The defects that generate real claims fall into three groups by cause: field and variety defects, process defects, and cold chain defects. Knowing which group a defect belongs to is what tells you whether to talk to the grower, the plant or the carrier.
Field and variety defects arrive with the crop. Over-mature or fibrous pieces, particularly in peas and beans where a few days of delayed harvest changes texture permanently. Discoloured, bruised or insect-damaged material. Off-size pieces where the crop grew unevenly. Extraneous vegetable matter, meaning leaf and stalk fragments of the same crop that are not the specified part.
Process defects come from the line. Under-blanching, which shows up not at intake but three to six months later as off-flavour and colour loss, and which is why the peroxidase record matters more than the appearance of a fresh sample. Over-blanching, giving soft texture and leached colour. Mechanical damage and breakage from over-aggressive handling or excessive belt drops. Clumping, where product was not fully frozen or fully separated before packing, which turns an IQF product into an effective block. Poor sorting, leaving foreign material or off-colour pieces in the pack. And net weight variation.
Cold chain defects come from temperature history. Freezer burn, a dehydrated pale surface caused by moisture loss through or within the pack. Ice crystals, glaze and internal snow, which indicate temperature cycling. Large recrystallised ice and mushy texture on thaw, which indicate a genuine partial thaw. Block formation in a free-flowing product.
The practical value of this split is diagnostic. Freezer burn and clumping in an otherwise well-made product point at storage and transport rather than at the plant, so the first document to read is the temperature record, not the certificate of analysis. Off-flavour developing late in life points at blanch validation. Fibrous texture points at harvest timing and variety.
Each of these needs a maximum, a sample mass and an assessment method in the specification, otherwise the argument at intake is about vocabulary rather than about the lot.