Glossary
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Blanching
Blanching is a short heat treatment, in hot water or steam, applied to vegetables and some fruits before freezing. It…
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Blast Chilling
Blast chilling is the rapid cooling of product, usually from cooking or processing temperature down to 0–3 °C, using high-velocity…
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Block-Frozen Product
Block-frozen product is frozen together into a solid slab rather than piece by piece. It is cheaper to produce than…
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Border Control Post
A Border Control Post is an EU-approved facility at the point of entry where consignments of animals, products of animal…
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Bran
Bran is the outer layer of the cereal grain removed during milling to produce refined flour. It is rich in…
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BRCGS
BRCGS (Brand Reputation Compliance Global Standards) Food Safety is one of the GFSI-benchmarked certification schemes for food manufacturing and packing.…
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Brix (°Bx)
Brix (°Bx) is a unit expressing the amount of soluble solids — mainly sugars — in a water solution, measured…
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Brunoise Cut
Brunoise is a fine dice cut, usually 3 by 3 by 3 millimetres, produced by first cutting julienne strips and…
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Brush Washing
Brush washing uses rotating soft brushes to remove stubborn soil from firm fruit and vegetables such as apples, carrots and…
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Buckwheat Honey
Buckwheat honey is a dark, strongly flavoured monofloral honey produced from buckwheat nectar, notable for high mineral and antioxidant content.…
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Bulk Packaging
Bulk packaging is large-format industrial packaging intended for business customers rather than retail, such as 10–15 kg cartons with liners…
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Calibration
Calibration is the sorting of fruit or berries into uniform size classes, by diameter, weight or count, using grading machines…
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Call-Off Order
A call-off order is an individual order released under a framework contract, specifying quantity, delivery date and destination for one…
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Canned Legumes
Canned legumes are cooked pulses packed in brine or water and heat-sterilised in cans or jars. They are a ready-to-eat…
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Carbon Footprint
A carbon footprint quantifies the greenhouse gas emissions associated with a product or activity, expressed in carbon dioxide equivalents. In…
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Carbon Sequestration
Carbon sequestration is the capture and long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide, notably in soils through practices that build organic…
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Carrot Dicing
Carrot dicing cuts washed, peeled carrots into cubes of defined dimensions for frozen vegetable mixes, soups and ready meals. Cut…
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Carton
A carton is a box made of corrugated or solid board, one of the most common transport packagings in food…
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Certificate of Analysis
A certificate of analysis (CoA) is a laboratory document issued per batch that reports measured values against specification: for example…
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Certificate of Origin
A certificate of origin is an official document confirming the country where the goods were produced. It is required by…
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CHED
The Common Health Entry Document, or CHED, is the electronic document completed in TRACES NT for consignments subject to official…
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Chilled Storage
Chilled storage keeps product at temperatures above freezing, typically 0 to +4 °C, slowing but not stopping microbial growth and…
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CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight)
CIF is an Incoterms 2020 rule for sea and inland waterway transport under which the seller pays costs and freight…
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Circular Economy
A circular economy keeps materials and products in use for as long as possible, minimising waste through reuse, recycling and…
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Claim Deadline
The claim deadline is the contractual period within which a buyer must notify defects after delivery, often differentiated between visible…
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Cloud Stability
Cloud stability describes a cloudy juice’s ability to keep its suspended particles evenly distributed without clarifying or sedimenting. It depends…
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Clumping
Clumping is a frozen-product defect in which individual pieces stick together into lumps. It is caused by slow freezing, partial…
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CMR
Convention relative au contrat de transport international de marchandises par route — the international road consignment
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CMR Waybill
The CMR waybill is the standard consignment note for international road transport in Europe under the CMR Convention. It records…
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Codex Alimentarius
The Codex Alimentarius is the collection of international food standards, guidelines and codes of practice developed jointly by FAO and…
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Cold Chain
The cold chain is the uninterrupted series of temperature-controlled storage and transport steps — from freezing or harvest through storage,…
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Cold Chain Monitoring
Cold chain monitoring is the continuous measurement and recording of product or air temperature across storage and transport, using data…
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Cold Room
A cold room is an insulated, refrigerated storage space, from small walk-in units to large warehouse chambers, set to a…
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Cold Storage
Cold storage is the holding of perishable product under controlled low temperature between processing and dispatch. For quick-frozen fruit the…
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Cold-Induced Sweetening
Cold-induced sweetening is the accumulation of reducing sugars when potatoes are stored at low temperature. It causes dark fry colour…
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Cold-Pressed Oil
Cold-pressed oil is obtained by mechanical pressing without external heat, keeping pressing temperatures low to preserve flavour, colour and natural…
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Colour Measurement
Colour measurement quantifies product colour with instruments such as colorimeters or spectrophotometers, expressed in systems like CIE L*a*b*. For fruit,…
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Colour Sorting
Colour sorting separates fruit by ripeness colour using optical sorters with product-specific programmes. It is important for berries and stone…
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Comb Honey
Comb honey is honey sold as it was stored by bees, inside sealed sections of honeycomb. It is a premium…