QUALITY CONTROL Checks are carried out on the following: -
Processing:
-
Raw material
-
Final Product
-
Peroxidase
-
Temperature
Packing:
-
Metal detection
-
Check weighing
-
Final product physical defect levels
-
Organolepsis
-
Case quantity
-
Case sealing
-
Case coding and print quality
DEFECT TOLERANCES Product shall be checked at least hourly against the following tolerances for defects: -
Per 1000g |
Target |
Maximum |
Clumps (no of dice) |
10 |
10t |
Foreign Material |
Nil |
Nil |
E.V.M. |
Nil |
1 |
Per 250g
Gross Blemish |
Nil |
Nil |
Major Blemish |
1 |
3 |
Greening |
5 |
10 |
Minor Blemishes |
5 |
10 |
Oversize |
3% w/w |
5% w/w |
Undersize |
5% w/w |
10% w/w |
DEFINITIONS OF DEFECTS
Clumps
These are where three or more carrots are frozen together which cannot be readily separated without causing damage to the carrot.
Foreign Material
This includes any material not derived from the carrot plant or defined as EVM, such as insects, pieces of insects, wood, glass, stones, metal, sand, grit, plastic or any other material which will render the product unacceptable.
Gross Blemish
A gross blemish is a black or brown, or decomposed area which covers an area greater than 25% of the surface area of the die.
Major Blemish
A major blemish is a discoloured area (other than green) either as a single blemish or as an aggregate of blemishes covering an area greater than 6mm diameter.
Greening
A die with greening is one which is green for greater than half its surface area.
Minor Blemish
A minor blemish is a discoloured area (other than green) either as a single blemish or an aggregate of blemishes covering an area of less than 6mm diameter. Single blemishes below 2mm shall be ignored.
Oversize
Dice which are larger than one and a half times the declared size in any one or more dimensions.
Undersize
For nominal 10x10x10mm dice, this measurement should be made on a separate 500g sub-sample taken from the 1000g sample used for the assessment of clumps, foreign matter and extraneous vegetable matter. Undersize pieces are those which fall through a sieve having square holes 8x8mm. The dice must be sieved in the frozen state.
ORGANOLEPSIS (Carried out on a cooked sample.)
COLOUR Bright, deep orange, uniform within the sample.
FLAVOUR Full characteristic sweet flavour, lacking bitterness.
TEXTURE Carrots shall be uniformly firm, but yielding to the bite, free from tough cores and any fibrous or woody material.
MICROBIOLOGICAL
Organism |
Target |
T V C @ 30°C |
1 x 104 |
Total Coliforms |
5 x 102 |
E. coli |
negative/g |
Moulds |
1 x 102/g |
Yeasts |
1 x 102/g |
Staph aureus |
<10/g |
Salmonella |
Absent in 25g |
CARTONS Corrugated fibreboard of glued construction, no metal staples to be used. Shall be sealed using dark blue adhesive tape.CARTON LINERS Dark blue food grade polythene liner
.