Northeast Produce sees salad days ahead

Ken DiMauro, The Plainville Citizen

Workers sort through tomatoes at Northeast Produce in Plainville.

On the heels of a multi-state tomato-contamination scare, officials from Northeast Produce, a tomato packaging and wholesale company in Plainville that provides many varieties of the fruit to supermarkets and restaurants, opened its doors June 20 to the media and local officials to show the steps the firm takes to ensure its product is fresh and contaminant free.

In addition to reporters from area newspapers, also touring the 18,000-square-foot facility on Town Line Road were state Rep. Elizabeth A. "Betty" Boukus and Plainville Economic Development Agency member Ken Hedman. Giving the tour were Mike Melninkaitis, whose family owns and operates the tomato distributor, and Joseph Ruffini, food safety manager.

Melninkaitis said the U.S. Department of Agriculture officials have inspected the tomatoes and the plant and have give the company the green light to continue packaging and selling the fruits. A U.S.D.A. operations certificate is affixed to a wall in the lobby. Both said the company has many steps to ensure the safety of the product, including making the employees and visitors to the plant wear hairnets and clean smocks. If the tomatoes are handled for inspection and packaging, all employees involved wear gloves. Transported tomatoes are brought in by refrigerated trucks and stored in clean refrigerated rooms kept at 52-degrees Fahrenheit.

Boukus said she thought that this was a perfect time to see how Northeast Produce is doing after the news of tomatoes contaminated with salmonella bacteria were found in 32 states, including Connecticut. She and Hedman said they were impressed with safeguards that are done in making tomatoes available to supermarkets and restaurants.

Melninkaitis said he is glad business is rebounding, adding that Florida growers lost $500 million from the contamination, which actually began in April. While the source of the contaminated tomatoes hasn't been pinpointed, Melninkaitis said he recommends that people who prepare and handle tomatoes constantly wash their hands and wear protective gloves.

Northeast Produce has operated its plant located in the Strawberry Fields Industrial Park as part of Plainville's Enterprise Zone since 2005. "Plainville has a central location," he said, adding the area has good transportation and highway system and is located halfway between Boston and New York City.

He said he and his family like doing business in Plainville. The firm has 68 employees and fills 12 to 15 large tractor trailers with packaged tomatoes in a week. In the company's inspection process, spoiled, inappropriate and borderline tomatoes are removed and thrown out. Usually, about 8 or 9 percent of the stock is eliminated, according to Ruffini. The key is to have the freshest product available and the family has customers from Maine to Maryland. The company gets the product from growers throughout the United States.

Boukus, Hedman and the media looked at how the tomatoes are brought in, inspected, packaged and temporarily stored in the refrigerated rooms. They said they were happy to see the company is doing well and were glad to get the word out the company's tomatoes are safe. Melninkaitis said restaurants such as Taco Bell, Subway and Wendy's have resumed using tomatoes.

Melninkaitis and Ruffini said safeguards are in place making it difficult for people to enter the plant without proper authorization. Visitors must check in and sign in and out at the front door. Anyone visiting the tomato storage and packaging areas must wear protective clothes and hairnets.

Melninkaitis also showed his company's Cutie Brand of tomatoes, which features the picture of Christiana, who is the daughter of Melninkaitis and his wife, Lisa. Photos of the youngster also are in a prominent spot near the lobby.