U.S. grape standard on the table

Just how many “shattered berries” -- or loose grapes -- should be allowed in the bag you pick up at the grocery store?

For the last three years, California growers and produce wholesalers have been feuding over whether the standard for what can be stamped U.S. Grade No. 1 should be changed. Buyers say permitting more loose grapes will lower quality and make the fresh produce harder to sell.

Now U.S. Department of Agriculture officials, who set quality standards for 240 food products, are proposing to increase the number of loose grapes without considering them defective. The debate is over image and the bottom line in the $2-billion fresh table grape market, which has grown as Americans each eat 7 to 8 pounds of grapes a year, up from 2 pounds a person in 1970.

“Our experience has consistently shown that our customers seek out the bags with the most berries still attached to the stem,” said Brendon Cull, Kroger Co.’s director of government and regulatory affairs.

Cull said the proposal would be “unacceptable to many customers and families who want their grapes to be fresh.” Cincinnati-based Kroger, the parent company of the Ralphs and Food 4 Less chains, operates 2,400 grocery stores.

A change in the tolerances for defects mostly would affect growers in California, who will sell about $1.1 billion worth of table grapes this year, according to industry estimates. An additional $1 billion of table grapes are imported, mostly from Chile and Mexico.

Under the Feb. 26 proposal issued by the Agricultural Marketing Service, an additional 5% of loose grapes in containers wouldn’t be counted as defects. Comments closed March 27 and regulators are reviewing them.

Currently, loose grapes are counted toward a 12% to 15% “tolerance” for imperfections under the No. 1 standard. Thus, if approved, the change would allow imperfect grapes to total up to 20% of the berries in a container.

Those grapes still would earn the U.S. Grade No. 1 stamp and shippers would expect top dollar for them. Growers said their research showed consumers didn’t mind a few loose grapes.

“This proposed allowance recognizes the reality that even the most pristine bunch of grapes has some amount of healthy and sound berries that are not attached to the stem,” said Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape & Tree Fruit League in Fresno.

The California growers have been pushing to increase the limit on loose grapes since 2005, when they petitioned the USDA requesting that an additional 10% be allowed.

Rule makers proposed such a regulation, then withdrew it last year, citing a lack of consensus in the industry. The growers filed another petition last October, again seeking the 10% increase.

The government’s current proposal said the growers’ 10% figure was “too high and would not appropriately reflect what is expected by industry and consumers in a U.S. No. 1 table grape.” The higher figure, it said, “would weaken the standard and reduce consumer confidence in the grade.”

The growers said better packaging over the last decade meant less damage to the grapes, making them easier to sell.