A pink peppercorn (French: baie rose, "pink berry") is a dried berry referring to three different species; the traditional Baies rose plant Euonymus phellomanus, the shrub Schinus molle, commonly known as the Peruvian peppertree, and the Schinus terebinthifolia (the Brazilian pepper).
As they are members of the cashew family, they may cause allergic reactions including anaphylaxis for people with a tree nut allergy.
[3] Dried berries from the related species Schinus terebinthifolia (the Brazilian pepper), are sometimes also called pink peppercorns (baies roses de Bourbon) and are used as a culinary spice.
In 1982, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the import of Brazilian peppercorns from France into the United States, asserting that people who eat the berries risk an array of acute symptoms, such as swollen eyelids and indigestion, similar to poison ivy.
[8] Presently both species of the Schinus pink peppercorn lack "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) status with the FDA.