8 replies to this topic

[aps]

Can someone clarify as I am a bit rusty.....

Moisture loss! do we need to declare this when applying weights on packs.

I will try and be more clearer on this

I work in the potato industry and as you will know the potato is full of water. Over the shelf life period the moisture loss will be x amount %. I was in this industry almost 9 years ago and we would declare moisture loss.

I have spoken to the tech manager and he says we do not need to declare as part of the tare weight as when it in the cust hands its not our responsibility in which I disagree. As far as I am aware the product should remain above the declared weight for the specified shelf lifre of the product...


Pleas help me can someone make this more clear to me.

thanks

[Potatogal]

I am the environmental health supervisor for a potato farm, and we do not declare the moisture loss. We add 2-5 lbs to our packages in anticipation of that loss.

Can someone clarify as I am a bit rusty.....

Moisture loss! do we need to declare this when applying weights on packs.

I will try and be more clearer on this

I work in the potato industry and as you will know the potato is full of water. Over the shelf life period the moisture loss will be x amount %. I was in this industry almost 9 years ago and we would declare moisture loss.

I have spoken to the tech manager and he says we do not need to declare as part of the tare weight as when it in the cust hands its not our responsibility in which I disagree. As far as I am aware the product should remain above the declared weight for the specified shelf lifre of the product...


Pleas help me can someone make this more clear to me.

thanks

[Dr Ajay Shah]

You do not need to declare moisture loss on packs. As part of your in house quality system you can conduct specific gravity on potatoes. Please refer to the following article which may be of interest to you on specific gravty on potato.

http://www.agric.wa....u/PC_92694.html



Cheers

[aps]

OK You may not need to declasre it but surely as part of the packaging tare you will need to take into account the moisute loss to ensure the required weight is maintained throughout the shelf life of the product........

[MOOCHIE]

I work for a potato packers as a QA Manager, we supply various wholesale and retail markets and we don't declare moisture loss. Different varieties have different moisture loss depending on the dry matter content, e.g. varieties such as Harmony have a low dry matter meaning more water content, where as Estima has a higher dry matter meaning less water. Also you would have to take into account whether it was new season or main crop, early new season has very little dry matter.
Hope this helps

Moochie

[aps]

I understand now you dont have to declare the moisture loss, i probably was not clear enough so i will start again....

When deciding on a minimum weight you need tyo take into account an average packing tare and a moisture loss of the product to ensure weight stays above pack weight over shelf life.

Can this be confirmed..........

Thanks

[Charles.C]

I understand now you dont have to declare the moisture loss, i probably was not clear enough so i will start again....

When deciding on a minimum weight you need tyo take into account an average packing tare and a moisture loss of the product to ensure weight stays above pack weight over shelf life.

Can this be confirmed..........

Thanks

Dear aps,

I think you are asking whether, if checked, the (average) weight of the contents must "conform" to the the declared net weight.

I wouldn't know how yr product is commercially categorised but for standard retail items, the answer is spelled out in many UK oriented threads here. And obviously, if the product is marketed throughout it's labelled dating, you hv to (somehow) predict / allow for any likely subsequent weight loss. It's typically known as "over-pack" or "give-away" in my (frozen) business (not potatoes)(usually between 1-5%).

Not sure how you define your "tare" but (input weight of potato) = (declared net weight + over-pack [weight])

I hope that starts to answer yr question.

Rgds / Charles.C

[GMO]

Sorry to come late to this product but this is my view as applied to bread.

We have to account for bread losing weight due to moisture loss and the view of our trading standards is that we must ensure the bread is of legal weight throughout shelf life.

I agree that some of the weight loss is down to storage, but I would argue that you should do your own in-house testing which matches the conditions you have instructed your customers to store the potatoes in. You then work out what the moisture loss is and add a factor onto your target weight (it is your target weight which will change not your tare weight). Unfortunately it's now out of print but I vaguely remember the packers' guide having a section on this.

Interestingly though, the guidelines from the government http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/bispartners/nmo/docs/latest-news/pgr-guidance-13-august-2007.pdf say this:

"All products are required to meet the three ’ rules at the time of packing. For desiccating products, which may lose weight after packing, the onus is on the packer to prove that any subsequent failure was due entirely to the desiccation of the product contained in the packages after they were made up."

Which suggests it's not a requirement! It may be that bread is a different case because it's packed at just above room temperature and we also take into account slicing losses.

Interesting that it seems to vary across Europe: http://www.welmec.or...cations/6-4.pdf

"Member States have different philosophies about the treatment of desiccating and hygroscopic products. In some Member States a prepackage must meet the requirements at the moment of prepacking and in other Member States a prepackage must meet the requirements at the moment of sale. Packers should ask their competent department for information."

I suppose the best idea would be to ask your TSO!

[campbell]

If you use the Packers Guide (1979) or WELMEC Guides you will note that you need to allow for weight loss due to moisture over time. The guides support the average weights legislation within the EU & UK.
This guidance covers all products that will loose weight during storage & distribution.