Kosher Issues in Canned Vegetables - Part 2

Kosher issues arising in different processes of canned vegetables:

1. Washing the crops:

A golden rule of successful canning is: good, clean, healthy canned vegetables are better, taste delicious, are easy to preserve and sell better. Therefore, vegetables need to undergo strict inspection, washing, testing, and more washing and inspection, to ensure that the prepared vegetables are of high quality.

The unique thing about leafy green vegetables is that they need to be tested to determine whether they are infested by insects. A common insect in leafy greens is the aphid.

The aphid is a small, stubborn pest that attaches to vegetables. This hydrophobic-flask test is conducted on samples of each batch of leafy vegetables that have been spin-washed, flow-washed, pressure-washed and blanch-washed.

Two types of vegetables that commonly have aphid problems are spinach and kale. Canning companies constantly battle these predators. Through the three-pronged effort of field control, the development of aphid-resistant spinach varieties, and active washing work, the number of aphids in a hydrophobic-flask test is zero.

The canning preparation of other vegetables does not include laboratory testing, but each canner uses their own unique way to remove foreign matter from fresh vegetables. Now, new electronic detection systems have been installed to automatically detect foreign matter before vegetables enter the factory for processing. Dust and foreign matter are shaken off as they pass through the blower. After the vegetables pass the initial detection system, they are ready for the next step of processing. Before dicing, slicing and blanching, root vegetables are first steamed, peeled and scrubbed.

2. Filling:

At this stage, the vegetables are ready for canning. To make the finished product, various systems begin to interact. Empty cans are pre-washed and transported to the filling point, where vegetables, brine, syrup or sauce will be filled into the cans. Simple brine consists of water and salt. Sweetened vegetables are usually made from a mixture of water, corn syrup and liquid sugar. Other vegetables are also seasoned with sauce. The sauce is made from a mixture of corn syrup, tomato paste, seasonings, spices, vinegar and oil. The usual sauce requires careful kosher ingredient management. Some sauces are flavored with meat or chicken essence, and some use cheese.

3. Pressing the vegetables:

Now these cans are ready for sealing. Empty cans are filled and capped, then passed to the retort. The retort is a huge pressurized cooker that can cook the vegetables for a set time and create a high-pressure sterile environment in the can, so that any microorganisms that could cause the vegetables to spoil are killed.

Like other machines, retorts also vary greatly, from simple to complex. A hydrostatic retort has six rotating racks and, at full capacity, can retort more than 25,000 cans at once. In addition, today's hydrostatic retorts can have two separate rack systems that can move at different speeds. It is quite normal for two vegetables to be retorted simultaneously in one hydrostatic retort. Processing hundreds of cans in a basket-type retort is quite different from this.

After retorting and cooling, these cans are placed on pallets and stored until they are ready for labeling. This is called 'clear labeling.' Because all unlabeled cans look the same, each company has its own unique coding system, labeling the lids before the cans are capped. For many years, embossing coded product and production information on the lids was a common practice. Today, laser coding is rapidly replacing the traditional cumbersome embossing system. Computerized laser printing functions more widely and can serve as an effective tool to pre-code labels as kosher, thereby minimizing labeling errors.

To be continued; please refer to the document 'Kosher Issues in Canned Vegetables - Part 3'