Yes. For things just harvested, mass is affected by recent rainfall adhering to the product and even humidity absorbed into it.
I saw a documentary on spices in India (I think it was called "The Spices of India" [1985]). It showed buyers in a market feeling the bulk product with their hands to estimate its humidity. > From: Carleton MacDonald <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Sat, 24 May 2008 13:24:28 -0400 > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > Subject: [USMA:40967] Re: dry pints of tomatoes > > This way of measuring probably dates back to old country days when stores > sold fruit and vegetables without benefit of a scale, rather by volume only. > > > A few years ago we were taking our son to a summer camp in Delaware, near > Lewes and Rehoboth Beach. On the way home we stopped by a roadside produce > stand. Something was being sold by a "quarter peck." I asked one of the > workers what a "peck" was and he didn't know, just that it was about "that > much" big (pointing to what was being sold). > > There's a lot of strange legacy stuff that will have to get cleaned out when > the day finally comes. > > Carleton > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf > Of James Frysinger > Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2008 08:31 > To: U.S. Metric Association > Subject: [USMA:40966] Re: dry pints of tomatoes > > Pierre, > > Some fresh produce may be sold by weight or by dry (capacity or volume) > measure: e.g., beans, berries, tomatoes, plums, mushrooms, etc. Some > fresh produce may be sold by weight or by count. Some fresh produce must > be sold by weight. > > Those are not required to have SI units indicated. > > I, too, find it frustrating. How does one compare the prices on fresh > strawberries (sold by the pint) and frozen strawberries (sold by the > pound and gram)? Which one is the better deal? I've been known to put a > pint of strawberries on the scale in the produce department to make that > comparison. (I mentally allow for packaging and trim waste.) It sure > gets me some strange looks! > > Jim > > Pierre Abbat wrote: >> I've bought some cherry tomatoes that came in a package marked "one dry > pint", >> with no metric equivalent. (I've also seen some packages with an > equivalent >> in milliliters.) I sent an email pointing out that labeling a grocery >> only "one dry pint" is illegal and asking that they be labeled in grams (I > >> weigh tomatoes when making a recipe). >> >> I just brought up the FPLA and there is no mention of a dry pint anywhere. > >> There's no mention of a liter either. The regulations mention dry pints, > but >> is it legal to sell tomatoes by volume? I think they're too big to be >> accurately measured by volume and should be sold by mass. >> >> Pierre >> >> >> >> > > -- > James R. Frysinger > 632 Stony Point Mountain Road > Doyle, TN 38559-3030 > > (H) 931.657.3107 > (C) 931.212.0267 >
