Do mini carrots come from big carrots or are they grown that way?

Question

A friend and I disagree however when you examine a mini carrot it is exactly that..... a mini carrot.......not the inside piece of a whiddled down regular carrot!! Do you get what I am asking? he says they carve regular carrots down to mini carrots I say they are grown small....whats the answer and can you back it up with some facts to support you?? I need to know!! :-)

Answer 1

They are whittled down from "regular" carrots....check the link for more info; about the 4th paragraph down.

Answer 2

Your friend is correct; mini-carrots are whittled down from full sized carrots to become small - that's why you never need to peel them.

They are usually made from carrots that don't 'make the cut' for being sold whole. Maybe they're too long, or too fat, or maybe they're just oddly shaped (people are very picky about their vegetables, even when it wouldn't affect the taste). The companies then use the carrot shavings (the left-overs from whittling) for salads and cakes and such.

As far as facts and proof, see http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/7226.pdf . You'll have to scroll down to the fourth page, under the heading 'POSTHARVEST HANDLING'. It's right at the bottom of the left-hand column, where it talks about the 'Carrots for the cut-peeled market'

Answer 3

Mini-peeled carrots, or baby-cut carrots, were first introduced in 1989. Contrary to popular belief, baby carrots are not grown bite-sized. They are bred to be long and slender, and then cut into two-inch pieces and lathed to uniform width. Today they are the most popular "variety" of carrots in the marketplace!

Answer 4

Mini carrots are large carrots that are cut down. There are such things as baby carrots, but they're not too common. If you look at the packaging, most miniature carrots say "baby cut" to indicate that they're cut to resemble baby carrots. The stuff they cut off gets used in pre-bagged salads, frozen foods, soups, etc.

Answer 5

There are breeds of carrots that are really small, like baby corn, but in flash restaurants they do carve them so you both could be right.
I have grown some that were the size of my thumb.

Answer 6

Your friend is correct; mini-carrots are whittled down from full sized carrots to become small - that's why you never need to peel them.

Answer 7

It depends on the particular baby vegetable. Some are fully mature miniature versions of the vegetable, others are truly babies.

Answer 8

They are actual mini carrots.I live in Ca. in a city that grows and ships them year round.They are so sweet in flavor...

Answer 9

All I know,is...they're a whole lot smaller when I get thru with them,mmm,good!

Answer 10

there grown on bugs bunnys farm