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United States Standards

for Grades of Frozen 

Squash (Summer Type)

Effective August 29, 2013
This is the second issue, as amended, of the United States Standards for Grades of 

Frozen Squash (Summer Type) published in the FEDERAL REGISTER of July 30, 2013 

(78 FR 45907) to become effective August 29, 2013. This issue supersedes the first

issue, which has been in effect since April 3, 1953. 

Voluntary U.S. grade standards are issued under the authority of the Agricultural 

Marketing Act of 1946, which provides for the development of official U.S. grades to 

designate different levels of quality. These grade standards are available for use by 

producers, suppliers, buyers, and consumers. As in the case of other standards for 

grades of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, these standards are designed to 

facilitate orderly marketing by providing a convenient basis for buying and selling, for 

establishing quality control programs, and for determining loan values. 

The U.S. grade standards, grading manuals, handbooks or instructions for inspection of 

several fresh and processed fruits and vegetables are available on the internet and 

upon request at the address below. These manuals or instructions contain detailed 

interpretations of the grade standards and provide step-by-step procedures for grading 

the product. 

Grade standards are issued by the Department after careful consideration of all data 

and views submitted, and the Department welcomes suggestions which might aid in 

improving the standards in future revisions. Comments may be submitted to, and 

copies of standards and grading manuals obtained from: 

Director, Specialty Crops Inspection Division

Fruit and Vegetable Program, AMS, U.S. Department of Agriculture

1400 Independence Avenue, SW, STOP 0240

Washington, D.C. 20250

Phone: (202) 720-5870 Fax: (202) 720-0393

_______________________________________________________________________

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621-1627. 

Note: Compliance with the provisions of these standards shall not excuse failure 

to comply with the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

Act, or with applicable State laws and regulations.

Non-Discrimination Policy: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination against its customers, employees, 

and applicants for employment on the bases of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, religion, reprisal, and 

where applicable, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, sexual orientation, or all or part of an individual's income 

is derived from any public assistance program, or protected genetic information in employment or in any program or activity 

conducted or funded by the Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employment activities.) To File 

an Employment Complaint: If you wish to file an employment complaint, you must contact your agency's EEO Counselor (PDF) 

within 45 days of the date of the alleged discriminatory act, event, or in the case of a personnel action. Additional information can be 

found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_file.html. To File a Program Complaint: If you wish to file a Civil Rights 

program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form (PDF), found online at 

http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may 

also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail 

at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-

9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at program.intake@usda.gov. Persons with Disabilities: Individuals who are deaf, hard of 

hearing or have speech disabilities and you wish to file either an EEO or program complaint please contact USDA through the 

Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339 or (800) 845-6136 (in Spanish). Persons with disabilities who wish to file a program 

complaint, please see information above on how to contact us by mail directly or by email. If you require alternative means of 

communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) please contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 

720-2600 (voice and TDD).
United States Standards for Grades of Frozen Squash (Summer Type) (August 29, 2013)

1

United States Standards for Grades of Frozen Squash (Summer Type)

Section Page No.

§52.1961 Product Description. 2

§52.1962 Styles of Frozen Squash. 2

§52.1963 Grades of Frozen Summer Squash. 2

§52.1964 Ascertaining the Grade. 2

§52.1965 Ascertaining the Ratings for the Factors which are Scored. 3

§52.1966 Color. 3

§52.1967 Absence of Defects. 4

§52.1968 Character. 5

§52.1969 Ascertaining the Grade of a Lot. 6
United States Standards for Grades of Frozen Squash (Summer Type) (August 29, 2013)

2

§52.1961 Product description.

Frozen squash is the fresh, sound, immature product from the squash (summer type) 

plant hereinafter called frozen squash, which has been properly prepared and properly 

blanched, and is then frozen in accordance with good commercial practice and 

maintained at temperatures necessary for the preservation of the product.

§52.1962 Styles of frozen squash.

(a) Sliced.

(b) Cut.

§52.1963 Grades of frozen summer squash.

(a) U.S. Grade A is the quality of frozen squash that possesses similar varietal 

characteristics; that possesses a good flavor and odor; that possesses a good 

color; that is practically free from defects; that possesses a good character; and 

that scores not less than 85 points when scored in accordance with the scoring 

system outlined in this subpart.

(b) U.S. Grade B is the quality of frozen squash that possesses similar varietal 

characteristics; that possesses a reasonably good flavor and odor; that 

possesses a reasonably good color; that is reasonably free from defects; that 

possesses a reasonably good character; and that scores not less than 70 points 

when scored in accordance with the scoring system outlined in this subpart.

(c) Substandard is the quality of frozen squash that fails to meet the requirements 

of U.S. Grade B.

§52.1964 Ascertaining the grade.

(a) The grade of frozen squash may be ascertained by considering, in conjunction 

with the requirements of the respective grade, the respective ratings for the 

factors of color, absence of defects, and character.

(b) The relative importance of each scoring factor is expressed numerically on the 

scale of 100. The maximum number of points that may be given each factor is:

Factors Points

Color 20

Absence of defects 40

Character 40

Total Score 100
United States Standards for Grades of Frozen Squash (Summer Type) (August 29, 2013)

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(c) The scores for the factors of color, absence of defects, and character are 

determined immediately after thawing so that the product is sufficiently free from 

ice crystals to permit proper handling as individual units, and a representative 

sample of the product is cooked to ascertain tenderness of the frozen squash 

before final evaluation of the score for character. Flavor and odor are also 

ascertained on the cooked product.

(d) Good flavor and odor means that the product after cooking has a good, 

characteristic normal flavor and odor and is free from objectionable odors of any 

kind.

(e) Reasonably good flavor and odor means that the product after cooking may be 

lacking in good flavor and odor but is free from objectionable flavors and 

objectionable odors of any kind. 

§52.1965 Ascertaining the ratings for the factors which are scored.

The essential variations within each factor which is scored are so described that the 

value may be ascertained for each factor and expressed numerically. The numerical 

range within each factor which is scored is inclusive (for example, 17 to 20 points 

means 17, 18, 19, or 20 points).

§52.1966 Color.

(a) "A" classification. Frozen squash that possesses a good color may be given 

a score of 17 to 20 points. Good color means that the color of the squash is 

bright and typical of young and tender squash of similar varietal characteristics 

which has been properly processed.

(b) "B" classification. If the frozen squash possesses a reasonably good color, a 

score of 14 to 16 points may be given. Frozen squash that falls into this 

classification shall not be graded above U.S. Grade B regardless of the total 

score for the product (this is a limiting rule). Reasonably good color means 

that the color of the squash is typical of reasonably young and tender squash of 

similar varietal characteristics which has been properly processed.

(c) "SStd" classification. Frozen squash that fails to meet the requirements of 

paragraph (b) of this section may be given a score of 0 to 13 points and shall not 

be graded above Substandard, regardless of the total score for the product (this 

is a limiting rule).
United States Standards for Grades of Frozen Squash (Summer Type) (August 29, 2013)

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§52.1967 Absence of defects.

(a) General. The factor of absence of defects refers to the degree of freedom from 

harmless extraneous vegetable material, sand, grit, or silt, poorly cut units, units 

damaged by mechanical injury, and units damaged by discoloration, scars, insect 

injury, or damaged by other means.

(1) Unit means a whole squash or a portion of a squash.

(2) Damaged unit means any unit damaged by discoloration, scars, insect injury, or 

by any other means except damaged by mechanical injury to the extent that the 

appearance or eating quality of the product is materially affected.

(3) Seriously damaged means damaged to the extent that the appearance or 

eating quality of the unit is seriously affected.

(4) Harmless extraneous vegetable material means leaves, detached stems or 

portions thereof, or other similar vegetable material.

(5) Poorly cut means units with attached stems or stem material, very ragged units, 

or pieces of less than 1/2 slice in sliced style squash.

(6) Damaged by mechanical injury means broken or mashed to such an extent 

that the appearance or eating quality of the unit is seriously affected.

(7) Sand, grit, or silt means any particle of earthy material.

(b) "A" classification. Frozen squash that is practically free from defects may be 

given a score of 34 to 40 points. Practically free from defects means that the 

product contains no grit, sand, or silt that affects the eating quality or appearance 

of the frozen squash; that for each 12 ounces of units there may be present not 

more than one piece of harmless extraneous vegetable material. The combined 

weight of all other defects and defective units must not exceed 8 percent of the 

weight of the units: Provided, That

(1) Not more than 4 percent, by weight, is of damaged units and of such 4 

percent, not more than one-fourth thereof or 1 percent, by weight, of all the units 

consist of units that are seriously damaged; or

 

(2) Not more than 6 percent, by weight, is of poorly cut units, or of units damaged 

by mechanical injury, or any combination thereof of not more than 6 percent, by 

weight.
United States Standards for Grades of Frozen Squash (Summer Type) (August 29, 2013)

5

(c) "B" classification. If the frozen squash is reasonably free from defects, a 

score of 28 to 33 points may be given. Frozen squash that falls into this 

classification shall not be graded above U.S. Grade B regardless of the total 

score for the product (this is a limiting rule). Reasonably free from defects 

means that the product may contain a trace of sand, grit, or silt that does not 

materially affect the eating quality or appearance of the frozen squash; that for 

each 12 ounces of units there may be present not more than two pieces of 

harmless extraneous vegetable material. The combined weight of all other 

defects and defective units must not exceed 12 percent of the weight of the units: 

Provided, That

(1) Not more than 8 percent, by weight, is of damaged units and of such 8 

percent, not more than one-fourth thereof or 2 percent, by weight, of all the units 

consist of units that are seriously damaged.

(2) Not more than 10 percent, by weight, is of poorly cut units, or of units 

damaged by mechanical injury, or any combination thereof of not more than 10 

percent, by weight.

(d) "SStd" classification. Frozen squash that fails to meet the requirements of 

paragraph (c) of this section may be given a score of 0 to 27 points and shall not 

be graded above Substandard, regardless of the total score for the product (this 

is a limiting rule). 

§52.1968 Character.

(a) General. The factor of character refers to the fleshy texture, the tenderness, and 

the degree of development of the seeds.

(b) "A" classification. Frozen squash that possesses a good character may be 

given a score of 34 to 40 points. Good character means that the units are 

practically intact, are fleshy and tender, that the seeds are in the immature stage, 

and that not more than 5 percent, by weight of the units may be of reasonably 

good character.

(c) "B" classification. If the frozen squash possesses a reasonably good 

character, a score of 28 to 33 points may be given. Frozen squash that falls into 

this classification shall not be graded above U.S. Grade B regardless of the total 

score for the product (this is a limiting rule). Reasonably good character 

means that the units may show slight disintegration, may have list to a 

considerable extent their fleshy texture, may be reasonably tender, and that the 

seeds may have passed the immature stage of maturity, but are not hard and 

that not more than 10 percent, by weight, of the units fails to meet the 

requirements for reasonably good character.
United States Standards for Grades of Frozen Squash (Summer Type) (August 29, 2013)

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(d) "SStd" classification. Frozen squash that fails to meet the requirements of 

paragraph (c) of this section may be given a score of 0 to 27 points and shall not 

be graded above Substandard, regardless of the total score for the product (this 

is a limiting rule).

§52.1969 Ascertaining the grade of a lot.

The grade of a lot of Frozen Squash (Summer Type) covered by these standards is 

determined by the procedures set forth in the Regulations Governing Inspection and 

Certification of Processed Fruits and Vegetables, Processed Products Thereof, 

and Certain Other Processed Food Products (7 CFR 52.1 to 52.83).