Wow: this much sand is in your jar of ground black pepper
The Keuringsdienst van Waarde has been investigating once again, and the results are not pretty. This time, our beloved pepper is put under the microscope. Pepper is the perfect spice for adding more flavor and a kick to food. But what is all that sand doing in it?
Made from the unripe berry of piper nigrum (the black pepper plant), which you can grind yourself in your pepper mill before using it. And after reading this article, you may well only use it that way from now on… Because according to the Keuringsdienst van Waarde, pre-ground pepper may contain quite a lot of sand.
Before you start celebrating that there is a pepper mill with peppercorns in your cupboard; sand was found in that too, only less of it.
More sand in a jar of ground pepper than legally permitted
The fact that there is sand in pepper is not exactly news; it is even legally permitted. The law stipulates that pepper may contain 1.5 percent sand, but you can probably guess what comes next: the actual percentage is considerably higher. Multiple studies have confirmed this. Researchers at Wageningen University, for example, shared their findings. They examined 15 jars of ground black pepper.
Personally, I think 15 jars is rather on the small side. But on the other hand, the amount of sand found in these jars was so high that you simply cannot ignore it.
33 times as much sand
Sand was found in every jar, but they also found salt, rice starch and corn starch mixed in with the ground pepper. The amount of sand varied from jar to jar: in one of the fifteen jars, there was even 33 times as much as the permitted amount. The jar that fared the worst? It contained just ten percent pepper. TEN. For me, that is reason enough never to put ground pepper in my shopping basket again.
Read also:
- The difference between black and white pepper
- Aha, so that is what the cap on your pepper and salt mill is for
- Raw vegetables: don’t eat this one if you want to stay a little healthy
Source: KRO-NCRV
