Food Protection Trends - January/February 2022 - 23

Figure 1. Dry field peas.
Figure 2. Chickpeas.
Photo courtesy of USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council.
Photo courtesy of USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council.
Figure 3. Lentils.
Figure 4. Dry field pea plants.
Photo courtesy of USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council.
Photo courtesy of USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council.
lettuce. This article provides a review the safety of three pulses
-chickpeas, lentils, and dry field peas-that are marketed as
raw agricultural products and destined for further processing.
Potential food safety hazards during growing, harvesting,
storage, and cleaning are discussed, along with industry best
practices to prevent food contamination. In addition, the
article characterizes the regulatory status of these pulse types
in the United States through a review of the new Food Safety
Modernization Act (FSMA) rules governing the growing,
storage, cleaning, packing or packaging, and distribution of
these commodities. Discussion of the FSMA regulations is
intended for educational purposes only and is not provided or
represented as legal advice. Specific questions regarding regulatory
compliance should be directed to professional licensed
legal counsel in food law and to the FDA's Technical Assistance
Network (TAN).
Legumes are part of the botanical family Papilionaceae and
include dry peas, lentils, chickpeas, dry beans, soybeans, fava
beans, peanuts, vetches, lupines, and alfalfa (2). The Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations uses the
term " legume " to refer to all leguminous plants. Their seeds
are categorized by oil content: pulses such as dry field peas,
lentils, and chickpeas are legumes having low fat content;
leguminous oil seeds (e.g., soybeans and peanuts) have high
fat content. Legumes have butterfly-shaped flowers that
produce pods with seeds.
All pulses are legumes and are defined by the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as " crops
harvested solely for dry grain of leguminous plants, excluding
crops harvested green, such as green beans and green peas,
which are considered vegetables " (6). Legumes and pulses
are the second leading group of plant food staples after cereal
grains and are recognized as good-quality vegetable protein.
Pulses are high in dietary fiber, resistant starch, protein,
vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial nutrients such as
phenolic acid, an antioxidant. The mean protein value for
lentils is 25%, for chickpeas is 21%, and for dry peas is 24%
(7). Legumes contain antinutritional factors, and most
of these nutrient inhibitors are heat labile and decrease
significantly with further processing by food service or by
consumer preparation. A description of three key pulse
commodities is as follows:
1) Dry field pea or " dry pea " is an important food crop
and grain legume derived from the common pea, Pisum
sativum subsp. arvense (L.) Asch (also referred to as
P. arvense), a herbaceous annual in the Fabaceae family
(Fig. 4). The crop matures and dries in the field and is
a commodity crop that is a distinctly different cultivar
from the succulent or garden pea. The succulent pea
is marketed as a fresh or canned vegetable, and some
varieties have an edible pod such as snow peas and sugar
peas. The common pea belongs to a different genus than
January/February Food Protection Trends
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Food Protection Trends - January/February 2022

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