We have all seen the yellow and discolored bud clusters that occur on broccoli. Unfortunately there are no real scoring guidelines, to determine how much is allowed before the discoloration is scored as a defect. The USDA has recently published (November 2008) a revised inspection instruction handbook for broccoli, but the instructions fail to address the […]
Take a look at the following peppers. Can you identify the defect from this picture? If you had said the pepper with the turning red color was the defect….I would have agreed with you. But, something changed. Sometime within the last few months “turning red color” (or full red color) on green hot peppers is no longer being […]
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 […]
Ingrown or Internal sprouts on potatoes are a defect when a potato begins to sprout, but the sprout grows into the flesh potato instead of growing outward. I have only seen this a few times over my career as an inspector, but I have never seen this severe enough to score as a defect. This defect is to be scored as an internal […]
Do you know the difference between what is scored as Yellowing and what is scored as Blanching? Yellowing (#1) is due to age, and is scored as a defect when the yellow color is plainly visible. In other words, whenever you see any amount of yellow color, the lime is scored against the (5%) tolerance for serious damage. Blanching […]
A question was submitted asking about the cause of internal browning or discoloration of peaches. From my experience, the internal discoloration that sometimes occurs in peaches is due to chilling damage. But what is unique with peaches, the chilling injury develops at warmer than expected temperatures. Peaches should be stored between 30 and 35 degrees, but […]
Effective September 30, 2008 most retailers will be mandated to adhere to the policies regarding the country of origin labeling for all fresh fruits and vegetables. Please refer to the following link Country of Origin Labeling Requirements regarding news, information and contacts for this requirement The main point of contact for questions or concerns you may have, concerning COOL is: Martin […]
Broccoli florets (and crowns) are covered under the U.S. Grade Standards for Broccoli. A blogger sent in these pictures and was interested in everyone’s comments. Would the discoloration affecting the cut stems be a defect? There is no definite mention of this in the grade standard, only the general definition of damage, “materially detracts from the appearance, or the […]
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.
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.