After these spice brands were banned in two countries, the Spices Board in India on Wednesday said that it will start mandatory testing of such consignments sent to both the countries.
New Delhi. Do some spices of Indian spice brands MDH and Everest really contain cancer causing elements? This will become clear soon. After restrictions were imposed in Singapore and Hong Kong due to concerns over the quality of these spices, the Spices Board in India on Wednesday said it will start mandatory testing of such consignments sent to the two countries. The board, which comes under the Commerce Ministry, also said it will work with exporters to find out the root cause and suggest corrective measures. The board said that intensive inspection is going on to ensure that the standards are followed.
Hong Kong’s food safety regulator Center for Food Safety (CFS) had said in a statement on April 5 that it had found pesticide ‘ethylene oxide’ in excess of the permissible limits in samples of a variety of canned spice products of two Indian brands. CFS has asked consumers not to purchase these products.
Recall orders for masala products
In view of the CFS order, the Singapore Food Agency had ordered the recall of the products. The products that have been banned include Everest Fish Curry Masala, MDH Madras Curry Powder (spice mix for Madras Curry), MDH Sambar Masala Mixed Spice Powder, and MDH Curry Powder Mixed Spice Powder.
In fact, cancer causing element ‘ethylene oxide’ is said to be found in MDH’s Madras Curry Powder, Everest Fish Curry Masala, MDH Sambar Masala Mixed Masala Powder and MDH Curry Powder Mixed Masala Powder.
