Government sources said that strict action will be taken if harmful ingredients are found in Indian spices.
New Delhi:
While the government has ordered food commissioners to collect samples of spices from all manufacturing units in the country, food regulators in Hong Kong and Singapore have flagged the cancer-causing ingredient in some products of two popular Indian spice brands – MDH, sources said. Has shown the flag. And Everest.
“All the food commissioners of the country have been alerted. The process of collecting samples of spices has been started. Orders have been given. Samples will be collected from all the spice manufacturing units in the country in three to four days.” Top government sources have said.
He said, “Not just MDH and Everest, samples will be taken from all the spice manufacturing companies. The report will come from the lab in about 20 days.”
What did Hong Kong and Singapore say?
Food regulators in Hong Kong and Singapore have warned people against using four products from these two spice brands over the alleged presence of ethylene oxide at “levels exceeding permissible limits”. Ethylene oxide is classified as a ‘Group 1 carcinogen’ by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Three of MDH’s spice products – Madras Curry Powder (spice mix for Madras curry), Sambar Masala (mixed spice powder), and Curry Powder (mixed spice powder) – along with Everest’s Fish Curry Masala, contain “a pesticide, ethylene oxide.” Is. , Hong Kong’s Center for Food Safety (CFS) said on April 5. The regulator directed sellers to “stop sales and remove the affected products from shelves.”
Meanwhile, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) also ordered the recall of Everest’s Fish Curry Masala due to the presence of ethylene oxide at levels “exceeding the permissible limits”. The SFA posted a release on its website on April 18 saying it had “directed the importer, SP Muthiah & Sons Pte. Ltd., to recall the products. The recall is ongoing.”
Both MDH and Everest Foods have not yet commented on these claims.
“Strict action will be taken”
The use of ethylene oxide in foods is banned in India.
Sources said, “Strict action will be taken if harmful ingredients are found in Indian spices. There is also a provision for criminal action.”
The government has appealed to the Spices Board under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to spread awareness that no harmful ingredients should be added to the products.
The board has said it is considering the ban imposed by Hong Kong and Singapore on the sale of four spice-blend products from Indian brands. AB Rema Sri, director of the Spices Board of India, said, “We are looking into the matter. We stand by it.”
Sources stressed that they were testing samples even before the incidents in Hong Kong and Singapore and claimed, “So far, no harmful ingredients have been found in various brands of spices available in the Indian market.”
“This is a continuous process of taking samples. This time we will be taking samples at a much faster rate and in greater numbers than what we were taking earlier,” he said.
What is ethylene oxide?
The Spices Board defines ethylene oxide as “a flammable, colorless gas at temperatures above 10.7 Celsius”. It acts as a “disinfectant, fumigant, sterilizing agent and insecticide”.
It is mainly used to sterilize medical instruments and reduce microbial contamination in spices.
Apart from being produced from natural sources, it can also be produced from water-logged soil, manure and sewage sludge.
Health effects of ethylene oxide
The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies ethylene oxide as a ‘Group 1 carcinogen’, meaning that “there is sufficient evidence to conclude that it can cause cancer in humans.” Is”.
Short-term exposure to carcinogens can affect the human central nervous system, and cause depression and irritation to the eyes and mucous membranes, but long-term exposure can cause irritation to the eyes, skin, nose, throat and lungs and The brain and nervous system may be damaged. , according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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