After Singapore and Hong Kong, Nepal has become the latest in a series of countries both in Asia and around the world to have banned Indian-made spices including those of popular brands like MDH and Everest over the presence of traces of pesticide that were found during tests.
Household names in India, Everest and MDH were found to be exporting spice mixes containing higher than permissible levels of ethylene oxide -- that is used as a pesticide and a sterilising agent -- and were banned from the two countries.
Following the ban, a report from the European Food Safety Authority found that a total of 23 products including those from India were contaminated with “significant residues” of ethylene oxide and mandated that there be active monitoring of these products.
Ethylene oxide is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which was found in foods such as dried beans, chilli peppers, curcuma and peppercorn.
The Federation of Indian Spice Stakeholders (FISS), however hit back saying that the ‘treatment’ of the spices with ethylene oxide was to reduce microbial contamination and that the use of ethylene oxide posed no risk to the consumer since it was not a ‘pesticide’. The federation also claimed that the flagging of India-made spices was a ploy to hurt the trade and that if continued to be implemented the trade would fall by more than 40%.
The ongoing conundrum leaves us with several questions. If ethylene oxide is indeed harmful for humans and is unsafe for consumption for people in Europe and other countries of South and East Asia, how come it is permissible for sale locally. Are we to suggest that there should continue to be different standards applied for products that are exported and products that are sold locally?
Secondly, what is the consensus on ethylene oxide? Are we to believe the spice federation when they tell us that the deliberate application of ethylene oxide to the spice mixes to avoid microbial contamination is safe for human consumption? Or is their opinion coloured by the eyes they have for their profits and their bottomline rather than the health of the consumer?
The third question is what have Indian regulatory authorities been doing? Why do we not have clear and coherent guidelines and more importantly permissible limits for ethylene oxide in spice mix sold locally?
Being a Class 1 carcinogen, means that ethylene oxide is proven to cause cancers even at low levels. Undoubtedly, the spice industry wants us to ignore this in order that they can continue to use it to keep the spices free of microbial contamination including that of bacteria, fungus and small insects that are known to attack dried spices during storing and transportation.
However, that cannot be an excuse to ship spices with excessive levels of ethylene oxide, especially in the domestic market, in what clearly is a measure aimed towards putting profits before people.
The Indian regulator FSSAI owes an explanation to the people of the country, in whose interest it claims to be acting in, and pull up its socks and implement stringent levels of monitoring not just for the safety of the Indian consumer, but also for India’s reputation as a global exporter.
