Fresh Produce Industry Glossary

Under the Food Traceability Rule, required records must be made available to an authorized FDA representative within 24 hours of request, unless FDA agrees to another reasonable timeframe.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

A count-size designation indicating 40 individual produce pieces in the specified package; the commodity and container must be identified because count-size conventions vary across fresh produce.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

A count-size designation indicating 48 individual produce pieces in the specified package; within the same commodity and pack, it generally represents smaller pieces than 40-count.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

A count-size designation indicating 88 individual produce pieces in the specified package; within the same commodity and pack, it generally represents larger pieces than 113-count.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

USDA organic labeling category for products containing only certified organic ingredients and processing aids, excluding water and salt from percentage calculations; eligible products may use the USDA Organic seal.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

A count-size designation indicating 113 individual produce pieces in the specified package; for a given commodity and pack, higher counts generally correspond to smaller individual pieces.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

Surface injury caused by rubbing or scraping during harvesting, packing, or transportation. In fresh produce it reduces appearance and can increase water loss, discoloration, and susceptibility to decay.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Postharvest
• Quality

An act by the receiver exercising control over a produce shipment, such as unloading or diversion. Acceptance ends the buyer’s right to reject, although damage claims may still remain.

See also: Acts of Acceptance, Effective RejectionSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

An additional freight fee for services or conditions beyond the base transportation move, such as detention, extra stops, lumper services, redelivery, specialized equipment, or other nonstandard handling.

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

An accurate, itemized accounting for produce handled for another, showing sales and allowable expenses or deductions. PACA requires true and correct accountings for consignments and joint-account transactions.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

CBP’s electronic Single Window through which the trade community reports imports and exports and government agencies exchange data and status messages to determine admissibility and release, including for produce entries.

Sources: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

APHIS database that lists commodity- and country-specific U.S. plant import requirements, including permits, phytosanitary certificates, treatments, and other conditions for fresh fruits and vegetables.

Source: USDA APHIS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• APHIS
• Import Requirements

Actions showing that a receiver has taken control of a produce shipment, including diversion, unloading, or failing to give timely notice of rejection within the applicable reasonable period.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

FDA determination of whether an imported food may enter U.S. commerce after reviewing entry information, compliance history, documents, examinations, or sampling for compliance with applicable federal requirements.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

Food that meets an adulteration condition under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, such as containing harmful substances or being prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions that may make it unsafe.

Sources: U.S. Code, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

Water used in covered produce activities when it is intended or likely to contact covered produce or food-contact surfaces, including certain irrigation, spray, washing, cooling, and harvest or packing uses.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A two-or-more-digit GS1 prefix that identifies the meaning and format of the data element that follows, such as GTIN, batch/lot number, pack date, or SSCC.

Sources: GS1 [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

A ceiling-mounted duct in a refrigerated trailer that distributes conditioned supply air toward the rear of the load, helping maintain uniform airflow and temperature throughout the cargo space.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

Movement of conditioned air through and around a produce load to remove heat, limit temperature variation, and return warmed air to the refrigeration unit for re-cooling.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

The movement of air through a refrigerated storage or transport space and through produce packages, carrying heat away from the commodity and supporting more uniform temperature control.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A refrigerated-trailer loading pattern that intentionally leaves air channels around or between pallet rows so conditioned air can circulate through the load and help maintain produce temperature.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

A condition in which refrigerated air bypasses the intended path through the produce load and returns to the refrigeration unit through gaps, reducing cooling effectiveness and temperature uniformity.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A negotiated reduction or credit against the original produce sale price, usually granted for documented quality, condition, or contract issues while the buyer keeps the product.

Sources: Western Growers, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Receiving
• Claims

A grape berry spotting defect recognized in USDA table-grape grading. An Almeria spot is scored as damage when the affected area is distinctly sunken or dark.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

The temperature of the surrounding air outside or around the produce-handling environment. In cold-chain operations, ambient conditions influence refrigeration load, condensation risk, and product temperature exposure.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

USDA agency responsible for safeguarding U.S. agriculture and natural resources from plant pests and diseases, including regulating phytosanitary entry requirements that apply to imported fresh produce.

Source: USDA APHIS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• APHIS
• Import Requirements

A formal review inspection requested by a financially interested party dissatisfied with a prior official inspection, performed on the positively identified lot to verify or revise the original findings.

Sources: eCFR, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

Import-law standard allowing FDA to refuse admission when an imported product appears, from examination or other evidence, to violate applicable requirements; FDA need not establish a violation with certainty.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

Apple scab lesions appear as dark green to black spots that may become brown, russeted, and rough. USDA grades restrict or exclude scab depending on grade.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A foreign supplier that an FSVP importer has evaluated and approved through written procedures based on hazard analysis, supplier performance, and other relevant factors for the food being imported.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

An electronic pre-arrival message sent by a supplier or shipper describing an outbound shipment, often including pallet, case, GTIN, batch/lot, quantity, and other receiving or traceability data.

Sources: Produce Traceability Initiative [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

Documentation sufficient to determine the source, transfer of ownership, and transportation of an agricultural product from production through handling and sale, supporting traceability and verification of organic integrity.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

The portion of recorded on-hand produce that is currently eligible for sale, allocation, picking, or shipment after excluding committed, held, quarantined, or otherwise unavailable quantities.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

Use of a delivery vehicle’s return trip to carry produce or other goods back toward a distribution center or another origin, improving equipment utilization and reducing empty return mileage.

Source: University of Minnesota (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight
• Cold Chain

A flexible paper, plastic, film, or mesh package used for fresh produce in consumer or bulk quantities, often placed inside a master shipping container for transport.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

An identifier assigned to a defined quantity of product produced, packed, or handled under common conditions; in produce traceability it is commonly used interchangeably with a lot number.

Sources: Produce Traceability Initiative [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

Feeding or entry injury to grape berries caused by grape berry moth larvae. USDA grape standards treat affected berries as a defect that can reduce grade.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

Detachment of grape berries from the cap stem or cluster, producing loose berries. Shatter increases with maturity and rough handling and can substantially reduce table-grape pack quality.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Postharvest
• Quality

A large rigid or corrugated container used to hold fresh produce in bulk for harvest, storage, packing, or shipment, often sized for pallet or forklift handling.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

A biological agent capable of causing illness or injury, including microbiological hazards such as parasites, environmental pathogens, and other pathogens that may contaminate produce during growing, handling, or processing.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A physiological apple disorder producing small, dark, sunken pits and underlying corky tissue, commonly near the calyx end. USDA apple grades limit the defect according to severity.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

An internal potato disorder in which tissue, usually near the center, becomes gray, brown, or black from oxygen deficiency or adverse storage conditions. USDA grades require freedom from blackheart.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A physiological tomato disorder producing a dark, sunken, leathery lesion at the blossom end, commonly associated with calcium imbalance and water stress; it is a USDA grading defect.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

An onion with an abnormally thick neck in proportion to the bulb and only fairly well developed bulb formation. USDA U.S. No. 1 onions must be free from bottlenecks.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

Materials or devices used to secure a produce load against shifting in transit, helping prevent package damage and preserving the air spaces needed for effective refrigerated airflow.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

A PACA firm’s office or outlet away from its principal location through which it buys, sells, negotiates, solicits, handles consignments, or otherwise contracts in perishable agricultural commodities.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

An interruption in required temperature control during cooling, storage, handling, or transportation that exposes produce to unsuitable temperatures and can accelerate ripening, deterioration, water loss, or decay.

Source: NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight
• Cold Chain

A condition defect in which produce tissue deteriorates, softens, collapses, becomes watery, dry, or necrotic, and may progress during storage, transit, or marketing.

Sources: UC Davis Postharvest Center, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Quality
• Condition

USDA tomato color stage in which a definite break from green to tannish-yellow, pink, or red appears on no more than 10 percent of the surface.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Ripening
• Quality

A measure of soluble solids concentration in fruit juice, expressed in degrees Brix. USDA uses Brix readings from kiwifruit juice as an objective indicator of maturity.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A person in the business of negotiating produce sales or purchases in interstate or foreign commerce for a vendor or purchaser, subject to the exemptions stated in PACA.

Source: U.S. Code (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A broker-prepared written confirmation recording the essential terms of a produce transaction and identifying the principals for whom the broker acted, providing evidence of the parties’ agreement.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

Mechanical injury to produce tissue caused by impact, compression, or rough handling, often appearing as discoloration, softening, flattening, or damaged flesh and increasing susceptibility to deterioration.

Sources: USDA AMS, UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Quality
• Condition

A biological soil amendment consisting wholly or partly of animal-origin materials, such as manure, non-fecal animal byproducts, animal mortalities, or table waste; human waste is excluded from the definition.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

Fresh produce packed loose in a larger shipping container rather than separated into individual consumer packages, typically handled and sold by weight, count, or container.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

Fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, or herbs sold loose rather than in fixed consumer packages, typically identified at retail by a PLU code for checkout and inventory control.

Source: IFPS (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes

A wall or partition inside refrigerated transport equipment that directs supply and return airflow; in reefer containers it helps separate air streams and route conditioned air through the cargo.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

A group of produce items, stems, leaves, or roots gathered and secured together and sold or packed as one unit, with bunch specifications varying by commodity.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

A U.S. dry-volume unit equal to 2,150.42 cubic inches; in produce trade, bushel containers describe package capacity, while actual net weight varies by commodity and pack.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NIST (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

A broker acting for a purchaser in negotiating a produce purchase. PACA rules require proper disclosure, records, and accounting; certain arrangements can make the broker responsible for payment.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A strawberry condition in which the calyx, or leafy cap, remains attached to the berry. USDA U.S. No. 1 strawberries are required to have the cap attached.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

The short individual stem connecting a grape berry to the bunch. Berry attachment, looseness, and shriveling around the capstem are considered in USDA grape grading.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A quantity of the same fresh commodity in containers, located on or unloaded from the same conveyance and available for inspection at the same place and time.

Sources: eCFR, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

A transportation provider that physically moves produce freight between locations, commonly by truck. For refrigerated produce, the carrier is responsible for operating transportation equipment according to agreed requirements.

Source: FMCSA (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

A claim against a transportation carrier for loss, damage, or other compensable transit problems affecting produce. PACA requires proper accounting for carrier-claim proceeds in applicable agency or joint-account transactions.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• Claims
• PACA

A fiberboard shipping package widely used for fresh produce, designed to protect product while providing sufficient stacking strength and, when needed, ventilation during distribution.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

A shipping unit or outer container holding loose produce or multiple inner packs, commonly used as the basic unit for ordering, receiving, inventory, and distribution.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

The specified quantity and arrangement of produce or inner packs within a shipping case, commonly expressed by count, unit size, weight, or pack format.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

The ability to identify, record, and trace individual produce cases or case groups through supply-chain events using standardized identifiers such as GTINs, batch/lot numbers, and case labels.

Sources: Produce Traceability Initiative [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

A tomato deformity, usually at the blossom end, involving deep folds, cavities, scars, or irregular shape from abnormal flower development. USDA inspection treats significant catfacing as a defect.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A pack style in which individual produce items are separated in molded cells or compartments to reduce movement, contact, and bruising during handling and transportation.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

USDA AMS electronic system used to file and manage Section 8e SC-6 exemption certificates and related compliance activity, replacing the former Marketing Order Online System for these filings.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

A loading method that positions palletized produce away from trailer sidewalls, leaving perimeter air space to improve circulation and reduce heat transfer, chilling, or freezing injury.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

A crop production, wild-crop harvesting, livestock production, or handling operation, or portion of one, certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent as meeting applicable organic regulations.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

Description indicating that an operation or agricultural product has been certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent as compliant with applicable USDA organic regulations; it is not a separate labeling-percentage category.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

Required retail-label statement naming the certification body that certified the finished product’s handler or distributor, placed on the information panel below that handler’s identification for applicable USDA organic labeling categories.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

A private or governmental entity accredited by USDA to certify that production or handling operations comply with the Organic Foods Production Act and USDA organic regulations.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

Current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements in 21 CFR Part 117 that establish baseline food-safety conditions for personnel, facilities, sanitation, equipment, production controls, and warehousing at covered human-food facilities.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

Physiological damage that develops when chilling-sensitive produce is held below its safe temperature range but above its freezing point, causing symptoms such as pitting, browning, poor ripening, or increased decay.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A rigid, usually clear plastic consumer package with joined or fitted top and bottom sections, commonly vented and used to protect berries and other delicate produce.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

An FDA recall classification used when there is a reasonable probability that use of, or exposure to, a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.

See also: Class II Recall, Class III RecallSources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Recall

An FDA recall classification used when a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences, or when the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Recall

An FDA recall classification used when use of, or exposure to, a violative product is not likely to cause adverse health consequences.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Recall

An apple condition indicating fruit is practically free from excessive dirt, spray residue, or other foreign material that would detract from appearance or market quality under USDA grading.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A ripening pattern in certain fruits characterized by a rise in respiration and increased ethylene production, allowing substantial ripening to continue after harvest when fruit is physiologically mature.

Sources: NC State Extension, UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Ripening

The uninterrupted sequence of cooling, refrigerated storage, transportation, receiving, and distribution steps used to keep fresh produce within appropriate temperature conditions from harvest through the market.

Sources: NC State Extension [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A refrigerated warehouse room maintained at a controlled temperature for storing fresh produce, helping preserve quality and cold-chain integrity until the product is picked, shipped, or further handled.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Warehouse

Refrigerated storage of fresh produce at commodity-appropriate temperature and humidity conditions to slow respiration, water loss, ripening, senescence, and decay while preserving marketable quality.

Source: NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

APHIS-approved nonchemical phytosanitary treatment using controlled low temperatures for a prescribed time to mitigate specified pests in imported commodities, as authorized by the applicable treatment schedule.

Source: USDA APHIS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• APHIS
• Import Requirements

A standardized numerical or categorical measure of external produce color used to describe maturity or ripeness, often based on the percentage or intensity of characteristic skin-color development.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Ripening

Section 8e exemption for covered commodities destined for qualifying processing that substantially changes their natural form or stability, such as canning, freezing, juicing, dehydration, or pickling, when commodity-specific rules allow it.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

A single shipment of one or more perishable agricultural commodities delivered under one contract. Under PACA guidance, the commercial unit must be accepted or rejected in its entirety.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

Physical contact between unpackaged organic and nonorganic agricultural products during production, processing, transportation, storage, or handling, excluding intentional combination as ingredients in a multiingredient product.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Commingling
• Organic

A person in the business of receiving perishable agricultural commodities in interstate or foreign commerce for sale on commission, or for or on behalf of another person.

Source: U.S. Code (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

On-hand produce already reserved or allocated to specific customer orders, production needs, or other demand, so it is not freely available for new sales or allocations.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

The suitability of different produce items for shared storage or transportation based on compatible temperature, relative humidity, ethylene, odor, and other postharvest requirements.

Source: Penn State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A romaine head or heart with leaves held closely together and sufficient density, rather than open or loose growth; compactness is used descriptively in USDA lettuce inspection.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

Section 8e requirement that covered imports meet the same or comparable grade, size, quality, and maturity standards applied to corresponding domestic commodities regulated under federal marketing orders.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

Physical injury caused when produce is subjected to excessive static load or pressure during stacking, packing, or transport, leading to bruising, deformation, tissue breakdown, or increased decay.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Postharvest
• Quality

Liquid water formed when moist air contacts a surface below its dew point. On produce or packaging, condensation can weaken cartons and increase conditions favorable to decay or contamination.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A defect involving produce soundness or preservation that can worsen over time, such as decay, shriveling, softness, flabbiness, or stages of ripeness affecting marketability.

See also: Quality DefectSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

The inspector’s description of how tightly and completely produce fills its container, including whether the pack is overfilled, well filled, fairly well filled, or slack.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection
• Packaging

An official inspection limited to condition factors that may change during marketing, such as decay, wilting, shriveling, or transit bruising, without determining compliance with quality requirements.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

An agency arrangement, not a sale, in which ownership remains with the consignor while the consignee sells the produce and remits proceeds less authorized expenses and commission.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• Consignment
• PACA

A retail-size package intended to reach the final consumer, such as a bag, clamshell, cup, or tray, often shipped inside a larger master container.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

The destination the parties intended for contract performance and, in F.O.B. transactions, for evaluating suitable shipping condition. It is not necessarily the destination stated in the freight contract.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A storage or transport environment in which oxygen, carbon dioxide, and sometimes other gases are actively regulated around produce to slow respiration, ripening, and quality deterioration.

Source: NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

Federal labeling requirements administered by USDA AMS that require covered retailers to inform consumers of the country of origin of specified foods, including fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• COOL
• Country of Origin

Active temperature reduction of an FTL raw agricultural commodity before initial packing, such as hydrocooling, icing, forced-air cooling, or vacuum cooling; this is a Critical Tracking Event under the rule.

Sources: eCFR [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

A rigid protective strip placed vertically on pallet corners to stabilize stacked produce cartons, distribute strapping pressure, reduce edge damage, and improve pallet integrity during handling and transportation.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

An action that identifies and fixes a food-production problem without the broader steps of a corrective-action procedure, such as preventing recurrence, evaluating all affected food, and preventing unsafe food from entering commerce.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A documented response to a preventive-control problem that corrects the issue, reduces the likelihood of recurrence, evaluates affected food for safety, and prevents affected food from entering commerce when necessary.

Sources: eCFR [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A shipping carton made from corrugated fiberboard with fluted material between liner sheets, widely used in produce for protection, stacking strength, printability, and ventilation.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

A packing method in which a specified number of sized and graded individual produce items are placed in a carton, creating a standardized count-based pack.

Source: NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

A produce sizing method based on the number of individual pieces packed in a standard container; within the same commodity and pack, lower counts generally indicate larger pieces.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

For COOL, the country or qualifying U.S. state, region, or locality designation used to tell retail consumers the geographic source of covered fresh or frozen produce.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Country of Origin
• COOL

A food category subject to USDA COOL requirements. In fresh produce, covered commodities include fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables sold by retailers subject to the rule.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Country of Origin
• COOL

An onion defect in which one or more fleshy scales are cracked. USDA standards score cracked fleshy scales as damage when evaluating applicable fresh-onion grades.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A rigid shipping container, traditionally wood or wirebound and also made of plastic, designed for strength and ventilation when handling and transporting fresh produce.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

A seller-issued accounting document recording an approved credit or adjustment, including the buyer, affected lot or sale, amount, date, and reason for the produce transaction adjustment.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Receiving
• Claims

A facility designed to receive inbound product and transfer it rapidly to outbound shipments with little or no storage, reducing dwell time for short-shelf-life produce.

Source: OSHA (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Warehouse

A distribution process in which inbound produce is received, sorted or consolidated, and transferred directly to outbound shipping with minimal or no placement into warehouse storage.

Source: OSHA (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Warehouse

A carton-stacking method that alternates package orientation between layers. For fresh produce, vent placement must remain aligned enough to preserve required horizontal or vertical airflow through the load.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

An unwanted secondary crown or slip growth associated with the pineapple top. USDA pineapple grades restrict crown slips because they detract from top conformation and appearance.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

An event in a food supply chain for which traceability records are required, including harvesting, cooling before initial packing, initial packing, first land-based receiving, shipping, receiving, and transformation.

See also: KDE, TLCSources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• CTE
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

Harvested produce removed and discarded or diverted at the packing facility because defects, damage, decay, contamination, or poor quality make it unsuitable for the intended commercial pack.

Source: NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Packaging

A postharvest treatment that holds certain roots, tubers, bulbs, or other produce under controlled warm and humid conditions to promote wound healing, reduce water loss, and improve storage performance.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest

CBP entry identifier used by AMS to segregate Section 8e import lots, associate inspections with the correct filing, and communicate compliance status for release through ACE.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

The elapsed time between harvesting produce and beginning effective cooling. Shorter cut-to-cool times generally improve temperature management and help preserve freshness, shelf life, and postharvest quality.

Source: University of Minnesota Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• COOL
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A recurring count of selected inventory items or warehouse locations rather than the entire facility, used to audit on-hand accuracy and resolve discrepancies while operations continue.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

In USDA grade standards, any defect or combination of defects that materially detracts from the appearance, edible quality or shipping quality of the product. Each commodity standard sets its own thresholds.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

An electronic device that automatically records conditions over time, commonly temperature and sometimes humidity or other events, providing a time-stamped history of a produce shipment or storage period.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

Under PACA, a person engaged in buying or selling perishable agricultural commodities in wholesale or jobbing quantities in interstate or foreign commerce, subject to statutory exclusions and thresholds.

Source: U.S. Code (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

Breakdown of produce tissue caused by bacteria or fungi. USDA grade standards generally require produce to be free from decay, apart from the small allowance set in each standard’s tolerances.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

The percentage of units in a lot allowed to fail the grade requirements while the lot still meets the declared USDA grade. Each commodity standard sets its own tolerances.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A strawberry whose shape and development are abnormal, often from frost, poor pollination, insects, or other causes. Severe deformation is treated as serious damage under USDA standards.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

Postharvest loss of water from produce tissues severe enough to reduce turgor and quality, commonly appearing as shriveling, wilting, stem drying, weight loss, or loss of crispness.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Postharvest
• Quality

A sales term under which freight is included in the invoice price and the seller generally bears transit risk not caused by the buyer until delivery at the contract destination.

See also: F.O.B.Read: FOB vs. Delivered Produce Sales: Who Bears the Risk When a Load Arrives With Problems? Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A USDA Market News shipping-point price basis for delivered sales in which freight charges incurred after the sale are excluded, allowing the reported price to reflect a shipping-point basis.

Source: USDA Market News (links open in a new tab)

• Sales & Customer Management
• Sales
• USDA Market News

A scheduled date and time window when a produce shipment is expected at a receiver or distribution center, used to coordinate dock capacity, unloading, inspections, and time-sensitive delivery.

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

An official inspection performed after a shipment reaches destination, commonly used to document arrival quality, condition, temperature, pack, or contract compliance and support produce claims or disputes.

See also: Shipping Point InspectionSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

The holding of a carrier's trailer, with or without tractor and driver, beyond the allotted free time at a shipper or receiver, typically creating an additional time-based freight charge.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

APHIS-approved chemical phytosanitary treatment in which a commodity is immersed in a specified solution under prescribed concentration, temperature, and exposure conditions to mitigate designated plant pests.

Source: USDA APHIS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• APHIS
• Import Requirements

Conditioned air leaving a refrigeration unit and entering the refrigerated cargo space. Also called supply air, it is typically colder or warmer than return air depending on system operation.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A formal USDA complaint alleging PACA violations after an investigation substantiates violations, initiating administrative disciplinary proceedings that may result in sanctions such as license suspension or revocation.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

Abnormal color that differs from the commodity’s normal appearance, potentially caused by injury, physiological disorders, disease, aging, temperature stress, or other postharvest factors.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Quality
• Condition

Any act or failure to act that could divert PACA trust assets or prejudice or impair an unpaid produce supplier’s, seller’s, or agent’s ability to recover amounts owed.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A change in the destination or routing of a produce shipment while it is in transit. Under PACA, diversion can constitute an act of acceptance by the receiver.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

An official inspection performed at a dock or marine terminal where produce is accessible, certifying requested quality, condition, pack, temperature, or other inspection factors.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

Onions that have developed more than one distinct bulb joined only at the base. USDA U.S. No. 1 onions must be free from doubles.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A fungal-like lettuce disease producing pale or yellow leaf areas with downy growth, usually on lower surfaces. USDA lettuce grades score downy mildew when it causes grade-level injury or damage.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

Grape berries that are completely dried and hard. USDA standards score dried berries when their presence materially or seriously affects the appearance or quality of the bunch.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A depressed or scarred area on an apple associated with drought stress. USDA grading scores drought spots based on healing, depth, and aggregate affected area.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

The portion of produce remaining after water is removed, expressed as a percentage of fresh weight. In commodities such as avocado, dry matter is used as a maturity indicator.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Ripening

A dry, depressed area on an onion bulb. USDA standards score the defect when its aggregate area exceeds grade-specific limits adjusted for bulb size and scale coverage.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

The disposal of produce that is no longer saleable or usable, recording the quantity as removed from inventory because of spoilage, damage, quality failure, or other disposition reasons.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

A water-filled tank at the beginning of a packing line into which produce bins are unloaded; the water cushions product, assists cleaning, and feeds produce into subsequent handling equipment.

Source: NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest

USDA AMS certificate documenting quantities of a failed Section 8e shipment that were destroyed or dumped under inspector oversight, allowing those units to be reconciled against the original shipment.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

Temporary material placed around, beneath, or between cargo to fill spaces, separate freight, absorb shock, or help secure produce loads without obstructing required refrigerated airflow.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

Nine-digit business identifier issued through the Dun & Bradstreet system that FDA recognizes as an acceptable Unique Facility Identifier for identifying FSVP importers at food entry.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

FDA enforcement action allowing future shipments of specified products, firms, or countries to be detained without physical examination when information indicates they may violate U.S. requirements.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

A Shiga toxin-producing strain of Escherichia coli that can cause severe, often bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome; contaminated leafy greens, sprouts, and other produce have been linked to outbreaks.

Sources: FDA [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A measure of the maximum compressive force the edge of corrugated fiberboard can withstand before crushing, used to evaluate a produce carton’s stacking and compression performance.

Source: NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

The ANSI X12 electronic transaction set used to send an Advance Ship Notice or manifest before delivery, communicating shipment hierarchy and traceability data such as pallets, cases, GTINs, and lots.

Sources: Produce Traceability Initiative [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

A rejection communicated to the seller within the applicable reasonable time before acceptance. It preserves rejection procedurally, but may still be wrongful if no contract breach is proven.

See also: Wrongful Rejection, AcceptanceRead: When Can a Buyer Reject a Produce Shipment—and When Is It Too Late? Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• Rejections
• PACA

A machine-sortable spreadsheet FDA may require during an outbreak, recall, or other public-health threat, containing requested traceability KDEs and information needed to understand them; FDA’s template is optional.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

A PACA limitation on employing or affiliating with certain individuals connected to sanctioned firms or unpaid reparation awards, unless USDA approval and, when required, a surety bond are obtained.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A package intentionally designed so interactions among the produce, packaging material, and internal atmosphere help maintain beneficial gas conditions and extend postharvest quality.

Source: NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

Collection and testing of environmental samples for a pathogen or indicator organism to verify preventive controls; it is required when an environmental pathogen is a hazard requiring control in exposed ready-to-eat food.

Sources: eCFR [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A pathogen capable of surviving and persisting in a manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding environment so that food may become contaminated and cause illness without a subsequent control step.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A naturally occurring plant hormone and gas that regulates ripening, senescence, and other physiological processes. Some produce generates significant ethylene, while sensitive commodities can deteriorate when exposed.

See also: Ethylene Producer, Ethylene-Sensitive CommoditySources: UC Davis Postharvest Center, Penn State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Ethylene
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A fruit or vegetable that releases enough ethylene after harvest to accelerate ripening or deterioration of nearby ethylene-sensitive commodities during storage or transportation.

Source: Penn State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Ethylene
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

Fresh produce that can develop undesirable changes such as yellowing, spotting, softening, bitterness, or accelerated senescence when exposed to ethylene during storage or transportation.

Source: Penn State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Ethylene
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

Methods prohibited in organic production and handling that genetically modify organisms or influence growth and development by means not possible under natural conditions or traditional breeding, as defined by USDA regulations.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

A destination or use authorized by a commodity’s Section 8e regulations—such as processing, animal feed, charity, certified seed, or government use—that may qualify a shipment for inspection exemption.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

Ethylene supplied from an external source rather than produced by the commodity itself, commonly applied in controlled ripening to initiate or synchronize ripening of climacteric produce.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Ethylene
• Postharvest
• Ripening

Payment terms different from PACA’s standard prompt-payment periods, agreed in writing before the transaction. To preserve PACA Trust eligibility, payment terms cannot exceed 30 days from acceptance.

See also: Prompt Payment, PACA TrustSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A defect visible on the produce surface, such as bruising, cuts, scars, discoloration, decay, misshapen areas, or other damage affecting grade, appearance, or marketability.

Sources: USDA AMS, UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Quality
• Condition

Traceability across trading-partner boundaries, linking what a produce business receives from suppliers with what it ships to customers through shared identifiers and transaction records.

Source: Produce Traceability Initiative (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

A produce sales term where the seller places goods free on board the carrier at shipping point in suitable shipping condition, while the buyer generally assumes transit risk.

See also: Delivered, SSC, Good DeliveryRead: FOB vs. Delivered Produce Sales: Who Bears the Risk When a Load Arrives With Problems? Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• FOB
• PACA

An F.O.B. term under which the buyer accepts at shipping point and cannot reject, but retains recourse for unsuitable shipping condition or a material contract breach if the shipment is accepted.

See also: F.O.B. Acceptance Final, Material BreachSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• FOB
• PACA

An F.O.B. acceptance term where suitable shipping condition does not apply and the buyer’s recourse against the seller is limited to a material breach of contract.

See also: F.O.B. Acceptance, Material BreachSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• FOB
• PACA

USDA PACA guidelines used to evaluate maximum defect allowances for fresh produce sold F.O.B. and determine whether it likely met suitable shipping condition; they are guidance, not law.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• FOB
• PACA

A sales basis where produce is placed free on board the carrier at shipping point in suitable shipping condition and the buyer assumes qualifying transit risk and post-sale freight exposure.

Read: FOB vs. Delivered Produce Sales: Who Bears the Risk When a Load Arrives With Problems? Source: USDA Market News (links open in a new tab)

• Sales & Customer Management
• FOB
• Sales
• USDA Market News

A USDA potato cleanliness condition indicating tubers are reasonably free from adhering dirt, staining, or other foreign matter, within the limits allowed for the applicable grade.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A lettuce head with enough internal leaf density and firmness to be considered acceptably developed, while allowing more looseness than a fully compact head.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A USDA onion condition indicating the bulb is sufficiently solid and resistant to pressure for market quality, without softness or sponginess that would indicate deterioration.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A strawberry firmness condition allowing some yielding while retaining enough body for normal handling and marketing, without reaching the softness associated with serious quality deterioration.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

An apple color classification indicating the fruit meets the USDA minimum amount of characteristic color specified for its variety, generally below the threshold required for well colored.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A celery stalk showing reasonably normal growth and development for its variety, with sufficient size, branch development, and overall formation to meet the USDA U.S. No. 1 requirement.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A condition of pack between well filled and slack, with enough product to limit damaging movement under normal handling but without full or firm cover contact.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection
• Packaging

An apple shape condition allowing minor irregularities while requiring the fruit to retain a reasonably characteristic varietal shape without deformation that materially detracts from appearance.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

Kiwifruit having the characteristic varietal shape, with slight bumps or roughness permitted provided they do not materially detract from the fruit’s appearance under USDA grading.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A sweet pepper shape condition allowing moderate irregularity while retaining the characteristic form of the variety and avoiding deformity that materially detracts from appearance.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A trimming condition in which excess or damaged outer leaves and butt material have been removed sufficiently for acceptable market appearance, while allowing minor remaining trimming imperfections.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

FDA review of an import entry’s electronic data and supporting information to decide whether a shipment may proceed, requires additional documentation, should be examined or sampled, or may face detention.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

Official inspection performed by a state or other authorized agency under a cooperative agreement with USDA, using federal standards, procedures, and certification requirements.

Sources: eCFR, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

The official working record used by a Federal-State inspector to document lot identity, samples, defects, counts, temperatures, calculations, and observations supporting the inspection certificate.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

An inventory-rotation method that selects product with the earliest expiration, best-by, or practical shelf-life deadline first, helping reduce spoilage and obsolescence in perishable produce operations.

See also: FIFOSource: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• FEFO
• Inventory
• Warehouse

USDA’s electronic system for preparing, managing, and providing access to fresh fruit and vegetable inspection certificates issued through Specialty Crops Inspection services.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

Physical FDA inspection of an imported shipment, which may evaluate product condition, quantity, labeling, temperature, pests, damage, or other factors relevant to determining admissibility.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

The heat contained in produce at harvest because of field and ambient conditions. Prompt postharvest cooling removes field heat and slows respiration, water loss, deterioration, and decay.

Source: University of Minnesota Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

An identifier for the agricultural field or production location associated with harvested produce, used to connect product and traceability records back to the growing location.

Source: GS1 (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

An inventory-rotation method that issues the oldest received or produced stock first. In produce warehouses, FIFO is commonly used to reduce aging and unnecessary deterioration.

See also: FEFOSource: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• FIFO
• Inventory
• Warehouse

A strawberry condition in which the berry has sufficient firmness and does not yield excessively to pressure. Firmness is a basic requirement of USDA U.S. No. 1 strawberries.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

USDA consumer tomato maturity category in which three-fourths or more of the surface is covered with red color characteristic of reasonably well-ripened tomatoes.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Ripening
• Quality

A measurement or practical assessment of resistance to deformation or penetration used to evaluate produce texture, maturity, ripeness, handling tolerance, or quality during receiving and postharvest management.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Ripening

The seller or handler whose initial open-market sale at shipping point is captured in USDA Market News price reporting. Shipping-point reports describe reported prices as sales by first handlers.

Source: USDA Market News (links open in a new tab)

• Sales & Customer Management
• Sales
• USDA Market News

A shallow, low-profile produce container commonly used for berries, tomatoes, grapes, or other delicate items, often holding one layer or multiple small consumer packs.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

FDA registration requirement for most domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold food for U.S. consumption, subject to statutory exemptions and periodic renewal requirements.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

A written Part 117 plan containing the hazard analysis, preventive controls, supply-chain program, recall plan, monitoring procedures, corrective-action procedures, and verification procedures, prepared or overseen by a PCQI.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

FDA’s list of foods subject to additional Food Traceability Rule records, including specifically listed foods and foods containing listed ingredients when the listed ingredient remains in the same listed form.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

FDA’s FSMA Section 204 rule requiring additional traceability records for foods on the Food Traceability List, organized around Critical Tracking Events, Key Data Elements, traceability lots, and traceability plans.

Read: FSMA 204 for Produce Wholesalers: What Records Do You Actually Need? Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

A surface that contacts human food, or from which drainage or other transfer to food or another food-contact surface ordinarily occurs, including equipment and tools used during harvesting, packing, and holding.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A precooling method that uses fans and a pressure differential to pull or push refrigerated air through vented packages, removing field heat much faster than ordinary room cooling.

Source: NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

Under FSVP, the establishment that manufactures or processes the food, raises the animal, or grows the food exported to the United States without further significant manufacturing or processing by another establishment.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

A formal PACA reparation filing used when informal settlement efforts fail. It begins USDA’s formal dispute process and can result in a decision and payment order.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

Tissue damage caused by exposure to freezing temperatures, often leaving water-soaked, softened, discolored or collapsed tissue. USDA grade standards generally require produce to be free from freezing injury.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

The temperature at which ice begins forming in produce tissues. Because dissolved solids depress freezing temperature, fresh fruits and vegetables generally freeze below 32°F, with commodity-specific values.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A person or business that, for compensation, arranges transportation of property by an authorized motor carrier without itself serving as the carrier physically moving the produce.

Sources: FMCSA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

The 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, which shifted FDA food-safety regulation toward prevention and established major authorities covering preventive controls, produce safety, imported food oversight, and enhanced food traceability.

Sources: FDA [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

Section 204 of FSMA, which directs FDA to identify foods needing additional traceability records and establish enhanced recordkeeping and product-tracing requirements to support faster outbreak investigations and recalls.

See also: Food Traceability Rule, Food Traceability List (FTL)Read: FSMA 204 for Produce Wholesalers: What Records Do You Actually Need? Sources: FDA [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

FSMA program requiring covered U.S. importers to verify, using risk-based activities, that foreign suppliers produce food meeting applicable U.S. safety standards and provide the same level of public-health protection.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• FSVP
• Import Requirements

The U.S. owner or consignee of a food at entry; if none exists, the U.S. agent or representative of the foreign owner or consignee who has consented in writing.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• FSVP
• Import Requirements

A freight mode in which a trailer is dedicated to one customer's shipment rather than consolidated with other shippers' freight, commonly used for large or time-sensitive produce loads.

See also: LTL

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

APHIS-approved phytosanitary treatment that exposes a commodity to a regulated fumigant at specified concentration, temperature, and duration to mitigate designated pests associated with imported agricultural products.

Source: USDA APHIS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• APHIS
• Import Requirements

Good Agricultural Practices are food-safety practices used during growing and harvesting to reduce the risk that fresh produce becomes contaminated by microbial hazards from water, soil amendments, workers, animals, or other sources.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety
• Certifications

A voluntary USDA audit that evaluates a produce operation against GAP criteria and documented practices intended to reduce microbial contamination risks during production and related handling activities.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety
• Certifications

USDA’s voluntary audit program for the fruit and vegetable industry that verifies an operation’s efforts to minimize microbial contamination risks by following recognized Good Agricultural and Good Handling Practices.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety
• Certifications

A unique numeric prefix licensed by a GS1 Member Organization that a company uses as the basis for creating GS1 identification keys such as GTINs, GLNs, and SSCCs.

Sources: GS1 [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

Good Handling Practices are food-safety practices applied during postharvest handling, packing, storage, and distribution to reduce microbial contamination risks and maintain sanitary conditions for fresh produce.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety
• Certifications

A voluntary USDA audit evaluating postharvest handling operations against Good Handling Practices criteria designed to reduce microbial contamination risks in packing, storage, and distribution of fresh produce.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety
• Certifications

A GS1 identification key used to uniquely identify parties and physical or functional locations, such as farms, packing sheds, warehouses, receiving points, or ship-to locations.

Source: GS1 (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

In an F.O.B. produce sale, arrival at the contract destination without abnormal deterioration. Produce shipped in suitable shipping condition should make good delivery under normal transportation conditions.

See also: SSC, F.O.B. Good Arrival GuidelinesSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• Good Delivery
• PACA

The code for a product 'brick' in GS1 Global Product Classification, grouping trade items with similar characteristics so trading partners can classify commodities consistently in master data.

Source: GS1 (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

A produce contract specifying a U.S. grade. Both quality defects and condition defects are considered when determining whether the shipment breaches the agreed grade requirements.

See also: No Grade ContractSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

USDA tomato color stage in which the entire surface remains green; the shade may range from light to dark while showing no qualifying color break.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Ripening
• Quality

A person operating at shipping point who sells or distributes produce in commerce for growers or others and may also provide planting, harvesting, grading, packing, container, or related services.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A split in the skin caused by rapid or uneven growth, such as the radial or concentric cracks around a tomato’s stem end. USDA grading scores growth cracks according to their severity.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A linear GS1 barcode symbology used on logistics and produce case labels to encode multiple standardized data elements, identified by Application Identifiers, such as GTIN, batch/lot, and dates.

Source: GS1 (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

A GS1 identification key that uniquely identifies a trade item. In fresh produce, case GTINs are commonly paired with batch/lot information for standardized case-level identification and traceability.

See also: GS1-128, PTI Harmonized Traceability Case LabelSources: Produce Traceability Initiative, GS1 (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

A pineapple defect involving gummy or resin-like exudation and associated tissue injury. USDA grades limit gummosis according to whether it causes injury, damage, or serious damage.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

Marks, depressions or scars left by hail on fruits or vegetables. USDA grading considers whether the skin is broken, how well the injury has healed, its depth and the area affected.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A dry-volume quantity equal to one-half bushel, or 1,075.21 cubic inches; produce packed in half-bushel containers can have different net weights depending on commodity.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NIST (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

An AMS inspection service covering approximately half of a lot rather than the whole lot, with sampling scope and fees applied under USDA inspection procedures.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

USDA consumer tomato maturity category in which three-fourths or more of the surface is covered with pink or red color, while the tomato is not overripe or soft.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Ripening
• Quality

USDA’s specialty-crop audit program based on the Combined Harmonized Food Safety Standard, aligning produce-industry harmonized requirements with FDA Produce Safety Rule expectations and recognized food-safety best practices.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety
• Certifications

USDA’s enhanced Harmonized GAP audit standard that incorporates Harmonized GAP requirements and is recognized as technically equivalent to Global Food Safety Initiative benchmarking requirements for government food-safety programs.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety
• Certifications

The calendar date on which produce was harvested. It may be captured as traceability information and, in certain PTI labeling scenarios, used alongside batch/lot identification.

Sources: Produce Traceability Initiative [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

The Critical Tracking Event covering harvest of an FTL raw agricultural commodity on a farm, with required records such as commodity, quantity, farm and growing-area identification, recipient, and harvest information.

Sources: eCFR [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• CTE
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

Any biological, chemical, including radiological, or physical agent that has the potential to cause illness or injury through food when consumers are exposed.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A written evaluation that identifies known or reasonably foreseeable hazards for each food, assesses their severity and probability without controls, and determines whether any hazard requires a preventive control.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

FSVP assessment of known or reasonably foreseeable biological, chemical, and physical hazards in a food, considering factors such as severity, probability, formulation, processes, sanitation, transportation, and intended use.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

The open air space above or around a produce load that permits conditioned air to travel across the cargo and return to the refrigeration unit without being blocked.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

Physiological damage caused by excessive product temperature or prolonged heat exposure after harvest, potentially resulting in abnormal ripening, discoloration, tissue breakdown, increased water loss, or reduced market life.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A physiological disorder caused when produce is exposed to carbon dioxide concentrations above its tolerance, potentially causing internal browning, discoloration, off-flavors, cavities, or other commodity-specific damage.

Sources: UC Davis Postharvest Center [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A controlled practice in which identified product or lots are prevented from use or distribution until specified testing, review, or disposition criteria are satisfied and an authorized decision releases them.

Sources: FDA [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Recall

AMS entry status communicated through ACE indicating a Section 8e shipment must remain intact and not be released into commerce while required inspection or compliance action is pending.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

Produce inventory intentionally blocked from normal sale, allocation, picking, or shipment pending inspection, quality review, food-safety evaluation, documentation, or another release decision.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

Nonchemical APHIS phytosanitary treatment that immerses a commodity in hot water at prescribed temperatures and exposure times to control specified pests while meeting the authorized treatment schedule.

Source: USDA APHIS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• APHIS
• Import Requirements

The characters printed with a barcode that show the encoded GS1 data in a form people can read, supporting manual verification or data entry when scanning is unavailable.

Source: GS1 (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

The suitability of commodities for shared storage or transport based on similar relative-humidity requirements, so one commodity is not exposed to conditions that promote dehydration, condensation, or decay.

Source: Penn State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

Rapid removal of field heat by immersing, flooding, or spraying produce with chilled water. It is effective for commodities and packaging that tolerate wetting and requires sanitary water management.

Source: NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

FDA communication identifying products, firms, countries, or conditions associated with apparent violations and providing field instructions, including when shipments may be subject to Detention Without Physical Examination.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

APHIS authorization specifying whether a regulated plant or plant product may enter the United States and the conditions required for import, such as treatment, safeguarding, packaging, or routing.

Source: USDA APHIS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• APHIS
• Import Requirements

For Section 8e, the party responsible for clearing imported goods through customs and ensuring required AMS inspection; it may be the shipper, receiver, broker, or another authorized party.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

USDA AMS form filed electronically through CEMS to document a Section 8e shipment claimed for an authorized exempt use and provide assurance that it will reach the specified exempt outlet.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

The initial PACA reparation complaint used to seek USDA assistance with a produce dispute before formal proceedings, allowing investigation, communication, and potential informal settlement or mediation.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

The first packing of an FTL raw agricultural commodity other than food from a fishing vessel. A traceability lot code is assigned at this event and required KDEs are linked to the lot.

Sources: eCFR [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• CTE
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

The official process of documenting inspection findings and issuing a certificate describing the lot’s grade, quality, condition, pack, temperature, or other factors requested by the applicant.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

A defect located within the flesh or internal tissues and not fully visible externally, often requiring cutting to detect, such as internal browning, breakdown, cavities, or discoloration.

Sources: USDA AMS, UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Quality
• Condition

Traceability within a single company or facility, linking incoming produce, internal transformations or movements, inventory lots, and outgoing product so lot identity and history remain connected.

Source: Produce Traceability Initiative (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

Commerce between a U.S. state, territory, or the District of Columbia and a place outside it, including qualifying produce transactions within the customary interstate or foreign stream of commerce.

Source: U.S. Code (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A system transaction that changes recorded inventory quantity or status to match verified conditions, such as count differences, damage, shrink, found product, or other documented corrections.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

The tracking of how long produce inventory has been held since receipt, harvest, packing, or another reference date, used to identify aging risk and prioritize movement or disposition.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

The assignment or reservation of available produce inventory to specific customer orders, shipments, production requirements, or demand, reducing the quantity available for competing uses.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

The controlled sequencing of produce stock so older or more time-sensitive inventory is used or shipped before newer product, typically using FIFO, FEFO, or commodity-specific rules.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

APHIS-approved nonchemical phytosanitary treatment that exposes commodities to a prescribed dose of ionizing radiation to prevent designated pests from developing, reproducing, or establishing in the United States.

Source: USDA APHIS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• APHIS
• Import Requirements

A produce transaction in commerce where two or more persons participate in a limited joint venture and agree how to share the transaction’s costs, profits, or losses.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A physiological apple skin disorder producing small dark spots, especially on susceptible varieties such as Jonathan. USDA standards treat it as a grade defect when sufficiently severe.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A commodity-specific large-size designation used in USDA standards and produce trade; numeric thresholds are not universal and must be interpreted under the applicable commodity standard or specification.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

Information associated with a Critical Tracking Event that must be maintained, and sometimes provided, under the Food Traceability Rule, such as lot code, product description, quantity, locations, and dates.

See also: CTE, TLCSources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• KDE
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

A biological, chemical, including radiological, or physical hazard that is known to be, or has the potential to be, associated with a facility or the food it handles.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A commodity-specific size class. For beets for processing, USDA defines Large as over 3 inches in diameter; other produce standards may use different thresholds.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

A potato tuber disease caused by Phytophthora infestans that can produce brown to reddish internal rot. USDA fresh-potato grades require tubers to be free from late blight.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A horizontal tier of produce packages on a pallet, or a horizontal tier of individual produce items arranged within a container or tray pack.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

USDA tomato color stage in which more than 60 percent of the surface shows pinkish-red or red color, but no more than 90 percent is red.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Ripening
• Quality

A scar or rubbed area caused by an apple contacting a tree limb. USDA grading scores limb rub according to color, texture, and total affected surface area.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A sheet, bag, film, or inner facing placed inside a produce container to protect product, reduce moisture loss, separate surfaces, or help control the package atmosphere.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

A disease-causing bacterium responsible for listeriosis that can persist and grow under refrigeration, making environmental control especially important in ready-to-eat and fresh-cut produce operations.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A horizontal cargo-restraint bar installed across a trailer or container to brace palletized or hand-stacked produce and prevent backward, forward, or lateral shifting during transit.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

A marked maximum cargo-height line inside refrigerated equipment. Produce must remain below it so the air-delivery chute and required overhead return-air path are not blocked.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

A removable adjustable cargo-control bar or similar device used inside a trailer to hold produce pallets or cartons in position and reduce load shifting during transportation.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

The planned arrangement and orientation of produce cartons, pallets, and air spaces inside transport equipment, selected to balance cargo stability, trailer capacity, and effective refrigerated airflow.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

Under FDA's rule, a person who loads food onto a motor or rail vehicle during transportation operations and has specified responsibilities for sanitary condition and refrigerated-compartment preparation.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight
• Food Safety

Required identifying and contact information for a location where food is handled, including business name, phone number, physical address or coordinates, and applicable city, state, ZIP code, or foreign equivalent.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

A specific quantity of produce presented for inspection as one identifiable unit, sufficiently segregated so sampling results and certification can be attributed to that product.

Sources: eCFR, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

The process of establishing the exact identity of produce being inspected through container type, quantity, marks, codes, packing information, location, and other traceability details.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

The physical or system-based segregation of identified product lots to stop distribution or use and prevent mixing with unaffected inventory while investigation, recall, return, destruction, or other disposition is completed.

Sources: FDA [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Recall

An alphanumeric identifier assigned to a defined quantity of produce or cases for traceability. It distinguishes that lot from other product with the same trade-item identification.

Sources: Produce Traceability Initiative [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

The deliberate sequencing of traceable produce lots for picking or shipment based on age, shelf life, quality, or customer requirements while preserving each lot's identity.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

The ability to follow a specific produce lot through receipts, storage, internal movements, transformations, and shipments using linked lot identifiers and transaction records.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

Physiological damage caused when oxygen concentration around produce falls below its tolerance, leading to fermentative metabolism, off-odors or off-flavors, internal browning, and other quality defects.

Sources: UC Davis Postharvest Center [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A freight mode for shipments that use only part of a trailer, typically consolidated with freight from other shippers rather than dedicating the entire trailer to one shipment.

See also: Full Truckload (FTL)Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• LTL
• Freight

A relatively shallow, sturdy produce box or crate, historically wooden and now also fiberboard or plastic, used for commodities such as grapes, tomatoes, and other fresh produce.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

A third-party dock worker or unloading crew hired at a warehouse or distribution center to load, unload, sort, restack, or otherwise handle freight, including fresh produce.

Source: U.S. Code (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

The charge for third-party loading or unloading labor at a warehouse or distribution center, commonly incurred when produce freight is handled by the facility's contracted lumper service.

Source: U.S. Code (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

USDA labeling category for products with at least 70% certified organic ingredients, excluding water and salt; labels may identify specified organic ingredients or food groups but may not display the USDA Organic seal.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

Packaging that creates or maintains a modified gas composition around fresh produce, usually lower oxygen and/or elevated carbon dioxide, to slow respiration and extend quality life when properly designed.

Sources: USDA Food and Nutrition, UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

An official USDA or Federal-State inspection conducted at a wholesale market or destination location, documenting requested grade, quality, condition, pack, temperature, or related factors.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

A USDA AMS report providing timely, unbiased market information for produce, such as prices, volume, quality, condition, movement, or other marketing conditions collected from industry participants.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Sales & Customer Management
• Sales
• USDA Market News

A firm’s removal or correction of a distributed product involving a minor violation that would not trigger FDA legal action, or involving no violation, rather than a formal recall.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Recall

An outer shipping container that holds multiple consumer packages or smaller inner units and is handled as one case during storage, transportation, receiving, and distribution.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

A significant failure to meet a contract term. In PACA F.O.B. acceptance usage, USDA commonly associates material breach with non-quality or condition terms such as size, variety, or label.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

An apple that has reached the stage of development necessary to complete normal ripening after harvest and is suitable for evaluation under USDA grade requirements.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A tomato that has reached physiological maturity sufficient to complete normal ripening but still shows green external color; seed cavities have developed jelly-like material and mature seeds.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

USDA classification of red-variety tomatoes by visible ripeness development, using defined surface-color criteria such as Turning, Pink, Hard Ripe, and Firm Ripe for consumer grades.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Ripening
• Quality

A measurable characteristic or combination of characteristics used to determine whether produce has reached an appropriate harvest stage, such as internal development, color, soluble solids, dry matter, or firmness.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Ripening

The upper size limit declared for a lot, measured as the commodity’s USDA standard specifies. Units larger than the limit count against the standard’s off-size tolerance.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

AMS status communicated through ACE after Section 8e requirements are satisfied, allowing CBP to proceed with release of the covered shipment into U.S. channels of commerce.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

Physical injury to produce caused by impacts, cuts, punctures, crushing, vibration, abrasion, or handling. Such damage reduces visual quality and often increases water loss and decay susceptibility.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Postharvest
• Quality

A voluntary PACA dispute-resolution process in which a neutral USDA mediator helps parties communicate and seek settlement while leaving the decision whether to settle with the parties.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A commodity-specific size class. For beets for processing, USDA defines Medium as over 2 through 3 inches in diameter; thresholds differ for other commodities.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

The lower size limit declared for a lot, measured as the commodity’s USDA standard specifies. Units smaller than the limit count against the standard’s off-size tolerance.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

Food that violates Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act labeling requirements, including false or misleading labeling, misleading presentation, or failure to provide required identity, quantity, or other mandatory label information.

Source: U.S. Code (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

Misrepresenting produce through words, acts, marks, stencils, labels, statements, or records concerning characteristics such as kind, grade, quality, quantity, size, pack, weight, condition, maturity, or origin.

Source: U.S. Code (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

Using an incorrect or misleading label, mark, or container description for produce, such as one that misstates grade, size, weight, pack, condition, maturity, or geographic origin.

Source: U.S. Code (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

USDA designation for a lot of mature red-fleshed tomatoes that does not meet the requirements of any single defined color stage from Green through Red.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Ripening
• Quality

A refrigerated shipment containing two or more produce commodities. Successful mixed loads require compatibility in temperature, humidity, ethylene sensitivity or production, odors, and other handling requirements.

Source: Penn State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A simulated recall exercise used to test traceability, communication, product accounting, and recall procedures without an actual hazard, helping identify weaknesses and corrective actions before a real incident.

Sources: USDA Food and Nutrition [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Mock Recall
• Recall

A postharvest environment in which the gas composition surrounding produce differs from normal air, intentionally or through product respiration, to influence respiration, ripening, and storage life.

Sources: USDA Food and Nutrition, UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A planned sequence of observations or measurements used to assess whether control measures are operating as intended; Part 117 requires monitoring at an adequate frequency and documentation of preventive-control performance.

Sources: eCFR [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A business or person that operates commercial motor vehicles to transport property in commerce. In produce logistics, this commonly means the trucking company physically hauling the shipment.

Source: FMCSA (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

Warehouse storage divided into separate controlled-temperature zones so different produce commodities can be held under conditions appropriate to their individual temperature and cold-chain requirements.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Warehouse

Regulatory list in USDA organic standards identifying synthetic substances allowed and natural substances prohibited in organic production, plus substances permitted or restricted in organic processing and handling.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

A produce contract that does not specify a U.S. grade. Under PACA guidance, only condition defects, rather than fixed quality defects, are used to determine breach.

See also: Grade Specified ContractSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

Any container used for shipping or storing certified organic agricultural products that is not used for retail display or sale; required markings must support product identification and audit-trail linkage.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service program that develops and enforces national standards for organically produced agricultural products, accredits certifying agents, and oversees the integrity of the USDA Organic label.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

Electronic certificate required for organic agricultural products imported into the United States, issued by an accredited certifier before export and used to document organic status and strengthen import traceability.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic
• Import Requirements

A lettuce head that has not split open or expanded beyond normal head structure. USDA Fancy, No. 1, and No. 2 grades require heads to be not burst.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

The USDA U.S. No. 2 tomato shape requirement meaning the fruit is not decidedly ridged or grooved, allowing some surface roughness without exceeding the slightly rough classification.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A written notice to a produce buyer stating the seller’s intent to preserve PACA Trust benefits and providing required transaction, party, payment-term, and unpaid-balance information within the applicable deadline.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A commodity that emits odor-active volatile compounds strongly enough to affect nearby products, making odor compatibility an important consideration when planning mixed storage or transportation.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Odor Compatibility
• Postharvest

Volatile compounds released by produce or packaging materials that have detectable odors and may be absorbed by nearby commodities, creating undesirable flavor or aroma changes during shared storage or transport.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Odor Compatibility
• Postharvest

A commodity that readily absorbs or is adversely affected by odors from nearby products or materials, making separation important during mixed storage and transportation.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Odor Compatibility
• Postharvest

An abnormal or objectionable smell that develops in produce because of fermentation, low-oxygen metabolism, decay, temperature abuse, or other postharvest changes and may indicate reduced quality.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Postharvest
• Quality

A produce sale in which the price remains unsettled while other sales warranties apply. If the parties never agree on price, the buyer owes a reasonable price.

See also: Reasonable Price, PASSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

Under FDA's Sanitary Transportation Rule, a temperature sufficient to ensure foreseeable variations during transport do not prevent the transportation operation from meeting applicable food-safety temperature-control requirements.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight
• Food Safety

The commodity-specific temperature or range that best preserves fresh-produce quality and market life while avoiding chilling injury, freezing injury, excessive respiration, or other temperature-related deterioration.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

USDA labeling category for products containing at least 95% certified organic ingredients, excluding water and salt; qualifying products may display the USDA Organic seal and must meet applicable labeling requirements.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

Official certification document issued by a USDA-accredited certifying agent after determining an operation complies with organic regulations, identifying the certified operation and its approved certification scope.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

USDA-regulated process in which an accredited certifying agent reviews an operation’s Organic System Plan, inspects the operation, evaluates compliance, and issues certification when requirements are met.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

A point, step, or procedure in an organic operation where loss of organic integrity may occur through commingling or contact with prohibited substances and therefore requires controls.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

A person engaged in handling agricultural products, including selling, processing, packaging, brokering, trading, or importing, who performs activities subject to USDA organic certification and handling requirements.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

An operation that receives or acquires agricultural products and performs handling activities such as processing, packaging, selling, trading, brokering, or importing them under applicable USDA organic requirements.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

Labeling practice that identifies certified organic ingredients in an ingredient statement by using the word “organic,” an asterisk, or another reference mark defined on the label, as USDA rules require.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

The quality of an organic product achieved through verified adherence to USDA organic standards from production through handling, processing, and sale, including protection against commingling and prohibited-substance contamination.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

A five-digit PLU used for organically grown produce by prefixing 9 to the corresponding four-digit conventional PLU, allowing retail systems to distinguish organic from conventional items.

Source: IFPS (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Organic
• Produce Codes

Handling activities that alter, prepare, preserve, package, or otherwise process organic agricultural products while maintaining compliance with USDA organic requirements, including controls for ingredients, substances, commingling, and contamination.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

A freight and receiving term for overages, shortages, and damaged product identified against shipping documents at delivery, typically recorded promptly to support discrepancy reports and claims.

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Receiving
• Claims

Written plan agreed to by a certified operation and its certifying agent describing organic practices, materials, monitoring, recordkeeping, and safeguards used to maintain compliance with USDA organic regulations.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

A condition of pack in which the container is so tightly filled that pressure from the contents or cover causes crushing, bruising, breakage, or deformation.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection
• Packaging

An apple advanced beyond normal commercial ripeness, typically becoming excessively soft, mealy, or otherwise past useful market condition; USDA grades requiring mature fruit exclude overripe apples.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

An individual or small business that owns or controls trucking equipment and operates it to transport freight, either under its own motor-carrier authority or leased to another authorized carrier.

Sources: FMCSA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

The federal law governing fair trading in interstate and foreign commerce involving fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, including licensing, contract practices, dispute resolution, enforcement, and statutory trust protections.

See also: PACA License, PACA TrustSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A USDA-issued license required for many produce businesses covered by PACA. It subjects licensees to federal fair-trading, prompt-payment, contract, trust, and enforcement requirements.

Read: Who Needs a PACA License? Wholesalers, Brokers, Distributors and Retailers Explained Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

The process of renewing an existing PACA license through USDA so a covered produce business can continue operating with a valid license and remain subject to PACA requirements.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A firm holding a valid PACA license that has not been revoked or suspended. Licensees are subject to PACA fair-trading, payment, recordkeeping, trust, and related requirements.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

Administrative consequences imposed under PACA for violations or unpaid reparation awards, including license suspension or revocation and restrictions on certain responsibly connected individuals or unlicensed businesses.

Sources: U.S. Code, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A statutory trust requiring buyers to hold unpaid produce, derived products, receivables, and proceeds for eligible unpaid suppliers until full payment, giving valid trust claims priority over general creditors.

See also: Trust Assets, Trust Beneficiary, PACA Trust Preservation DeadlineRead: PACA Trust: Payment Terms, Invoice Language, and Deadlines Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA Trust

Notice used to preserve PACA Trust rights, either through prescribed invoice language available to licensees or through a separate written notice containing the information required by PACA.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA Trust

The deadline for a written PACA Trust notice: generally within 30 days after payment was due, or within 30 days after notice that a timely payment instrument was dishonored.

Read: PACA Trust: Payment Terms, Invoice Language, and Deadlines Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA Trust

The standardized description of how produce is arranged or divided within a shipping unit, typically stating the number, size, weight, count, or format of inner packs.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging
• USDA Grades

The calendar date on which produce was packed. In PTI labeling it can be encoded with GS1 date Application Identifiers and used to distinguish or supplement batch/lot information.

Sources: Produce Traceability Initiative [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

Application of crushed ice or an ice slurry to individual produce packages to remove heat and maintain low temperature during handling or transport for commodities that tolerate direct icing.

Source: NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

Openings designed into produce packages to permit cooling air movement, heat removal, and gas exchange. Vent size, location, and alignment strongly affect cooling rate and temperature uniformity.

Sources: NC State Extension [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A standardized code describing the form of packaging used for a trade item, such as a case, carton, bag, or other package type in product master data.

Source: GS1 (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

A portable platform used to unitize and mechanically handle multiple produce packages as one load, improving warehouse movement, cargo stability, and airflow when appropriately designed and loaded.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

The arrangement and securing of produce cases on a pallet in stable layers for mechanical handling, storage, and transport while maintaining load strength and appropriate airflow.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

A produce sales term meaning the parties will agree on the price after the buyer completes resale of the product at destination; PACA itself does not formally define the term.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A microorganism of public-health significance capable of causing disease. In food safety, pathogens include disease-causing bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and microscopic parasites that may contaminate produce or food-contact environments.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A fixed payment by a supplier to a retailer to keep an existing product on the shelf, distinguished from an upfront slotting fee for introducing a new item.

Source: USDA ERS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• Trade Terms

A qualified individual who completed FDA-recognized preventive-controls training, or is otherwise qualified through job experience, to develop and apply a risk-based food safety system under 21 CFR Part 117.

Sources: eCFR [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

Loss of the onion’s thin papery outer skin. USDA standards consider peeling damage when more than one-half of that protective skin is missing, exposing the fleshy scale.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

The tendency of fresh produce to lose quality, marketability, or safety over time because of biological activity and environmental conditions, making temperature, handling, and inventory age operationally critical.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

A comprehensive physical count of inventory on hand, usually covering all or a defined major portion of a facility, used to reconcile actual quantities with system records.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

A noninfectious postharvest condition caused by physiological stress or metabolic imbalance, such as chilling, excessive carbon dioxide, low oxygen, senescence, or mineral-related problems, that reduces produce quality.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

Official document issued by the exporting country’s national plant protection organization certifying that plants or plant products were inspected and meet the importing country’s phytosanitary requirements.

Source: USDA APHIS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• APHIS
• Import Requirements

APHIS-required or approved chemical or nonchemical treatment applied to imported plant commodities to mitigate plant pest risks and satisfy the phytosanitary conditions specified for entry into the United States.

Source: USDA APHIS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• APHIS
• Import Requirements

USDA tomato color stage in which more than 30 percent but no more than 60 percent of the surface, in aggregate, shows pink or red color.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Ripening
• Quality

A celery branch with open, spongy internal texture and distinct air spaces, sometimes soft enough to collapse when squeezed. USDA standards score pithiness by extent and branches affected.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

USDA inspection identification marks applied to product, containers, pallets, or conveyances to positively connect the inspected lot with the corresponding official inspection certificate.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

A four- or five-digit Price Look-Up number used primarily at retail to identify loose fresh produce by attributes such as commodity, variety, size, and growing method.

See also: Organic PLU, GTINSource: IFPS (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes

A signed or otherwise documented record confirming delivery of a produce shipment, commonly used to show receipt and note shortages, damage, refusals, or other exceptions relevant to claims.

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Receiving
• Claims

U.S. location where an imported shipment is presented for entry and government agencies, including CBP and FDA as applicable, conduct or coordinate admissibility review and inspection.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

The operations applied after harvest—including cooling, cleaning, sorting, packing, storage, transportation, and ripening management—to preserve produce quality, reduce losses, and prepare products for market.

Sources: Utah State University Extension, University of Minnesota Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

APHIS program responsible for safeguarding U.S. agriculture and natural resources against the entry, establishment, and spread of economically and environmentally significant plant pests while facilitating safe agricultural trade.

Source: USDA APHIS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• APHIS
• Import Requirements

USDA organic requirement describing the methods and conditions by which a production or handling operation implements a required component of its Organic System Plan.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

Removal of field heat from freshly harvested produce before storage or shipment, using methods such as forced air, water, vacuum, room cooling, or ice to slow deterioration.

Sources: NC State Extension, UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

Foundational environmental and operating conditions that support safe food production, such as CGMPs, sanitation, pest control, supplier programs, and training, before or alongside hazard-specific food-safety controls.

Sources: FDA [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

Compression injury caused by sustained pressure from surrounding produce or stacking, producing depressed, softened, discolored areas and sometimes tissue collapse, especially during storage of potatoes.

Sources: UC Davis Postharvest Center, Nebraska Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Quality
• Condition

A risk-based, reasonably appropriate procedure, practice, or process used to significantly minimize or prevent identified food-safety hazards, consistent with current scientific understanding and the facility’s food-safety system.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

Advance notification submitted to FDA before imported food arrives in the United States, providing shipment and product information so FDA can target inspections and respond to food-related threats.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

FDA acknowledgment issued after facially complete Prior Notice information is submitted, including a confirmation number; it confirms receipt only and does not constitute FDA approval or admissibility.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Import Requirements

A preventive control that manages operational parameters, such as refrigeration, heat processing, or acidification, with appropriate control parameters and limits to significantly minimize or prevent a food-safety hazard.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

The standardized identification of produce items throughout the supply chain so trading partners can distinguish products accurately for ordering, receiving, inventory, traceability, and point-of-sale processes.

Source: IFPS (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes

A verification activity that tests food for a pathogen, indicator organism, or other hazard, when appropriate, to help determine whether preventive controls are consistently implemented and effectively controlling identified hazards.

Sources: eCFR [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

A substance whose use in any aspect of organic production or handling is prohibited or not provided for under USDA organic regulations and the applicable National List.

Sources: USDA AMS, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Organic

PACA’s requirement to make full payment within specified regulatory timeframes. For a typical produce purchase, payment is generally due within 10 days after acceptance unless valid different terms apply.

See also: Extended Payment TermsSource: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A voluntary produce-industry initiative promoting standardized, electronic case-level traceability using GS1 standards so produce can be identified and traced more rapidly and consistently across supply-chain partners.

Source: Produce Traceability Initiative (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

A standardized produce case label developed by PTI using GS1 data elements, typically displaying and encoding case identification information such as GTIN, batch/lot, dates, and Voice Pick Code.

Sources: Produce Traceability Initiative [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes
• Traceability

A tomato condition with poorly filled locules or internal open spaces, often giving the fruit a light, angular, or puffy appearance. USDA inspection scores significant puffiness as a defect.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

The internal temperature of fresh produce flesh measured in representative samples and reported for a lot, especially at transit or destination, to document the product’s thermal condition.

Read: A Produce Load Arrived Warm: What Should the Receiver Document? Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection
• Claims

A produce purchase made after the buyer or its agent inspects, or has an opportunity to inspect, the goods. The buyer cannot reject and waives implied quality and condition warranties.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

The warehouse process of moving received produce from the receiving or staging area into its assigned storage location while recording the product, lot, quantity, and location.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

An official inspection evaluating both quality factors, which are relatively permanent, and condition factors, which may change during marketing, with grade determination when applicable.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

A documented evaluation of received or stored produce for attributes such as condition, defects, temperature, maturity, pack, or specification compliance before release, rework, claim, or shipment.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Warehouse

A produce defect that does not materially change over time, such as scarring, shape, or dirt. Quality defects are distinguished from progressive condition defects.

See also: Condition DefectSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

Inventory physically or systemically segregated from normal use because of a suspected quality, safety, regulatory, or traceability issue until an authorized disposition or release decision is made.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

A pest of potential economic importance to an endangered area that is absent there, or present but not widely distributed and officially controlled, and may trigger U.S. phytosanitary action.

Sources: eCFR, USDA APHIS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• APHIS
• Import Requirements

A food in its raw or natural state, including fresh fruits and vegetables before processing; certain limited treatments, such as washing produce, do not necessarily remove its raw agricultural commodity status.

Sources: U.S. Code, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

A stage of normal grape curing in which berries become distinctly shriveled or wrinkled like raisins but still contain enough juice to release a drop under ordinary pressure.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

USDA AMS certificate documenting the results and quantity of reconditioned units that meet Section 8e requirements after a failed shipment is corrected and presented for another inspection.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

Formal reassessment of the food safety plan at least every three years and when significant changes, new hazard information, unanticipated food-safety problems, or evidence of ineffective controls make reassessment necessary.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

The open space maintained between the end of a refrigerated produce load and the trailer's rear doors, allowing return air to circulate instead of being blocked by cargo.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

The price owed when parties to an open produce sale fail to agree on a final price, determined from evidence such as a proper resale accounting or relevant USDA Market News data.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A firm’s removal or correction of a marketed product that FDA considers violative and against which the agency could initiate legal action; a recall excludes market withdrawals and stock recoveries.

See also: Market Withdrawal, Stock Recovery, Mock RecallSources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Recall

FDA’s numerical designation of Class I, II, or III assigned to a recall to indicate the relative degree of health hazard presented by the recalled product.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Recall

An FDA monitoring status used when the recalling firm has retrieved and impounded all outstanding product reasonably expected to be recovered, or has completed all required product corrections.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Recall

A written plan required when a hazard needs a preventive control, assigning procedures for consignee notification, public notification when appropriate, effectiveness checks, and proper disposition of recalled food.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Recall
• Food Safety

The planned, specific course of action for conducting a recall, addressing recall depth, the need for public warnings, and the extent of effectiveness checks.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Recall

An FDA monitoring status indicating the agency has determined that reasonable efforts to remove or correct the violative product were completed according to the recall strategy and proper disposition was made.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Recall

The firm that initiates a recall or, for an FDA-requested recall, the firm with primary responsibility for manufacturing and marketing the product being recalled.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Recall

Under FDA's rule, any person who receives food at a point in the United States after transportation, whether or not that location is the final point of receipt.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight
• Food Safety

A Critical Tracking Event in which food is received by someone other than a consumer after transport from another location, including qualifying intracompany transfers between different street addresses.

Sources: eCFR [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• CTE
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

A person operating on a receiving market who receives produce in commerce for sale on commission, for or on behalf of another person.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

An official inspection conducted where the buyer or receiver takes delivery, used to document the shipment’s arrival condition, quality, temperature, pack, and other requested factors.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

An operational record summarizing produce received against purchase orders, receiving tickets, and bills of lading, used to confirm quantities and identify discrepancies at receipt.

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Receiving
• Claims

Corrective handling of a Section 8e shipment that failed inspection so conforming product can be presented for re-inspection, with any removed culls documented and disposed of as required.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

USDA tomato color stage for mature red-fleshed varieties in which more than 90 percent of the surface, in aggregate, shows red color.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Ripening
• Quality

A waterberry-like condition generally found in black grape varieties, with soft, watery, low-sugar berries that also show red or brownish-red coloration instead of normal mature color.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A second or subsequent delivery attempt after the original delivery cannot be completed, often requiring additional transportation, appointment, handling, or accessorial charges before the produce reaches the receiver.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

Industry shorthand for refrigerated transportation equipment, especially a temperature-controlled truck trailer, used to move fresh produce while maintaining specified carrying temperatures and airflow conditions.

See also: Reefer Container, Pulp TemperatureSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Reefer
• Freight

An insulated intermodal container with an integrated refrigeration system, controller, and air-circulation system designed to maintain temperature during ocean, rail, or truck movement of perishables.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Reefer
• Freight

An additional freight charge associated with fuel used to operate refrigeration equipment on a refrigerated shipment, separate from or supplemental to the carrier’s standard linehaul or fuel charges.

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Reefer
• Freight
• Cold Chain

A paper or electronic business document, record, or message that may contain some or all KDEs for a Critical Tracking Event, such as a bill of lading, invoice, purchase order, or database record.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

The identification number assigned to a specific reference document used to support traceability records, allowing the recorded Critical Tracking Event information to be linked back to that document.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

The category of business record used as a reference document, such as a bill of lading, purchase order, advance shipping notice, invoice, database record, batch log, field tag, or receipt.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

The movement of temperature-sensitive produce in equipment capable of maintaining controlled conditions during transit, typically using insulated trailers or containers with mechanical refrigeration and managed airflow.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

The mechanical system on refrigerated transport equipment that cools or heats circulating air to maintain the shipper-specified carrying conditions within the trailer or container.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight

The sorting and reassessment of produce to separate or reclassify product by quality, condition, size, grade, or customer specification, often removing unacceptable units before resale or repacking.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Warehouse

A subsequent official inspection of a previously inspected lot, requested to document or reassess the product after an earlier inspection and issued as a separate inspection record.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

Under the Food Traceability Rule, changing labels on an FTL food can constitute transformation when the output remains an FTL food, triggering applicable transformation records and traceability-lot requirements.

Sources: eCFR [2] (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Relabeling
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

Repacking an FTL food is a transformation event. A new TLC is usually assigned, although like-into-like repacking within the same traceability lot may retain the TLC while changing the TLC source.

Sources: FDA, eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Repacking
• FSMA 204
• Traceability

The transfer or restacking of produce cases from one pallet to another to correct pallet condition, configuration, stability, labeling, customer requirements, or handling needs.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Warehouse

A PACA claim seeking monetary damages for a produce transaction dispute. It begins informally and may proceed to a formal complaint and USDA decision if unresolved.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

A USDA decision and order in a PACA reparation proceeding requiring a party that failed contractual obligations in a covered produce transaction to pay awarded damages.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

The warehouse movement of inventory from reserve storage to picking or forward locations when stock is insufficient or reaches a defined threshold for upcoming order demand.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

The metabolic process by which harvested produce consumes oxygen and stored substrates, releasing carbon dioxide, water, and heat. Faster respiration generally shortens postharvest life.

Source: Utah State University Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

The speed of produce respiration, commonly expressed as carbon dioxide produced per unit weight and time. It rises with temperature and is a key indicator of perishability and cooling demand.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A PACA status covering specified owners, partners, members, managers, officers, directors, or significant equity holders connected with a regulated firm, subject to statutory exceptions and possible licensing or employment consequences.

Source: eCFR (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

An inspection limited to the portion of a loaded truck, railcar, or shipment accessible to the inspector without unloading; samples therefore do not represent the entire load as fully.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

A PLU number from the IFPS-designated retailer-assigned range that a retailer may use for items not covered by a globally harmonized IFPS PLU assignment.

Source: IFPS (links open in a new tab)

• FSMA & Traceability
• Produce Codes

Air drawn from the refrigerated cargo space back into the refrigeration unit after circulating around the load and absorbing heat. Its temperature is commonly monitored for system control.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

The designed route that warmed air follows from the produce load back to the refrigeration unit. Adequate clearance and unobstructed pathways are essential for effective refrigerated-air circulation.

Source: UF/IFAS Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

The percentage of water vapor in air relative to the maximum it can hold at the same temperature. Proper RH helps limit produce water loss without creating excessive condensation.

Sources: UC Davis Postharvest Center, Penn State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A potato defect commonly appearing as dark, soil-like sclerotia or black scurf on the tuber surface, caused by Rhizoctonia solani. USDA grades limit it according to severity.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A lettuce condition producing creamy-yellow, brown, reddish, or black discoloration in the midrib or lateral ribs. USDA inspection scores it according to affected length and leaves.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A bacterial potato disease affecting the vascular ring, producing discoloration and breakdown of internal tissue. USDA fresh-potato grades require tubers to be free from ring rot.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

The postharvest physiological process through which mature fruit develops characteristic color, texture, aroma, flavor, and other eating-quality attributes, often involving ethylene and changes in respiration.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

A temperature-controlled room designed to ripen climacteric produce under managed temperature, humidity, airflow, ethylene, and carbon dioxide conditions to achieve more uniform and predictable ripening.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Ripening

A controlled warehouse service that manages temperature, ethylene exposure, airflow, humidity, and time to bring climacteric produce to a specified stage of ripeness before distribution.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Warehouse

A defined point in the progression from mature-green to fully ripe produce, commonly assessed using characteristics such as external color, firmness, aroma, or other commodity-specific ripeness indicators.

Source: UC Davis Postharvest Center (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Ripening

Cooling produce by placing it in a refrigerated room where cold air removes heat mainly through natural convection and conduction; it is generally slower than forced-air cooling.

Source: NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Postharvest
• Cold Chain

Coarse, rough, or bark-like corky skin tissue on an apple. USDA standards apply stricter area limits to rough russeting than to smooth forms because of its appearance.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A durable returnable plastic produce container designed for repeated distribution cycles, typically stackable and vented and cleaned and sanitized between uses.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, NC State Extension (links open in a new tab)

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Packaging

A lettuce condition characterized by small reddish-brown or brown spots, commonly on midribs or leaves and capable of progressing during storage. USDA treats it as a condition defect.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

Brownish, corky skin tissue on an apple. USDA grading distinguishes smooth net-like, smooth solid, slightly rough, and rough russeting and applies grade-specific limits by type and area.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A group of bacteria that causes salmonellosis, typically involving diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps; U.S. outbreaks have been associated with fruits, leafy greens, sprouts, and other fresh vegetables.

Sources: FDA [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

The recovery or alternative disposition of produce that cannot be sold as originally intended but still retains usable or recoverable value, such as rework, secondary-market sale, or processing.

• Inventory & Warehouse
• Inventory
• Warehouse

One or more sample units selected from a lot and examined by the inspector to obtain evidence representative of the lot for official inspection purposes.

Sources: eCFR, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

A container, its contents, part of a container, individual commodity unit, or composite portion treated as one unit when selecting and examining an inspection sample.

Sources: eCFR, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

The prescribed method for determining how many sample units to examine and how they are distributed and selected throughout a lot to obtain representative inspection results.

Sources: eCFR, USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

The FSMA rule establishing sanitary transportation requirements for shippers, loaders, carriers, and receivers to prevent food-safety risks during motor or rail transportation, including sanitation and temperature-control responsibilities where applicable.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight
• Food Safety

Procedures, practices, and processes that maintain sanitary conditions to control hazards such as environmental pathogens, employee-handling contamination, and allergen cross-contact, including cleanliness of food-contact surfaces and prevention of cross-contamination.

Sources: eCFR, FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Food Safety

Electronic Importer’s Exempt Commodity Form filed through CEMS that allows a qualifying Section 8e shipment to avoid the standard inspection requirement by documenting delivery to an approved exempt use or outlet.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

USDA form used by an applicant to request inspection, reinspection, or appeal inspection of fresh and other specialty crop products handled under USDA inspection services and PACA-related transactions.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Inspection

A pepper surface injury or discoloration associated with adverse environmental or handling conditions. USDA inspection scores scald when the affected tissue materially detracts from appearance or quality.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

Healed injury that leaves discolored, rough or corky tissue on the surface of produce. USDA grading considers the scar’s character, depth and affected area when determining damage.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

The condition showing that a trailer or container security seal remains properly attached, intact, and unbroken from sealing through receipt, supporting detection of unauthorized opening or load tampering.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Cold Chain & Transportation
• Freight
• Cold Chain

The unique identifier on a trailer or container security seal, recorded and verified at receipt to confirm the seal matches shipping documentation and help document load integrity.

Source: FDA (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• Receiving
• Claims

Provision of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act requiring specified fruit, vegetable, and specialty-crop imports to meet the same or comparable grade, size, quality, and maturity standards applied under domestic federal marketing orders.

See also: Section 8e Inspection, SC-6 CertificateSource: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

USDA AMS inspection of a covered imported lot for applicable grade, size, quality, and maturity requirements before entry into U.S. commercial channels, unless the shipment qualifies for an exemption.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

USDA AMS certificate documenting inspection results for a covered imported lot and whether it meets applicable Section 8e requirements, supporting compliance reconciliation and release through U.S. import systems.

Source: USDA AMS (links open in a new tab)

• Imports & Compliance
• Section 8e
• Import Requirements

Development of a tough flowering or seed stalk within celery. USDA grading scores seedstems when their size or woodiness exceeds the limits permitted for the grade.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

Premature elongation of the lettuce flowering stalk within the head. USDA grading treats seedstem development as a permanent defect when it materially affects quality or marketability.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A strawberry condition in which the tip is poorly developed and prominently seedy, typically from incomplete development or pollination; USDA inspection may score severe cases as deformation.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] (links open in a new tab)

• Receiving, Quality & Claims
• USDA Grades

A broker acting for the vendor in negotiating a produce sale. The broker must identify the principal, accurately confirm agreed terms, keep required records, and follow PACA broker duties.

Source: U.S. Code (links open in a new tab)

• PACA & Trade Practices
• PACA

In USDA grade standards, any defect or combination of defects that seriously detracts from the appearance, edible quality or shipping quality of the product, using severity thresholds set in each commodity standard.

Sources: USDA AMS [2] [3] (links open in a new tab)