In June 2024, the Rushi Spice Company Investigation Team conducted an in-depth examination of the pepper production areas in Hainan, assessing and evaluating the food safety levels of pepper raw materials from cultivation, initial processing, and storage perspectives. This analysis was based on the "Food Safety Risk Assessment Guidelines" provided by the National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, combined with the actual conditions of agricultural products.

1. Traceability Risk

Base Pepper: Traceable to individual farmers.
Household Pepper: Originates from numerous small farmers, making traceability challenging and posing a certain level of traceability risk.

2. Pesticide Residue Risk

Base Pepper: Utilizes water and fertilizer for pest control without pesticide application.
Household Pepper: Pesticide use is minimal, and the drying process removes the outer skin, resulting in low pesticide residue risk.

3. Initial Processing Risk

Processing: Includes soaking and peeling of pepper, with minimal foreign object risk. The main issues are pepper stalks and incomplete peeling, resulting in low initial processing risk.

4. Storage Risk

Base Pepper: Stored in woven bags with inner linings.
Household Pepper: Stored in woven bags at room temperature. Risks include contamination from non-food-grade plasticizers and volatilization of effective substances.

Botanical Description

Pepper is a perennial climbing vine with hairless stems and branches, often rooting at the nodes. The leaves are nearly leathery, broadly ovate or ovate-elliptic, and hairless on both surfaces. Flowers are monoecious with unisexual flowers, usually shorter than or equal to the leaves. The fruit is spherical, red without a stalk, turning black when dry and immature.

Sensory Description: Surface is grayish-white or pale yellow-white, smooth, with numerous shallow linear stripes between the top and base. The cross-section is yellow-white, powdery, with small voids. The aroma is fragrant, and the taste is spicy.

White Pepper: Harvested when 70% ripe, peeled, and sun-dried.

Black Pepper: Harvested when 60-70% ripe, sun-dried without peeling.

Due to lower prices, most Hainan farmers process pepper into white pepper for sale.

Main Production Area

Located in Hainan Province, with an elevation of 0-100m. The terrain is primarily low hills, with sandy loam soil and a tropical monsoon maritime climate. The planting season is from June to August, using cuttings from pepper plants over a year old. Planting density is 2.3*2.2m per column, with six plants per column.

Fertilization and Irrigation

Fertilization occurs 4-10 times annually, using compound, organic, and farmyard fertilizers. Methods include spreading, foliar application, and fertigation, with each application amounting to 200-300kg per mu. Irrigation uses well, river, or reservoir water with mechanical spray or drip irrigation.

Pest and Disease Management

Pesticides are applied 1-2 times before flowering and fruit setting, alongside water and fertilizer pest control. Harvesting is done manually on sunny days to ensure quality and yield.

Processing Steps

Threshing: Separating fresh pepper into granules using mechanical equipment.
High-temperature curing: Using high-temperature steam to cure the pepper skin.
Peeling: Mechanically peeling the steam-cured pepper.
Separation and Decontamination: Washing and manual screening.
Drying: Drying at 50℃ for 8 hours.

Storage

Stored at room temperature in a well-ventilated, cool environment to prevent pests and rodents. Packaging involves woven bags with inner linings for long-term quality preservation.

Traditional Processing

Includes soaking fresh pepper in water for 8-15 days, manual rubbing, and washing to remove the skin, followed by 2 days of drying on clean tarpaulins. The dried pepper is then packaged in woven bags and stored at room temperature.

Rushi Spice Company's Approach

1. Early-stage Area Research

Organize field research, sampling, and testing at the beginning of the new harvest season to evaluate pepper quality and food safety.

2. Base Cooperation

Establish strategic partnerships with pepper cultivation bases, providing full guidance and monitoring throughout the process, implementing standardized management.

3. Advanced Agricultural Practices

Promote the use of low-toxicity, low-residue pesticides, and green pest control measures such as insecticidal lamps and yellow boards. Support increased use of organic fertilizers to reduce chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

4. Raw Material Sampling and Testing

Conduct sampling according to GB/T 12729.2-2020 standards for each batch of raw materials upon arrival, performing internal or external testing, and recording results. Return non-compliant raw materials.

5. Storage

Classification: Store raw materials separately to prevent cross-contamination.
Low-temperature Storage: Store in large-capacity cold storage at -10-0℃ to minimize oxidation and volatilization of pepper aroma compounds.

6. Regular Quality Inspection

Conduct regular sensory and physicochemical index testing to monitor quality changes.

Through comprehensive risk management, base pepper is assessed as safe, while household pepper is considered relatively safe due to its complexity and higher management difficulty. Overall, the 2023-2024 harvest season shows normal climate conditions in Hainan, with good pepper growth. However, due to market oversupply, some farmers have abandoned management, leading to an estimated 11% decline in production compared to 2023.

Investigation Report: Pepper Risk Management and 2024 New Harvest Survey