United States Standards for Grades of Pistachio Nuts in the Shell, and United States Standards for Grades of Shelled Pistachio Nuts

Zusammenfassung

The proposed rule would revise the United States Standards for Grades of Pistachio Nuts in the Shell and the United States Standards for Grades of Shelled Pistachio Nuts. The proposed revisions would modify the standards to more closely align grade names with other tree- nut commodities and current industry-recognized marketing terms, reduce the tolerance for internal defects for the purpose of providing a higher degree of quality assurance, relax tolerances of the level of light stain on the shell in the various grade levels based on consumer preferences, more objectively define when nuts are damaged by various factors, and include two in-shell grade specifications which reflect the industry's byproduct. These changes are being proposed by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to promote greater uniformity and consistency in the standards. The current grades and standards were adopted in 1986 and 1990, respectively. These changes are needed to provide consistency with current marketing practices.