HAR §4-41-28. Standards for Hawaii-grown bananas

(a) As used in this section: "Badly misshapen" means the arrangement of the fingers in the hand is irregular, or more than fifteen per cent of the fingers are badly curved or twisted. "Blossom-end rot" means the sunken, dry, dark, coarse, discolored area at the blossom-end of the finger which may or may not affect the pulp but appreciably affects the appearance of the fruit. "Clean" means the fruit is practically free from dirt, staining, spray residue, cobwebs, or other foreign matter. "Damage" means any of the following specific defects, or an equally objectionable variation of any one of these defects, any other defect, or any combination of defects, which materially detracts from the appearance, or the edible or shipping quality of the bananas: (1) Blossom-end rot, when fairly deep and exceeds three-fourths inch in diameter; (2) Bruises, when soft; (3) Russeting, scars, sunscald, bruises, freckles, or similar blemishes, when the appearance of any finger is seriously affected, or the flesh of any finger is more than slightly affected, or the appearance of more than thirty per cent of the fingers is materially affected (dark or scaly scar or scars aggregating an area more than three- fourths inch in diameter, or freckles and other blemishes affecting the appearance more than permitted for dark or scaly scars are considered as materially affecting appearance); or (4) Stubs, when more than two fingers are removed, leaving stubs. "Decay" means any rot (other than blossom-end rot) affecting the fingers, pedicels of the fingers, or any portion of the hand or bunch, except the decay affecting the portion of the main stalk attached to a cut hand of Chinese bananas shall not be scored against the tolerance. "Fairly clean" means the hand may be dusty or dull colored, but the appearance of the hand is not §4-41- 41-28 materially affected by the presence of staining, spray residue, caked dirt, cobwebs, or other foreign matter. "Fairly well developed" means the fingers on the hand are not spindly or excessively ridged for the variety. "Fairly well formed" means the fingers are arranged on the hand in a reasonably regular fashion and not more than ten per cent of the fingers are twisted or abnormally curved, and none of the fingers are badly twisted or curved. "Injury" means any of the following specific defects, or an equally objectionable variation of any one of these defects, any other defect, or any combination of defects, which appreciably detracts from the appearance, or the edible or shipping quality of the bananas: (1) Bruises, when soft; (2) Russeting, scars, sunscald, bruises, freckles, or similar blemishes, when the appearance of any finger is materially affected, or the flesh of any finger is affected, or the appearance of more than thirty per cent of the fingers is slightly affected, or the appearance of more than ten per cent of the fingers is more than slightly affected (dark or scaly scar or scars aggregating more than one-half inch in diameter are considered as affecting appearance more than slightly); or (3) Stubs, when more than one finger is removed, leaving a stub. "Mature" means the banana has reached a stage of growth which will insure a proper completion of the ripening process. "Overripe" means dead-ripe with the flesh becoming excessively soft or discolored and past commercial value. "Serious damage" means any of the following specific defects, or an equally objectionable variation of any one of these defects, any other defect, or any combination of defects, which seriously detracts from the appearance, or the edible or shipping quality of the bananas: (1) Bruises, when soft and more than two fingers affected per hand, or soft and more than one finger seriously affected; (2) Russeting, scars, sunscald, bruises, freckles, or similar blemishes, when the flesh of any finger is materially affected, §4-41- 41-29 or the appearance of more than thirty per cent of the fingers is seriously affected (dark or scaly scar or scars aggregating an area more than one and one-fourth inches in diameter, or freckles and other blemishes affecting appearance more than permitted for scars are considered as seriously affecting appearance); or (3) Stubs, when the appearance of the hand is seriously affected by removal of the fingers. "Split fingers" means bananas with split skins, usually caused by internal pressure. "Uniform size" means bananas sold as fingers in bundles or trays shall not vary more than one-half inch in apparent length within each bundle or tray. In computing per cent deviation, each bundle or tray shall represent a sample unit. "Well developed" means all the fingers are plump and any ridge present is normal for well grown, mature bananas of the variety. "Well formed" means the shape of the hand and arrangement of the fingers on the hand are regular, normal, and fairly compact for the variety, and the fingers are also reasonably uniform in size, not twisted, abnormally curved, or otherwise misshapen. "Well trimmed" means the pedicel of the finger is cut off smoothly at approximately right angles to the longitudinal axis of the pedicel and is not less than one-fourth inch nor more than one-half inch long; or with hands, the portion of the main stalk shall not exceed three-fourths inch from the point of attachment to the pedicel, measured to the highest point of the cut in either direction on the vertical axis; or with parts of hands, the portion of the main stalk shall not exceed one-half inch as measured on the vertical and horizontal axes from the point of attachment to the pedicel. (b) Hawaii Fancy (Hawaii Grade AA) bananas in hands, parts of hands, or fingers consist of Hawaii- grown bananas of a single variety which are clean, mature, not overripe or soft, well formed, well developed, and well trimmed; and which are free from decay, breakdown, split fingers, wormholes, fingers with broken pedicel, and blossom-end rot and from injury caused by russeting, scars, sunscald, bruises, stubs, freckles, other diseases, insects, or mechanical or other means. Unless otherwise specified, fingers of the bluefield (gros michel) and similar varieties shall §4-41- 41-30 be not less than eight inches long and other varieties not less than seven inches long, except fingers of the apple (Brazilian) variety shall be not less than six inches long. Fingers, when bundled or packed in trays, shall be of uniform size. In order to allow for variations incident to proper grading, sizing, and handling, the following tolerances, based on count, are provided: (1) For defects, not more than ten per cent of the hands, parts of hands, or fingers in any lot may fail to meet the requirements of this grade, provided not more than one-half of this amount, or five per cent, shall be allowed for defects causing damage, including not more than two per cent serious damage and one per cent decay or breakdown; and (2) For off-size, not more than ten per cent of the hands, parts of hands, or fingers in any lot may fail to meet the minimum length specified. Application of tolerances shall be as provided in subsection (h). (c) Hawaii Fancy bananas in bunches consist of Hawaii-grown bananas of which seventy per cent or more of the hands, based on count, meets the requirements of Hawaii Fancy grade for hands, with the remaining hands meeting the requirements of Hawaii No. 1. In addition, not more than one-half of one per cent of the fingers may be affected by decay or breakdown, and the main stem shall be free from decay or breakdown. Bunch weight shall be not less than fifty pounds for bluefield (gros michel) and similar varieties, and not less than thirty pounds for apple (Brazilian), Chinese (cavendish), lady finger, and other similar varieties. In order to allow for variations incident to proper grading, sizing, and handling, not more than a total of ten per cent of the bunches in any lot, based on count, may fail to meet the requirements of this grade, provided not more than one-half of this amount, or five per cent, may fail to meet the requirements of Hawaii No. 1 grade for bunches of bananas. Application of tolerances shall be as provided in subsection (h). (d) Hawaii No. 1 (Hawaii Grade A) bananas in hands, parts of hands, or fingers consist of Hawaii- grown bananas of a single variety which are fairly clean for Hawaii No. 1 and clean for Hawaii Grade A, mature, not overripe or soft, fairly well formed, well developed, and well trimmed; and which are free from decay, breakdown, split fingers, wormholes, and fingers §4-41- 41-31 with broken pedicel and from damage caused by russeting, scars, sunscald, bruises, stubs, freckles, other disease, blossom-end rot, insects, or mechanical or other means. Unless otherwise specified, fingers of the bluefield (gros michel) and similar varieties shall be not less than seven inches long and other varieties not less than six inches long, except fingers of the apple (Brazilian) variety shall be not less than five inches long. Fingers, when bundled or packed in trays, shall be of uniform size. In order to allow for variations incident to proper grading, sizing, and handling, the following tolerances, based on count, are provided: (1) For defects, not more than ten per cent of the hands, parts of hands, or fingers in any lot may fail to meet the requirements of this grade, provided not more than one-half of this amount, or five per cent, shall be allowed for bananas affected by serious damage, including not more than one per cent decay or breakdown; and (2) For off-size, not more than ten per cent of the hands, parts of hands, or fingers in any lot may fail to meet the minimum length specified. Application of tolerances shall be as provided in subsection (h). (e) Hawaii No. 1 bananas in bunches consist of Hawaii-grown bananas of which seventy per cent or more of the hands, based on count, meets the requirements of Hawaii No. 1 grade for hands, with the remaining hands meeting the requirements of Hawaii No. 2. In addition, not more than one-half of one per cent of the fingers may be affected by decay or breakdown, and the main stem shall be free from decay or breakdown. In order to allow for variations incident to proper grading, sizing, and handling, not more than a total of ten per cent of the bunches in any lot, based on count, may fail to meet the requirements of this grade, provided not more than one-half of this amount, or five per cent, may fail to meet the Hawaii No. 2 grade for bunches of bananas. Application of tolerances shall be as provided in subsection (h). (f) Hawaii No. 2 (Hawaii Grade B) bananas in hands, parts of hands, or fingers consist of Hawaii- grown bananas of a single variety which are fairly clean for Hawaii No. 2 and clean for Hawaii Grade B, mature, not overripe or soft, not badly misshapen, §4-41- 41-32 fairly well developed, and well trimmed; and which are free from decay, breakdown, split fingers, and wormholes and from serious damage caused by russeting, scars, sunscald, bruises, stubs, freckles, other diseases, insects, blossom-end rot, or mechanical or other means. Unless otherwise specified, fingers of the bluefield (gros michel) and similar varieties shall be not less than six inches long and other varieties not less than five inches long, except fingers of the apple (Brazilian) variety shall be not less than four inches long. Fingers, when bundled or packed in trays, shall be of uniform size. In order to allow for variations incident to proper grading, sizing, and handling, the following tolerances, based on count, are provided: (1) For defects, not more than ten per cent of the hands, parts of hands, or fingers in any lot may fail to meet the requirements of this grade, provided not more than one-tenth of this amount, or one per cent, shall be allowed for bananas affected by decay or breakdown; and (2) For off-size, not more than ten per cent of the hands, parts of hands, or fingers in any lot may fail to meet the minimum length specified. Application of tolerances shall be as provided in subsection (h). (g) Hawaii No. 2 bananas in bunches consist of Hawaii-grown bananas of which eighty-five per cent or more of the hands, based on count, meets the requirements of Hawaii No. 2 grade for hands. In addition, not more than one per cent of the fingers may be affected by decay or breakdown, and the main stem shall be free from decay or breakdown. In order to allow for variations incident to proper grading, sizing, and handling, not more than a total of ten per cent of the bunches in any lot, based on count, may fail to meet the requirements of this grade. Application of tolerances shall be as provided in subsection (h). (h) In the application of tolerances, the averages for the entire lot, based on examination of representative samples, shall be within the tolerances specified, but the contents of individual containers in any lot may contain not more than double the tolerance, provided at least one specimen failing to meet the requirements shall be §4-41- 41-33 permitted in any container. [Eff 5/29/81; am and comp 8/18/83; am and comp 3/24/86] (Auth: HRS §147-4) (Imp: HRS §147-4)