AFRICAN 
STANDARD  DARS  
871  
Second  Edition 2022 
 
 Reference No. DARS 871:2022 
ICS 67.060 
 
 
© ARSO 2022  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dry split peas — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DARS 871:2022  
ii © ARSO  2022 — All rights reserved   
Table of contents  
 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  1 
3 Definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................  1 
4 Quality requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  2 
4.1 Raw materials  ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................  2 
4.2 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  2 
4.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  3 
5 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  4 
5.1 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  4 
5.2 Pesticide residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  4 
6 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................  4 
7 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................  4 
8 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............................  4 
9 Sampling methods  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  5 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 6 
 
  DARS 871:2022  
© ARSO  2022 — All rights reserved  iii Foreword  
 
The African Organization for Standardization (ARSO) is an African intergovernmental organization 
established by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the Organization of 
African Unity (AU) in 1977. One of the fundamental mandates of  ARSO is to develop and harmonize 
African Standards (ARS) for the purpose of enhancing Africa’s internal trading capacity, increase 
Africa’s product and service competitiveness globally and uplift the welfare of African communities. The 
work of preparing A frican Standards is normally carried out through ARSO technical committees. Each 
Member State interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the 
right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, Regio nal Economic Communities 
(RECs), governmental and non -governmental organizations, in liaison with ARSO, also take part in the 
work.  
 
ARSO Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.  
 
The main task of techni cal committees is to prepare ARSO Standards. Draft ARSO Standards adopted 
by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an ARSO 
Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.  
 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of 
patent rights. ARSO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
 
This African Standard was prepared by the ARSO Technical  Committee on Cereals, pulses and derived 
products  (ARSO/TC 12). 
 
 
 
 
 
© African Organisation for Standardisation 2022 — All rights reserved* 
 
ARSO Central Secretariat  
International House 3rd Floor  
P. O. Box 57363 — 00200 City Square  
NAIROBI, KENYA  
 
Tel. +254 -20-2224561, +254 -20-3311641, +254 -20-3311608  
 
E-mail: arso@arso -oran.org  
Web: www.arso -oran.org  
  
                                                
* © 2022 ARSO — All rights of exploitation reserved worldwide for African Member States’ NSBs.  DARS 871:2022  
iv © ARSO  2022 — All rights reserved   
Copyright notice  
 
This ARSO document is  copyright -protected by ARSO. While the reproduction of this document 
by participants in the ARSO standards development process is permitted without prior permission 
from ARSO, neither this document nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored or 
transmitted in any form for any other purpose without prior written permission from ARSO.  
 
Requests for permission to reproduce this document for the purpose of selling it should be 
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© African Organisation for Standardisation 2022  — All rights reserved  
 
ARSO Central Secretariat  
International House 3rd Floor  
P.O. Box 57363 — 00200 City Square  
NAIROBI, KENYA  
 
Tel: +254 -20-2224561, +254 -20-3311641, +254 -20-3311608  
 
 
E-mail: arso@arso -oran.org  
Web: www.arso -oran.org  
 
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement. 
Violators  may be prosecuted.  
 
 
 
  DARS 871:2022  
© ARSO  2022 — All rights reserved  v Introduction  
 
Split peas  are an agricultural or culinary preparation consisting of the dried, peeled and split seeds of 
Pisum sativum . They are peeled, in that in addition to not being in the seed pod in which they grew, the 
splitting process also removes the dull colo ured outer skin of the pea. They come in yellow and green 
varieties. The peas are round when harvested and dried. Once dry, after the skin is removed, the natural 
split in the seed's cotyledon can be manually or mechanically separated, in part to encourage faster 
cooking due to increasing the surface area exposed to heat.  
 
Peas are part of the strategic food commodity basket recognized by the declaration of the African Union 
Food Security Summit held in December 2 006 in Abuja, Nigeria. This standard was harmonized as part 
of the response by the resolution of the AU Food Security Summit to harmonize standards and grades 
for strategic food commodities as a means of promoting and facilitating intra -African food trade.  Such 
facilitation would lead to free movement of food commodities from areas of surplus to areas of deficit, 
leading to overall achievement of food and nutrition security, food self -sufficiency and socioeconomic 
development of the African continent.  
 
 DARS 871:2022  
© ARSO  2022 — All rights reserved  1  
Dry split peas — Specification  
 
1 Scope  
 
This African Standard specifies the requirements and methods of sampling and test for dry split peas  
of varieties (cultivars) grown from Pisum sativum L. and Pisum sativum var. arvense L.  intended for 
human consumption . 
 
2 Normative references  
 
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated 
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced 
document (including any amendments) applies.  
 
ARS 53, General principles of food hygiene — Code of practice  
 
ARS 56, Pre-packaged foods — Labelling  
 
ARS 869, Dry whole peas — Specification  
 
AOAC Official Method 999.10:1999, Determination of lead, cadmium, copper, iron and zinc in foods — 
Atomic absorption spectrophotometry after microwave digestion  
 
AOAC Official Method 999.11:1999, Determination of lead, cadmium, copper, iron and zinc in foods — 
Atomic absorption spectrophotometry after dry ashing  
 
CODEX STAN 193, Codex general standard for contaminants an d toxins in food and feed  
 
ISO 605 , Pulses — Determination of impurities, size, foreign odours, insects, and species and variety 
— Test methods  
 
ISO 6579, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of 
Salmonella spp. 
 
ISO 6888 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration 
of coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — Part 1: Technique 
using Baird -Parker agar medium  
 
ISO 6888 -2, Microbiol ogy of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration 
of coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — Part 2: Technique 
using rabbit plasma fibrinogen agar medium  
 
ISO 6888 -3, Microbiology of food and  animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration 
of coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — Part 3: Detection 
and MPN technique for low numbers  
 
ISO 7251,  Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique  
 
ISO 21527 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration 
of yeasts and moulds — Part 2: Colony count technique in products with water activity less than or 
equal to 0.95  
 
ISO 24333, Cereals and cereal products — Sampling  
 
ISO 24557, Pulses — Determination of moisture content — Air-oven method  
 
3 Terms and definitions  
 
AFRICAN STANDARD  DARS 871: 2022  
2 © ARSO  2022 — All rights reserved  For the purpose of this standard the following definition s shall apply . 
 
3.1 
split peas  
threshed seeds  of the garden type pea plant ( Pisum sativum L. and Pisum sativum var. arvense L. ), 
which have been  split into halves or smaller pieces  
 
3.2 
bleached  split peas  
green -coloured varieties which are bleached distinctly yellow in colour or split peas of yellow -coloured 
varieties which are bleached distinctly green in colo ur 
 
3.3 
contrasting split peas  
split peas which are of a colour contrasting with the predominating class of split peas.  
 
Note 1 to entry: Bleached split peas of the predominating class shall not be considered as contrasting split peas.  
 
3.4 
damaged split peas  
split peas which are distinctly damaged by frost, weather, disease, heat (other than to a material extent), 
or other causes (except weevil or material heat damage), or are distinctly soiled or stained by 
nightshade, dirt, or toxic material.  
 
3.5 
defective split peas  
weevil -damaged split peas, heat -damaged split peas, damaged split peas, contrasting split peas, whole 
peas, white caps, and bleached split peas  
 
3.6 
foreign matter  
all organic and inorganic material (such as plant parts, sand, soil, glass, filth) other than peas  
 
3.7 
poisonous, toxic and/or harmful seeds  
any seed which if present in quantities above permissible limit may have damaging or dangerous effect 
on health, organoleptic properties or technological performance such as Jimson weed — Datura (D. 
fastuosa  L. and D. stramonium  L.) corn co ckle (Agrostemma  githago  L., Machai Lallium remulenum  L.) 
Akra (Vicia species) , Argemone mexicana , Khesari and other seeds that are commonly recognized as 
harmful to health  
 
3.8 
white caps  
split peas with seed  coats attached  
 
3.9 
food grade packaging material  
packaging material, made of substances which are safe and suitable for their intended use and which 
will not impart any toxic substance or undesirable odour or flavour to the product  
 
4 Requirements  
 
4.1 Raw materials  
 
The dry whole peas from which the dry split pea s are obtained shall comply with the requirements of 
ARS 869 . 
 
4.2 General requirements  
 
Dry split peas shall be:  DARS 871:2022  
© ARSO  2022 — All rights reserved  3  
a) hard, clean and uniform in colour;  
 
b) free from substances which render them unfit for human consumption;  
 
c) free from abnormal flavours, musty, sour or other undesirable odour, obnoxious smell and  
discolouration; and  
 
d) free from micro -organisms and substances originating from micro -organisms, or other poisonous  
or deleterious substances in amounts that may constitute a hazard to human hea lth. 
 
4.3 Specific requirements  
 
4.3.1 Grading  
 
Dry split peas may be graded into three grades on the basis of the tolerable limits established in Table 
1 which shall be additional to the general requirements set out in this standard.  
 
Table 1 — Specific requirements  
 
Characteristics  Limits  Method of 
test Grade 1  Grade 2  Grade 3  
(1)  Moisture, % max m/m 14.0 [13] 14.0 [13] 14.0 [13] ISO 24557  
(2)  Purity, % min. m/m  99.5 [99] 99 99 ISO 605  
(3)  Foreign matter, % max m/m 0.2 0.3 0.5 
ISO 605  (4)  Inorganic matter, % max m/m 0.1 0.2 0.3 
(5)  Whole peas, % max m/m 0.5 1.0 2.0 
(6)  Pest damaged peas, % max m/m 0.5 1.0 1.5 
(7)  Heat damaged peas , % max m/m 0.2 0.5 1.0 
(8)  Contrasting peas% max m/m 0.5 1.0 2.0 
(9)  White caps peas% max m/m 1.5 3.0 5.0 
(10)  Total defective peas, % max m/m 3 5 7 
(11)  Bleached peas % max m/m 1.5 3.0 5 
(12)  Filth, % max m/m 0.1 0.1 0.1 
(13)  Total aflatoxin (AFB1+AFB2+AFG1 +AFG2)), 
ppb, max  10  
ISO 16050  
(14)  Aflatoxin B1 only, ppb, max  5 
(15)  Fumonisin, ppm, max  2 AOAC 
2001.04  
NOTE 1  The parameter, total defective grains  is not the sum total of the individual defects. It is limited to 70% of the sum 
total of individual defects.  
 
NOTE 2  Dry split peas  destined for processing baby foods shall have total aflatoxin level of not more than 4  ppb. 
 
  DARS 871: 2022  
4 © ARSO  2022 — All rights reserved  5 Contaminants  
 
5.1 Heavy  metals  
 
Dry split peas shall comply with those maximum limits for metal contaminants specified in CODEX 
STAN 193 and in particular those listed in Table 2.  
 
Table 2 — Metal contaminants  
 
S/N Parameter  Limit ( mg/kg  max)  Test method  
(1) Lead (Pb)  0.1 AOAC 999.11 or AOAC 999.10  
(1) Cadmium (Cd)  0.1 AOAC 999.11 or AOAC 999.10  
 
5.2 Pesticide  residues  
 
Dry split peas  shall comply with those maximum pesticide residue limits established by the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission for this commodity .  
 
6 Hygiene  
 
Dry split peas  shall be produced and handled under hygienic conditions in accordance with ARS 53.  
 
7 Packaging  
 
7.1 Dry split peas  shall be pack aged in suitable food grade packag ing materials  which shall be 
clean, sound, free from insect, fungal infestation and the pack aging material shall be of food grade 
quality  and shall be securely closed and sealed.  
 
7.2 Dry split peas  shall be pack aged in food grade packaging materials  which will safegua rd the 
hygienic, nutritional, technological and organoleptic qualities of the products.  
 
7.3 Each package shall contain dry split peas  of the same type and of the same grade designation.  
 
8 Labelling  
 
8.1 General  
 
The following specific labelling requirements shall apply and shall be legibly and indelibly marked in 
accordance with the requirements of ARS 56:  
 
(i) product name as “ Dry split peas ”; 
 
(ii) Variety;  
 
(iii) grade;  
 
(iv) name, address and physical location of the producer / packer/importer;  
 
(v) lot/batch/code number;  
 
(vi) net weight, in SI units ; 
 
(vii) the declaration “Food for Human Consumption’’  
 
(viii) storage instruction as “Store in a cool and dry place away from any contaminants’’;  
 
(ix) crop year;  DARS 871:2022  
© ARSO  2022 — All rights reserved  5  
(x) packing date;  
 
(xi) instructions on disposal of used package;  
 
(xii) country of origin;  
 
(xiii) a declaration on whether the dry split peas  were  genetically modified or not.  
 
(xiv) ‘best before’ date  
 
8.2 Labelling of non-retail containers  
 
Information detailed in 8. 1 shall be given either on the container or in accompanying documents, except 
that the name of the product, lot identification and the name and address of the processor or packer as 
well as storage instructions, shall appear on the container.  
 
For products  purchased for use by the buyer /retailer , at least the name of producer, l ot number and/or 
‘crop year’  shall be indicated on the container.  
 
Lot identification and the name and address of the processor or packer may be replaced by an 
identification mark pr ovided that such a mark is clearly identifiable with the accompanying documents.  
 
 
9 Sampling  methods  
 
Sampling shall be done in accordance with the ISO 24333 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  DARS 871: 2022  
6 © ARSO  2022 — All rights reserved  Bibliography  
 
 
 
 
EAS 761 :2012, Dry split peas — Specification  
 
United States  Standards for Dry Split Peas , Effective July 15, 2009  
 
Australian Pulse Standards, 2012/2013 : Peas — Yellow split  minimum export  standard  
 
 
 
 
 DARS 871: 2022  
© ARSO  2022 — All rights reserved