A stone fruit specification that lists only size, colour and a microbiological panel will be accepted by any supplier and will protect no buyer. The parameters that decide whether a lot is usable sit elsewhere.
Pit and pit fragment control
This is a physical hazard and the only parameter capable of producing a recall. A specification should not state a tolerance and stop. It should name the detection method, whether X-ray, optical, or the two in series; state the smallest fragment the system is verified to detect; and state how often that sensitivity is verified with test pieces. A supplier who can answer all three has designed the control. A supplier who quotes only a tolerance is inspecting for it.
Halving accuracy and cavity condition
For halves, the commercially relevant figure is the proportion of true, intact halves against broken, irregular and undersized pieces, measured on a defined sample mass. Cavity condition is separate: adhering stem tissue, skin flaps and residual pit membrane all show up in the finished product. Both are best agreed against photographic references rather than words.
Size and cut geometry
Size grading in stone fruit is not cosmetic. Pitters are matched to a size band, so a lot with a wide size spread has been through a pitter that fitted some of it. For slices and dice, state the nominal dimension, the tolerance and the acceptable fines fraction, and specify the fines after transport rather than at production.
Post-thaw behaviour
Frozen stone fruit assessed frozen tells you very little. Specify a thaw regime, defined mass, defined temperature and defined time, then assess firmness, drip loss and colour against that regime. Free-flow behaviour should be assessed after a simulated temperature excursion, because that is what a real journey delivers.
The horizontal requirements
Pesticide residues under Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 apply active by active and species by species, so a residue panel designed for pome fruit is not a panel for apricot. Contaminant limits sit in Regulation (EU) 2023/915. Both are amended regularly; specify against the current consolidated text rather than against a number copied into a template.
The processing guide explains where each of these parameters is won or lost on the line.