VANCOUVER – A Canadian pulse crop grader says it’ s time trading nations developed common procedures for inspecting peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas.
“Hopefully there can be some changes down the road,” said Fraser Gilbert, agri manager with SGS Canada Inc., a private grain inspection agency.
He said the current system is subjective and leads to confusion between trading partners.
Recent examples include squabbles over heated red lentils, shriveled green peas and the sizing and green seed content of kabuli and desi chickpea shipments.
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Gilbert said the grading system ignores quality factors like granulometry, hydration, cooking suitability and protein.
Instead, it focuses on visual appeal factors like color and staining. This makes pulse crops more difficult to grade than grain and oilseeds, he told an international conference of pulse traders who gathered in Vancouver June 6-8.
But his views aren’ t shared by Canadian Grain Commission chief inspector Len Seguin.
“He seems to think that pulses are different than other grains and personally, I’ m not convinced that they are because all grains have some factors that are measured subjectively and some that are measured very objectively,” Seguin said
He said wheat has subjective factors like frost, green and mildew, and objective factors like sprouted, protein and moisture.
He agreed that color is an important element in grading a crop like lentils, but the percentage of peeled, split and broken kernels is precisely measured.
Both graders agree there is little international consensus surrounding pulse crop inspections. What constitutes a No.1 lentil or pea in Canada differs from the interpretation in Australia or the United States.
“The systems are different to a degree,” said Seguin in a telephone interview.
Lentils are particularly bothersome. Damaged product is measured differently in Canada, Australia and the U.S. and the crop’ s appearance varies depending on where it was grown.
Seguin said most of the U.S. lentil crop is produced in a small region, making it fairly uniform in appearance, but that’ s not the case in Canada.
“We get more variability in the appearance of our product, which lends itself to a greater distribution among the various grades.”
Both inspectors think the solution to grading inconsistencies lies in the International Pulse Quality Committee, an initiative launched by Pulse Canada that includes pulse organizations from the U.S., Australia and the European Union.
The committee is attempting to develop standard names for the assortment of peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas sold around the world.
Seguin said that’ s just the first stage of the committee’ s work. The plan is to go beyond names and look at developing common grading practices.
