What is the difference between baby carrots and regular carrot

Is it too good to be true? True baby carrots are carrots that are harvested when still immature. What many people call "baby carrots" are more accurately labeled "baby-cut" carrots -- adult carrots that have been whittled down to size by machines. One carrot may produce 3 or 4 baby-cut carrots. It's true that baby carrots along with lettuce and lots of other pre-cut raw vegetables are treated with a weak solution of chlorine and water to kill any bacteria that may be hitching a ride.

This practice doesn't present a health threat. Quite the opposite, sanitizing the vegetables vastly reduces the risk of food-borne infection. This chlorine solution doesn't soak into the vegetables and is completely rinsed off before the carrots are packaged.

Contrary to urban legend, the whitish coating that you sometimes see on baby carrots is not the result of "bleaching" but simply a sign that the surface of the carrots have dried out a bit. Farmers have cultivated special varieties of carrots for this market; they tend to be sweeter and have a less pithy core. That means that snackers who eat 10 baby carrots in one sitting are taking in Either way, the crunch of baby carrots is so satisfying, you just might be able to swap them for potato chips!

Per the USDA , one tablespoon of ranch dressing has 65 calories and 7 grams of fat. For a healthier dip, mix plain low-fat yogurt with your favorite dried or fresh herbs and seasonings. If food prices were based on nutritional value, the humble baby carrot would be far more expensive. Check it out:. Like regular-sized carrots, baby carrots get their bright orange hue from beta-carotene, an antioxidant that defends cells from damaging molecules known as free radicals.

According to research published by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai , carrots in general are one of the richest dietary sources of beta-carotene available. Per the USDA, one medium baby carrot contains micrograms of beta-carotene and international units of vitamin A.

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It happens to baby carrots more than normal carrots because of the additional processing involved. Baby cut carrots are made from longer carrots. The skin is taken off and then longer carrots are cut into smaller "baby" carrots.

The skin as in humans! These baby carrots are then washed in a chlorine solution before a final wash in potable water. This process is an attempt to ward off early degradation of the baby carrots. Most carrots are kept and processed in near freezing conditions and once they leave the packing plants experience warmer temperatures which encourage bacterial growth.

Storage conditions in supermarkets is far from ideal, in many cases. In the case of slimy carrots baby or otherwise one has to err on the side of caution and throw them away. Culls are carrots that are too twisted, knobbly, bent or broken to sell. Yurosek tried to be resourceful. He went on this way for decades, enduring the daily tragedy of the cull, and dreaming of a better world.

Yurosek had always been a "think outside the carrot patch" guy. In the s, Yurosek and Sons was selling carrots in plastic bags with a Bunny-Luv logo, a cartoon that got the farmers in trouble with Warner Bros. Instead of bringing in lawyers and spending a fortune, Yurosek recalls, "I said to my wife who is a pretty good drawer, 'Hey, draw me up about 50 bunnies, would you? Then we'll send them to Warner Bros.

The farmer continued growing carrots, and throwing them out, for decades. But in , Yurosek had the idea that would change American munching habits. California's Central Valley is dotted with farms, fruit and vegetable processors, and freezing plants. Yurosek knew full well that freezers routinely cut up his long, well-shaped carrots into cubes, coins and mini-carrots. First he had to cut the culls into something small enough to make use of their straight parts.

The first batch was done in a potato peeler and cut by hand. Then he found a frozen-food company that was going out of business and bought an industrial green-bean cutter, which just happened to cut things into 2-inch pieces.

Thus was born the standard size for a baby carrot. Next, he sent one of his workers to a packing plant and loaded the cut-up carrots into an industrial potato peeler to take off the peel and smooth down the edges. What he ended up with was a little rough but still recognizable as the baby carrot of today. After a bit of practice and an investment in some bagging machinery, he called one of his best customers, a Vons supermarket in Los Angeles. Stores paid 10 cents a bag for whole carrots and sold them for 17 cents.

By , more markets were on board, and the baby-carrot juggernaut had begun. Today, these "babies" come from one main place in the US: Bakersfield, California. The state produces almost three- quarters of U. Every day, somewhere in the state, carrots are either being planted or harvested 20 million pounds in Which is why Bakersfield is home to the nation's top two carrot processors: Grimmway Farms and Bolthouse Farms.

In the early s, Yurosek sold his company to rival Grimmway. The Bunny-Luv logo still can be found on Grimmway's organic carrots. But it's Bakersfield's other carrot producer, Bolthouse, that carries on the Yurosek tradition. Yurosek's grandson Derek is Bolthouse's director of agricultural operations. Carrots originally were sold in bulk, straight from the farm.

The first advance was the "cello" carrot. Introduced in the s, these were washed and sold in newfangled at the time cellophane bags. Enter the baby carrot. Suddenly carrots were "branded. Consumers could remember the name, and if they got a bad carrot, they wouldn't buy that particular brand any more. Breeders got to work, getting rid of woodiness and bitterness. They also bred for enhanced length, smoothness and a cylindrical quality that lets processors clip off as little of the tip as possible.

Balancing these with the desirable sweetness and juiciness is a delicate task, Simon says. The faintly bitter taste is essential to what makes a carrot taste like a carrot. Get the carrot too juicy and it breaks in the field. Breeders started experimenting with seed from varieties culled in the past for being too long to fit into the plastic bag. Now they're typically 8 inches long, a "three-cut" that can make three 2-inch babies.

And breeders are edging toward fields of even longer carrots. The baby-cut boom transformed the industry from its roots up. Mr Yurosek is often referred to as the "Father of Baby Carrots". By simply cutting carrots into 2-inch sections, he won a well-earned place in agricultural history.

Equally deserved is his legacy in business lore. Yurosek transformed an industry by addressing a common problem. Whereas most growers focused their energies on production excellence, Yurosek addressed another ingredient required for success: customer relevance.

Sadly he died of cancer in The Baby Carrot industry has been successfully rejuvenated in by the introduction of "Eat'em Like Junk Food" campaign, following the recent trend of fast food outlets trying to gain new customers by extolling the virtues of the healthiness of their offerings.

Read more here. Here's what Grimmways say about their baby carrots - Are baby carrots grown to be so small, or are they just regular carrots that have been cut to size? Baby carrots begin as full-size, long and slender carrots.

The variety that we use for our fresh, peeled baby carrots is a hybrid that combines the best qualities of more than known commercial carrot varieties. Because taste is very important to us, we allow the carrot to grow almost to its full maturity before harvesting.

The smaller carrots are then cut into two- inch pieces, peeled, polished and packaged. We use no food additives or preservatives in this process. If the carrots are stored at 33 to 40 degrees, they should maintain fresh for four to five weeks.

Dehydration causes a white coating on carrots. When carrots are peeled, they lose some of their natural moisture barrier, begin to dehydrate and may eventually develop a white color on the carrot surface. We use no chemicals or additives that would cause the white surface. We create our fresh, peeled baby carrots by first cutting the carrots into two- inch segments. After inspection and grading for defects and size, the carrots are peeled and polished.

This mechanical process uses no chemicals, food additives or preservatives. The carrots are then washed in water that is treated with a small amount of chlorine, then soaked and rinsed with potable water before being packaged. Carrots are then hydro-cooled to 34 degrees. Just prior to packaging, we inject less than half-an-ounce of water into the bag to help keep the carrots moist.

If you do, blanch the carrots first. Otherwise, they will turn mushy when they are thawed. If the carrots are still firm and crisp, you can use them for up to two weeks after the date on the bag. However, if they have become slimy, mushy, black, or have an off odor, you should not use the carrots. The specialty cut carrots baby, chips, shredded, etc. We do recommend that you wash whole carrots.

Peeling is personal preference. Most of our carrots are grown in California. However, we do have some fields in Colorado. Organic carrots are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. In addition, organic fields must be free from the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers for three years before being considered organic. Certification includes inspections of farm fields and processing facilities, detailed record keeping, and periodic testing of soil and water to ensure that growers and handlers are meeting the standards that have been set by certifying agencies.

Why is one little carrot so important? But according to the World Health Organization, eating vegetables like carrots can help prevent blindness caused by vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency partially or totally blinds nearly , children from more than 75 countries every year.

Roughly 60 percent of these children die within months of going blind. However, vitamin A deficiency is preventable. Vitamin A helps to prevent night blindness, dry skin, poor bone growth, weak tooth enamel, diarrhoea and slow growth.

The greatest health benefits come from eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.