Carcinogenic spices, London announces checks on all products made in India
The food safety authority's decision comes after traces of ethylene oxide were found in four popular mixtures in Hong Kong and Singapore
2' min read
2' min read
From our correspondent
NEW DELHI - In a move destined to aggravate the credibility crisis faced by India's spice industry, the British food safety authorities announced yesterday that they had decided to carry out additional checks on all blends imported from the Subcontinent.
The decision, first reported by the Reuters news agency, comes after Hong Kong and Singapore had ordered the recall of four products from two Indian companies in recent weeks.
Since the case broke out, the UK is the first country to have controls on all spices arriving from India, which is the world's largest producer, consumer and exporter of this type of product. In 2022, the last year for which figures are available, London imported $128 million worth of spices and, of this, almost $23 million was for products made in India.
The UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced that it is applying additional checks for pesticide residues, including ethylene oxide, a carcinogenic gas that is normally used for sterilising surgical instruments and was found in products banned in Hong Kong and Singapore.
