Day of fruit inspection reveals importance of service, and safety

Robert Ambriz
WSDA Safety Officer

F&V inspector, Russell Burkett, checking apples

at a produce packing facility.

As our agency’s safety team continues its initiative to shadow WSDA employees to learn about their work safety concerns, it falls on each of the safety officers to spend time in the field. For my job shadow day, I spent time with Russell Burkett, an inspector with the WSDA Fruit and Vegetable (F&V) Inspection Program.

As part of a fairly standard work day, Russell visits a different packing warehouse each month. I was able to see firsthand some of the workplace hazards Russell and all of our F&V inspectors encounter.

Potential packing warehouse risks

For instance, forklift traffic is common in produce packing warehouses. Most operate on propane, which puts carbon monoxide (CO) into the air. I advise F&V staff to be extra cautious when in forklift traffic areas, and to report any type of CO symptoms to a supervisor or me so we can check the air quality.

Also, many warehouses use chemicals, such as ammonia, acid, and chlorine. These can present hazards. For instance, in December 2016, some residents of the town of Zillah were evacuated due to an ammonia leak from a fruit company warehouse. I encourage workers to know where to find Safety Data Sheets. These are important documents that give details about hazardous chemicals and how they affect health and safety in the workplace.

Once every month, I give a presentation to the F&V staff in Yakima about hazards they may encounter and how to deal with them.

Along with my safety focus on these shadowing visits, I’ve learned more about why it’s so important for F&V inspectors to spend most of their day being physically present at the industry facilities they serve.

Inspectors key link for industry

WSDA serves the produce industry by ensuring they meet quality standards, especially for the products they export outside the U.S. Different countries require various levels of inspection. Generally, F&V staff inspects about two percent of every 100 pieces being shipped – that equals 24-40 apples from every box.

Inspectors assess a grade (e.g. #1 Extra Fancy Red Delicious) and condition for defects such as decay, skin breaks, color, blemishes and so forth. They’ll do pressure and sweetness tests. Determining ripeness may involve a chew, thumb or starch iodine test. These are technical processes that require a good deal of training to learn.

According to F&V data, Washington shipped 46 million apples between October 2016 and the start of 2017. Washington is tops in the nation for apple production, on average producing 2.5 million tons of apples per year valued at more than $2 billion. 

“Without the services of F&V inspectors, we could lose about 10 loads a day,” commented the warehouse manager I spoke with. “Having them in our warehouse provides peace of mind.”

The WSDA safety team is committed to making sure our employees are protected from workplace hazards – so they can consistently provide these vital services to Washington State and return home safe and healthy every day.

When cherry season looms, WSDA and industry go into prep mode

Kathy Davis 
Communications

Earliest cherries in Mattawa area, May 2016

It’s cherry time! What makes consumers treasure cherries – pop-in-your-mouth size and short-lived season – also makes processing, inspecting and shipping them a fast and furious venture. 

That’s why WSDA’s Fruit and Vegetable (F&V) Inspection Program and the fruit industry are serious about gearing up for each cherry season. For instance, staff in the East Wenatchee F&V office presented two refresher sessions on May 12 – one for industry representatives and another for permanent and returning seasonal inspectors. 

“It’s like a year’s worth of work in three months,” noted Kyle Thomas, who’s starting his fifth cherry season as an inspector. 

“It’s all about timing,” added Jebb Wheeler, F&V export co-supervisor. “When things don’t go well, tempers can get short.” 

Cherries around the world

Why are cherries so different? They’re small, fragile and highly perishable. And the brief harvest season compresses the timetable to get them from orchard to store shelf or shipped around the globe. 

In 2015, Washington state produced more than 19 million 20-pound boxes of cherries and exported about 30 percent. While China is the top recipient of this fruit, the state shipped to 38 countries. Each country has specific standards, covering permits, pest-free certifications, and even how containers are marked. Wenatchee staff presented information for nine countries from Australia to Taiwan, and the European Union. 

Melissa Reed has specialized in shipping for 14 years and currently works at McDougall & Sons, a packing facility in Wenatchee. How does she keep track of all the various countries’ requirements? “A lot of note-taking,” she laughed, waving her notebook. 

Melissa said she appreciated the WSDA workshop and the communication with F&V staff. 

“Everyone here is awesome,” she said, “and we get answers to our questions really quick.”

Eastern Washington cherries for sale at the
Olympia Farmer's Market 

 

Crushing for larvae

Pests are a big concern and can affect the quality of the cherry product and the ability to export. Last year, 398 samples were found to contain a total of 644 larvae, Jeff Farmer, Wenatchee F&V supervisor, said. The most common culprit was Drosophila, a genus of small flies often called “fruit flies” -- they accounted for more than 90 percent of the finds.

Crushing is one of the procedures used to identify pests. The process is to take a representative sample of cherries and run them through a machine that crushes the fruit down to the pit, Jebb said. The pulp is then soaked in a sugar solution which causes larvae to float to the top. 

Distinguishing between different insect types requires looking at the critters under a microscope. Having an internet-connected microscope to share views with the agency’s entomologist in Yakima has been a big help, Jebb said. 

“Most of the industry wants the option of shipping through California, which requires larger and more thorough crushing samples because they are concerned about these pests,” he said. 

Vigilance on pest infestation is one of the many areas where state inspectors and the industry work closely together to gear up for cherry season. And this year’s has begun – early. The Wenatchee office reported beginning inspections on May 19.

Following an apple’s journey into the box

Kathy Davis

Communications Office

When you grab that pretty, shiny apple on the store shelf, you may not imagine the journey it’s taken to get there. In the packing house alone, apples travel a path that illustrates modern agricultural practices.

Apples aren’t just a Washington icon, like salmon, coffee and airplanes. They’re also a $2 billion industry producing millions of apples each year. Those apples all need to be harvested, sorted, packed and inspected.  

Last month I got an eye-opening education when I toured apple and potato packing facilities with Ken Tuttle, supervisor of WSDA’s Quincy Fruit and Vegetable Inspection office. As primarily a food consumer who’s relatively new to the agricultural industry, I was struck by the movement of the process.

From the large wooden bins in which the apples arrive in the warehouse, their first step is a bath. Each bin is lifted mechanically onto a skid that lowers it into a pool of water to wash the apples. With nose close, you can smell the chlorine (think swimming pool) that sanitizes.

Drifting and spinning

The water floats the fruit out of their field bins, becoming a river of apples drifting off on their way. They’re dried by spinning on soft, covered rollers and being heated in an enclosed metal container. 

Why are store apples so shiny? Because they’re sprayed with a fine mist of food grade wax.

They roll along, randomly splitting off onto three belts that run past workers who visually check for defective fruit. Along with experienced human eyes, technology helps sort. The apples are also whisked into a computerized machine where a camera and scale determines size and grade.

Placement onto trays and into boxes is largely, but not totally, automated. Humans help make sure each round fruit is properly positioned. Colorful shipping boxes are stacked into tall, wide blocks on pallets. Stacks await shipment to such destinations as Portland, Brooklyn and China.

Storing year-round

Apple harvesting occurs over a relatively short period, yet demand is year-round. So some of the crop is stored in a controlled environment to maintain freshness and allow for later packing.

These rooms look like over-sized racket ball courts with those big wooden bins of apples piled to the ceiling. Along with being chilled, the oxygen level is reduced in the room. Before workers enter, the atmosphere is adjusted to replace life-sustaining oxygen.

These packing facilities are daily working environments for our WSDA fruit and vegetable inspectors. For someone who resides in a cubicle most days, it was an eye-popping new world.