Title 7

SECTION 51.1911

51.1911 Damaged.

§ 51.1911 Damaged.

Damaged means any defect which materially affects the appearance, or edible, shipping or keeping quality of the tomatoes. Any one of the following defects or any combination thereof, the seriousness of which exceeds the maximum allowed for any one defect, shall be considered as damage:

(a) Cuts which are not shallow, not well healed, or when more than 1/2 inch in length.

(b) Puffiness if the open space in one or more locules materially affects the appearance when the tomato is cut through the center at right angles to a line running from the stem to the blossom end.

(c) Catfaces. These are irregular, dark, leathery scars at the blossom end of the fruit. Such scars damage the tomato when they are rough or deep, or when channels extend into the locule, or when they are fairly smooth and greater in area than a circle 3/8 inch in diameter on a 2 1/2 inch tomato. Smaller tomatoes shall have lesser areas of fairly smooth catfaces and larger tomatoes may have greater areas, provided that such catfaces do not affect the appearance of the tomatoes to a greater extent than that caused by fairly smooth catfaces which are permitted on a 2 1/2 inch tomato.

(d) Growth cracks. These are ruptures or cracks radiating from the stem scar, or concentric to the stem scar. They damage the tomato when not well healed, or when more than 1/2 inch in length measured from the margin of the stem scar; except that very narrow, well healed cracks concentric to the stem scar shall not be considered as damage unless they are so numerous as to damage the appearance of the fruit.

(e) Scars (except catfaces), when dark colored and shallow and aggregating more than 1/4 inch in diameter on a tomato 2 1/2 inches in diameter, or lighter colored shallow scars covering a greater area when they detract from the appearance to a greater extent than a dark-colored, shallow scar 1/4 inch in diameter. Smaller tomatoes shall have lesser areas of scars and larger tomatoes may have greater areas: Provided, That such scars do not affect the appearance of the tomatoes to a greater extent than that caused by scars which are permitted on a 2 1/2-inch tomato. A scar which penetrates the wall of the tomato shall be considered as damage.

(f) Dry rot such as dry type Macrosporium or Phoma, when the spot is not adjacent to the stem scar, or when adjacent to the stem scar and more than 3/16 inch in diameter.