The one thing I have always loved about the fresh produce industry is the unexpected. During a recent training class, where I had opened the session up to questions of all kind, I was asked if new top growth was a defect for topped carrots.
Not wanting to guess I opened up the USDA Inspection Instructions to find the correct answer. I was expecting a far different answer than what I read. For practically all commodities the USDA gives specific, almost ridiculous scoring guidelines for defects. The U.S. Grade Standard may state you are allowed an area of 5/8 of an inch (not 1/2 inch, but 5/8), 3/16 of an inch (not 1/4 inch but 3/16) and my favorite of allowing 3% of the surface (not 5% of the surface but 3%). But the USDA inspection instructions for new top growth on topped carrots provided a bit of honesty, very refreshing. The handbook states, “An occasional specimen showing new top growth in excess of 1 inch would have very little effect on the appearance of the lot. On the other hand an appreciable amount of roots showing new top growth in excess of 1 inch would materially affect the appearance of the lot should be scored.”
To translate, if you have a carrot here and there with new top growth in excess of 1 inch, don’t worry about it. But if you have quite a few carrots with new top growth in excess of 1 inch then by all means this new growth is a defect. This is a strange way to give instructions on whether a carrot should be scored as a defect, or should be ignored. Lots of room open for interpretation.
Let’s see if I can help. The tolerances for defects for carrots is 10%. So if you have a few carrots here and there, you most likely will not exceed the tolerance of 10%, so it really makes no difference if you score the carrot as a defect or not. On the other hand if you have more than a few carrots here and there, with new top growth, you will more than likely exceed the 10% tolerance for defects. Make it easy on yourself, if you find a carrot with new top growth, in excess of 1 inch in length, set it aside and score it as a defect. The 10% tolerance will determine if the lot is materially affected, or not. If you have less than 10% defects, the lot is in grade; if you have more than 10% defects then the lot will fail to grade. Now isn’t that easier? ( Just be thankful the USDA set the scoring guideline to be in excess of 1 inch in length instead of 15/16 of an inch in length).
