Industrial plants processing frozen vegetables usually use high-quality produce, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the produce is free of insects. As the owner of one well-known firm expressed it, “A reasonable level of infestation does not disqualify the product.”
For this reason, the U.S. government standard, which is considered a strict one, permits dozens of small insects per 100 grams of certain frozen vegetables (Illustration 3).
Experiments and the testimony of consumers have confirmed that the level of infestation in frozen vegetables is about the same as that of the same vegetable in its fresh state.
Freezing makes the vegetable soft and sticky. Therefore, vegetables with a complex structure, such as cauliflower, are impossible to clean reliably once they’ve been frozen. The freezing does not cause the insects to disintegrate or become dismembered. They remain whole even after being frozen.
The procedure for checking frozen vegetables depends on the vegetable’s structure and the type of infestation. See the entry for each individual vegetable, where the method of checking it after it has been frozen is explained. In general, the methods fall into three categories:
1.Vegetables with a simple structure.
For firm vegetables without folds or cracks, such as peas, carrots, corn kernels, squash, onion, pepper, etc., the cleaning procedures used at the processing plant are effective, and these vegetables may be used without checking. Nevertheless, one would be well advised to watch out for snails or large insects among the pieces of vegetables.
2.Vegetables with a complex structure.
For vegetables whose structure provides refuge for insects, such as the florets of cauliflower and broccoli (Illustrations 161, 188-191), corn on the cob (Illustration 213), and whole or cut spinach leaves (spinach may harbor infestation inside the leaf tissue), the cleaning procedures used at the processing plant are not effective in removing the insects. After the vegetables have been frozen, there is no reliable way of cleaning them, and these products should not be used, unless they were produced from specially grown bug-free vegetables under the supervision of a high-quality hechsher with mashgichim experienced and who are expert in the area of food infestation.
3.Vegetables that come finely ground.
Vegetables that are sold already finely ground (into pieces smaller than a millimeter), such as ground spinach, parsley, dill, and coriander, may be used
