the same basic effect that Viagra has, to treat erectile dysfunction," says Bhimu Patil, director of Texas A&M's Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center.
It's also helpful for those who suffer from obesity and type 2 diabetes, he says.
Watermelon also contains the anti-oxidant lycopene, which protects the heart, prostate and skin health, Science Daily reports.
Patil tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that they're having trouble securing money for in-depth research."If this was a drug, pharmaceutical companies would spend a lot for studies," Patil says. "But since it's watermelon they won't - unless it's to test for interaction with their drugs."
If they do invest in watermelon research, it won't be long before we start seeing the small-print safety warnings in the produce section.

Guavas coming to the U.S.?

That's the word on the street, reported here by Luis of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group. Other Web reports of this include:

AP The AP reports the USDA has given guava imports from Mexico the green light ... Exports could total $80 million in the first year and eventually top $400 million annually.

TK: The reality of the situation is somewhat different. The USDA published "Notice of Availability of a Pest Risk Analysis for Importation of Guavas From Mexico Into the United States" on June 26 and comments are due by August 25 of this year. From the USDA abstract:

We are advising the public that we have prepared a pest risk analysis that evaluates the risks associated with the importation into the United States of fresh guava fruit from Mexico. Based on that analysis, we believe that the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds via the importation of guavas from Mexico. We are making the pest risk analysis available to the public for review and comment.

Also published on June 26 by USDA: "Risk Management Document: Importation of Fresh Guava (Psidium guajava) Fruit from Mexico into the United States treated with 400 gy irradiation" From that 10-page document:

The PRA (USDA, 2008) determined that the risk is high for eight pests: the Tortricid moth, Gymnandrosoma aurantianum, and seven fruit flies, Anastrepha spp. and Ceratitis capitata. The risk was determined to be medium for both mites Oligonychus biharensis and O. psidium, two weevils in the genus Conotrachelus, four whiteflies (Aleyrodidae), six mealybugs (Pseudococcidae), and one soft scale Coccus viridis (Coccidae). The risk was also determined to be medium for the three pathogens, Mycovellosiella psidii, Pestalotiopsis psidii and Sphaceloma psidii. Mexico has proposed to treat guavas with an APHIS approved irradiation treatment that would mitigate risks from all insect pests except pupae and adult Lepidoptera. All of the insects except pupae and adult Lepidoptera will be effectively neutralized with the irradiation generic dose of 400 Gy (USDA, 2006). Other measures in addition to irradiation will be required to mitigate the risk from the mites Oligonychus psidium and O. biharensis. The irradiation treatment is expected to cause some mortality of these arthropod pests, but will not completely mitigate the risk. Other pests that are likely to follow the pathway include the three fungi, Mycovellosiella psidii, Pestalotiopsis psidii, and Spaceloma psidii. These three pathogens will be
subject to inspection for symptoms at the United States port-of-entry. The proposed importation of guava fruit from Mexico, if approved, would be regulated by an amendment to the existing fruits and vegetables regulations [7 CFR § 319.56]. This document outlines the phytosanitary measures that APHIS will require if the proposed importation of guavas from Mexico is approved and documents the evidence used by APHIS to conclude that these measures will effectively prevent the introduction of quarantine pests.

Further....

APHIS proposes that guava fruit from Mexico may be imported into the United States only under the following conditions:

(1). Guavas may be imported into the United States in commercial consignments only.
(2). The fruit must be irradiated with a minimum absorbed dose of 400 Gy and follow requirements of 7CFR parts 305.31 and 319.56.
(3). Each shipment of fruit must be inspected by the Mexican NPPO inspectors and be accompanied by a Phytosanitary Certificate (PC) issued by the Mexican NPPO certifying that the fruit received the required irradiation treatment. The PC must also include an Additional Declaration (AD) that states: "The fruit in this shipment was treated by irradiation with a inimum absorbed dose of 400 Gy, inspected in and found free of Oligonychus biharensis, Oligonychus psidium, Mycovellosiella psidii, Pestalotiopsis psidii and Sphaceloma psidii."

(4) Fruits imported into the United States will also be subject to port-of-entry inspection and found free of Oligonychus biharensis, Oligonychus psidium, Mycovellosiella psidii, Pestalotiopsis psidii and Sphaceloma psidii

Historical significance of irradiated fruit...

Current regulations 7CFR 305.31 and 7CFR.319.56-4 (b)(3) allow the use of irradiation to treat fruit for importation into the United States. Beginning in April, 2007, India has shipped mangos to the United States irradiated with a minimum dose of 400 Gy targeting arthropod pests and with a systems approach for fungal pathogens. Regulation 7CFR318.13-4 (f) allows interstate movement of fifteen different fruits, including mangos from Hawaii, allowing irradiation using a minimum absorbed dose of 150 Gy and 400 Gy for fruit flies, seed weevils and other quarantine pests. Fruits and vegetables treated with irradiation moved interstate from Hawaii have had no pests of quarantine significance intercepted (AQAS-PestID, 2007). On very rare occassions when live fruit fly larvae were detected in irradiated shipments, they were always found to be moribund and never resulted in further development or completing life cycles (Uyeda, 2005

From Purdue's Web site on horticulture, a description of guava:

One of the most gregarious of fruit trees, the guava, Psidium guajava L., of the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), is almost universally known by its common English name or its equivalent in other languages. In Spanish, the tree is guayabo, or guayavo, the fruit guayaba or guyava. The French call it goyave or goyavier; the Dutch, guyaba, goeajaaba; the Surinamese, guave or goejaba; and the Portuguese, goiaba or goaibeira. Hawaiians call it guava or kuawa. In Guam it is abas. In Malaya, it is generally known either as guava or jambu batu, but has also numerous dialectal names as it does in India, tropical Africa and the Philippines where the corruption, bayabas, is often applied. Various tribal names–pichi, posh, enandi, etc.–are employed among the Indians of Mexico and Central and South America.

Handling and keeping quality...

Ripe guavas bruise easily and are highly perishable. Fruits for processing may be harvested by mechanical tree-shakers and plastic nets. For fresh marketing and shipping, the fruits must be clipped when full grown but underripe, and handled with great care. After grading for size, the fruits should be wrapped individually in tissue and packed in 1 to 4 padded layers with extra padding on top before the cover is put on. They have been successully shipped from Miami to wholesalers in major northern cities in refrigerated trucks at temperatures of 45º to 55º F (7.22º-12.78º C). It is commonly said that guavas must be tree-ripened to attain prime quality, but the cost of protecting the crop from birds makes early picking necessary. It has been demonstrated that fruits picked when yellow-green and artificially ripened for 6 days in straw at room temperature developed superior color and sugar content.