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Apple Grades and SizesWe've all heard of the tradition of leaving an apple for the teacher, but did you know that apples get graded? In this case, "grade" refers to a minimum standard of quality, usually dealing with fruit color and size – the bigger the fruit and the deeper its color, the better the grade it will receive.The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) first established apple grades in 1923. USDA currently has three grade standards for fresh-market apples: U.S. Extra Fancy, U.S. Fancy and U.S. No. 1. The Washington state apple industry has two additional grades, Washington Extra Fancy (a higher standard than U.S. Extra Fancy) and Washington Fancy (a higher standard than U.S. Fancy). Apples are packed into 40-pound cardboard shipping containers according to their grade, and their size. The largest apple size is 48, meaning that 48 apples of this size will fit into a 40-pound carton – the smallest apple size is 216, meaning that 216 apples of this size will fit in a carton. Here's a guide to apple sizes and their approximate diameters and weights (U.S. Customary System, and metric). Click on the three highlighted sizes to view an actual-size image of an Empire apple of that packing count. (Photos courtesy of the New York Apple Association.)
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