Food grading
[1][2] Machinery is also used to grade foods, and may involve sorting products by size, shape and quality.
Some sources suggest that the origin of the mark was in the breweries of medieval monasteries[4] Another plausible explanation is contained in a treatise entitled "The Art of Brewing" published in London in 1829.
[5] In mid-19th century England, the use of "X" and other letters had evolved into a standardised grading system for the strength of beer.
Coffee growers, traders, and roasters grade beans based on size, color, and a variety of other characteristics.
The scale was initially developed in 1953 at the Torry Research Station of the Central Science Laboratory in the UK.
[12] Guar gum grading involves analysis for coloration, viscosity, moisture, granulation, protein content and insolubles ash.
Honey is graded based upon a number of factors, including water content, flavor and aroma, absence of defects and clarity.
New-shell lobsters have paper-thin shells and a worse meat-to-shell ratio, but the meat is very sweet.
Meanwhile, old-shell lobsters, which have not shed since the previous season and have a coarser flavour, can be air-shipped anywhere in the world and arrive alive, making them the most expensive.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced in the Canada Gazette on 28 June 2014 that rules for the sale of maple syrup would be amended to include new descriptors, at the request of the IMSI.
[15] As of December 31, 2014, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)[16] and as of March 2, 2015, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)[17] issued revised standards on the classification of maple syrup as follows: As long as maple syrup does not have an off-flavor and is of a uniform color and clean and free from turbidity and sediment, it can be labelled as one of the A grades.
[17] As of February 2015, this grading system has been accepted and made law by most maple-producing states and provinces, other than Ontario, Quebec, and Ohio.
[21] With the new grading system, the classification of maple syrup depends ultimately on its internal transmittance at 560 nm wavelength through a 10 mm sample.
[24] Producers in Quebec and Ontario may follow either federal or provincial grading guidelines, which differ slightly.
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets used a similar grading system of color, and is roughly equivalent, especially for lighter syrups, but using letters: "AA", "A", etc.
2 are rated as lower in quality due to their appearance (e.g. blemishes or bruises, pointy ends).
[2] The main criteria used by many countries and millers in rice grading are degree of milling, appearance (color), damaged (broken) and percentage of chalky kernels.
For instance, chalky kernels are not desirable because they give lower milling yields after processing and easily break during handling.
Each country which produces vanilla has its own grading system,[32] and individual vendors, in turn, sometimes use their own criteria for describing the quality of the fruits they offer for sale.
Rooibos grades are largely related to the proportion of "needle" or leaf to stem content in the mix.
A higher leaf content will result in a darker liquor, richer flavour and less "dusty" aftertaste.
In development within South Africa are a small number of specialty tea companies producing similar blends.
Indonesia, the Philippines, and Chile are three main sources of raw material and extracted carrageenan.
It is also used as a tenderizer in the crust of baked Cantonese mooncakes, and in lye-water "zongzi" (glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves), chewy southern Chinese noodles popular in Hong Kong and southern China, and Japanese ramen noodles.
[35] Sodium bisulphate is used as a food additive to leaven cake mixes (make them rise) as well as being used in meat and poultry processing and most recently in browning prevention of fresh-cut produce.
Food-grade sodium bisulfate is used in a variety of food products, including beverages, dressings, sauces, and fillings.
