Chili Sauce
Chili sauce is a formulated condiment in which milled chili pepper is suspended in an acidified, salted aqueous base. The pepper supplies capsaicin for pungency and carotenoid pigments for colour, while salt, acid and in most recipes sugar set the taste balance and hold the product microbiologically stable once it is filled and pasteurised.
Two families are traded. Fermented sauces are made from chili that has been held under salt for months before formulation, and carry a rounded lactic sourness with softened raw pepper character. Non fermented sauces are built directly from fresh mash, dried chili or chili powder with added vinegar, and taste sharper and cleaner. Garlic, ginger, fermented soya beans and vegetable oil are the usual additions, and starch, xanthan gum or the pepper solids themselves give body.
The finished product is a viscous red paste or a pourable sauce, packed in glass, plastic bottles or bulk drums. Colour is the main stability concern, since the carotenoids bleach on exposure to light, oxygen and prolonged heat, and separation of the oil and water phases is controlled through particle size and hydrocolloid choice rather than through emulsifiers.
We source bulk Chili Sauce from top China manufacturers for our partners, working with several of them. The manufacturers are in Hebei, Shandong and Xinjiang. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Flavours and Aromas
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Uniform red viscous sauce, free from foreign matter |
| Odour and Taste | Characteristic chili, pungent and savoury, no fermented off note |
| Total Soluble Solids | Not less than 20.0 Brix |
| Sodium Chloride | 3.0 to 8.0% |
| Total Acidity, as Acetic Acid | 0.8 to 2.0% |
| pH | Not more than 4.2 |
| Capsaicin Content | By grade, 0.02 to 0.20% |
| Sudan Dyes I to IV | Not detected |
| Lead | Not more than 1.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | Not more than 0.5 mg/kg |
| Aflatoxin B1 | Not more than 5 ug/kg |
| Total Plate Count | Not more than 1,000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and Mould | Not more than 50 cfu/g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The commercial split runs first between retail sauces, which are finished, seasoned and packed for the table, and industrial grades sold in drums or aseptic bags for further processing into ready meals, snack seasonings and sauce blends. Industrial grades are usually simpler, with higher chili solids and less sugar, so the buyer can set the final balance.
Within each family, grades are quoted on pungency, on colour value and on chili solids. Pungency is stated as capsaicin content or in Scoville heat units and ranges from mild table sauces to concentrates intended for dilution. Colour is quoted where the sauce is bought partly as a colouring ingredient. Further distinctions cover fermented against non fermented, oil bearing against water based, whole seed against seedless, and the presence of chemical preservatives, since sauces intended for chilled distribution can be formulated with a higher pH than shelf stable ones.
Applications
- Table condiments in bottles and single serve sachets, sold alongside noodle, dumpling and grilled dishes
- Ready meal and chilled meal component, dosed as a sauce phase during assembly
- Instant noodle and dry seasoning kits, sold as an oil bearing sachet paste
- Marinades and coatings for poultry and seafood, where the acid also assists tenderisation
- Snack seasoning bases, spray dried onto carriers to give a chili profile to crisps and extruded snacks
- Hot pot and dipping sauce blending, as the pungent and coloured base of a compound sauce
- Foodservice bulk supply to restaurant kitchens, where drums are used as a cooking ingredient rather than a condiment
- Pizza, burger and sandwich dressings in quick service chains, formulated to a fixed heat level for consistency
- Blending stock for compound sauces such as sweet chili and chili garlic, which are built on a common pepper base
Brands Using Chili Sauce
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Chili Sauce on the ingredient label.
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Chili Sauce
Top Chili Sauce manufacturers in China.
Longyao County Xuri Food Co., Ltd.3 ingredients in the directory
Qingdao Tai Foong Foods Co., Ltd.2 ingredients in the directory- Xinjiang Tianjiao Hong'An Seeds Sci.& Tech. Co., Ltd.2 ingredients in the directory
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
Chili sauce is a food rather than an additive, so the regulatory questions concern the additives it contains and the contaminants it may carry. In the European Union the acidulants, preservatives and thickeners used are permitted additives with their own E numbers and must be declared, and added colour is tightly restricted, so a sauce sold on colour normally relies on paprika extract declared as an ingredient. Illegal dye adulteration of chili products with Sudan colourants has been the subject of long standing import controls, and consignments of chili and chili preparations are checked for them at entry.
In the United States the sauce is a processed acidified food, so a producer supplying the market operates under acidified food controls with a filed process and a validated pH. Ingredients must be cleared for food use, and colour additives require listing. Codex maintains a standard for chili sauce covering composition, permitted additives and hygiene, and the aflatoxin and ochratoxin controls that apply to dried chili follow through into sauces made from dried material.
Manufacturing Process
Production begins with the chili stream, either salted chili mash drawn from tank storage, fresh peppers washed and milled in season, or dried chili rehydrated in hot water. Salted material is washed back to the target sodium level, and all streams are ground through a colloid mill or a stone mill to the particle size that defines the finished texture, since the pepper solids rather than added thickener carry most of the body.
The milled pepper is combined in a jacketed vacuum kettle with vinegar or acidulant, salt, sugar, garlic and any oil phase, and cooked under agitation to hydrate the starch or gum, drive off raw notes and set the viscosity. The pH is adjusted to a value low enough for a pasteurisation rather than a sterilisation process to give shelf stability. The batch is deaerated to protect colour, filled hot into bottles or drums, sealed, held for a hot fill hold or passed through a tunnel pasteuriser, then cooled quickly and labelled.
