The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India announced on Monday that it will be conducting quality checks on spices and herbs this year. This decision appears to have been influenced by certain country’s actions of prohibiting packaged spice mixes from India due to the presence of cancer-causing chemicals.
The announcement comes after Hong Kong and Singapore have recently prohibited the import of four packaged spice mixes from India due to the presence of ethylene oxide. This chemical, commonly used as a pesticide, has been found to have significant carcinogenic properties.
The FSSAI stated that they conduct several nationwide surveys on different food products to evaluate the level of compliance with regulations that have been implemented.
Over the years, the number of these surveys has increased, For the years 2024-2025, the FSSAI has planned to conduct surveys on these food items fruit and vegetables, fish products for salmonella contamination, spice and culinary herbs, fortified rice, and milk and milk products.
In its initial response to the controversy, the FSSAI stated that over the past three years, approximately 25% of the samples tested did not meet regulatory standards.
In the fiscal years 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23, approximately 26%, 23%, and 25% of samples, respectively, did not pass the test. The FSSAI has tested over four lakh samples in the current fiscal year, but the final data is still being compiled.
The regulator has been conducting surveillance on various food items since 2018, including spices that were tested in 2022. A total of 3554 samples were tested by the FSSAI, but the results have not been made public. Despite inquiries to the food business regulator, no response has been received regarding the outcome.
The agency has previously tested milk and milk products, edible oil, jaggery, tea, pulses, and fortified rice kernels. Surveys have also been conducted to determine the levels of trans-fat in common food items.
Date : 18 May 2023 Time : 10 AM to 05 PM Faculty : Asmita Thaokar (FSSAI National Level Resource Person)
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