Q: Why are some carrots split or deeply cracked, and why are more of these showing up in stores? Are they safe to eat?
A: What agricultural experts call growth cracks can originate during the growth period, typically when a period of little water in the soil is followed by a period of too much water.
The carrot, Daucus carota, subspecies sativus, prefers consistent moisture the whole time it is growing, according to the website for the World Carrot Museum. Moisture-sensitive during growth and storage, carrots can also crack if they dry out after harvest. Some cultivated varieties are more susceptible to cracks than others.
Other factors that can contribute to cracking include the overuse of certain fertilizers, high growth temperatures, heavy soil texture and the strength of the outer layer of the root.
The periodic availability of cracked carrots could depend on supply and demand, with dealers and consumers more likely to accept cosmetically inferior examples when demand is strong and the crop is small.
In developed countries, discarding ugly but edible food contributes significantly to food waste, according to the Rockefeller Foundation’s initiative to fight the problem.
Cracking is just one of the blemishes that can lead to rejection of edible and nutritious carrots. A project by photographer Tim Smyth shows the many flaws that can be screened for by an optical sorting device called Focus.
As to the safety of cracked carrots, common sense should be the rule, relying on careful cleaning and judicious paring. Growth cracks can lead to carrots being given lower grades under U.S. Department of Agriculture standards on appearance grounds. But the department’s threshold for “serious damage” involves defects that cannot be removed without a loss of more than 20 percent of the carrot in ordinary preparation.
About the Author
