A good spec for HPS peanuts or hulled sesame lists the product identity, the physical limits, the safety limits, the packing and the test methods. Each limit should come from your end use and your market's law, not from a supplier's template.
Below is a working outline. The numbers in brackets are for illustration only. The general approach is covered in how to write a good specification.
HPS peanuts: what to include
- Variety: Java (round) or Bold (long), and crop year. See Java and Bold peanuts.
- Count: kernels per ounce, such as 50/60 or 60/70, with a tolerance for out-of-count kernels.
- Moisture maximum (for illustration, around 7%).
- Foreign matter, including shells, stones and dust.
- Broken, split and damaged kernels, each with its own limit.
- Shrivelled, discoloured and mouldy kernels.
- Live insects nil, and limits for insect-damaged kernels.
- Aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxin, at or below your market's limit.
- Pesticide residues against your market's MRLs.
- Salmonella absent in a stated sample size, if the product is for ready-to-eat use.
Hulled sesame: what to include
- Type: mechanically hulled or auto-dried hulled, and natural white colour.
- Purity: commonly traded as 99.95%, for illustration. Define what counts as impurity.
- Moisture maximum (for illustration, around 5%).
- Unhulled seeds, black seeds and discoloured seeds, each with a limit.
- Free fatty acid, which indicates freshness and handling.
- Salmonella absent in a stated sample size, and limits for total plate count, yeast and mould.
- No ETO treatment, with testing for ethylene oxide and 2-chloroethanol.
- Pesticide residues against your market's MRLs.
- Whether steam sterilisation is required.
Common clauses for both
- Packing: bag type and weight, inner liner, labelling and lot coding.
- Sampling: who draws the sample, how many points, and sealed counter-samples.
- Test methods: named for each parameter, with the settlement lab.
- Documents: certificate of analysis, phytosanitary certificate, certificate of origin and any health certificate your market needs.
- Rejection and claims: what happens if a lot fails on arrival.
Mistakes to avoid
Do not copy a limit from another buyer's spec without checking it against your own law. EU, UK, US and Gulf limits for aflatoxin, residues and microbiology differ, and they change. Check current limits with your own regulator or lab.
Avoid vague words like good quality or export quality. If a term cannot be measured, it cannot be enforced. For sesame grades, see natural, hulled and black sesame.
Do not set limits so tight that no plant can meet them every time. A spec that every lot fails gets ignored. Ask the supplier for results from their last few lots, then set limits you can enforce.
Finally, link the spec to the approval sample. State that every shipment must match the approved sample as well as the written limits, and keep part of that sample sealed for comparison.
How we help
We draft the spec with you, check every limit against your market and test the supplier's sample at an NABL-accredited lab before you sign. The same spec then drives our pre-shipment inspection. Ask for a free sourcing review.