Spices like Everest and MDH are used to enhance taste but now these spices have been banned by the food regulators in Hong Kong and Singapore as they are cancer causing substances.
New Delhi: In the home kitchen, we use spices like Everest and MDH to enhance the taste of food, but now these spices have been banned by the food regulators in Hong Kong and Singapore on the grounds that they are cancer causing substances. Along with this, orders have been given to remove it from the market. On this, the Government of India has given orders to the Food Commissioners to test the spices. Only after this will the purity of the spices be known.
Sample will be tested
According to the order issued by the government, all the food commissioners of the country have been alerted in this matter, so the process of collecting samples of spices has started. In this process, samples will be collected from all the spice manufacturing units in 3 to 4 days. After the investigation, the report has to be submitted to the government within 20 days. In this matter, FSSAI is taking samples of spices of all brands including MDH and Everest from the market to check whether they meet the prescribed norms or not. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) does not regulate the quality of spices exported.
These products came under scrutiny
Indian Spices Board Director AB Rema Sri told PTI, ‘We are looking into the matter. We stand by this. The companies could not be immediately contacted regarding this. Hong Kong’s Center for Food Safety (CFS) has asked consumers not to buy these products and traders not to sell them, while the Singapore Food Agency has directed the recall of such spices. Let us tell you that these branded spices contain pesticide ‘ethylene oxide’ more than the acceptable limit, which causes major diseases like cancer