Consumers should make half their plates fruits and vegetables, according to today’s release of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

With a strong emphasis on reducing caloric intake, fruits and vegetables are at the heart of these guidelines. We are especially pleased that the new guidelines call for consumers to make half their plate fruits and vegetables. This is an amazingly powerful image that gives consumers a concrete idea about what they should do.

We, along with many of you, have tirelessly advocated that increased produce consumption is a substantial solution to the obesity epidemic and other public health issues. Even with the dietary guidelines, there are still more communications, social science and policy improvements we can affect to make a significant impact on produce consumption.

In addition to our own government relations and public affairs efforts on the dietary guidelines and other government nutrition and feeding programs, we support a wide variety of other efforts outlined in a letter we are sending to members today.

Messages like “make half your plate fruits and vegetables” are easy to visualize and are simple and actionable for consumers. The agencies have said that in the next few months we’ll see new visual materials to capture the guidance. We don’t know whether that will be a pyramid or some other graphic, but we do know that it will highlight fruit and vegetable consumption.

Certainly our industry can use these guidelines to great advantage. Fruits and vegetables are nutrition powerhouses that also support other guidance such as reducing salt and fat intake. We also recognize that progress toward increased produce consumption will require a broad-based approach that goes beyond communications.

This guidance, combined with other PMA and member activities, puts us on the brink of significant growth in produce consumption and sales. Let us know what you think.

Last week on his audio blog, PMA Chief Science &Technology Officer Dr. Bob Whitaker discussed the benefits and challenges of rapid, DNA-based testing to screen produce samples for the presence of possible pathogens and why it is important to be able to confirm positive tests. While tests like these have been adopted by the industry because of its need to get results back in time to make harvest or shipping decisions, they are also less than 100 percent conclusive.

Dr. Bob noted that tests like these seek to find unique DNA pieces indicative of a specific pathogen that may be present at a very low level among a very complex community of non-pathogenic bacteria living on the surfaces of fruits and vegetables. “If you are testing for pathogens using a Polymerase Chain Reaction or PCR-based test, you have to be able to find those from the DNA of perhaps 25-30 different strains of non-pathogenic bacteria. And remember, some of those other strains may be very close relatives of your target and may only differ in a few DNA base pairs,” he said.

He encouraged industry members to work with testing laboratories to understand exactly how they are using the PCR tests and why they feel the DNA primers they are using to identify pathogen DNA in the samples is both selective for the pathogens being tested for and sensitive enough to detect them even if they’re only there in very low levels.

Dr. Bob also talked about the critical role DNA primers play in product testing, as well as issues related to multiplex testing – which reminded me of some biology classes I took while in college. To learn more, head over to the Ask Dr. Bob blog for additional details. While you are there, sign up to get the next installment on product testing (coming tomorrow), February 1.

Unless you were on a no-media beach last week, you know that Wal-Mart announced it was going to sell healthier foods, including dropping prices on fresh produce. And you saw that the First Lady, Michelle Obama, was on hand to praise the move and reinforce her priorities for the Let’s Move campaign. Field to Fork readers also know that PMA completed produce pricing research last fall that shows consumers can get the recommended nine servings a day for $2.18, and bargain hunters can find them for as little as 88 cents a day.

One of the reasons we did that research was to help dispel the myth that fresh produce is expensive. Announcements such as the one yesterday are wonderful, though they continue to infer that produce is too expensive for most, and that eating healthfully is out of the reach of many Americans. Nonetheless, all efforts to boost consumption (and sales) are welcome.

We know that pricing is only one piece of the puzzle, however. Some of the perceptions that produce is expensive result from consumers not knowing how to store and handle fresh produce. Or they don’t know how to prepare it or whether their family will like it. Any time the produce rots in the fridge or gets left on the plate, the consumer perceives s/he has wasted money.

We know the answer to increasing consumption is multi-faceted and complex. Pricing is important. Consumer education on storage, handling, and preparation is important. Convenience is important. Creating motivation is important. And PMA has a wide variety of resources to help members make a difference in this all-important effort to boost consumption: our pricing research, consumer attitude/behavior research, sales/marketing tools through PMA E-ssentials, product information through I Know Produce, and more.

Incremental change in consumer behavior (one more serving a day) is good; a game-changer paradigm shift (reaching the recommended nine servings a day) would be even better. We’ll need to use all the tools we have available and wage this battle on many fronts. We can do it, and we must do it – for the health of consumers and the health of our industry.

A few weeks ago, a colleague here at the office shared an interesting article from the Fresh Plaza website that examined how fresh produce marketers are using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others to connect with customers. For example, after Stemilt Growers tweeted about new apple varieties, they were invited by a local television news station (who had seen the Twitter post) to talk about them on the air. In addition, Sunkist Growers helped raise money for a charity through a Facebook campaign aimed at its 33,500 fans.

More recently I read in The Packer about a promotion between Dole and Price Chopper supermarkets that utilized quick response codes in an effort that uses Facebook and mobile smart phone apps to boost sales. Last August, we talked about the emerging use of QR codes in food here on Field to Fork.

While these are just a few examples of social media’s influence on our industry, it made me think how we’ve changed here at PMA to better connect to our members via these communications vehicles. In addition to this blog and the Ask Dr. Bob Whitaker audio blog, last year we launched the Fresh Summit mobile app to help attendees maximize their time at the show, and we’ve just added the “State of the Industry” issue to the FRESH Magazine iPhone/iPad app.

Speaking of “State of the Industry,” you can also watch this presentation via our YouTube channel, along with other videos such as the PMA TV segments from Fresh Summit 2010 in Orlando. Another resource is the Socially Speaking page on the PMA website, which is a directory of our social media outreach – including a Twitter directory of PMA staff. Speaking of, I just joined the PMA Twitter network. If you’re so inclined, you can follow me at LeeM_PMA.

Stay tuned for more from PMA on the social media front in 2011.

The Alliance to Keep U.S. Jobs (of which PMA is a member) sent a letter to President Obama January 21 applauding the administration’s recent proposal to bring the trucking dispute with Mexico to a mutually acceptable conclusion. Lee Mannering wrote about the concept paper here on Field to Fork January 7.

The Alliance wrote: “The ‘concept’ paper developed by (Transportation) Secretary LaHood is an enormously important step toward a solution that will put an end to the retaliation against our products. We recognize that it is just a first step and that opponents of a solution that moves the United States toward compliance with its international obligations will work hard to halt your efforts. We urge you to proceed quickly to resolve this matter with Mexico not only because it will save jobs in our industries but also because it is in the national interest to do so.”

It’s not over yet, but this is brighter than a glimmer in the distance. A solution is at hand and we will continue to press for its implementation.

Last week, I learned that FDA is withdrawing its guidance on menu labeling, and instead will proceed with menu labeling through rulemaking. In today’s official Federal Register notice announcing the guidance withdrawal, FDA said noted it is required to issue proposed menu labeling regulations by March 23, and it intends to meet this statutory deadline. In the course of developing the proposed rule, FDA has considered the comments received on the (now withdrawn) draft guidance. It will then review the comments it receives on the proposed rule and issue a final rule by the end of the year.

We’ve talked about menu labeling here on Field to Fork before; you might recall the rule sets new federal requirements for foods sold at certain restaurants, coffee shops, delis, movie theaters, bakeries, ice cream shops, and in vending machines. It requires restaurants and similar retail food establishments that are part of a chain with 20 or more locations that offer substantially the same menu items to list calorie content information on menus and menu boards, including drive-through menu boards.

Here at PMA we think that, while providing caloric information on menus may give consumers calorie “sticker shock,” it might also spur them to make more healthful meal decisions. And one way to so would be to have more fresh fruits and vegetables incorporated into menu offerings – which aligns nicely with the goal PMA, the National Restaurant Association, and the International Foodservice Distributors Association set to double the use of produce in foodservice over the next 10 years.

Last week on his audio bog, PMA Chief Science & Technology Officer Dr. Bob Whitaker continued the discussion on product testing issues, specifically breaking down in laymen’s terms the complexities of DNA testing. He began with a look at the industry’s use of rapid, DNA-based tests to reduce testing time. These tests are derived from molecular biology methods that permit a lab technician to identify small pieces of pathogen DNA and make many copies of these pieces so they can be visualized and measured.

He noted that the main challenge is that there is a lot of DNA in a typical testing sample (DNA from the plant itself, as well as from all the different types of bacteria that may live on the surface of that fruit or vegetable). To rapidly detect unique pieces of pathogen DNA, scientists use a method to amplify or make a lot of copies of DNA fragments called polymerase chain reaction technology (PCR).

Dr. Bob explained that “by using PCR, we are able to copy DNA fragments at incredibly fast rates. In fact, the replication is so fast that within a matter of a few minutes, many millions of copies of a specific gene fragment, say a pathogen gene fragment, can be produced. Once you have these fragments amplified you can detect specific gene fragments by several different techniques and confirm the potential presence of pathogen DNA thus indicating the sample was contaminated with a pathogen.”

This is just a summation of the original post over on the Ask Dr. Bob blog; he goes into more specifics there. If you want to get the full details, catch up on previous posts, or sign up to get the next installment (coming tomorrow), visit the Ask Dr. Bob blog.

When it comes to calories, parents lack a basic understanding of their impact on weight and may even be skeptical that calories are just the latest food and nutrition fad. New research by the Dietary Guidelines Alliance shows that only 14 percent of parents said they are consistently paying attention to the calories their families consume; even fewer (9 percent) said it would be the easiest thing for their family to do on a regular basis.

Across five core behaviors that parents could be implementing to impact the healthfulness of their family’s diet, the study shows that parents are least likely to believe that paying attention to calories can make a difference. When asked to rate five key behaviors in terms of how important they are to the healthfulness of their family’s diet, parents ranked the following as most important:

• Serving their families foods and beverages that are nutrient rich (such as whole grains, lean meats, low-fat dairy, and fruits and vegetables) more often (82 percent)
• Making an effort to balance amount of foods and beverages consumed with amount of physical activity (74 percent)
• Paying attention to the amount of foods and beverages served and eaten (69 percent)
• Managing higher-calorie food and beverage choices in a way that does not impact weight (67 percent)
• Paying attention to calories consumed from foods and beverages (52 percent)

New dietary guidelines are expected to be released soon. In our comments and testimony to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee, we stressed that the fruit and vegetable recommendations are critical to public health and that simple communications will not be enough to change behavior. A stronger, more vigorous effort through communication, social science, and policy changes (the recent passage of child nutrition reauthorization will certainly help) are essential to have an impact on the public.

Normally when we talk about sustainability stories here on Field to Fork, it’s within the context of what a member company is doing. Instead, this time I’d like to highlight a few current news items I found as well as a recent experience I had.

For quite a while, one of the main areas where supermarket operators have worked to become more sustainable is through offering customers a way to recycle/re-use plastic bags so that fewer bags go to landfills. Sometimes this effort comes from corporate sustainability policies, but sometimes bans on these bags are enacted on businesses by counties and municipalities. For example:

• Last week in Maui, Hawaii, a supermarket began offering paper bags to its customers (large plastic shopping bags and produce bags are still allowed) so that fewer plastic bags end up in the ocean and harming marine life.
• In Brownsville, Texas, an ordinance prohibits businesses from providing plastic bags at checkout stands. It also requires shoppers to bring their own reusable bags to the stores. Interestingly, plastic bags can be sold for a $1 fee that will go towards environmental programs.
• TIME magazine reported that, in Italy, a nationwide ban on plastic bags took effect with the goal of promoting more environmentally friendly bags made of fabric, recyclable paper or a special biodegradable plastic.
• And in Canada, supermarket operator Metro noted a 50 percent drop in demand for plastic bags one month after they began charging five cents per bag. Now, demand has dropped by 80 percent.

As for my experience, last week while finishing our weekly grocery shopping, I was stunned by the number of plastic bags we came home with. While we didn’t have a full cart load, the overabundance of bags sure made it look otherwise. As I loaded them into the back of my car, I realized why. One bag had four 14-ounce cans of vegetables in it; another had two items in it that, when combined, weighed less than two pounds.

Having worked in supermarket retail and bagged many orders in my pre-PMA life, I understand the issues around overloading plastic bags with too many items. But these bags were excessively light, resulting in lots of small loads in many bags. On the drive home, I couldn’t help but wonder how much this store’s inefficient bagging practices costs them.

So the next time we shop, we’ll be taking some of these bags with us when we make our weekly trip. It’s a small change but maybe it will make a difference in some way. Or we’ll start going to the store that offers a nickel rebate off your bill for every bag you bring.

As we’ve talked about before, every sustainable step counts.

Next Thursday, January 27 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. EST, PMA Vice President of Supply Chain Efficiencies Ed Treacy and Growers Express CEO Jamie Strachan will discuss traceability during a free Webinar presented by Great American Publishing’s Fruit Growers News and Vegetable Growers News. They will discuss on-farm traceability and how the Produce Traceability Initiative can help growers become PTI compliant. They will also address the return on investment for on-farm traceability. To register for this Webinar, visit the Recent Updates list on the main page of the PTI website.

While you’re there, you’ll also see in the updates section a traceability case study from Frontera Produce. During a cilantro recall, Frontera was able to trace back its cilantro cases to individual stores so that those affected could be quickly notified. Within 36 hours of receiving the recall, all Frontera cilantro cases were accounted for with those impacted removed from stores’ shelves.

In related news, recently the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and GS1 issued traceability reports. The IFT report examines the concepts of Critical Tracking Events and Key Data Elements (which IFT proposes as important data pieces in food traceability). The GS1 report is a companion piece to the IFT study and details how GS1 initiatives align with the elements discussed by IFT.

To stay current on all things related to traceability and fresh produce, visit the PTI website.