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Notices Federal Register

51343 

Vol. 76, No. 160 

Thursday, August 18, 2011 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

[Document No. AMS–FV–11–0050, FV–11– 

326] 

United States Standards for Grades of 

Grapefruit Juice 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS), prior to undertaking 

research and other work associated with 

revising official U.S. grade standards, is 

soliciting comments on a request to 

revise the United States Standards for 

Grades of Grapefruit Juice. AMS 

received a petition from the Florida 

Citrus Processors Association asking 

AMS to consider revising the current 

U.S. grade standards for grapefruit juice 

to account for advances in industry 

processing technology. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

October 17, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments on 

the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov or to Brian E. 

Griffin, Inspection and Standardization 

Section, Processed Products Branch, 

Fruit and Vegetable Programs, 

Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., Room 

0709, South Building; STOP 0247, 

Washington, DC 20250; telephone (202) 

720–4693; fax (202) 690–1527, e-mail 

brian.griffin@ams.usda.gov. Comments 

should make reference to the date and 

page number of this issue of the Federal 

Register and will be made available for 

public inspection at the above office 

during regular business hours. 

Please be advised that all comments 

submitted in response to this notice will 

be included in the record and will be 

made available to the public on the 

Internet via http://www.regulations.gov. 

Also, the identity of the individuals or 

entities submitting the comments will 

be made public. The U.S. Standards for 

Grades of Grapefruit Juice identified in 

this notice are available either at the 

above address or by accessing the AMS 

Web site at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/ 

processedinspection. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brian E. Griffin, Inspection and 

Standardization Section, Processed 

Products Branch, Agricultural 

Marketing Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, telephone (202) 720–5021; 

or fax (202) 690–1527. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background 

AMS received a petition from the 

Florida Citrus Processors Association, 

an association of citrus producers, 

requesting revisions to the United States 

Standards for Grades of Grapefruit Juice. 

These standards are issued under the 

Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 

U.S.C. 1621–1627). The petitioners are 

requesting the removal of the maximum 

limit for ‘‘free and suspended pulp’’ 

(referred to in the industry as ‘‘sinking 

pulp’’) from the U.S. grade standards for 

all forms of grapefruit juice. 

The current grade standards, effective 

since September 12, 1983, provide that 

grapefruit juice from concentrate, 

grapefruit juice, and frozen concentrated 

grapefruit juice establish limits for 

maximum free and suspended pulp as 

follows: Grade A—10 percent by 

volume, Grade B—15 percent by 

volume. Concentrated grapefruit juice 

for manufacturing requirements for 

maximum free and suspended pulp are 

as follows: Grade A—10 percent by 

volume, and Grade B—12 percent by 

volume. 

The petitioners believe that, with 

respect to maximum values for free and 

suspended pulp, the existing U.S. 

Standards for Grades of Grapefruit Juice 

do not take into account modern 

extraction and finishing technologies, 

nor are they supported by evidence of 

a correlation between these criteria and 

acceptable flavor. The petitioners are 

requesting that AMS revise the U.S. 

Standards for Grades of Grapefruit Juice 

by removing any parameters for 

maximum free and suspended pulp. 

The petitioners believe that removing 

the free and suspended pulp values 

from the grade standards would allow 

processors to process the entire 

grapefruit crop without resorting to 

expensive technologies that increase the 

cost of juice with no concomitant 

benefit. More mature grapefruit tends to 

be sweeter, but when juiced tends to 

cause the product to exceed maximum 

free and suspended pulp values. The 

petitioners have submitted research data 

covering a six-season period which 

illustrates levels of sinking pulp vs. 

naringin, and levels of sinking pulp vs. 

limonin using various extractor setups. 

The petitioners have also submitted data 

on a sensory evaluation performed by 

the University of Florida on consumer 

acceptability of grapefruit juice with 

two free and suspended pulp levels. A 

copy of the petitioner’s request and 

supporting documentation is located on 

the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov along with the 

current U.S. Standards for Grades of 

Grapefruit Juice. 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

AMS is soliciting comments on the 

proposed revision of the U.S. Standards 

for Grades of Grapefruit Juice. In 

particular, AMS would welcome 

comments and information regarding 

the probable impact on processors and 

growers. Further details are provided in 

the petition and are available from Brian 

E. Griffin at the previously mentioned 

address in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section or can be found on the 

Internet at http://www.regulations.gov. 

This notice provides for a 60-day 

comment period for interested parties to 

comment on the proposed revision of 

the U.S. Standards for Grades of 

Grapefruit Juice. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627. 

Dated: August 10, 2011. 

David R. Shipman, 

Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–20787 Filed 8–17–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Mendocino Resource Advisory 

Committee 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

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