FSSAI collected as many as 25 samples of MDH from 11 manufacturing plants. Image for representational purposes only. File | Photo source: Reuters
Food regulator FSSAI found no traces of ethylene oxide in spice samples of two major brands, MDH and Everest, which were tested at 28 accredited laboratories, sources said.
According to them, reports from six other laboratories are still pending.
Last month, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) started sampling spice powders of all brands, including MDH and Everest, from across the country following quality issues reported by Hong Kong and Singapore.
The Hong Kong Center for Food Safety (CFS) has asked consumers not to buy certain MDH and Everest spice blends, citing the presence of ethylene oxide above the permissible limit.
These products are MDH Madras Curry Powder, Everest Fish Curry Masala, MDH Sambhar Masala Mixed Masala Powder and MDH Curry Mixed Masala Powder.
According to sources, the pan-India drive was initiated on April 22 through all food safety commissioners of states and Union territories and regional directors of FSSAI.
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It involved extensive inspections of spice manufacturing units, as well as sampling and testing of products manufactured for sale and distribution for consumption in the domestic market.
Sources say samples of Everest spices were collected from two of the company’s manufacturing plants. They claim that FSSAI collected as many as 25 samples of MDH from 11 manufacturing units.
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Each of the collected products was analyzed for compliance with various quality and safety parameters, including pesticide residues. These samples were also tested for ethylene oxide (ETO) at NABL accredited and FSSAI notified laboratories.
The laboratory reports received so far were examined by a scientific panel at FSSAI and found that the samples showed no traces of ethylene oxide, sources said.
The scientific panel also examined test reports of over 300 spice samples from other brands, which also clearly showed the absence of ethylene oxide, he added.
The scientific panel includes eminent scientists from Spice Board, CSMCRI (Gujarat), Indian Spice Research Institute (Kerala), NIFTEM (Haryana), BARC (Mumbai), CMPAP (Lucknow), DRDO (Assam), ICAR, National Center for Research Grapes (Pune).
Sources said the Spices Board has also issued guidelines to spice exporters on the utilize of ETO as a fumigant to sterilize spices to combat microbial contamination, in line with the standards of importing countries.
