NO MORE BRUISED FRUIT 

How often have you picked up a bruised and damaged tomato at your favorite grocery store and put it back in the pile? How often has that happened with other vegetables? With potatoes, onions apples or other produce?

Is that fault in the produce, resulting from usually a bruise in the harvesting, packaging and marketing system that causes big losses. Up to $30 million a year with potatoes alone just to give one example. It's long been a big problem for growers and everyone in the food-handling chain. The problem has been especially difficult to pinpoint because the bruise, like one on your body, doesn't immediately appear. Only during transportation or in the store does it develop and become objectionable to our fastidious tastes.

Now, with the help of new telemetry impact detection devices that money - losing bruise is about to disappear to a large extent. Psuedo-fruit or a psuedo-potato is put in the harvesting, transporting or distributing cycle and its every bump recorded along the way.

Each bump or bruise and its level of intensity is recorded through the psuedo-object and that data is relayed to nearby receiving and recording equipment. Based on such information corrective action can then be taken at the appropriate location along the harvesting, transporting route. More information: Prof. James L. Halderson, University of Idaho, College of Agriculture, Aberdeen, Idaho 83210.

Phone: (208) 397-4181.

* * *

< previous | chapter index | next >
back to Main Chapter Listing
back to Home Page