Fresh-cut Products: An Overview of Challenges and Unmet Needs

The first oral presentation during FreshCut 2011, Torino, Italy, was an overview in which Marita Cantwell explained the main challenges and unmet needs of the fresh cut industry. The following text is the original summary. This overview presents a U.S. perspective of challenges in the fresh-cut category of fresh produce. Packaged salads, cut vegetables and cut fruits comprise more than half, about 35% and 10% of the value of this product segment in the U.S. New products continue to be developed, but current economic constraints have resulted in a decrease in fresh-cut fruit products. Many factors contribute to the success of fresh-cut products and specific cases will be discussed to exemplify the importance of and concerns related to: 1) raw material quality including production parameters, variety selection, maturity, and for fruits, the stage of ripeness; 2) pre-processing storage time and conditions, 3) process parameters including knife sharpness, size reduction, washing and sanitizing efficiency, drying conditions; 4) packaging materials and atmospheres; and 5) finally temperature management and time to consumption. Fresh-cut products should be freshly cut and shelf-life requirements need to be better balanced with eating quality expectations. Better shelf-life and quality indicators and/or predictors are needed. Finally distributors and final consumers need to handle fresh-cut products better, mostly by ensuring low temperatures until consumption. The image is from canamazo.net