A fruit semi-processed product data sheet is a 2-4 page document full of acronyms and numbers. For someone who doesn’t work on the product every day, reading it in 10 minutes and deciding if a supplier is a good fit is difficult. Here are the items that really matter and the numbers to pay attention to.
The sections of a standard data sheet
A well-made industrial data sheet always has these sections:
- Product identification
- Raw materials and origin
- Physico-chemical characteristics
- Microbiological characteristics
- Organoleptic characteristics
- Allergens and declarations
- Packaging and shelf-life
- Storage conditions
- Nutrition label
Product identification
What must be there: sales name, supplier’s item code, precise botanical variety (not “fruit” but “Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck cv. Tarocco”), format (whole, 10 mm cubes, pulp, etc.), manufacturing process (single freezing, block, dried, etc.).
Red flag: vague designations such as “mixed fruit” without varietal detail.
Raw materials and origin
A serious card indicates: geographical origin (country, region, district), type of agriculture (conventional, integrated, organic), any certifications (DOP, IGP, Slow Food Presidia), list of added ingredients (sugars, antioxidants, preservatives).
Red flag: only “Italy” without specific region, presence of sulphites (E220-E228) not clearly declared, ingredient list hidden behind “natural”.
Physico-chemical characteristics
The standard parameters to check:
- Brix degree: with minimum-maximum range, not single value (e.g. “11-13 °Bx”, not “12 °Bx”).
- pH: with tolerance (e.g. “3.5 ± 0.3”).
- Total acidity: in g/100 g, expressed as prevalent acid (citric, malic, tartaric).
- Residual humidity(for dried).
- Water activity (Aw): below 0.65 to guarantee shelf-life without preservatives.
- Drip loss(for frozen foods): in % at 4°C at 12 hours.
Microbiological characteristics
The reference limits for ready-to-use frozen semi-processed products:
- Total bacterial load: < 10⁵ cfu/g
- Enterobacteria: < 10² cfu/g
- Yeasts and molds: < 10³ cfu/g
- Salmonella spp: absent in 25 g
- Listeria monocytogenes: absent in 25 g (for RTE products)
- E. coli: < 10 cfu/g
Red flag: absence of specific indication on Listeria for products intended for consumption without further cooking.
Organoleptic characteristics
Appearance, colour, flavour, smell, consistency. Vague descriptions (“good fresh fruit flavor”) are useless. Look for measurable descriptions or references to standards (e.g. “Pantone 1495 ± 50 Delta E color orange”).
Allergens
The 14 mandatory EU allergens must be declared with presence/absence/cross-contamination. For semi-processed fruit products the critical ones are: sulphites (E220-228), nuts (risk of cross-contamination in mixed factories), celery (in juice mixes).
Shelf-life and conservation
Two dates must be indicated: production (LOT) and best before date (TMC) or expiry date (DDC). For frozen foods, the standard shelf-life is 18-24 months at -18°C. For dried products, 12-18 months at room temperature in unopened packaging.
Nutrition label
For every 100 g: energy (kJ and kcal), fats (of which saturated), carbohydrates (of which sugars), fibre, proteins, salt. For semi-processed products that will become the final product for consumers, also admissible nutritional declarations (e.g. “naturally source of vitamin C” if contained >12 mg/100 g).
What to do in 10 minutes
The practical sequence:
- Check origin and variety.
- Check Brix and acidity within your tolerance ranges.
- Read allergens and cross-contamination.
- Compare microbiology to your own standards.
- Check shelf-life and transport conditions.
- Look for the CoA (batch certificate of analysis, separate attachment).
Request technical data sheetsof all our semi-processed products with updated CoA for each batch.
