International Produce Training

One of the easiest defects to identify on onions, are visible sprouts.  As the onion comes out of dormancy, it begins to grow, or develop a sprout.  These fresh, light green to green sprouts are always a defect, and could very well be a serious damage defect.

The scoring guidelines are fairly straight-forward.  If you can [...]

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A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from a major chain asking me to post an article about the proper sampling procedures for Romaine Hearts.  They were concerned because they were finding the USDA inspectors were not being consistent, from DC to DC.
For example, some USDA inspectors were inspecting the entire carton of Romaine [...]

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You most likely have been receiving grapes, apples, pears, plums and peaches from Chile.  Much of the fruit is shipped immediately to distribution centers while some of the fruit is placed in cold storage.  One defect you may see, especially from plums that may have been in cold storage is shriveling.

The shriveling will most likely [...]

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The other day I received an interesting question concerning the net weight of a pint of strawberries.  After consulting with the Department of Weights and Measures I was able to give an educated response.  For those commodities designated by dry measurements, pints, bushels, etc. there is no net weight equivalent.

For example, you may receive strawberries, [...]

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I am happy to announce the date of the second group training event held in conjunction with Southeast Produce Council.  The dates of the two training classes are:
          May 19-20, 2010
            October 6-7, 2010
These training events will be held at Merchants Distributors, Inc, Hickory, NC.  These training classes provide an excellent opportunity for participants to receive [...]

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About a week ago I had the pleasure of paticipating in an on-line chat with Tom Karst, National Editor of The Packer.  He asked me a few questions about International Produce Training, what we offer to the produce industry and a few questions about my experience with the USDA, during the bribery scandal in Hunts Point.

The entire chat can [...]

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The state of New York is facing real budget problems, just like practically every other state in the country.  But what makes New York unique is the governor has now targeted the USDA Federal State Inspection program, run by New York’s Department of Agriculture and Markets Farm Products Grading Section.  In  Governor Patterson’s executive budget [...]

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Within the next week you may begin seeing some problems with some Florida tomatoes, if you happen to see any Florida tomatoes at all.  The recent nights of below freezing temperatures produced some major issues for the Florida tomato growers.  The complete picture of damage will not be known for a few more weeks.
Alternaria Rot is [...]

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With the recent reports of freezing temperatures in Florida and in Texas you must be ready to keep your eyes open for citrus arriving with possible freezing injury.  It is impossible to detect externally, meaning you must be ready to cut some citrus to find any problems.
The first questions many people have are;  “What does freezing [...]

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Probably one of the easiest commodities to learn how to inspect is Strawberries.  Although there are a few defects that are commonly found, most are easy to identify.  Except one.  By far the most common defect found while inspecting strawberries is bruising; and it is easily the most misidentified. Way too many inspectors, whether they are [...]

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