Are Indian spices safe? The Federal Government has instructed all state governments to conduct quality checks. The Spice Council – which includes five quality assessment laboratories – has issued guidelines for exporters to verify the use of ethylene oxide. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is also testing the samples.
Indian Ministry of Health Claims, external The country has one of the most stringent MRL standards in the world, with MRLs varying by food commodity and determined through rigorous risk assessments. But something is clearly wrong: In 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration highlighted inadequate sanitation, accommodation and equipment cleanliness standards at a leading Indian spice factory.
“India has been an exporter of spices for centuries. But this image has declined in the last few years, with insufficient attention from the government. We do not yet know at what stage the pollution is occurring. Farmers are not using ethylene oxide. “And the farmers are not using ethylene oxide,” says Narasimha Reddy Donthi, an independent researcher and activist. In environmental justice: “It’s most likely post-harvest and post-processing residues.”
“It’s not just negative attention. Repeated instances of excessive residue can have a long-term impact. In the past, mango exports to the US suffered for years due to pesticide residues,” Reddy adds.
The Delhi-based Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) believes the recent quality concerns could threaten half of India’s spice exports due to “cascading regulatory actions in several countries”.
The institute said in a recent report that if China questions the quality of Indian spices, more than half of India’s global exports could be affected, joining five other countries. “The situation could worsen if the European Union, which regularly rejects Indian spice shipments over quality issues, pursues these claims.”
For spice lovers in the West, the origin of the spices in their food remains unclear.
“I don’t think most people realize where their spices come from. I certainly don’t, and I use spices a lot! I live a few blocks from Chicago’s main Indian shopping district, Devon Street, where I buy my spices,” Colleen Taylor Sen, an author who specializes in Indian spices in Chicago, told me. Indian Cuisine: “I assume they come from India but I’ve never looked into that.”
Ultimately, experts say, India must radically overhaul its approach to food safety, prioritizing transparency, strict enforcement and clear communication to protect the safety of its exports.