Some years are worse than others for hollow heart. This year appears to be one of those years. Hollow heart in watermelons is caused by a quick growth burst, usually brought on by heavy rainfall. Hollow heart is usually found in the larger melons, but it may be found in the smaller sizes as well. […]
One of the easiest ways to document and explain a problem you are finding, is to take a digital picture of the defect and e-mail the image(s) to the shipper. Sounds easy enough, right? There are few procedures to follow when taking digital pictures, but you first have to decide when a picture is worth the […]
It is common to find sweet cherries with flattened areas, most of the times around the shoulders. There is usually no discoloration, and the underlying flesh is fine too, with no discoloration. The cherries may be bruised from a tight pack, or the bruising may have resulted from rough handling. It never mattered much as […]
How many times have you received donut peaches but wondered what are the guidelines for defects and for tolerances? Believe it or not, you would use the same U.S. Grade Standard when inspecting donut peaches as you would for regular peaches. Of course there are exceptions to every rule and this is no exception. The […]
When inspecting sweet corn, you are first checking for the freshness of the corn by examining the color and freshness of the husks. You then begin to inspect the corn by husking the corn looking for defects of the cob. A defect, that unfortunately is all too common, is worm damage. Although worm damage is […]
With the sweet cherry season arriving, now would be good time to clear up a little confusion. When the cherries arrive from California or Washington State you will notice the different size designations on the containers. You may receive cherries marked as “12 Row”, “11 Row” or even in half rows, such as “10-1/2 Row” […]
I recently received a question from one of my past class participants. (In fact I encourage all past students to feel free to use me as a reference; if I don’t know the answer I will do my best to find out the answer.) They were receiving cucumbers that were unusually bumpy or warty. The questions was if this would […]
You will find a new feature added to my home page. “Take the IPT Quiz” will take you to a page devoted to quizzes designed to test your fresh produce inspection knowledge. The quizzes are designed to challenge all skill levels. For those slightly less experienced, utilize the Inspection Guidelines for your reference. I’ll update […]
I recently received a question from someone who was a bit confused over which lettuce standard applied to which type of lettuce. The confusion arises out of the many lettuce standards that are available. The Boston or Butter lettuces are inspected using the US Grade Standards for Lettuce. This standard also applies to head lettuce, […]
A few of my posts have taken issue with the USDA not being specific, as to scoring guidelines, to ensure uniformity, for many defects. Whether the defect is considered damage or not a defect is left up to the judgement of the individual inspector. The defect sunburn, on tomatoes, may go the other way. When […]