SABRA SEEKS STANDARDIZED HUMMUS DEFINITION

Sabra Seeks Standardized Hummus Definition

Sabra Dipping Company filed a petition with U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a national standard of identity for hummus. The petition calls for hummus to be comprised mainly of chickpeas with no less than 5 percent tahini, and defines hummus as “the semisolid food prepared from mixing cooked, dehydrated, or dried chickpeas and tahini with one or more optional ingredients.” The FDA has established standards of identity for a range of products, including peanut butter, ketchup, mayonnaise, and cream cheese. Sabra states that its proposed standards align with those in other regions of the world, including the EU, Israel, and Jordan.

“As the popularity of hummus has soared in the United States over the past decade, the name has been applied to items consisting primarily of other ingredients,” says Tulin Tuzel, chief technology officer of Sabra, in a press statement. “From black beans and white beans to lentils, soybeans, and navy beans, everyone wants to call their dip ‘hummus.’ This truly does cause confusion for retailers and consumers in what is still an emerging food category.”