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Tomato sauce is a thin tomato product with garlic, onion, herbs, and spices used as a base for sauces and dishes. Food manufacturers must create quality tomato sauce to establish a good reputation, gain loyal customers and increase sales. Color consistency encourages consumers to choose your tomato sauce every time they make their favorite recipe.

Measuring tomato sauce color increases consumer adoption in these ways:

1. Ensures Consistency

Consistency in your tomato sauce color — and its overall quality — creates a sense of safety for your customers. Consumers are familiar with a product's desired color and expect your tomato sauce to match that image. If it does, they can use it confidently, knowing your product contains fresh, high-quality ingredients. 

2. Builds Brand Trust

The correct tomato sauce color fosters trust in your brand, leading to more future purchases. Consumers will expect the best quality products from your brand every time they purchase. When your tomato sauce is a consistent color, your customers will believe your company excels in other areas too. Their trust in your brand can lead to more sales for your company.

The desired red color of canned tomato paste comes from a mature tomato fruit with a sweet flavor and high concentration of lycopene. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) uses the tomato paste score (TPS) to grade the product and ensure it meets quality and consumer expectations.

Color and appearance matter because they are the first purchasing factors customers consider. When customers cook with tomato paste, they have certain expectations tomato paste manufacturers must meet to indicate the product's freshness.

Tomato soup is a quintessential comfort food for many, whether topped with crackers, enjoyed plain, or used as an ingredient in a recipe. Customers have high expectations for tomato soup's color and taste due in part to the Campbell Soup Company.

Tomato soup from Campbell's is the most popular and iconic condensed soup product in North America. Campbell's has become the leader in tomato soup by focusing on quality ingredients and standards to preserve the color and taste their customers have known and loved for over 100 years.

Tomato soup is a popular comfort food, and organic varieties combine wholesome nostalgia with healthy benefits. Organic tomato soup manufacturers use color management standards to produce soups that meet customers' expectations and keep them coming back for more.

Benefits of Organic Food

Organic foods offer several potential benefits, including:

• More nutrients: Organic food may have minor to moderate nutrient increases like antioxidants and flavonoids.
• Less pesticide residue: Organic food often has lower levels of pesticide residue due to the types of pesticides used in organic farming and the lack of airborne pesticides from conventional farms.
• Reduced metals: Organic food may have lower levels of cadmium — a metal that can be toxic in high concentrations — compared to food grown using conventional methods since organic farming does not use synthetic fertilizers.
• Lower bacteria amounts: Organic food often has lower levels of the dangerous types of bacteria than food produced through conventional methods.

Color is an important attribute of tomato quality. It is therefore precisely measured in raw tomatoes and tomato products to ensure consistent quality. 

The colorimetric grading scale and tomato grading standards help producers, tomato processors, and other stakeholders select the right tomatoes. Colorimetric scores quantify color to create the measurements needed to relate product quality to a grading scale. These scores and the grading process have been developed through extensive research and analysis to ensure color consistency and maturity.

Today's technological advancements in colorimetric measurement help offer higher standards for tomatoes and tomato-based products by providing fast and accurate testing of tomato color.

What Is Tomato Grading?

Tomato grading is a process for categorizing tomatoes by specific standards. The sizes and color of tomatoes are two factors considered in the grading process. Tomato grading helps set the price for tomatoes and can influence how they are stored, packaged, marketed, and shipped. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lists the following tomato grades and standards:

• U.S. No. 1. These tomatoes must be correctly formed and developed, smooth, clean, and mature. They must have uniform color and not be too soft. U.S. No. 1 tomatoes must also be free from damage, including sunscald, decay, and freezing.
• U.S. No. 2. These tomatoes must be mature, clean, well developed, and uniform in color. They must not be overripe, but they can be slightly rough in texture. They must not be seriously damaged and must specifically show no signs of decay, sunscald, or freezing damage. 
• U.S. Combination. These tomatoes consist of at least 60% of U.S. No. 1 tomatoes, with the remainder being U.S. No. 2 tomatoes.
• U.S. No. 3. These tomatoes need to be clean, mature, and uniform in color. They should be well developed and not overripe, but they may have irregular shapes. They must not show any signs of freezing injury, decay, and serious sunscald damage or any other significant damage.

As part of tomato grading, the USDA considers color classification when evaluating the maturity of and thus grading of red-fleshed tomatoes at different tomato ripening stages. The USDA classifies tomatoes into the following colors:

• Green. These tomatoes have a fully light green to dark green surface. 
• Breakers. On no more than 10% of the surface of these tomatoes, green gives way to other colors, such as yellow, red, or pink.
• Turning. On 10%-30% of the surface of these tomatoes, green gives way to red, pink, red, or a combination of these colors. 
• Pink. On these tomatoes, 30%-60% of the surface is pink or red.
• Light red. On these tomatoes, at least 60% of the surface is red or pink-red. No more than 90% of the tomato surface can be red.
• Red. These tomatoes have red on more than 90% of their surface.

There is an objective colorimetric standard scoring system to determine product maturity and quality.

Colorimetric measurement and spectrophotometry are continually developing to meet the standards set forth by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture). The USDA Processed Products Standards and Quality Certification Program uses a minimum standard grading chart to identify product value based on color measurement and consistencies.

Color is such a strong indicator of product quality that 30 of the 100 points awarded to the product are solely attributed to color alone. However, color measurement does present its challenges and can vary throughout the different stages of development and ripening process.

Measuring the color of tomatoes is an essential step for identifying the ripeness, quality, and salability of the product for consumption. The tomato's color is an indicator of its maturity and plays a crucial role in determining the flavor and texture of the fruit.

Understanding the color of tomatoes can help producers, distributors, and retailers ensure they provide their customers with the best possible product. Consistently meet quality standards by verifying the desired tomato color before shipping, processing, or selling the product.

The Case for Tomato Color Measurement

Tomatoes change color as they ripen, and different stages of ripeness are associated with different colors. Unripe tomatoes are green, and the fruit will become yellow, orange, or red as it grows and ripens, depending on the variety. A tomato's color can provide insight into its freshness as well. Tomatoes that are picked too early or have been improperly stored may be pale in color. Natural variation will occur, but fresh tomatoes should have a vibrant, mostly uniform color.

In addition to determining ripeness, the color of a tomato can also indicate its nutritional content. Red tomatoes are high in lycopene, an antioxidant that is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer. By measuring the color of tomatoes, producers and distributors can ensure that they provide their customers with the most nutritious product possible.

Tomato paste and tomato sauce have different textures, flavors, and uses in culinary dishes. Tomato paste is a concentrated paste made from cooked, strained, and pureed tomatoes. Tomato sauce is a thin product made from pureed, simmered, and seasoned tomatoes.

Customers have specific color and appearance expectations for paste and sauce. Tomato product manufacturers must understand these perceptions and use effective color measurement and management solutions to create products that match expectations.