[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 76 (Friday, April 19, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16381-16382]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-07899]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 52

[Document Number AMS-FV-14-0088, SC-19-328]


United States Standards for Grades of Processed Vegetables

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final notice.

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SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) is revising the U.S. Standards for Grades of Canned 
Lima Beans, U.S. Standards for Grades of Canned Mushrooms, U.S. 
Standards for Grades of Pickles, and U.S. Standards for Grades of Green 
Olives. AMS is replacing the term ``midget'' with ``petite'' in the 
canned lima bean, canned mushroom, and pickle standards, and removing 
``midget'' completely from the green olive standards as there is an 
alternative term. AMS is also replacing the two-term grading system 
(dual nomenclature) with a single term to describe each quality level 
in the canned lima bean, canned mushroom, and green olive standards. 
Editorial changes are also being made to the grade standards that 
conform to recent changes made in other grade standards.

DATES: Effective May 20, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lindsay H. Mitchell, USDA, Specialty 
Crops Inspection Division, 100 Riverside Parkway, Suite 101, 
Fredericksburg, VA 22406, by phone (540) 361-1120; fax (540) 361-1199; 
or, email [email protected]. Copies of the revised U.S. 
Standards for Grades of Canned Lima Beans, U.S. Standards for Grades of 
Canned Mushrooms, U.S. Standards for Grades of Pickles, and U.S. 
Standards for Grades of Green Olives are available at www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/vegetables.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 203(c) of the Agricultural Marketing 
Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621-1627), as amended, directs and authorizes 
the Secretary of Agriculture ``to develop and improve standards of 
quality, condition, quantity, grade, and packaging, and recommend and 
demonstrate such standards in order to encourage uniformity and 
consistency in commercial practices.''
    AMS is committed to carrying out this authority in a manner that 
facilitates the marketing of agricultural commodities and makes copies 
of official standards available upon request. The U.S. Standards for 
Grades of Fruits and Vegetables that no longer appear in the Code of 
Federal Regulations are maintained by AMS at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards. AMS is proposing revisions to these U.S. Standards 
for Grades using the procedures that appear in part 36 of Title 7 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (7 CFR part 36).

Background

    AMS continually reviews all fruit and vegetable grade standards to 
ensure their usefulness to the industry, modernize language, and remove 
duplicative terminology. On May 13, 2013, AMS received a petition from 
the Little People of America stating they ``are trying to raise 
awareness around and eliminate the use of the word midget.'' The 
petition further stated, ``Though the use of the word midget by the 
USDA when classifying certain food products is benign, Little People of 
America, and the dwarfism community, hopes that the USDA would consider 
phasing out the term midget.''
    AMS determined that six grade standards contained the term 
``midget''--U.S. Standards for Grades of Canned Lima Beans, U.S. 
Standards for Grades of Canned Mushrooms, U.S. Standards for Grades of 
Pickles, U.S. Standards for Grades of Green Olives, U.S. Standards for 
Grades of Processed Raisins, and U.S. Standards for Grades of Shelled 
Pecans. The shelled pecans and processed raisins standards were 
addressed in two separate rules because additional changes were being 
made to those standards.

[[Page 16382]]

    In addition to replacing ``midget'' with ``petite'' or removing 
``midget,'' AMS is also removing dual nomenclature in U.S. Standards 
for Grades of Canned Lima Beans, U.S. Standards for Grades of Canned 
Mushrooms, and U.S. Standards for Grades of Green Olives. More recently 
developed standards use a single term, such as ``U.S. Grade A'' or 
``U.S. Grade B,'' to describe each level of quality within a grade 
standard. Older grade standards used dual nomenclature, such as ``U.S. 
Grade A or U.S. Fancy,'' ``U.S. Grade B or U.S. Extra Standard,'' or 
``U.S. Grade B or U.S. Choice,'' and ``U.S. Grade C or U.S. Standard,'' 
to describe the same level of quality. The terms ``U.S. Fancy,'' ``U.S. 
Extra Standard,'' ``U.S. Choice,'' and ``U.S. Standard'' will be 
removed and the terms ``U.S. Grade A,'' ``U.S. Grade B,'' and ``U.S. 
Grade C'' will be used exclusively.
    Finally, AMS is making editorial changes to these grade standards 
to update the name of a table to better reflect its content, a grade 
designation in a scoresheet to align with language used throughout the 
standards, the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) references where 
applicable, and to remove obsolete addresses for viewing or obtaining 
color standards. Information on obtaining color standards is available 
in the Fresh and Processed Equipment Catalog on the AMS website at 
https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/how-purchase-equipment-and-visual-aids. These revisions will result in a consistent format across 
grade standards (75 FR 43141). The following table summarizes the 
changes made by AMS:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Remove or replace
   U.S. standards for grades of    Effective date          ``Midget''              Other proposed revisions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canned Lima Beans................         3/20/60  Replace with ``Petite''    Change level of quality
                                                    in Table II in Sizes of    designations to single terms in
                                                    canned lima beans          the Grades of canned lima beans
                                                    section.                   and Color sections.
                                                                              Correct CFR citation for standard
                                                                               of identity to 21 CFR 155.200 in
                                                                               the Identity section.
                                                                              Replace Processed Products
                                                                               information and address with
                                                                               ``USDA Headquarters in
                                                                               Washington, DC'' in the General
                                                                               section.
Canned Mushrooms.................          4/7/62  Replace with ``petite''    Change level of quality
                                                    in the Sizes of canned     designations to single terms in
                                                    mushrooms in the styles    the Grades of canned mushrooms
                                                    of whole and buttons       section.
                                                    section.                  Correct CFR citation for standard
                                                                               of identity to 21 CFR 155.200 in
                                                                               the Product description section.
Green Olives.....................          9/8/67  Remove from Table I in     Change level of quality
                                                    the Sizes of whole style   designations to single terms in
                                                    green olives section.      the Grades of green olives and
                                                                               Uniformity of size sections and
                                                                               Tables IV and V in the Absence of
                                                                               defects section.
                                                                              Change ``D'' to ``Sstd'' in the
                                                                               Score sheet for green olives
                                                                               section.
Pickles..........................         4/22/91  Replace with ``Petite''    Change the title of Table III from
                                                    in Table II in the Sizes   ``Recommended Pickle Ingredients
                                                    of whole pickles section   All Styles Except Relish'' to
                                                    and Table VI in the        ``Recommended Minimum Quantity of
                                                    Requirements for grade     Pickle Ingredients All Styles
                                                    section.                   Except Relish.''
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The revisions provide a common language for trade and better 
reflect the current marketing of fruits and vegetables.

Comments

    On August 13, 2018, AMS published a notice in the Federal Register 
(83 FR 39917) soliciting comments on replacing or removing the term 
``midget'' from each of the grade standards identified in this 
document, as well as replacing the two-term grading system with a 
single term to describe each quality level in U.S. Standards for Grades 
of Canned Lima Beans, U.S. Standards for Grades of Canned Mushrooms, 
and U.S. Standards for Grades of Green Olives. Nine comments were 
received from the general public by the end of the public comment 
period on October 12, 2018.
    One comment favored replacing or removing the term ``midget,'' but 
supported using ``extra small'' instead of ``petite'' for pickles since 
the other sizes are small, medium, large, and extra-large. The term 
``petite'' was proposed by the industry because there are three lesser 
sizes before the ``small'' size designation: midget, small gherkin, and 
large gherkin. AMS is revising the standard for pickles with the term 
``petite.'' One comment favored removing ``midget'' but did not support 
addressing dual nomenclature in this notice. AMS will address dual 
nomenclature at the same time ``midget'' is replaced or removed since 
these are minor non-controversial changes that will update the 
standards to more accurately represent today's marketing practices and 
addressing both is more efficient than undertaking separate rulemakings 
on each issue. One comment was outside the scope of this revision to 
U.S. grade standards. The remaining six comments favored replacing or 
removing the term ``midget'' in the grade standards.
    Based on the information gathered, AMS is replacing or removing 
``midget,'' removing dual nomenclature, and making editorial changes to 
the aforementioned U.S. Standards for Grades. These revisions bring the 
grade standards in line with other recently amended standards and 
current terminology, and update the standards to more accurately 
represent today's marketing practices.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621-1627.

    Dated: April 16, 2019.
Bruce Summers,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-07899 Filed 4-18-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-02-P