Fresh Produce Discussion Blog

Created by The Packer's National Editor Tom Karst

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Fw: [BITES-L] bites July 14/10 -- II

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile


From: Doug Powell <dpowell@KSU.EDU>
Sender: Bites <BITES-L@LISTSERV.KSU.EDU>
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:02:14 -0500
To: BITES-L@LISTSERV.KSU.EDU<BITES-L@LISTSERV.KSU.EDU>
ReplyTo: Doug Powell <dpowell@KSU.EDU>
Subject: [BITES-L] bites July 14/10 -- II


bites July 14/10 -- II

Two children hospitalized with E. coli, maybe linked to INDIANA fair

Suspected salmonella poisoning closes WISCONSIN restaurant

UK: Stop the killer bug: Wrexham E.coli mum speaks out

UK: We will all be losers if the FSA is abolished

MISSOURI: KC health inspectors ensure eateries meet safety standards

UK: E. coli outbreak closes Hellingly nursery

US: AMI: Performance Standards should be based on sound science

INDONESIA: Setting the foundations for food safety policies

Studies on disinfection mechanism of electrolyzed oxidizing water on E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus

Antimicrobial effects of wine: separating the role of polyphenols, pH, ethanol, and other wine components

Detecting food- and waterborne viruses by surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy

Escherichia coli O157:H7 biofilm formation on romaine lettuce and spinach leaf surfaces reduces efficacy of irradiation and sodium hypochlorite washes

how to subscribe

Two children hospitalized with E. coli, maybe linked to INDIANA fair
14.jul.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/143098/10/07/14/two-children-hospitalized-e-coli-maybe-linked-indiana-fair
At least two children from Rush County are critically ill after getting E. coli poisoning, and health officials are now looking into whether the children got sick at the Rush County Fair.
Four-year-old Kathleen Ragan (right) is at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, undergoing dialysis for hemolytic-uremic syndrome. She's one of four reported cases of E. coli. Fox59 News has received reports that Kathleen along with three other children may have contracted the disease while attending the county fair.
Kathleen's mother says she did use hand sanitizer as she petted animals there, but her symptoms of fatigue, diarrhea and bloody stools started the day after the fair ended.
http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/health/e.coli-case-may-be-traced-back-to-rush-county-fair
http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/health/e.coli-case-may-be-traced-back-to-rush-county-fair




Suspected salmonella poisoning closes WISCONSIN restaurant
14.jul.10
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://www.barfblog.com/blog/143097/10/07/14/suspected-salmonella-poisoning-closes-wisconsin-restaurant
Officials with the Kenosha County Health Department have shut down a local restaurant after at least 10 people have been confirmed with salmonella poisoning.
The Kenosha News reports an official with the Kenosha County Health Department confirmed that it closed Baker Street Restaurant & Pub, 6208 Green Bay Road, but that official would not comment about why the restaurant was closed down.
However, Tom Stemple, an employee of Tricoli Restaurants, which owns Baker Street, said 10 to 18 people who ate at the restaurant were sick with salmonella and owner Lou Tricoli was contacting all of his Baker Street employees to get them tested, adding,
"He's gathering everyone together, trying to interview them to help find out the source of this. He's trying to sort things out so that he can help protect everyone —his employees and the public."
http://www.kenoshanews.com/news/suspected_salmonella_poisoning_closes_restaurant_12851369.html




UK: Stop the killer bug: Wrexham E.coli mum speaks out
13.jul.10
The Leader
Phil Robinson
http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/90704/stop-the-killer-bug-wrexham-e-coli-mum-speaks-out.aspx
A Wrexham mum who fought back from the brink of death after an E.coli outbreak has hit out at Assembly chiefs' handling of the killer bug.


Karen Morrisroe, 34, of Rhosnesni, was one of four people from the area struck down with the killer bug during an outbreak in Llay last July.


She battled for her life for several weeks, having to be separated from baby son Oliver for months while she was in hospital.


One year on from the terrifying ordeal she is back to health and working full-time again.


Now, as the anniversary of her nightmare approaches Karen has slammed ministers for failing to listen to a key report into the illness, and says 'lax' hygiene 
standards are putting others at risk.


She believes investment is the key to stopping other people suffering, and that the nation as a whole could learn from Wrexham's approach.


Karen said: "I don't think the Assembly government is doing enough to combat e.coli. Much more should be done to prevent anyone else having to suffer what I went through after contracting it last year.

"
One of things which could help is the 'scores on the doors' system, which ranks food premises with stars from zero to five according to their hygiene standards.

"
At the moment only Wrexham and Swansea have it and I know the Assembly government wants to see it spread across Wales.

"
But it must also be made compulsory and not left to individual councils to decide whether to adopt it or not."




UK: We will all be losers if the FSA is abolished
14.jul.10
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/14/fsa-abolish-food-safety-environment
Melanie Leech, Director general, Food and Drink Federation, writes that contrary to your article (Victory for food firms as safety watchdog axed, 12 July), we understand that no decision has been made about the future of the Food Standards Agency. Your story claimed that food manufacturers had been lobbying to close down the FSA. However, as the voice of UK food and drink manufacturing, the Food and Drink Federation has consistently supported the need for an independent, well-funded food safety regulator. The FSA has been highly effective in this role in the 10 years since its creation, not least in ensuring that consumer confidence in the food we eat has grown significantly. Were its independent role to be abolished, neither the industry nor the consumers would be the winners.

Jon Poole, Chief executive, Institute of Food Science & Technology, writes the demise of the FSA would be regarded by many as a loss – including the food industry itself. The Institute of Food Science & Technology, an independent professional body, has seen the FSA working closely with the industry over the past few years. The adversarial style of relationship suggested in your reports is neither accurate nor helpful. During its existence, the FSA has provided coherent strategy and direction on issues such as reductions in saturated fat and salt and in food-borne diseases such as campylobacter in chicken, as well as regulating food business operators. These are all still live issues and the functions of the FSA, in whatever form, will continue to be needed in the future. Very few in the sector would see its break-up as a positive step.




MISSOURI: KC health inspectors ensure eateries meet safety standards
13.jul.10
James A. Fussell
Kansas City Star
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/13/2079054/kc-health-inspectors-ensure-eateries.html
Stacie Duitsman has carried a thermometer and reminded everyone to wash their hands. for two years as a health inspector for the Kansas City Health Department.
Before you eat anything away from home — whether it's foie gras at a four-star restaurant or a burrito at the local Burp 'n' Go — it's a good bet that Duitsman, 28, or someone like her, has given the place the sanitary once-over.
Q. We understand you can't talk about specific places. But what's the most dangerous violation you've ever found?
A. Any critical violation can be dangerous. But the one that bothers me the most is improper hand washing. That's also the most common.
Q. Ever thought about having a system where you'd post a health grade on the front of each restaurant?
We don't have a grading system, but we do post all of our reports on the Internet. People can go to http://kcmo.org/health (click on "food inspection results" on the right side under "hot topics.")
Q. Are there places you won't go to because of what you've found in an inspection?
If they're open and operating, they're up to our standards.
Yeah, but aren't there places that just sort of skate by that make you say "not me"?
Yeah, I would say so. But I have full confidence in my co-workers that they are educating the employees and managers to ensure the facility is (safe).
Do restaurant owners hate to see you coming?
There are some restaurants that I make a little bit nervous. But generally, I am accepted.
What are the nastiest food-borne illnesses you're trying to prevent?
We have what we call the big five. Salmonella, E. coli, hepatitis A, shigella and norovirus.
How dangerous are they?
They can be deadly.
Has anybody in Kansas City died of these after eating out in the last few years?
Not that I'm aware of. It's probably because we have such a good team of health inspectors.
Q.Tell us what you look for in your inspections.
We ensure that people are handling food properly, that they are demonstrating the proper hygienic practices such as washing their hands, and we also assess the physical facilities to make sure everything is in good standing. We take temperatures of the food to make sure … it is safe. Also, we make sure to check that there are no sick employees, and verify that 80 percent of the staff has a food handler card.
Q. What's a food handler card?
It's a program we offer at the health department. Employees (who) handle food are taught the proper way to handle that food. Most everything we look for in the inspection people are taught in the class.




UK: E. coli outbreak closes Hellingly nursery
14.jul.10
Eastbourne Herald
http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/hailsham-news/E-coli-outbreak-closes-Hellingly.6418266.jp
A nursery has been temporarily shut down and deep cleaned after a toddler was found to have contracted a strain of the E. coli infection.
Health bosses said the Bunny Run nursery, in The Drive, Hellingly, was closed 'as a precautionary measure' and all children and staff were being tested for the infection.
Five other suspected cases of E. coli 0157 - three in nursery-age children and two in adults - are being investigated by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and Wealden District Council's environmental health team.
The HPA said the possible source of the infection was yet to be established but a spokesperson said there were 'no wider area implications'.
As of yesterday (Tuesday July 13), one case had been confirmed while the other five, closely linked, were 'presumptive cases' but had not been confirmed by a laboratory.




US: AMI: Performance Standards should be based on sound science
14.jul.10
Cattle Network
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/AMI--Performance-Standards-Should-Be-Based-On-Sound-Science/2010-07-14/Article_Latest_News.aspx?oid=1158158&fid=CN-LATEST_NEWS_
Performance standards should be based on sound science, be achievable and have a significant and quantifiable positive impact on public health, something that has thus far not been accomplished, says AMI in comments submitted today in response USDA FSIS Docket No. FSIS-2009-0034: New Performance Standards for Salmonella and Campylobacter in Young Chickens and Turkey Slaughter Establishments.
"Indeed, publicly available data show the prevalence of Salmonella on raw meat and poultry products has been significantly reduced since the standards were implemented, but the incidence of salmonellosis in the human population show no quantifiable improvement during the same time period. The agency's belief that implementing stricter performance standards will decrease human illnesses is theoretical. The lack of improvement in human illness since the performance standards were fully implemented in 2000 does not support the agency's theory," AMI's comments state.
AMI urged FSIS to conduct a comprehensive scientific and technical review of the new performance standards for Salmonella and Campylobacter in young chickens and turkey to determine the impact of the revised standards on public health before they are implemented in federal establishments. Specifically, AMI encouraged the agency to examine why the Salmonella performance standards have not been successful in having a significant and quantifiable improvement of public health.
"AMI supports achievable performance standards based on sound science that significantly improve public health through quantifiable metrics," the comments conclude. "Standards that do not meet these criteria could place unnecessary hardships on businesses and may not be the best focus and application of food safety resources. The agency should understand the possible improvement and impact on food safety as measured by the HHS's Healthy People goals before proposing changes to the Salmonella performance standards and in the development of the Campylobacter performance standards."




INDONESIA: Setting the foundations for food safety policies
14.jul.10
The Jakarta Post
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/14/setting-foundations-food-safety-policies.html
Indroyono Soesilo, secretary to Coordinating Public Welfare Minister, writes with a population of about 240 million people, Indonesia continues to face major challenges in providing food security. For the past 40 years, the country has strived in efforts to create and achieve food resilience. For a country as vast and diverse as Indonesia, food security must be realized not only at the national level, but also at the local, household and individual levels.
Let us first look at the positive achievements. Currently, staple food crop production in Indonesia is progressing positively. Rice and corn productions have already achieved self sufficiency.
The country's current annual rice production is around 64 million tons per-year with annual growth of approximately 3.2 percent, while the corn production is around 18 million tons per year, with annual growth of approximately 10 percent.
In 2014 Indonesia has the ambition to achieve self-sufficiency in soy beans, with approximately one million tons of production; of sugar, with the production of 2.9 million tons; and of meat, with the production of 0.4 million tons.
With the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) only five years away, the government has laid out four major agricultural targets.
First is the continuation of self-sufficiency on major food crops production; second, food diversification; third, improve value-added production, increase competitiveness and enhance exports; fourth, increase the farmers' standards of living.
There are at least four key foundations to achieve these goals:
First is lowering food prices for consumer across-the-board. This has been done by policies that promote the lowering or elimination of existing trade barriers.
In addition to help the poor, the government has introduced various subsidies for low quality foodstuffs in the poorest regions in Indonesia.
Greater food consumption and increased purchasing power have contributed to the average Indonesian per capita food availability growing from 1,726 calories per capita per day in 1961 to 2,890 calories in 2003 (FAO, 2009).
Second foundation is production. Agronomists have argued that increasing domestic production does not always increase food security, unless food prices are kept down and measures (policies) are in place to make such production economically efficient.
This may be the case for more highly developed states. But for Indonesia pumping production to the maximum levels is still a viable policy.
However, to make such a policy politically acceptable, it should be followed up by efforts to improve the efficiency of productions processes. We have also seen that subsidies for farmers, even though relatively economically inefficient, have been able to lower and keep stable food prices.
For Indonesia, growth in the agricultural sector coincided with the "Green Revolution" as seed and fertilizer technologies and substantial government subsidies allowed increased production through crop intensification.
The government prudent policies, mostly learning from the 1998 financial crisis has resulted in an overall economic growth for the past ten years.
Other macroeconomic policies such as trade deregulations and fiscal and monetary balances have attributed to the success of economic growth and more importantly poverty alleviation.
The last foundation is more trade-related. With an open-and-close policy, the government has been able to control imports on one hand and giving wider consumer choice on the other hand. This has also allowed for the lowering of food costs for the general population. Trade liberalizing policies and currency devaluation promoted a greater market-oriented economy and allowed Indonesia's tropical perennial crops to assert their comparative advantage
Even with such a strong foundation, problems remain. A huge population, climate change, land reform, and environmental degradation are just a few to mention.
Indonesia has recorded one of the fastest agricultural transformations in history, trailing only South Korea and Turkey, in shedding 27 percent of agriculture's share of GDP in 35 years (World Bank, 2008).
Incentives induced through the market reorientation of the mid-1980s and the currency devaluation and market liberalizing policies after the Asian financial crisis may have been the main productivity driver.
With greater income, Indonesians are increasingly urbanized and gains have been made in improving their food security. Looking at the policies Indonesia has put in place, it is a lesson learned that one can come out of poverty and achieve growth with resilient policies.




Studies on disinfection mechanism of electrolyzed oxidizing water on E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus
07.jul.10
Journal of Food Science
Xinping Zeng, Wenwei Tang, Guoqing Ye, Ting Ouyang, Lin Tian, Yaming Ni, and Ping Li
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123577080/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
ABSTRACT
Abstract: Suspension quantitative germicidal test showed that electrolyzed oxidizing water (EO water) was an efficient and rapid disinfectant. Disinfection rates towards E. coli (available chlorine concentration ACC: 12.40 mg/L) and Staphylococcus aureus (ACC: 37.30 mg/L) could reach 100% at 1 and 3 min, respectively. Disinfection mechanism of EO water was investigated at a molecular biological level by detecting a series of biochemical indices. The results showed that the dehydrogenase activities of E. coli and S. aureus decreased rapidly, respectively, at the rates of 45.9% and 32% in the 1st minute treatment with EO water. EO water also improved the bacterial membrane permeability, causing the rise of conductivities and the rapid leakages of intracellular DNA, K+, and proteins in 1 min. The leakages of DNA and K+ tended to slow down after about 1 min while those of proteins began to decrease a little after reaching the peak values. The sodium dodecyl sulfonate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) showed that EO water destroyed intracellular proteins. The protein bands got fainter and even disappeared as the treatment proceeded. EO water's effects on the bacterial ultrastructures were also verified by the transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) photos. The disinfection mechanism of EO water was composed of several comprehensive factors including the destruction of bacterial protective barriers, the increase of membrane permeability, the leakage of cellular inclusions, and the activity decrease of some key enzymes.
Practical Application: Large-scale communicable diseases have often occurred due to the infectious pathogenic microorganism. EO water is a novel environment-friendly disinfectant characterized by its high efficiency, broad spectrum, and no side effects. It has been greatly used in agriculture, food industry, and medicine. Our research lays the foundation for further research of EO water and we can predict that EO water will continue to be broadly used in daily life, health care, sanitation, and so on.




Antimicrobial effects of wine: separating the role of polyphenols, pH, ethanol, and other wine components
02.jun.10
Journal of Food Science
Natasa Boban, Marija Tonkic, Danijela Budimir, Darko Modun, Davorka Sutlovic, Volga Punda-Polic, and Mladen Boban
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123491434/abstract
ABSTRACT
Abstract: While the antimicrobial effectiveness of wine is well documented, relative contributions of the wine components to its antimicrobial activity is controversial. To separate the role of wine phenolics, ethanol, and pH from other wine constituents, the antimicrobial effects of intact wine were compared to that of phenols-stripped wine, dealcoholized wine, ethanol, and low pH applied separately and in combination, against 2 common foodborne pathogens, Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis and Escherichia coli. All samples were biochemically characterized with respect to their total phenolics and resveratrol content, antioxidant capacity, ethanol content, and pH. Antioxidative activity of the samples corresponded to their total phenolics content. Except for respective controls, pH and ethanol content were similar in all samples. The order of antibacterial activity of the samples was: intact wine > phenols-stripped wine > dealcoholized wine > combination of ethanol and low pH > low pH > ethanol. Separate application of ethanol or low pH showed negligible antibacterial activity while their combination showed synergistic effect. Antibacterial activity of the samples could not be related to their total phenolics and resveratrol content, antioxidant capacity, ethanol content, or pH. Our study indicates that antimicrobial activity of complex solutions such as intact wine cannot be exclusively attributed to its phenolic or nonphenolic constituents, nor can the antimicrobial activity of wine be predicted on the basis of its particular components.




Detecting food- and waterborne viruses by surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy
02.jun.10
Journal of Food Science
Cui Fan, Zhiqiang Hu, Lela K. Riley, Gregory A. Purdy, Azlin Mustapha, and Mengshi Lin
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123491430/abstract
ABSTRACT
Abstract: Food- and waterborne viruses pose serious health risks to humans and were associated with many outbreaks worldwide. Rapid, accurate, and nondestructive methods for detection of viruses are of great importance to protect public health. In this study, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) coupled with gold SERS-active substrates was used to detect and discriminate 7 food- and waterborne viruses, including norovirus, adenovirus, parvovirus, rotavirus, coronavirus, paramyxovirus, and herpersvirus. Virus samples were purified and dialyzed in phosphate buffered saline (8 to 9 log PFU/mL) and then further diluted in deionized water for SERS measurement. After capturing the characteristic SERS spectral patterns, multivariate statistical analyses, including soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) and principal component analysis (PCA), were employed to analyze SERS spectral data for characterization and identification of viruses. The results show that SIMCA was able to differentiate viruses with and without envelope with >95% of classification accuracy, while PCA presented clear spectral data segregations between different virus strains. The virus detection limit by SERS using gold substrates reached a titer of 102.
Practical Application: SERS is a simple, rapid, and accurate method for detection of food- and waterborne viruses. Our results demonstrate that coupled with gold substrates, SERS was able to rapidly detect and discriminate among different food- and waterborne viruses, indicating that SERS can provide rapid, sensitive, and reproducible detection results with minimum sample preparation for virus detection.




Escherichia coli O157:H7 biofilm formation on romaine lettuce and spinach leaf surfaces reduces efficacy of irradiation and sodium hypochlorite washes
07.jul.10
Journal of Food Science
Brendan A. Niemira and Peter H. Cooke
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123577062/abstract
ABSTRACT
Abstract: Escherichia coli O157:H7 contamination of leafy green vegetables is an ongoing concern for consumers. Biofilm-associated pathogens are relatively resistant to chemical treatments, but little is known about their response to irradiation. Leaves of Romaine lettuce and baby spinach were dip inoculated with E. coli O157:H7 and stored at 4 °C for various times (0, 24, 48, 72 h) to allow biofilms to form. After each time, leaves were treated with either a 3-min wash with a sodium hypochlorite solution (0, 300, or 600 ppm) or increasing doses of irradiation (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, or 1 kGy). Viable bacteria were recovered and enumerated. Chlorine washes were generally only moderately effective, and resulted in maximal reductions of 1.3 log CFU/g for baby spinach and 1.8 log CFU/g for Romaine. Increasing time in storage prior to chemical treatment had no effect on spinach, and had an inconsistent effect on 600 ppm applied to Romaine. Allowing time for formation of biofilm-like aggregations reduced the efficacy of irradiation. D10 values (the dose required for a 1 log reduction) significantly increased with increasing storage time, up to 48 h postinoculation. From 0 h of storage, D10 increased from 0.19 kGy to a maximum of 0.40 to 0.43 kGy for Romaine and 0.52 to 0.54 kGy for spinach. SEM showed developing biofilms on both types of leaves during storage. Bacterial colonization of the stomata was extensive on spinach, but not on Romaine. These results indicate that the protection of bacteria on the leaf surface by biofilm formation and stomatal colonization can reduce the antimicrobial efficacy of irradiation on leafy green vegetables.
Practical Application: Before incorporating irradiation into the overall GMP/GHP chain, a packer or processor of leafy green vegetables must determine at what stage of processing and shipping the irradiation should take place. As a penetrating process, irradiation is best applied as a postpackaging intervention. Time in refrigerated storage between packaging and processing may alter the antimicrobial efficacy of irradiation. Irradiation on a commercial scale should include efforts to minimize the time delay between final packaging and irradiation of leafy vegetables.


bites is produced by Dr. Douglas Powell and food safety friends at Kansas State University. For further information, please contact dpowell@ksu.edu or check out bites.ksu.edu.

To subscribe to the listserv version of bites, send mail to:
(subscription is free)
listserv@listserv.ksu.edu
leave subject line blank
in the body of the message type:
subscribe bites-L firstname lastname
i.e. subscribe bites-L Doug Powell

archived at http://archives.foodsafety.ksu.edu/fsnet-archives.htm and bites.ksu.edu

Fw: Fresh & Easy Announces September Openings

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile


From: Brendan Wonnacott <Brendan.Wonnacott@freshandeasy.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:18:38 -0500
To: Brendan Wonnacott<Brendan.Wonnacott@freshandeasy.com>
Subject: Fresh & Easy Announces September Openings

FRESH & EASY TO OPEN NINE STORES IN SEPTEMBER; HIRING UNDERWAY FOR MORE THAN 180 POSITIONS

 

Sylmar Location to be Fresh & Easy's 100th California Store

 

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market today announced plans to open nine California stores in September, bringing fresh, wholesome food at affordable prices to even more neighborhoods.  The company expects to hire more than 180 employees for these stores and is currently accepting applications for positions on its website at www.freshandeasy.com/joinus

 

Entry-level positions start at $10 an hour in California and offer quarterly bonuses of up to 10% as well as a 401(k) with company match.  The company believes everyone deserves access to affordable and comprehensive healthcare and provides all employees the opportunity to work at least 20 hours per week, which entitles everyone to vision, prescription drug, dental and medical coverage with Fresh & Easy paying at least 75%.  

 

"We are excited to continue opening stores and hiring in new neighborhoods throughout California," said Fresh & Easy's CEO, Tim Mason.  "Customers don't want to compromise on quality or taste to save money for their families.  That's why we continue to focus on providing access to fresh, wholesome food options at prices our customers can afford, right where they live."

 

The nine California stores opening in September include:

 

September 8th

·         Hubbard St. & Gladstone Ave.                        Sylmar

·         Rosemead Blvd. & Valley Blvd.                      Rosemead

·         Rose Ave. & Gonzales Rd.                             Oxnard

·         Cherry Ave. & 25th St.                                     Signal Hill

 

September 15th

·         Cedar Ave. & Shields Ave.                              Fresno

·         Herndon Ave. & Fowler Ave.                           Clovis

 

September 22nd

·         32nd St. & University Ave.                               San Diego

·         River Rd. & College Blvd.                               Oceanside

·         College Blvd. & Oceanside Blvd.                    Oceanside

 

-About Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

 

Fresh & Easy operates more than 150 stores in California, Arizona and Nevada.  In addition to wholesome, fresh prepared meals, meats and produce, Fresh & Easy offers everyone's favorite national brand products and household items, all at unbelievably low prices. The grocer's popular fresh&easy brand products contain no artificial colors, flavors or added trans fats and use preservatives only when absolutely necessary.

 

On average, Fresh & Easy stores use 30% less energy than a typical supermarket – helping save customers money while helping the environment. Fresh & Easy uses LED lighting in external signs and freezer cases, offers customer recycling in every store, and uses advanced refrigeration and freezer units to cut back on energy usage. The company also recycles or reuses all of its display packaging, sending the majority back to its distribution center's on-site recycling facility.

 

For more information about Fresh & Easy, visit www.freshandeasy.com.  Also follow the company on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/fresh_and_easy and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/freshandeasy

 

###

 

Brendan Wonnacott

Communications Director,

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market 

Office: 310.341.1356

Cell: 310.872.7613

brendan.wonnacott@freshandeasy.com

 



------------ Disclaimer --------------
This is a confidential email.
Fresh and Easy may monitor and record all emails. The views expressed in
this email are those of the sender and not Fresh and Easy. Fresh & Easy
Neighborhood Market, Inc. 2120 Park Place, El Segundo, CA 90245

Fw: ICYMI: "Finance Overhaul Casts Long Shadow on the Plains"

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile


From: House Republican Agriculture Committee <agrepublicanpress@politicalmediagroup.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:45:29 -0500
To: Tom Karst<TKarst@vancepublishing.com>
ReplyTo: "tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov" <tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov>
Subject: ICYMI: "Finance Overhaul Casts Long Shadow on the Plains"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 14, 2010
MEDIA CONTACT:
Tamara Hinton, 202.225.0184
tamara.hinton@mail.house.gov

In Case You Missed It: "Finance Overhaul Casts Long
Shadow on the Plains"

WASHINGTON – With the Senate poised to bring the financial reform bill up for a final vote as early as Thursday, the far-reaching impact of the bill on the overall economy is still being understood.  As reported in The Wall Street Journal today, the legislation was designed to fix the problems caused by Wall Street, but the final bill will touch just about everyone in the overall economy, from storefront check cashiers to small manufacturers to agriculture producers.  In particular, the bill's controversial derivatives language will wreak havoc on farmers and ranchers in rural America that depend on the use of derivatives to hedge risk against price fluctuations in the commodities markets.

As reported today in The Wall Street Journal:

"[I]t's the derivatives portion—the part of the bill aimed directly at Wall Street—that might end up touching most lives in rural America.

"The new law requires most derivatives transactions to be standardized, traded on exchanges, just like corporate stocks, and funneled through clearinghouses to protect against default.

"The question for these farmers is whether such rules will make hedging more expensive.  Some say new requirements on big players will create higher costs for small players, including the cash dealers will have to put aside to enter into private derivatives transactions.  Some brokers think restrictions on big-money banks and investors will drain the amount of money available to the everyday deals farmers favor."

The complete story from The Wall Street Journal is below:

Finance Overhaul Casts Long Shadow on the Plains
By Michael M. Phillips
July 13, 2020

GILTNER, Neb.—Farmer Jim Kreutz uses derivatives to soften the blow should the price of feed corn drop before harvest. His brother-in-law, feedlot owner Jon Reeson, turns to them to hedge the price of his steer. The local farmers' co-op uses derivatives to finance fixed-price diesel for truckers who carry cattle to slaughter. And the packing plant employs derivatives to stabilize costs from natural gas to foreign currencies.

Far from Wall Street, President Barack Obama's financial regulatory overhaul, which may pass Congress as early as Thursday, will leave tracks across the wide-open landscape of American industry.

Designed to fix problems that helped cause the financial crisis, the bill will touch storefront check cashiers, city governments, small manufacturers, home buyers and credit bureaus, attesting to the sweeping nature of the legislation, the broadest revamp of finance rules since the 1930s.

Here in Nebraska farm country, those in the business of bringing beef from hoof to mouth are anxious, specifically about the bill's provisions that tighten rules governing derivatives. Some worry the coming curbs will make it riskier and pricier to do business. Others hope the changes bring competition that will redound to their benefit.

"Out here we like to cuss the large banking institutions because of the mortgage mess, but we also know that without them some of these markets don't work," says Mike Hoelscher, energy program manager for AgWest Commodities LLC, a Holdrege, Neb., brokerage that provides derivatives services to the farming industry.

Derivatives are financial instruments whose value "derives" from something else, such as interest rates or heating-oil prices. The first derivatives were crop futures, which appeared in the U.S. at the end of the Civil War and became a standard facet of business for companies across America.

During the financial crisis, they became notorious as American International Group Inc. and others were gutted by bad bets on derivatives linked to bad mortgages.

President Obama and other proponents say the financial overhaul will prevent the kind of reckless lending and borrowing that sank the financial system and left taxpayers with the check. They say non-financial companies are worrying unduly about the derivatives portion of the legislation. The Senate is expected to approve the financial regulatory overhaul on Thursday, sending it to the president.

The full impact won't be known for years, but in Nebraska nerves are already on edge.

Executives at Five Points Bank in Hastings think the new rules on mortgage lending will make the home-loan business less profitable. "When they create a new regulator, it really scares us," says Nate Gengenbach, vice president of commercial and agricultural lending.

Advance America Cash Advance Centers Inc. thinks the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection will take aim at the payday-loan business, though it's not clear what steps the agency will take. Advance America's storefront at the Skagway Mall in Grand Island charges an effective 460.08% annualized interest rate on a two-week $425 loan.
But it's the derivatives portion—the part of the bill aimed directly at Wall Street—that might end up touching most lives in rural America.

The new law requires most derivatives transactions be standardized, traded on exchanges, just like corporate stocks, and funneled through clearinghouses to protect against default.

Faced with intense lobbying, Congress partially exempted businesses that use derivatives for commercial purposes. So, farmers and co-ops probably won't face new collateral requirements, for instance—although there remains a dispute over that section of the bill. Those that trade derivatives on regulated exchanges, such as the Chicago Board of Trade, are less likely to see immediate impacts than those conducting private over-the-counter deals, which will face federal regulation for the first time. The goal is to make such deals transparent.

The question for these farmers is whether such rules will make hedging more expensive. Some say new requirements on big players will create higher costs for small players, including the cash dealers will have to put aside to enter into private derivatives transactions. Some brokers think restrictions on big-money banks and investors will drain the amount of money available to the everyday deals farmers favor.

Others predict the opposite effect, pushing money from the private market to the exchanges and creating more competition that will benefit farmers.

Uncertainty reigns in Giltner, a town of 400 residents 80 miles west of Lincoln. At first glimpse, Giltner's landscape seems featureless, a fading horizon of corn and soybeans. But its details are more subtle, including wildflowers and shaded creeks. Everywhere galvanized-steel sprinkler systems crawl across farm fields like giant stick insects.

Mr. Kreutz, an outgoing 36-year-old with a sandy crewcut and sunburned neck, gave up a career in finance and took over the 2,800-acre family farm after his father's death. As he works his fields, he checks the crop futures prices on his smart phone.

Here's how Mr. Kreutz does it: Say in early summer he sees that the price for a Chicago Board of Trade futures contract on corn for delivery later in the year is $3.56 a bushel. If he likes the price, and wants to lock it in, he calls AgWest and sells a futures contract for 5,000 bushels. The futures contract is a derivative in which the price for corn is set now for exchange in the future, though no kernels will change hands. Instead, when the contract nears expiration, Mr. Kreutz and the buyer of his contract will settle—in effect—by check.

By fall, when Mr. Kreutz is ready to deliver his crop to the local co-op, the market price might have fallen by 50 cents. He'll sell his actual corn for that lower amount. But he'll make up the difference through his financial hedge. (Mr. Kreutz buys a new futures contract at the lower price to make good on his earlier promise, making up the 50 cents.) In all, he'll have hit the price target he locked in earlier in the year, minus brokerage fees.

If the price rises during the summer, as it did during the food crisis two years ago, Mr. Kreutz has to pony up extra cash for his broker—a margin call—to maintain his positions. He recoups that by selling his actual corn at a higher price, but has to take a loss to meet the futures contract he signed earlier in the year, missing out on a windfall but ultimately meeting his target price.

Mr. Kreutz does this type of operation dozens of times a year, hedging about 70% of his 345,000-bushel corn harvest.

Such deals ripple through the local economy. When Mr. Kreutz gets a margin call from his broker, he turns to his banker, Mr. Gengenbach, for a loan to cover it. Mr. Gengenbach estimates that one quarter of his farm clients use derivatives.

"Somebody like Jim has a lot of money in his crop out here," says the 37-year-old Mr. Gengenbach. "If he can't protect that, it's not good for us."

Mr. Kreutz's brokerage, AgWest, thinks the new finance law will hurt both firm and farm. If big investors and dealers have to keep more cash on hand, there will be less liquidity in the market and therefore the cost of derivatives will increase, Mr. Hoelscher, the broker said.

A few minutes from the Kreutz family farm are the corrals of Jon Reeson's feedlot. Mr. Reeson, 43, is married to Mr. Kreutz's sister Jane. His feedlot holds as many as 1,500 steer, mostly Black Angus, which grow from 600-lb. calves into 1,300 pounders ready for slaughter.

Mr. Reeson uses derivatives to hedge both the price he pays for feed and the price he gets for selling his steer.

The fattening takes about 7,000 pounds of food for each animal. Mr. Reeson can't count on a favorable price from his brother-in-law's farm, in which he has a stake, so when he sees a feed price he likes, he seals it with a futures contract.

In April, he called AgWest and locked in a price with a futures contract for $95 per hundredweight of cattle. Since then the market price has dropped to $90. If the price stays there until October, he'll have made the right call, earning a higher price than if he'd relied on the market alone. If the price spikes higher, though, he'll miss out on potential gains.

Mr. Reeson is willing to live with that possibility in exchange for locking in a profit or a narrowed loss. Derivatives hedging helped him survive the recession of 2008-2009, when cash-strapped diners avoided steak and the price of beef plunged.

He's watching the new legislation warily and can't yet tell if it will hurt or help.

When his cattle have reached full weight, Mr. Reeson puts them on Roger and Barb Wilson's trucks for the trip to the slaughterhouse. The Wilsons have seven semi tractors and 16 trailers, and one of their biggest costs is diesel fuel to keep the fleet on the road.

In 2004, Cooperative Producers Inc., his local co-op, offered Mr. Wilson a price-protection plan for 10,000 gallons of diesel at about $2.50 a gallon, with 90 days to use it.

CPI had a choice. It could take its chances and hope the price of fuel would drop before Mr. Wilson took delivery on his full order, a windfall for the co-op. If diesel prices jumped, though, the coop would take a bath. "That falls under speculation," says Gary Brandt, CPI's vice president of energy. "But that's not what cooperatives do. That's what Goldman Sachs does."

Instead, CPI hedged on the New York Mercantile Exchange, buying a futures contract on heating oil, a close market substitute for diesel fuel. The co-op goes a step further and hedges also the difference between the prices of fuel traded in New York and delivered in Nebraska.

For the 57-year-old Mr. Wilson, the pricing plan proved a mixed blessing. The first year, the pump price shot up by another 20 to 25 cents, meaning he was getting a good deal. The following year the pump price dropped about a quarter a gallon, but Mr. Wilson was obliged to pay the higher price. "It hurt to have to pay for that fuel," he recalls sourly. He quit the program after that.

The finance law's imminence has prompted CPI's Mr. Brandt to warn his sales team and customers that the co-op may have to end its maximum-price fuel contracts. He's worried too that CPI might have to cut its fuel supplies if it can't hedge against price drops.

"We have to start making a game plan if they take away the ability for us to hedge that inventory," Mr. Brandt says.

The Wilsons deliver Mr. Reeson's steer to a low, cement-gray complex on the edge of Grand Island, Neb., where trucks arrive loaded with cattle, and others leave loaded with meat. Over the past year, Mr. Reeson has sold 1,125 steer to the packing plant, which is owned by JBS USA, a Greeley, Colo., unit of Brazilian-owned JBS SA.

JBS buys livestock two ways. Sometimes it pays cash for the following week's kill. Sometimes it buys further forward, agreeing in July, for instance, to a fixed price for steer delivered in December. JBS hedges on the derivatives market to make sure live cattle prices don't drop before it takes delivery.

The company also sells beef cuts forward to restaurant chains, promising delivery at set prices months ahead of time. JBS expects to have enough meat to fulfill the agreements. But if it runs short, it doesn't want to risk having to pay higher prices to buy meat to supply those restaurants.

So, it uses the derivatives market to play it safe. To do so, the company has to find a way to hedge different cuts of beef: Tenderloins might represent 1.5% of the total value of a steer. Strip loins might make up 3%. In a sense, JBS protects itself by reconstructing the steer through a derivatives trade on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. "We try to put the carcass back together financially," says company spokesman Chandler Keys.

The company hedges electricity for its refrigerators and natural gas for its boilers. It hedges currencies to stabilize its income from overseas. It hedges fuel for its fleet of thousands of trucks.

Even executives at a big firm such as JBS haven't been able to nail down the precise impact of the legislation on their business, introducing an unaccustomed level of uncertainty into their operations. They aren't changing the way they use derivatives, yet, hoping instead that exemptions for commercial users will insulate them.

"To get food, particularly highly perishable food like meat and poultry, through to the consumer, you have to manage your risk," says Mr. Keys.

--Sarah N. Lynch contributed to this article.

###

Agriculture Committee Republican Press Office
http://agriculture.house.gov/republicans



Forward email

Safe Unsubscribe
This email was sent to tkarst@thepacker.com by agrepublicanpress@politicalmediagroup.com.

House Committee on Agriculture Republicans | 1305 Longworth House Office Building | Washington | DC | 20515

Food czar hopes to change the way Baltimore eats

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100714/LIFE07/7140307/-1/NEWSMAP



Food czar hopes to change the way Baltimore eats


By BEN NUCKOLS
Associated Press writer
July 14, 2010 12:00 AM
Most Viewed Stories

* Lakeville man charged with sexually assaulting bartender in Acushnet
* 2nd escape leads to review of juvenile lockup
* Widow of Fall River Marine vows to honor legacy of 'honor, courage and commitment'
* Bitter Middleboro blasts tribe in letter to federal agencies
* Visiting New York City children get star treatment from SouthCoast summer hosts
* Claire A. Gonet
* Lorraine G. Young

At the Almost Everything Grocery & Deli in east Baltimore, a cashier hits a buzzer, allowing customers to open the locked door. Inside, they're greeted by ... very little.

Many of the dingy shelves are empty, the lights are off, and the odor of soiled cat litter hangs in the air. There's no fresh produce — sodas and salty snacks are the big sellers.

It's a familiar scene in many of Baltimore's poorest neighborhoods, but it's something the city is trying to address in an innovative way.

Last month, Baltimore hired a food policy coordinator, making the city one of the first in the country with a paid "food czar." While Holly Freishtat's directive may be straightforward — get more healthy food on the tables of the people who need it — accomplishing it may not be.

She doesn't get a budget for major initiatives, so much of her time is spent pursuing grant money. Her salary doesn't even come from the city, which recently raised taxes and cut services to close a $121 million budget deficit.

A coalition of nonprofits pays her salary, and they've only committed to cover 30 hours a week for a year. Nevertheless, this is progress.

"Baltimore is ahead of the curve in one sense in that they actually hired Holly," said Mark Winne of the Community Food Security Coalition, who has worked with food policy councils for nearly 20 years. "The actual idea of putting staff into this is new, but I think it's emblematic of the growth of food policy councils around the country."

Dozens of cities and a handful of states have food policy councils, but they tend to function as advocacy groups, pushing change from outside government. Few have taken on paid staff. New York City hired a food czar in 2007 and is currently seeking his replacement. Boston, too, is in the process of hiring one. Kansas City, Mo., has a food policy coordinator, but she's housed at a nonprofit.

Author and sustainable food advocate Michael Pollan has called on the federal government to establish a department of food. No city or state has one either.

"The urgency of the situation is that we have chronic health issues and disparities in our low-income neighborhoods," Freishtat said. "Food access can make a difference."

A study of Baltimore neighborhoods found that nearly a fifth of its 630,000 residents live with little or no access to fresh foods — neighborhoods often described as "food deserts." Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of adults and nearly half of all high school students are overweight or obese and the death rate from heart disease is 30 percent higher than in the rest of Maryland.

Freishtat works out of the planning department, and her job is to implement the 10 recommendations for improving the city's food system made last December by Baltimore's food policy task force. They include expanding access to farmers markets, community gardens and community-supported agriculture; improving the food served in city schools; and pushing for new zoning laws that remove roadblocks to food production and sales.

The city is seeking funding, from the same nonprofits and other groups, to make Freishtat's position full-time and permanent. Because taxpayers aren't paying her salary, city officials wouldn't say how much money she makes.

Seema Iyer, a division chief in the city's planning department who led the effort to hire Freishtat, said her role is to coordinate disparate efforts related to food. When city employees encounter a food-related problem, they now have someone to call who has expertise, Iyer said.

Winne said it's not realistic to expect Freishtat to implement all the food task force's recommendations on her own, but thinks she still will prove invaluable even during the first year.

"A food policy person's overall responsibility should be the bigger picture," he said. "It's not to go off and set up a farmer's market or set up a community garden."

And no matter how impressive her title, Freishtat can't just talk Safeway into opening a supermarket in the blighted inner city. Nor can she persuade corner store owners to change a business model that's worked for decades.

Almost Everything Grocery & Deli owner Antonio Melvin used to offer more products — including healthier ones, like turkey burgers, whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables — when he opened two years ago. It didn't work.

"I put fruit in here, it goes bad. Everybody wants unhealthy stuff. That's the diet that people have been brought up in," he said. "I try to provide more, but it's killing me as a business owner."

Melvin said he'd stock more healthy options if he got some incentives from the city. It's yet another idea already on Freishat's to-do list.

Freishat's few counterparts around the country have confronted similar problems.

In Kansas City, small farmers who did community-supported agriculture — selling produce from their homes to customers who pay a membership fee — were technically breaking the law. Beth Low, the city's food policy coordinator, worked with officials to change that.

New York's former food czar, Benjamin Thomases, launched a program that hands out mobile food vendor licenses to people who agree to sell fresh fruits and vegetables in underserved neighborhoods. He also established health standards for the 225 million meals and snacks that city agencies provide each year.

In Baltimore, some initiatives have shown modest success. This spring, the city began a "virtual supermarket" program. One day a week, customers can order groceries online at two library branches in communities that qualify as food deserts. They can pay with food stamps, if needed, and the groceries are delivered, free of charge, to the libraries the next day.

The program has been hailed as innovative, but so far the city hasn't done much to promote it to potential customers. Pooja Aggarwal, who's in charge of it, said the library branch in East Baltimore gets fewer than 10 grocery customers, even on a busy day. Turnout at the other branch across town is even lighter. Meanwhile, she said, thousands of residents of nearby public housing complexes are sharing cars, hailing hack cabs or riding buses to get to grocery stores.

The program was in place before Freishtat arrived, but she said she'll work to get the word out and expand it to additional libraries, or perhaps schools.

Jacqueline Coles, 33, a custodian at the library, said she shops every week at the virtual supermarket and that she and her three children have been eating healthier meals since it was started.

"I've been buying a lot of meats versus buying chicken nuggets and stuff like that," Coles said. "I've got a refrigerator full of fresh meats, fresh vegetables."