FRENCH BEANS QUALITY STANDARDS
Introduction
These Quality standards are designed to ensure that the horticultural enterprises meet the minimum requirements to become an integral part of the market, it applies to beans of varieties (cultivars) grown from Phaseolus vulgaris L. and Phaseolus coccineus L. to be supplied fresh to the consumer, beans for shelling or Industrial processing being excludedwhether export or local.
Quality is not just about profits and loss or beating out a competitor. It is about safety, delivering on a promise and meeting the very basics of customer expectations. However, by meeting quality standards, enterprises often reap better profits and reduce losses. Those that exceed quality standards stand out above their competitors and further their potential for profit and consumer loyalty. Therein rests the benefit of quality standards.
Today, quality assurance measures the standards that go into a product or service before it goes out to the public. Quality assurance uses auditors, sometimes independent and sometimes in-house, to evaluate the methods that go into making products and providing services. In this set up, the Commercial Village Trade Facilitators will help train and audit the farmer’s horticultural produce before reaching the market.
This module will help achieve the following:
- Improve enterprises’ ability to deliverFrench beansthat consistently keep up a high quality to the market hence customer satisfaction
- Enhance French bean quality thereby helping the enterprises to reduce extra costs that rejection of produce comes with.
Figure 1 French beans ready for harvesting. Source https://www.paukwa.or.ke/kenyan-french-beans/
Common Standards
SCOPE OF THE STANDARD
This standard applies to beans of varieties (cultivars) grown from Phaseolus vulgaris L. and Phaseolus coccineus L. to be supplied fresh to the consumer, beans for shelling or Industrial processing being excluded
The purpose of the standard is to define the quality requirements of French beans after preparation and packaging. However, if applied at stages after point of sale or following export, produce may show in relation to the requirements of the standard:
- A slight lack of freshness and turgidity
- A slight deterioration due to their development and their tendency to perish.
The holder/seller of produce may not display such produce or offer them for sale, or deliver or market them in any manner other than in conformity with this standard. The holder/seller shall be responsible for observing such conformity
Terms And Definitions
Clean: Free from dirt, dust, insect stains or other foreign substances
Stringy: The beans are over-matured and have become fibrous and sinewy
Damage: Any defect or injury, which materially affects the appearance or storage quality of the vegetable
Fresh: the pods are not wilted in appearance and the beans are not soft, limp, or shriveled
Badly misshaped or bentthe curvature of the pods should not be bent, twisted or otherwisemisshapen that appreciable waste is thereby caused in their preparation for use
Quality Requirements
In all classes, subject to the special provisions for each class and the tolerances allowed, the french beans must be:
- Intact
- Sound; produce affected by rotting or deterioration such as to make it unfit for consumption is excluded.
- Clean, practically free of any visible foreign matter
- Fresh in appearance
- Free from parchment (hard endoderm)
- Practically free from pests
- Practically free from damage caused by pests
- Free of abnormal external moisture
- Free of any foreign smell and/or taste.
The development and condition of the beans must be such as to enable them:
- To withstand transportation and handling
- To arrive in satisfactory condition at the place of destination
CLASSIFICATION
Beans are classified in three classes, as defined below:
Beans in this class must be of superior quality. They must be characteristic of the variety and/or commercial type.
They must be:
- Turgid, easily snapped
- Very tender
- Practically straight
- Stringless
Seeds, if present, must be small and soft. However, needle beans must be seedless. They must be free from defects, with the exception of very slight superficial defects, provided these do not affect the general appearance of the produce, the quality, the keeping quality and presentation in the package.
Beans in this class must be of good quality. They must be characteristic of the variety and/or commercial type.
They must be:
- Turgid
- Young and tender
- Practically stringless except in the case of beans for slicing. Seeds, if present must be small and soft.
The following slight defects, however, may be allowed, provided these do not affect the general appearance of the produce, the quality, the keeping quality and presentation in the package:
- A slight defect in shape
- Slight defects in coloring
- Slight skin defects.
This class includes beans that do not qualify for inclusion in the higher classes but satisfy the minimum requirements specified above.
They must be:
- Reasonably tender
- Free from rust spots in the case of needle beans.
Seeds, if present, should not be too large and must be reasonably soft
The following defects may be allowed, provided the beans retain their essential characteristics as regards the quality, the keeping quality and presentation:
c) Defects in shape
d) Defects in coloring
e) Skin defects
f) Strings
g) Slight rust spots except in the case of needle beans.
a)PROVISIONS CONCERNING SIZING
Size is determined by the maximum width of the pod measured at right angles to the seam. To ensure uniformity in size, needle beans in the same package shall not exceed:
a) 6 mm when marked “very fine”
b) 9 mm when marked “fine”
c) 12 mm when marked “medium”.
b)PROVISIONS CONCERNING TOLERANCES
At all marketing stages, tolerances in respect of quality and size shall be allowed in each lot for produce not satisfying the requirements of the class indicated.
c)QUALITY TOLERANCES
A total tolerance of 5 per cent, by number or weight, of beans not satisfying the requirements of the class but meeting those of Class I is allowed. Within this tolerance, not more than 0.5 per cent in total may consist of produce satisfying the requirements of Class II quality.
- CLASS I
A total tolerance of 10 per cent, by number or weight, of beans not satisfying the requirements of the class but meeting those of Class II is allowed. Within this tolerance, not more than 1 per cent in total may consist of produce satisfying neither the requirements of Class II quality nor the minimum requirements, or of produce affected by decay. No tolerance is allowed for produce affected by Colletotrichum lindemuthianum (bean spot disease).Within this tolerance, a maximum of 5 per cent, by number or weight, may have strings in the case of a variety and/or commercial type that should be stringless.
In addition, a maximum of 15 per cent, by number or weight, of beans (excluding needle beans) may have the stalk and a small section of the narrow part of the neck missing, provided these pods remain closed, dry and not discolored.
- CLASS II
A total tolerance of 10 per cent, by number or weight, of beans satisfying neither the requirements of the class nor the minimum requirements is allowed. Within this tolerance, not more than 2 per cent in total may consist of produce affected by decay. No tolerance is allowed for produce affected by Colletotrichum lindemuthianum (bean spot disease).
In addition, a maximum of 30 per cent, by number or weight, of beans (excluding needle beans) may have the stalk and a small section of the narrow part of the neck missing, provided these pods remain closed, dry and not discolored.
B. Size Tolerances
For all classes (if sized): a total tolerance of 10 per cent, by number or weight, of beans not satisfying the requirements as regards sizing is allowed.
a)PROVISIONS CONCERNING PRESENTATION
The contents of each package (or lot for produce presented in bulk in the transport vehicle), must be uniform and contain only headed cabbages of the same origin, variety or commercial type, quality, and size (if sized). French beans in Class I must be uniform in shape and color. The visible part of the contents of the package (or lot for produce presented in bulk in the transport vehicle) must be representative of the entire contents. Packages (or lots for produce presented in bulk in the transport vehicle) must be free of all foreign matter.
Pesticide residues the produce covered by this standard shall comply with the maximum residue limits for pesticides established by the codex alimentarius commission for this commodity
Other contaminantsthe produce covered by this standard shall comply with the maximum levels of the general standard for contaminants and toxins in food and feed (CODEX STAN 193-1995).
It is recommended that the produce covered by the provisions of this Standard be prepared and handled in accordance with the appropriate sections of the General Principles of Food Hygiene (KS CAC/RCP 1-1969), Code of Hygienic Practice for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (and other relevant texts such as codes of hygienic practice and codes of practice. The produce should comply with any microbiological criteria established in accordance with the Principles and Guidelines for the Establishment and Application of Microbiological Criteria related to Foods.
The package used shall ensure product safety and integrity. The packaging material that is in contact with the produce shall be of food grade, clean and of a quality such as to avoid causing any external or internal damage to the produce. The use of materials, particularly of paper or stamps bearing trade specifications is allowed, provided the printing or labelling has been done with non-toxic ink or glue. Packages shall be free from any foreign matter and the material shall be recyclable.
PROVISION CONCERNING MARKING
Labeling
The following information shall be legibly and indelibly marked on the packets containing the produce
i) Name of the produce i.e. “beans” and/or commercial type if the contents are not visible from the outside.
Ii) Class
Iii) Size code:
iv) For needle beans expressed as “very fine”, “fine”, “medium”
v) For other beans (if sized) expressed as minimum and maximum width of the pods.
vi) Name and physical address of the importer/packer/distributor;
Vii) Country of origin;
viii) Net weight in kilograms;
Ix) Identification code and/or batch number
x) Name of the variety or commercial type;
Xi) Storage instructions.
Xii) GMO status
Conclusion
Quality assurance helps a company meet its clients’ demands and expectations. High quality builds trust with customers, which, in turn, makes the enterprises competitive in the market. It saves costs and fixes issues before problems become larger, and it helps to set and maintain quality standards by preventing problems to begin with. Investing in quality assurance is indispensable in many enterprises today. It is most effective when it is in place from the start. When quality assurance is done right, it provides confidence, tests the product and lets enterprises market their products with few worries.
This module will therefore help the farmers to have knowledge on quality and standards required in processing and packaging french beans to meet the market demand and improve income.