Airport Fruit Seizures Exceed Expectations : Medfly: An average of 125 pounds of fruit a day is collected from passengers.

Federal agriculture inspectors stationed since last week at Burbank Airport have been confiscating an average of 125 pounds of fruit per day in the effort to prevent the Mediterranean fruit fly outbreak from spreading beyond Los Angeles.

“It’s more than I expected,” said Scott Sanner, one of six U.S. Department of Agriculture plant protection and quarantine officers assigned to the airport since Jan. 9. “I know the airlines are surprised.”

Uniformed officers are stationed at the airport’s two security checkpoints and monitor X-ray screens for fruit.

Fruit found in carry-on luggage is confiscated and stored in blue containers to be taken to the department’s El Monte office for inspection.

No fruit fly larvae have been discovered to date in the confiscated fruit, Sanner said, but much of it is still being inspected.

The effort is expected to continue until mid-summer, when the Medfly quarantine for the Burbank area is scheduled to end.

Burbank Airport was targeted because it is the only commercial airport in the quarantine area.

Other commercial airports might be affected if the quarantine boundaries are extended, said Don Wimmer, a regulatory supervisor for the department.

Sanner said about 90% of the fruit is confiscated at the checkpoints, and the remainder is taken at ticket counters where passengers are sometimes asked to declare the contents of boxes or odd-shaped containers.

Most fruit-carrying passengers have no more than one or two pieces, though inspector Jeff Smith said he removed 25 pounds of fruit from a single bag several days ago.

Information tables and posters at the checkpoints warn passengers that they are in a quarantine area.

So far, inspectors said, public reaction to the inspections has been positive, though a few passengers grumble when their on-flight snack is snatched from their bags.

“Is that disgusting or what?” asked Cathy Olson after an inspector removed an apple from her purse.

“I stayed at the Hyatt last night and I grabbed the apple from the dining room and put it in my purse. I forgot I had stolen it until they took it away from me today. I planned to eat it on the plane.”

Another passenger, Janice Greene of Yuba City, said she approved of the crackdown but wished she could have kept the tomatoes on her sandwich, which an inspector delicately removed after spotting the slices on the X-ray screen.

“I think it’s a good idea,” said Green, who was headed with her husband for a flight to Sacramento Friday after visiting her daughter in Los Angeles.

“The only trouble is that the tomatoes are slightly expensive. We went to Nate-N-Al’s in Beverly Hills and paid 35 cents per slice. I threw away five slices.”