India has sought details from food regulators of Hong Kong and Singapore who have banned sale of four products from well known Indian brands of spices citing high levels of pesticide residue that can cause cancer if consumed over a long period.
The commerce ministry has also sought a detailed report from the Indian embassies on both these countries for a report on the entire issue.
The ministry has also sought details from — MDH and Everest whose products faced a ban for containing pesticide ‘ethylene oxide’ beyond permissible limits.
“Details have been sought from the companies. Root cause of the rejection and corrective actions will be determined along with the exporters concerned,” a commerce ministry official said.
Technical details, analytical reports and the details of the exporters whose consignments have been rejected have been sought from Embassies at Singapore and Hong Kong, the official said.
Details have also been sought from Singapore Food Agency and Centre for Food Safety, and Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Hong Kong, he added.
An industry consultation is also scheduled to discuss the issue of mandatory testing of ethylene oxide in spices for export.
The Food safety regulator of Hong Kong has asked consumers not to buy these products and traders not to sell, the Singapore Food Agency has directed a recall of the products.
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of Hong Kong had announced early this month that it detected pesticide ethylene oxide in three MDH products – Madras Curry Powder, Mixed Masala Powder, and Sambhar Masala – and Everest’s Fish Curry Masala.
After Hong Kong’s lead, Singapore’s Food Agency (SFA) also recalled Everest’s Fish Curry Masala due to the residue.
India is the largest exporter of spices in the world. In the just concluded FY 24 India’s exports of spices grew 12.3% on year to $ 4.2 billion dollars. Any doubts about the quality could be a setback to the efforts to increase the exports further.
