International Produce Training

Raspberries and Blackberries have one thing in common, different from every other commodity.  When determining the percent of defects, the US Grade Standards state the tolerances are based on volume.  Do you have any idea how this is done?  Don’t feel bad, I have never met an inspector (USDA, State, or industry) that actually follows this rule.

All other commodities state the defect tolerances are based on a count basis or a weight basis.  Let’s use cucumbers as an example.  You count 50 cucumbers to make up your sample.  If you find 4 decayed cucumbers the percent is determined by:  4 defects ÷ 50 total = .08 x 100 = 8%.  If your sample size was 63 count, and you found 4 decayed cucumbers, then you would have: 4 ÷ 63 = .06 x 100 = 6%.  This is very straight forward.  Some commodities vary in size within a sample, so because they lack uniformity the US Standard states that the defect tolerances are determined on a weight basis.  Using potatoes as an example; if you found 3 potatoes within your 20 pound sample with soft rot, you would have to weigh the 3 defective potatoes.  We’ll say they weighed 1.25 pounds.

To determine your percentage; 1.25 lbs of soft rot ÷ 20 lbs sample = .06 x 100 = 6%.

But for raspberries annd blackberries you would base the defect tolerances on a volume basis.

Step 1:  Open the clam shell, and carefully pour out the contents.  You will be inspecting all raspberries within the clam shell.

Step 2:  Even though the tolerances are based on volume, you have to count out all the raspberry in the clamshell.  In this example you have 45 raspberries.  So, 1 raspberry is equal to 2% (1/45).  Because the tolerances are based on volume, it is more accurate to say, 1 average size raspberry is equal to 2%.

Step 3.  You will have to determine what you consider to be an average size raspberry for your sample.  If the raspberry on the far right is your “average” size raspberry, then any defective raspberries you find, that are equal to the average size, would be equal to 2%.  If the defective raspberry was twice the size of the “average” raspberry, then the percent would also double, to 4%.  If the raspberry is smaller than the “average” raspberry (such as the berry, 2nd from the right), and is half the size of the average size, then the percent would equal 1%.

Does anyone actually go through this exercise when inspecting raspberries or blackberries?  No.  Chances are the sizes of the defective raspberries will average out during your inspection, and the percentages will still be accurate.  Inspectors do count out the raspberries to determine their sample size, they do separate their defects, soft, leaking, decayed, etc. and simply count the defective berries.  Using this example, if they find 15 berries that are soft, the percentages are determined by:  15 soft ÷ 45 total berries = .33 x 100 = 33%.

International Produce Training has announced it is now selling the Commodity Reference Manual.  For those of you that are familiar with the USDA version, you will be pleased to find this manual has included all the information you found useful, plus more.  You will now have PACA’s Good Delivery tolerances at your fingertips, and also some common defects have been added to enhance the manual.  And one more plus, it is half the price.

If you are not familiar with the reference manual, attached is a small sample for you to review.  IPT Commodity Reference Manual Sample 2012

The reference manual contains over 60 of the most common fruit and vegetables.  You will find all the tolerances, defect descriptions and scoring guidelines for the most common defects, storage tips and other useful information.  Included, are all the up-to-date standard changes, and defect scoring guidelines.

• How much bruising is allowed for a U.S. Extra Fancy Apple?
• Is tipburn a defect in Cabbage?
• I’ve heard the term “blanching” on Limes, what is it?
• What’s the freezing point of Lettuce?

You can find these answers and all your answers when performing your inspections within the manual.

This manual is being purchased by buyers, to give them a quick and easy to use reference guide when rejections come into play, as well as by inspectors (state and industry inspectors) who will use the manual in their day to day inspection activities.  It is compact in size, measuring 4-1/2 by 7 inches, easily fitting in a coat pocket, and has a laminated cover to protect it from the elements.

This is just one of many new resources being developed by IPT.  Look for on-line, or web-based inspection training coming in 2013.

With Pineapples reaching $3 a piece on the retail shelf, I received a question regarding the proper procedure for sampling pineapples when determining the percent of soluble solids (brix), specifically how many pineapples would have to be destroyed, for the extraction of juice.

The produce inspector had done his research, noting the USDA does not have specific documented procedures on how to determine the percent of soluble solids for pineapples.  The USDA does have specific procedures for soluble solids when inspecting cantaloups, grapes, kiwi, and watermelons.  The procedures vary, ranging from selecting 4 watermelons to 15 kiwifruit to extract the juice.

Because there are no specific USDA procedures for pineapples, the USDA does have a “default” procedure to follow.  The inspector should randomly select 2 pineapples from each sample, plug the pineapple (reaching into the center of the pineapple), remove the skin, and squeeze the juice from each plug.  The juice is mixed up, creating a composite sample of juice, to be placed on your refractometer.

But the big question remains, “How Many Pineapples Will Be Destroyed?”  Since the USDA will select 2 pineapples per sample, the real question is, “How many samples are needed?”  The USDA usually follows a 1% sampling rate guideline, but will take a minimum of 3 samples for smaller lots.  For example, for carton lots of up to 350 cartons, the USDA will sample 3 cartons, resulting in 6 pineapples being randomly selected for the soluble solids (2 per sample).  If there are 500 cartons in the lot, the USDA will sample 5 cartons, meaning 10 pineapples will be selected for soluble solids.  If there are 1000 cartons in the lot, the USDA will sample 10 cartons, and select a whopping 20 pineapples to plug for soluble solids.

This procedure will be followed no matter the type of carton.  Even if the cartons only hold 6 pineapples, 2 pineapples, or 33% of them will be selected for soluble solids determination.  Personally I think is an overkill.  I would think if you randomly selected somewhere be 4 and 7 pineapples (as is the case for watermelons and cantaloups) and follow the proper procedure when plugging the fruit, removing the skin and squeezing the plugs for a composite mix, this should work for you and your shippers.

Click here if you would like to read the US Grade Standard for Pineapples.

I would love to hear from others and hear what procedure they follow when sampling for soluble solids.

For those of you that have read a USDA Inspection Certificate you have noticed certain terms used over and over, such as “Generally”, “Mostly”, and  ”Many” to name a few.  These terms actually mean something within the inspection service.  Listed below are the terms and their definitions you may see:

• Practically All- 95 to 100%
• Generally- 90 to 100%
• Most (Mostly)- 55 to 89%
• Approximately Half- 46 to 54%
• Many- 26 to 45%
• Some- 11 to 25%
• Few- 5 to 10%
• Occasionally- 1 to 10%

These terms can be used on your own in-house inspection reports, and all facets of the industry will understand your terms.  For example, if you wanted to describe the firmness of a lot of fruit, you could report, “Most peaches are firm ripe to ripe, some firm.”

You may receive some product that is further advanced in ripeness.

As seen above, let’s say about 80% of the cartons of papayas had 95 t0 100% of the papayas with yellow color.  The remainder cartons had papayas turning yellow color.  An easy way to report this would be: “Most cartons with practically all papayas with yellow color, some turning yellow color.”

Here is another example, involving a shifted load:

If for example 10 of the 40 bins (25%) were shifted with 20% of the watermelons being damaged, you could report, “Some bins being crushed and compressed, with contents exposed, and some watermelons being split and leaking.” 

As you can see, by using these terms you will be able write accurate reports, being understood by all interested parties.

It happens all too often.  You receive a load of produce, where the product is in good shape, but the load has shifted and you notice some damaged cartons.  What are your options?

In most cases you can simply separate the damaged cartons from the rest of the load and place the damaged cartons back on the carrier and receive credit for the damaged cartons.  This sounds easy enough, and if the relationship between the buyer and shipper is a good one, this is the path to take.   But not everyone is afforded this method.  As an inspector, responsible for receiving produce, it may be necessary to document and provide a written report to back up your rejection.

Let’s use the above image as an example.  You receive a lot of cantaloups, in this case about 5 pallets, or about 250 cantaloups.  The front pallet in the middle of the image is leaning, as well as the back pallet on the left.  With the yellow line added as a guide, You can begin by stating, “Many pallets shifted from 3 inches on the second layer (the first layer is the bottom layer) to 12 inches on top layer, with some cartons on first and second layer being damaged and compressed.” 

The cartons on the first and second layer, with the check marks, are showing some damage.  You would want to check the contents of these cartons looking for bruising or flattened areas on the cantaloups.  Remember, bruising is a condition defect, meaning the cantaloups may only show slight flattening due to bruising when they arrive, but as the cantaloups sit around in storage the flattened areas may enlarge, become darker in color and the flesh may show signs of being translucent or discolored.

After you have documented the shifted load, the next best thing to do is take a digital picture of the shifted pallets.  If the damaged cartons are showing some cantaloups being split, you would definitely want to document that with your digital camera.

Of all the inspection procedures I have discussed on this site, determining the percentage of undersize berries may be one of the most time consuming, and confusing procedures.  First off, there are two size requirements you must be aware of.  The bunches have to meet a minimum size, having to weigh at least 1/4 pound, to be considered as meeting the requirement of the U.S. No. 1 Table Grape grade.  If a bunch does not weigh at least 1/4 pound, the entire bunch is grouped with the other quality defects, with a tolerance of 8%.

This post deals with the second size requirement for Table Grapes.  To meet the requirements of the U.S. No. 1 Table grade, not more than 10% of the bunches (by weight) may have more than 25% of the berries (by count) not meeting the minimum size.

As seen from the image above, the size of the berries usually varies in size from small berries to large berries.  If you follow the USDA’s inspection procedures you would have to determine if 25% of the berries, on the bunch, are smaller in diameter than what is allowed for the grade.  If you found more than 25% of the berries being undersize you would weigh the bunch, and all of the bunches within your sample that also had berries with more than 25% being undersize.  The total weight of these bunches may not exceed 10%, no matter how many other defects you found.  The 10% tolerance for bunches with undersize berries is a separate tolerance, separate from the defect tolerance.

So, how do you actually determine if the berries meet or fail to meet the minimum size?  You have to have a grape sizer, as pictured above.  For all varieties, other than seedless varieties, the berries must meet a minimum diameter of 10/16 inch.  For all seedless varieties (Flame Seedless, Thompson Seedless, Perlette, Black Seedless, etc.) they must meet a minimum diameter of 9/16 inch.  

Do the USDA inspectors actually count the berries on every bunch, and then count the number of berries on that bunch that are less than 9/16 or 10/16 of an inch?  The answer is yes and no.  If the berries appear to meet the minimum size, the inspectors never use their grape sizer.  But if it appears there may be a problem with the berries, most experienced USDA inspectors will quickly slide the grape sizer around the berries on the bunch and estimate if at least 75% of them meet the minimum size.  If they followed their own inspection procedures, literally counting all the berries on the bunches and literally counting all the undersize berries, the inspectors would spend an entire day on one grape inspection.  Not feasible.

Explaining this procedure via a post is very difficult, as most people find this procedure much easier to understand if they see and experience this during an actual training class.

You can follow all the defect scoring guidelines established by the USDA, but if you do not follow the basic sampling procedures your inspections would be a waste of time.  Proper sampling techniques should not be overlooked.  Sampling properly will ensure you are recording the percentage of defects in an accurate manner.

Upon receiving a load of produce, you first must have some basic sampling methods established.  Based upon the number of trailer loads of produce being received and the number of Quality Assurance staff, the number of samples will vary.  Some companies follow the USDA sampling procedures to the letter, while others adapt the basic sampling rules, but the number of samples is greatly reduced. 

The USDA follows the 1% rule for their sampling rate.  For example, a trailer load of lettuce contains 1000 cartons, the USDA will sample 1%, or will inspect 10 cartons.  If a lot of cucumbers contains 670 cartons, the USDA will sample 7 cartons.  At a minimum, the USDA will always inspect at least 3 cartons, for lots containing less than 300 cartons.

Most companies I’ve worked with sample 3 to 4 cartons, from a full trailer load of one item, usually sampling a minimum of 2 cartons for small lots.

After the pallets are unloaded, you will want to scatter the samples you pull for your inspections.  Taking random samples ensures your are looking at samples representative of the load.  If you are going to inspect 4 samples, make sure you pull them from different pallets, from back to front of the trailer.  It is also important you break down the pallets and inspect cartons from the top layer of the pallet as well as cartons on the lower layers.

And lastly, when you begin inspecting the product, it is imperative you sample throughout the carton.  Do not “pick and choose” the defective specimens only.  If you are only inspecting a portion of the carton, be sure and begin counting out your sample by taking specimens from the top of the carton all the way to the bottom of the carton.  Remember, accurate inspection results only come from accurate sampling methods.

With the fall season in full swing, you may have some questions when receiving a load of pumpkins.  Believe it or not, the USDA does have grade standards for pumpkins, titled, “United States Standards for Grades of Fall and Winter Type Squash and Pumpkin.”

Although you may not encounter too many problems, with the most common being scars, misshapen, or the most serious, fresh cuts or breaks and decay.  If you do encounter pumpkins with fresh cuts, or actually broken/split pumpkins they are to be scored as a serious damage defect.  They are considered “free from” defects, meaning any fresh cut, no matter the size, is to be scored as a defect.

Another question you may have, “Some of the pumpkins are missing their stem, is that a defect?”  No, the US Grade Standards do not require that pumpkins have a stem.  The stem scar (if the stem is missing) must be well healed.  If you do find decay, or soft rot on the pumpkin, the pumpkin is to be scored against the 2% tolerance for soft rot. 

But what if you find the stem has soft rot, is it a defect?  Well, yes it is a defect, but if you find soft rot affecting the stem it is scored as a defect against the 10% general tolerance, not against the 2% tolerance for soft rot.

When sampling the pumpkins, to determine the percentage of defects, simply count 25 pumpkins as your sample.  One defective pumpkin is 4%, 2 defects is 8%, 3 is 12%…..”