IPT charges a flat registration fee, regardless of the number of attendees in the class.  Some companies are hosting the training class and inviting employees from neighboring companies to attend.  By collecting  a small registration fee, these companies are more than able to offset the training expenses; in essence incurring no expense themselves for the training class.  The neighboring companies receive very affordable training on the inspection of fresh produce, without incurring any travel expenses, and limited lost time.  It is a win/win scenario for everyone.

If you are interested in exploring this opportunity please contact IPT for further information.  Click here to contact IPT.

As you can see from the image above, always make a crosswise cut, in the middle of the plum.  The plums with internal discoloration will show a discolored flesh ranging from a darker than normal flesh color to a very dark color. 

 According to the USDA Inspection Instructions,  if you notice the flesh is darker in color than the normal flesh of a good plum, it is to be scored as Damage.   If the affected flesh shows any dark discoloration or if it is soft, then the plum would be scored as Serious Damage. 

Confused? 

In order to interpret what the USDA is saying, the plum may be scored as Damage or as Serious Damage by internal discoloration, depending on the color of the discoloration.  If it is only slightly discolored, score it as Damage, if it is dark, as shown above, then the plums would be scored as Serious Damage.

What’s the difference, it is still a defect right?  Yes, no matter how dark the internal discoloration appears it is always a defect.  But you are allowed 12% of the plums, with damage by internal discoloration, and only half that amount, or 6% of the plums with serious damage by internal discoloration.

Well, the white seeds you occasionally find in seedless watermelons are not actually mature seeds.  They are white seed coats, where a seed never did mature.  It is safe to eat these seeds, as these seeds will never grow into watermelons.  So that’s simple;  if you come across the white, immature seeds, while inspecting seedless watermelons that’s OK, they are not considered a defect. 

But what do you do if you find some mature, dark brown seeds, in a seedless watermelon?

As seen above, you can see this slice is exposing 2 mature seeds.  The USDA Inspection Instructions do have specific guidelines as to how many mature seeds are allowed in the U.S. No.1 Grade.  If you suspect you may have a problem, follow theses inspection procedures:

Because there are no external indications of whether a melon may contain mature seeds, you would have to randomly cut the watermelons. 

When encountering seeded melons in a seedless lot report as a quality factor as “Seeded melons.”  Inspectors are required to cut as many melons as necessary in order to truly determine the internal quality.  Melons shall be cut in four equal sections (one lengthwise cut and one crosswise cut) as shown above.  Count the exposed seeds on the faces (vertical and horizontal) of all “quarters.”   If you find more than 10 mature seeds on the faces of the cut melon, that watermelon would be considered a defect.  Defect percentages MUST be based on the total melons in each sample (20) and not the number of melons cut.

The U.S. Grade Standards for Watermelons allow up to 10% may have quality defects.  If you find more than 10% of the seedless watermelons have more than 10 mature seeds on the exposed faces of the vertical and horizontal quarters, then the lot of watermelons would fail to grade U.S. No.1.

 International Produce Training, in cooperation with Southeast Produce Council, is now accepting registrations for a two-day training class on the inspection procedures for fresh produce.  Although attendees from the May 2010 class receive priority, the registration is open to anyone interested in attending.  The class size is limited to the first twenty registrants.

Some of the commodities included on the agenda are:  Apples, Citrus, Pineapples, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Broccoli, Cauliflower and various Melons.

As with all IPT training classes, much of the emphasis is devoted to hands-on training, with participants inspecting actual specimens, identifying defects and properly scoring the specimens as defects or as being acceptable for the grade standard.

The class in October will be held in Hickory, NC.  The registration deadline is September 21, 2010.  For further information, please contact Southeast Produce Council.

If you or your organization would like to host your own training class, invite your own participants and choose your own commodities, please contact International Produce Training to schedule your event.

Is that right?  A strawberry, or any other fruit or vegetable could have live insects crawling around on it and still make grade?

Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the University of Minnesota Extension Service, these tiny insects, thrips, are virtually invisible to the naked eye.  But if you take the strawberry, or any other specimen, and gently tap it over a white paper, you may be able to see these small yellow to brown specks.  Using a magnifying glass you will clearly see these specks are indeed insects,  some alive and moving around, and others dormant or dead.

The USDA does provide an avenue to score these specimens as damage or as serious damage defects, under the general definitions of each term.  For example, the US Grade Standards for Lettuce state the head of lettuce is damage if the compact portion of the head is infested with insects or worms, and the USDA’s Inspection Instructions define just how many insects or worms constitute being infested.  But this standard is the exception, as most of the other commodities have no clear definition with the number of insects allowed on a specimen, to be graded as a US No. 1.

But all the US Grade Standards do provide a general defintion of what is considered as being damaged, or a defect of the US No. 1 Grade.  If the US Grade Standard does not specifically state an area allowed for a defect (ie.- 1/2 inch for bruising, or 10% of the surface for scarring) then you can default to the following guideline-  “Damage” means any defect or any combination of defects, which materially detracts from the appearance, or the edible or shipping quality.

And since the presence of live insects clearly detracts from the edible quality of the commodity, the USDA will score the specimen as a defect of the US No. 1 Grade. 

The number of insects allowed will vary by the commodity.  This is subjective and will be left up to you, and some common sense.  You would allow more insects if the commodity is going to be washed and prepped before being eaten, and you would be allowed more insects if the commodity were instance celery, lettuce, or cabbage, versus strawberries, blueberries or found in ready to eat fresh cut items.

If you find decay affecting either the calyx or the walls (the pepper itself), you are allowed only 2% of the peppers with this type of decay….any more than 2% and the lot of peppers will fail to grade U.S. No. 1.  If you find decay on the stem of the pepper, you are allowed a greater tolerance.  The USDA Grade Standard allows up to 5% of the peppers with decay affecting the stems…..if you find more than 5% of the peppers with decayed stems, the lot would fail to grade U.S. No. 1.

If you find decay affecting the stem and the calyx of any one pepper you most score the pepper against the more restricted tolerance.  You would score the pepper once, as decay affecting the walls and calyx.

Many new inspectors become confused when seeing discolored stems and decayed stems.  They are quick to score discolored stems as peppers with decayed stems.

Use caution when you encounter discolored stems.  You MUST rub the stem with your thumb and fingers and determine if any of the stem tissue rubs off, or disintegrates in your fingers.  Discolored stems will be dry, and no tissue will rub off.  On the other hand, a stem with decay (as shown in the image above) will be moist, usually discolored, and a small amount of tissue will rub off when touched.

 Here are the highlights: 

•  For years the potato industry has been marketing mixed variety, specifically mixed colors of potatoes (red and whites) in specialty packages.  The proposed Grade Standard will now recognize these packs.

• In the current standard the tolerances for defects as shipping point (packing house) are 5%, while at destination the tolerances were increased to 7%.  Meaning the potatoes could be packed, out of grade (having 6% or 7% quality defects, such as sunburn or misshapen), shipped, and re-inspected at a warehouse and the lot would be in grade.  The USDA has proposed to correct this oversight, and will still allow 7% defects at destination, but not more than 5% of these defects can be quality or permanent defects.  

• The confusion and anxiety over visible sprouts will be somewhat cleared up.  Currently, individual sprouts or clusters of sprouts must exceed ½ inch in length, before being scored as a defect.  The proposed standard will now allow the USDA inspectors to use discretion in scoring clusters of sprouts.  Now, if the clusters materially affect the appearance of the potato, regardless of the length, the potato will be a defect.  Unfortunately the USDA has not specifically addressed the most common complaint heard from receivers, “What about the potato with peepers, all over the potato?” 
  
  Reviewing this standard I don’t see any specific language addressing this concern.  If the USDA would develop a visual aid, depicting what is a defect by clusters of individual sprouts, then we will have something other than a subjective opinion by the USDA inspector determining what a defect is and what is not.

• And lastly, the proposed grade standard will not address the lack of common sense issue of the soft rot tolerance between a U.S. No. 1 and U.S. Commercial Grade.   The U.S. Commercial Grade is a lower grade than U.S. No. 1.  But, currently the U.S. No. 1 Grade allows more soft rot than the U.S. Commercial Grade.  In other words, a re-packer may be packing U.S. Commercial potatoes.  During the inspection the potatoes are found to have 2% soft rot, but by calling the potatoes U.S. No. 1, they are back in grade, because
  U.S. No. 1 potatoes allow for twice as much soft rot than the lower, U.S. Commercial Grade.  I assume during the next change to the potato standard the USDA will correct this mistake.

The above image is very typical of the discoloration you may encounter.  At first glance you would either discard the fruit if you were packing it, or you would score the fruit as being damaged by discoloration if you were inspecting the fruit.  But checking the USDA Inspection Instructions, you would be allowed an area of of up to 10% of the surface with brown discoloration, being scoring the apricot as damage by brown surface discoloration.

To help you visualize what 10% is, take a look at the same image below:

You can actually see only half of the apricot, or 50% of the surface.  Half of that area is 25%, and another half is 12-1/2%.  I added a blue circle to show you what 10% of the area would represent.  As you can see, the discolored spots do not come close to the 10% surface area allowed by the USDA.

A couple of things not mentioned in the USDA Instructions; if the discolored area(s) are sunken, or if the discoloration is darker than brown.  You would allow for a less area if the areas are sunken, as shown above, and a less area of the discoloration if it is darker than brown in color.  Taking these factors into account, the above apricot would be scored as damage by brown to dark brown surface discoloration.

The USDA was quoted in The Packer as saying they would handle the inspections within the state of Pennsylvania, if the state inspection program was eliminated. They just might get their chance. The USDA licensed inspectors in Pennsylvania currently work for a private, third party organization, called the Fruit and Vegetable Inspection Association. The State is eliminating this third party and taking over the inspection program entirely. One of the fallouts from this conversion is the inspectors……as they will have to complete state application forms, undergo an interview process and compete for the jobs, some have been doing for the past 25 to 30 years. Many of these inspectors are choosing to retire or pursue new careers.

The Reading, PA office is taking a big hit with losing inspectors. As of today there are 4 terminal market inspectors, covering an area from Lancaster to Sunbury to Allentown and every where in between. These inspectors perform market inspections for major wholesalers and chain stores. Three of the inspectors (75%) are not signing up for the new program. You would think replacing them would be easy, but the USDA requires all state inspection programs to have all new terminal market inspectors undergo a 36 month training program, before they will be licensed by the USDA.  So, at the earliest, the inspection office in Reading will be fully staffed during the summer of 2013.  One inspector cannot physically handle the territory.

In the meantime, it looks like the USDA will have to fulfill their promise to the industry,  jump in and take over the state inspection program in the Reading area. I am not sure where the USDA will find inspectors to handle this chore, as they are woefully understaffed in some major markets already. In the Bronx for example, the USDA currently has 3 managers, an Officer in Charge, an Assistant Officer in Charge and a Training Officer, as they are “busy” supervising 5 inspectors. Yes, only 5 inspectors, being supervised by 3 managers. In Los Angeles, the ratio of 3 supervisors to 6 inspectors is 1 supervisor for every 2 inspectors.  Philadelphia is also top heavy, with a shift supervisor rounding out the 4 supervisory positions in that office.

I am sure other state programs are watching what will transpire in Pennsylvania, if the USDA will indeed come to the rescue of the state programs, or will the USDA force the market applicants to sign contracts, as was the case in Pittsburgh.  The USDA gave the industry a choice, either do away with all inspectors in the Pittsburgh area, or the USDA would agree to keep the inspectors in that location but the local applicants have to guarantee all inspector salaries, benefits, expenses as well as the USDA’s whopping 45% headquarter’s overhead, is fully reimbursed. Sounds like a no-win scenario for the industry.

Take a look at the image above.  Although the cucumbers all have the same color attributes,  they are obviously not uniform in size, with large ranges in length and in diameter.  Do these cucumbers make the size requirements for the U.S. No. 1 Grade?  As long as the cucumbers are at least 6 inches in length and not greater than 2-3/8 inches in diameter, they meet the requirement.  In fact half the cucumbers could be 6 to 7 inch and length and the others could be 9 to 11 inches in length, and they would meet the requirement of U.S. No. 1. 

Now is that good for the receiver and good for the grower?  Of course not.  The retailers want to display their product and let the customers choose their items.  Having a display of different sizes only aggravates the customer, as they are looking for uniformity in their selections.  Aggravated customers will buy elsewhere.

Again, the asparagus looks fresh, looks good, but the various sizes detract from their appearance.  Does this asparagus meet the size requirements for U.S. No 1?   Yes, unless otherwise specified, the spears are required to have a minimum diameter of 1/2 inch.   Meaning, there is no length requirement, and there is no maximum diameter.

Do any products have requirements for uniformity?   There are a few.  If you read their USDA Inspection Instructions some products have to meet the requirement of being fairly uniform.  Unfortunately the definition of fairly uniform varies from commodity to commodity.  For example, their is no uniformity requirement for apples in bags.  But for apples packed in tray-pack cartons, they must be fairly uniform, meaning the smallest apple does not vary more that 1/2 inch in diameter from the largest apple in the container.  For peaches, the definition of fairly uniform is more convoluted.  For peaches packed 45 or less to a carton, they cannot vary by more than 1/2 inch, but for peaches packed 80 or more to a carton they cannot vary more than 1/4 inch in diameter from the smallest peach to the largest peach.

So what do you do?  The bottom line,  if you are the packer, your customers are looking for a uniformly sized pack.  Don’t pack a jumble pack of different sizes and expect repeat sales.  If you are a receiver, you can take some steps to demand uniformity from your suppliers.  By adding your own company specifications to your orders you can establish your own minimum and maximum lengths and minimum and maximum diameters.  Your suppliers would have to meet your specifications or face rejection.  This practice is becoming much more common-place within the industry.