Please be aware that these specifications only reflect what we consider to be well established industry standards, commonly held knowledge and our own expertise in having conducted thousands of food quality inspections over the past 20 years. If we have made any direct reference to another source it will be referenced clearly.
Size Requirements for Tomatoes
These are typically supplied in grades, with the following sizes being the most usual:
Size MMM: 40mm - 47mm
Size MM: 47mm - 57mm
Size M: 57mm - 67mm
Common Pack Sizes
Tomatos are usually distributed in open topped corrugated cardboard boxes of 6kg
Common Quality Defects Found in Tomatoes
We break quality defects typically into major and minor categories, with no tolerance recommended for the former, and a small tolerance recommended in the latter. This would typically be in the region of 5% - 10% of a pack by either weight or count.
Major Defects
Mould / Rot / Breakdown
Pests or Insects
Disease / Fungal Growth
Minor Defects
Sizes outside of the stated grade (see above)
Colour not meeting the specific ripeness requirements
Surface Scarring or Russetting
Minor cracks to the Surface
Minor signs of age such as wrinkling and softening fruit
Distribution Temperatures for Tomatoes
Distribution temperatures for this product are usually between 12C - 15C
It should be noted here, that in most mixed product distribution scenarios, Tomato along with most other fresh produce is grouped into the chilled storage and distribution network which would be expected to run below 6C.
Common Countries of Origin for Tomato
The Netherlands
Spain
The United Kingdom
Canary Islands
This is a good starting point to setting out your quality requirements for tomatoes, but does not cover any of the food safety systems for production and handling, or any of the nutritional information which would be expected as part of a full technical specification. Feel free to visit us if you need more information at
FSL Food Quality Assurance Inspections
