Purpose: Provides information on the Tomato Tile for ColorFlex EZ.
FAQ: What is the new Hunter Lab Tomato Tile and how does it compare to the BCR-400 tile? How can I be certain that I am measuring my products correctly with this new tile?
Answer:
The new Hunter Lab Tomato Tile is the HunterLab replacement for the original Tomato Tile, often referred to as the BCR-400 Tomato Tile. The BCR-400 tile is no longer available for use or purchase as the materials and pigments used to manufacture this tile have been discontinued.
L02-1014-594 Tomato Paste Reference Tile (100-mm x 100-mm; 4-in x 4-in)
Due to these pigments not being available, there are some slight differences in the appearance between the BCR-400 tile and the HunterLab Tomato Tile. However, when the HunterLab Tomato Tile is properly hitched, the combination of instrument and hitch tile will yield correct tomato scores for your products.
FAQ: How can I be certain that I am measuring my products correctly with this new tile?
Answer:
To verify that the hitch is being properly applied to your product readings, we suggest that you perform the procedure as outlined below for each instrument that you wish to check.
- Fit the ColorFlex EZ with the Sample Cup Port Plate and standardize the instrument.
- Navigate to the Product Setup and Hitch the instrument to the new HunterLab Tomato Tile.
- First make sure that the Standard type is set to Hitch in the Product Setup. Next navigate to the Standard Values section.
- Place the HunterLab Tomato Tile at the port of the instrument and take a reading.
- Use the instrument keypad to adjust the Read Values to match the Assigned Values on the back of the tile.
- Navigate to the Main Menu and take a reading of the HunterLab Tomato Tile to verify the measured values.
- Next take a reading of your tomato product and note the measured values.
FAQ: Why are there three different types of tomato tiles - current and historical.?
Answer:
More than 20 years ago, the USDA/ UC-Davis laboratory sold a Tomato Soft Standard. This was a can of processed tomato sauce with calibrated scores. One could purchase this sauce and use it to hitch their colorimeter readings. HunterLab created a porcelain enameled steel tile in a Tomato Red color that closely matched the Tomato Soft Standard color and HunterLab hitched these tiles to the Soft Tomato standard, so the customer had no need to deal with the single use Tomato Soft Standard. Instead, they could purchase this tile to use to hitch their instrument.
In 1991 the European Community created a high lead glass glaze on a ceramic backing tile in a red color to mimic a plum tomato. This tile was called the BCR-400 tile. Unique to this tile is that all of the BCR-400 tiles produced were measured on a HunterLab D25 during that 1991 period and calibrated values were assigned. These tiles were put in storage and sold when requested. By 2015 they were no longer available.
As far as future availability of these tiles we have a problem with the EU and EPA and their desire to remove lead and other heavy metals from our existence. The pigments used to create the red shade for the HunterLab USDA/UC Davis red tile and for the BCR Tomato tile are now banned and no longer available. Existing USDA/UC Davis and BCR tiles are still in use but are no longer sold.
Seeing the need for a Tomato Hitch tile HunterLab had a tile specially formulated to be the closest environmentally friendly match to the no longer available BCR Tomato tile, but it is not an exact match since different pigments are used. We call this tile the HunterLab Tomato tile. All HunterLab Tomato tiles are hitched using a Master ColorFlex EZ and have values assigned in Hunter L,a,b C/2 coordinates. This ensures that these tiles have a common assignment, in the same fashion as the BCR-400.
Please note that since the color is not an exact match there are differences in the L a b values and in the a/b ratio for these tiles.
The purpose of a Hitch tile is to improve agreement between multiple users in different locations using the same type of spectrophotometer. This agreement only occurs when the same type of Hitch tile is used with each spectrophotometer. If one location switches to the new HunterLab Tomato tile, then all other locations that share data will need to switch to the new HunterLab Tomato tile.
The user will notice that due to the different colors of the three types of tiles they have different assigned values. The example below shows the assignment difference between three randomly selected tiles. In this example a sample of 8.5 brix paste prepared, then a single LabScan XE was hitched first to the UC-Davis/USDA tile and the Paste was measured, this was repeated for the other two tiles with the same cup of paste measured for each different hitch. The results show the typical differences a user might expect if they replace their existing tile with a new HunterLab Tomato tile.
8.5 brix Paste measured on LabScan XE
| Tile Hitch Values | Hitched to the tile described to the left | |||||
| Tile Type | L | a | b | a/b | a/b | TPS |
| UC-Davis/USDA | 28.54 | 29.23 | 10.88 | 2.69 | 2.47 | 47.34 |
| BCR-400 | 25.4 | 33.3 | 14.6 | 2.28 | 2.06 | 46.70 |
| HunterLab Tomato | 27.7 | 32.2 | 13.8 | 2.33 | 2.08 | 46.87 |
Conclusion
In our study, we have found the difference in tomato scores of measured tomato product, when comparing the original and new HunterLab Tomato Tile, to be less than one unit when the above procedure is followed.
Do you still need more information? Submit a ticket and our support team member will reach out to you soon!
Please check the attached document for more information.
Do you still need more information? Submit a ticket and our support team member will reach out to you soon!