Why Sichuan Pepper Was Banned in the U.S. — And How It Came Back

Hard to believe, but there was a time when Sichuan pepper was literally illegal in the U.S.

Not because it was dangerous. Not because it got people high. But because it technically belonged to the citrus family — and got swept up in decades-old plant disease regulations.

Known in Chinese as huā jiāo (花椒), this numbing, floral spice vanished from American supermarket shelves and reappeared only as contraband in Chinatown kitchens, passed quietly from chef to chef as demand grew and Chinese immigration surged in the U.S. 

Our friends at The Mala Market and The New York Times have chronicled this strange chapter of food history in detail — but we wanted to dig a little deeper. So we tracked down the original USDA rule that started it all. This one is for the policy wonks! 

So how did this happen? Let’s rewind to 1967.

Actually, we need to rewind to 1910, when citrus canker — a bacterial plant disease devastating to citrus crops — was first detected in the U.S. near the Florida-Georgia border. The outbreak raged for 21 years, destroying 257,745 grove trees and over 3 million nursery trees. 

The memory of that lingered, shaping future agricultural policy in the U.S. around citrus. 

In June 1967 (32 Fed. Reg. 7941–8011), the USDA issued a blanket ban on the imports of all fruits and peels in the Rutaceae (citrus) family from most of Asia. Since Sichuan pepper belongs to this citrus family, it was swept up in the ban.

Note: It took a while for us to track it down, but we found the original ban on page 7959 of 32 Fed. Reg. 7941–8011.

Because of this sweeping ban, chefs were stymied for over four decades — and one of our customers, Stan, even wrote to us humorously likening the procuring of Sichuan peppers in 2003 to a furtive "street" deal.

From 2002 to 2006, the USDA dispatched inspectors nationwide to seize Sichuan peppercorn — the U.S. market’s #1 banned spice at the time — only to confirm that not a single case of citrus canker was found in the seized Sichuan peppers. 

So, in 2004, the USDA approved a 140°F, 20-minute heat treatment to eliminate citrus canker risk from Sichuan pepper, allowing its restricted import. This process, however, severely dulls Sichuan pepper’s signature numbing tingle and bright citrus notes.

By 2007, however, a new USDA regulation was introduced allowing the importation of all dried fruits, vegetables, and nuts without requiring permits or phytosanitary certificates. Since Sichuan peppers were dried during processing, this effectively removed all restrictions from their imports! Hallelujah! 

However, heat-treated Sichuan peppers persisted in the market all the way until 2017, as many exporters and farmers simply didn’t notice the quiet lift on the ban.

It took years of persistence (and a few sharp-eyed rule readers) to finally spread the word — that real, untreated Sichuan pepper was once again legal, and better than ever.

Thankfully, untreated Sichuan peppers are free to tingle today — untethered and untreated — allowing us to fully experience the complex citrus, floral, and bold notes of this now-celebrated spice.

After all that, it’s kind of wild to think Sichuan pepper is now something you can toss into your cart without a second thought. No permits. No heat treatment. No back alley street deals. Just the real thing — citrusy, floral, electric — finally back where it belongs.