Bad Apples Keep on Coming : Quarantine: Burbank Airport, the only one within a restricted area, continues to confiscate about 100 pounds of fruit a day.

Federal agriculture officials said Tuesday they continue to confiscate about 100 pounds of fruit daily from passengers at Burbank Airport, despite publicity about the seizures that began when inspectors were stationed there three months ago to halt the spread of the Medfly.

Nearly 9,000 pounds of fruit have been seized since Jan. 9, when six inspectors established a checkpoint at the airport to prevent the Mediterranean fruit fly outbreak from spreading beyond Los Angeles, said Scott Sanner, a regulatory supervisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Most of the fruit is taken from passengers who are carrying no more than one or two pieces for an in-flight snack.

Burbank Airport was targeted because it is the only commercial airport within a Medfly quarantine area.

“Surprisingly, it’s still the same,” he said. “I thought the word would have gotten out and gradually it would have tapered off. It hasn’t. The public is just not aware.”

Uniformed officers stationed at the airport’s two security checkpoints monitor specially installed X-ray screens for fruit. Fruit found in carry-on luggage is confiscated and placed in blue buckets until it is taken to the department’s El Monte office for inspection. No fruit fly larvae have been discovered in the confiscated fruit to date, Sanner said. Confiscated fruit is taken to a landfill and buried after inspection.

Inspector James C. Rhodes said most people surrender their fruit without much trouble. “A lot of them just say, ‘Oh, I forgot,’ ” Rhodes said.

Art Zygielbaum of La Canada Flintridge gave up the three apples he had brought to snack on Tuesday during a business trip.

“Am I a bad guy?” Zygielbaum asked as he handed over his contraband.

“You’re not bad,” Inspector Wesley Drosselmeyer said. “It’s just not allowed out of the area.”

“I didn’t think it applied to store-bought fruit,” Zygielbaum said.

Sanner said the checkpoint is aimed at preventing home-grown fruit from leaving the quarantine area. He said inspectors will allow store-bought fruit to pass if it is sealed in its original package.

Kevin Brauer, on his way to Colorado Springs, Colo., was stopped when 10 oranges from his brother’s tree in Altadena showed up on the X-ray screen.

“I thought fruit was allowed to go out, but not allowed to come in,” Brauer said.

In fact, the opposite is true. Sanner said passengers flying into Burbank Airport do not need to worry that their fruit will be snatched upon arrival.

Sanner said inspectors are expected to stay at the airport until mid-summer, when the Medfly quarantine for Burbank is expected to end.