Planting Seeds - Food & Farming News from CDFA

CDFA helps ensure that California cherries meet industry standards and consumer expectations

(Top right) An inspector picks out 50 cherries from a box randomly pulled off the packing house line in order to ensure all cherries are the proper quality, color and “row” size. Cherries are placed on a card to ensure the cherries don’t drop through the hole, which would mean they’re smaller than indicated on the box. (Bottom left) A random clam shell of cherries is inspected.  

Did you know that CDFA’s Shipping Point Inspection Program conducts cherry inspections at packing houses to help ensure that California cherries meet state and national standards? Packing houses are hard at work this month to get freshly-picked California cherries to consumers worldwide.

Packing house inspectors must go through 40 initial hours of training–and eight additional hours annually–to receive a USDA license to properly inspect California cherries for quality, size, maturity and firmness. Cherries are separated by size and quality and packaged for distribution.

The Shipping Point Inspection Program is part of the Inspection and Compliance Branch in CDFA’s Division of Inspection Services.

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