From the many training classes I have held over the years, I always seem to get a few questions related to the proper storage of fresh produce. Because warehouses are unique, most having a 32o to 36oF (0o to 2oC) room, and most have a 55o to 65oF (13o to 18oC) room, or banana room, while only some […]
Category Archives: Transportation, Packaging and Storage
Storage- Best Practices
Berry Pints- Net Weight
The other day I received an interesting question concerning the net weight of a pint of strawberries. After consulting with the Department of Weights and Measures I was able to give an educated response. For those commodities designated by dry measurements, pints, bushels, etc. there is no net weight equivalent. For example, you may receive […]
Citrus- Freezing Injury
With the recent reports of freezing temperatures in Florida and in Texas you must be ready to keep your eyes open for citrus arriving with possible freezing injury. It is impossible to detect externally, meaning you must be ready to cut some citrus to find any problems. The first questions many people have are; “What does […]
Freezing Problems
Although you may run into problems with frozen loads any time of year, due to issues with the reefers, this time of year adds the element of nature to compound the transit problems with produce. There are specific products that are more susceptible to freezing than others, and there are a few places you want to concentrate […]
Net Weight
Have you ever received some product, found a few containers being short weight and wondered what to do next? The scenario I will go over here is when the container has a marked net weight. It doesn’t matter if it is listed in ounces or pounds, or in grams or kilograms, it still must meet the marked net […]
Modified Atmosphere Packaging
Recently we have started to see more and more use of modified atmosphere packaging for different fruits and vegetables. The breathable packaging is designed to create the optimal shelf life conditions. This is done by proprietary engineering of the package’s polymer so that the correct balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide is maintained while excess moisture […]
Oranges- Ethylene Gas
Has anyone had any experience with storing oranges along with products that produce ethylene gas? A reader has noticed that once they changed their storage of oranges, with other ethylene producing commodites, the oranges have showed an increase in decay. Is there a corrolation between the two? Your comments would be appreciated.
Bananas- Chilling
Does anyone have any good advice to offer, from experience, at what temperature bananas are subjected to chilling damage? I have found some information, that relates temperature to the length of time of exposure, for irreversible chilling damage: From your experience, do you agree with this chart? Thanks, and I am looking forward to hearing from you.