Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990) Regulations Grading, Packing and Marking of Canned and Pickled Vegetables intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa Part I : Definitions, Scope and Restrictions 1. Definitions

 

In these regulations, unless the contents indicate otherwise, any work or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act, shall have that meaning and—

 

"A2½ container "

means a container with a capacity of 853ml;

 

"200 mm sieve"

means a sieve with a diameter of 200 mm, with apertures of 2,36 mm, manufactured from wire with a diameter of not less than 0,9 mm and not more than 1,25 mm;

 

"300 mm sieve"

means a sieve with a diameter of 300 mm, with apertures of 2,36 mm, manufactured from wire with a diameter of not less than 0,9 mm and not more than 1,25 mm;

 

"address"

means a physical address and includes the street or road number or name and the name of the town, village or suburb and, in the case of a farm, the name or number of the farm and of the magisterial district in which it is situated;

 

"assignee"

means a person, undertaking, body, institution, association or board designated under section 2(3) the Act;

 

"batch"

means a definite quantity of table olives produced essentially under the same conditions, and not exceeding a period of 24 hours;

 

"blemishes"

means an external defect on the surface of the vegetable which detrimentally affects the overall appearance of the canned and pickled product, and which are caused by factors such as rain, hail, sun, wind, insects, cold, heat, handling practices and transport (e.g. bruises, scab, and dark discoloration);

 

"brine"

means a solution of sodium chloride in water where the solution is used for curing, flavouring and/or preserving the canned vegetables and pickled vegetables;

 

"Brix"

means the soluble solids content as determined  by means of a refractometer corrected to 200C

 

“canned vegetables”

means commercially sterile vegetables packed with or without a suitable liquid packing medium, or sauce or which have been vacuum packaged in hermetically sealed containers;

 

“close proximity”

means in the immediate vicinity of or nearest/ closest/ next to, and which shall not be interrupted or separated by for example any wording, symbols, figures, lines, depictions, etc.;

 

"colourant"

means a permitted substance as defined in the regulations published under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972);

 

"commercially sterile"

means the condition achieved by application of heat, sufficient, alone or in combination with other appropriate treatments, to render the vegetables free from micro-organisms capable of growing in food at normal non-refrigerated conditions at which the vegetables are likely to be held during distribution, storage and display;

 

"container"

means the immediate packaging in which table olives are presented for sale;

 

"defects"

unless otherwise specified, with regard to canned and pickled vegetables mean—

 

"diameter"

with regard to vegetable units, means the largest diameter measured at right angles to the longitudinal axis;

 

"drained mass"

means the mass, in grams, of the drained contents of a container of canned or pickled vegetables, determined as prescribed in the methods of inspection in regulation 21;

 

“Executive Officer”

means the officer designated under section 2 (1) of the Act;

 

"extraneous vegetable matter"

means any harmless parts (e.g a leaf or portion thereof, etc.) of a plant or originating from other plant sources which are not normally present in the canned or pickled vegetables concerned, but excludes stems in the case of canned or pickled vegetables packed intentionally with the stem attached;

 

"food additive"

means a permitted substance as defined in the regulations published under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972);

 

"foodstuff"

means a foodstuff as defined in the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972);

 

"foreign matter"

means any matter such as but not limited to sand, soil, dust, mud or grease not normally present in, on or between canned or pickled vegetables, but excludes extraneous vegetable matter, and any added foodstuffs and food additive allowed for in terms of these regulations;

 

“herbs”

mean the either fresh, dried or extract of the non-toxic leafy green or flowering parts of a plant used for among others the flavouring of foodstuffs;

 

"hermetically sealed containers"

means containers which are sealed to protect the contents against the entry of micro-organisms during and after heat processing;

 

“inspector”

means an officer under the control of the Executive Officer, or an assignee or an employee of an assignee;

 

"label"

means any tag, brand, mark, pictorial, graphic or other descriptive matter, which is written, printed, stenciled, marked, embossed, impressed upon, or permanently attached to a container of table olives, and includes labelling for the purpose of promoting its sale or disposal;

 

"liquid medium"

means the following products (either single or in combination) in which canned or pickled vegetables are packed;

 

"main panel"

means that part(s) of the container, outer container or label that bears the brand name or trade mark of the product in greatest prominence or any other part of the container or label that bears the brand name or trade mark in equal prominence;

 

"manufacturer"

means any establishment which process vegetables to produce canned and/or pickled vegetables;

 

"mayonnaise"

means the products as defined in the latest regulations relating to the classification, packing and marking of mayonnaise and salad dressing intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa published under the Act;

 

"microbiological spoilage"

means spoilage of a microbiological nature, determined as prescribed in the methods of inspection;

 

"outer container"

means any packaging in which more than one container of canned or pickled vegetables is packed irrespective whether it completely or partially encloses the containers, but excludes any type of outer container used only for the purpose of transporting the canned or pickled vegetables products concerned (e.g. crates, lugs, corrugated cartons, etc.);

 

"packed to capacity"

means that the container has been filled with the maximum quantity of vegetables or parts thereof that can be sealed therein without breaking or crushing the contents;

 

"packer"

means any—

 

"packing medium"

means a liquid medium or sauce in which canned or pickled vegetables are packed;

 

"pickled vegetables"

means that the vegetables have been—

 

"production group"

means a quantity of canned or picked vegetables with the same factory, product and date of manufacturing codes described in regulation 16;

 

“salt”

means a substance as defined in the regulations published under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972);

 

"sauce"

means packing medium such as but not limited to tomato sauce, sweetened or non-sweetened sauce, gravy and mayonnaise, etc. in which canned or picked vegetables may be packed in;

 

"sound"

with regard to canned or picked vegetables, means that such vegetables are free from any external or internal disorders which detrimentally affect the quality of the vegetables;

 

“spices”

means dried, pungent or aromatic substances of edible plant origin (i.e. from the fruit, root, stem, bulb, bark or seeds) primarily used for flavouring, colouring or preserving of foodstuffs;

 

“sugar”

means the product as defined in the Codex Standard for Sugars (CODEX STAN 212-1999);

 

"the Act"

means the Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990); and

 

“trade mark”

means a trade mark as defined in the Trade Marks Act, 1993 (Act No. 194 of 1993);

 

"trimmed"

with regard to canned or pickled vegetables, means that defective or blemished portions have been cut away and "trimming" has a corresponding meaning;

 

“transparent”

in relation to containers and outer containers, means that an area of at least a 25 percent continuous portion of the main panel or back panel, or across any two adjacent panels, of a container or outer container is transparent;

 

"uniform colour"

means that the product consists of units with a colour which do not vary significantly within the product concerned with regard to colour ;

 

"vacuum packaged"

means canned or pickled vegetables packed in a packing media that does not exceed 20% of the product's net mass;

 

"variant name"

means a name used in addition to and separately from the name of the product to, amongst other— ;

 

“vinegar”

means the product as defined in the latest regulations relating to the classification, packing and marking of vinegar and imitation vinegar intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa published under the Act; and

 

“water”

means potable water as described in the latest version of the SANS 241-1 Drinking Water Standard.