(a) General. The factor of character refers to the firmness, tenderness, and texture characteristics for the variety and type.

(b) Grade A. Canned ripe olives of whole, pitted, halved, segmented, sliced, and chopped styles that have a good character may be given a score of 27 to 30 points. "Good character" means that, for the type, the olives have a fleshy texture characteristic for the variety and size; that not less than 95 percent, by count, of whole, pitted and halved olives and by weight of other style olives are practically uniform in texture and are tender but not soft. The remaining 5 percent may be soft but not excessively soft.

(c) Grade B. If canned ripe olives of whole, pitted, halved, segmented, sliced and chopped styles have a reasonably good character, a score of 24 to 26 points may be given. Canned ripe olives that fall into this classification shall not be graded above U.S. Grade B regardless of the total score for the product (this is a limiting rule). "Reasonably good character" means that, for the type, the olives generally have a fleshy texture characteristic for the variety and size; that not less than 90 percent, by count, of whole, pitted and halved olives, and by weight of other style olives are practically uniform in texture and are tender but not soft. The 10 percent may be soft but not more than 2, or 5 percent, may be excessively soft.

(d) Grade C. If canned ripe olives of whole, pitted, halved, segmented, sliced, chopped and broken pitted styles have a fairly good character, a score of 21 to 23 points may be given. Canned ripe olives that fall into this classification shall not be graded above U.S. Grade C regardless of the total score for the product (this is a limiting rule). "Fairly good character" means that the olives generally have a fleshy texture characteristic for the variety and size; that not less than 80 percent, by count, of whole, pitted and halved olives and by weight of other style olives are practically uniform in texture and are tender but not soft. The remaining 20 percent may be soft but not more than 2, or 10 percent, may be excessively soft.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION AND GRADES

§ 52.3831 Product description.

"Canned fruits for salad" (or "canned salad fruits" or "canned fruit salad") for the purposes of this subpart is the product consisting of units of properly prepared apricots, yellow clingstone peaches, pears, pineapple, cherries, and/or grapes in the forms (or styles), and proportions as specified in table 1 of this subpart. The product is packed in a suitable liquid medium with or without the addition of nutritive sweetening ingredients, artificial sweetening ingredients, or other ingredients permissible under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and is processed by heat to assure preservation of the product in hermetically sealed containers.

acter, possess a normal flavor and odor; and that score not less than 85 points when scored in accordance with the scoring system outlined in this subpart.

(b) "U.S. Grade B" (or "U.S. Choice") is the quality of canned fruits for salad in which each fruit ingredient possesses similar varietal characteristics; in which the fruit ingredients possess a reasonably good color, may be irregular in count but are fairly uniform in size, are reasonably free from defects, possess a reasonably good character, possess a normal flavor and odor; and that score not less than 70 points when scored in accordance with the scoring system outlined in this subpart.

(c) "Substandard" is the quality of canned fruits for salad that fail to meet the requirements of U.S. Grade B.

Fruit and forms (or styles)

Proportion (percent) 1

Not less than

Not more than

Pears: Peeled quarters; or peeled slices

Pineapple: Wedge-shaped segments from slices

proper diameter containing eight meshes to the inch (2.3 mm (0.0937 inch), ±3 percent, square openings) so as to distribute the product evenly over the sieve. Without shifting the product, incline the sieve at an angle of 17 degrees to 20 degrees to facilitate drainage and allow to drain for two minutes. The weight of drained olives is the weight of the sieve and product less the weight of the dry sieve. A sieve 20 mm (8 inches) in diameter is used for containers with total contents of 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) and less, and a sieve 30 mm (12 inches) in diameter is used

for containers with total contents greater than 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs).

(c) Compliance with minimum drained weights. A lot of canned ripe olives is considered as meeting the minimum drained weights if the following criteria are met:

(1) The average of the drained weights from all the sample units in the sample is equal to or greater than the acceptance value for drained weights for the size (designated as "X," in Tables II and III); and

(2) There shall be no unreasonable shortage in any individual container.

Small Medium

Large

Extra large

Jumbo...

Colossal.

Super colossal

Small Medium

Large

Extra large

Jumbo..

Colossal

Super colossal

§ 52.3756 Grades of canned ripe olives.

(a) U.S. Grade A is the quality of canned ripe olives of whole, pitted, halved, segmented, sliced, and chopped styles that has a good flavor, that has a good color, that is practically free from defects, that has a good character; and that for those factors which are rated in accordance with the scoring system outlined in this subpart, the total score is not less than 90 points: Provided, That such canned ripe olives may have a reasonably good color if the total score is not less than 90 points; and further Provided, That in the styles of whole and pitted olives, the variation in diameters does not exceed 4 mm, and of the 90 percent, by count, of the most uniform in size, the diameter of the largest does not exceed the diameter of the smallest by more than 3 mm.

(b) U.S. Grade B is the quality of canned ripe olives of whole, pitted, halved, segmented, sliced, and chopped styles that has a good flavor, that has a reasonably good color, that is reasonably free from defects, that has a reasonably good character; and that for those factors which are rated in accordance with the scoring system outlined in this subpart, the total score is not less than 80 points: Provided, That for the styles of whole and pitted olives, the variation in diameters does not exceed 8 mm, and of the 80 percent, by count, of the most uniform in size, the diameter of the larg

est does not exceed the diameter of the smallest by more than 4 mm.

(c) U.S. Grade C is the quality of canned ripe olives of whole, pitted, halved, segmented, sliced, chopped, and broken pitted styles that has a reasonably good flavor, that has a fairly good color, that is fairly free from defects, that has a fairly good character; and that for those factors which are rated in accordance with the scoring system outlined in this subpart, the total score is not less than 70 points; Provided, That for the styles of whole and pitted olives, of the 60 percent, by count, of the most uniform in size, the diameter of the largest does not exceed the diameter of the smallest by more that 4 mm.

(d) "Substandard" is the quality of canned ripe olives of any style that fail to meet the applicable requirements for U.S. Grade C.

[42 FR 38585, July 29, 1977. Redesignated at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981 and amended at 48 FR 41013, Sept. 13, 1983]

§ 52.3757 Standard sample unit size.

Compliance with requirements for the various quality factors except "size designation" is based on the following standard sample unit size for the applicable style:

(a) Whole and pitted-50 olives. (b) Halved-100 units.

(c) All other styles-255 g (9 ounces).