BENGALURU/HYDERABAD - India’s spice exports regulator has asked two companies, MDH and Everest, to give details of quality checks after sales of some of their products were stopped in Hong Kong for allegedly containing high levels of a cancer-causing pesticide.
Their products are hugely popular in India and are exported to countries in Europe, Asia and North America.
Hong Kong this month suspended sales of three MDH spice blends and an Everest spice mix for fish curry. Singapore has also ordered a recall of the Everest spice mix and advised against its consumption.
The Singapore Food Agency said on April 18 that the recall of Everest Fish Curry Masala was due to the presence of ethylene oxide at levels exceeding the permissible limit.
The authorities in Hong Kong and Singapore said the high level of ethylene oxide is unfit for human consumption, with long exposure a cancer risk.
Indian food authorities ordered quality checks on MDH and Everest spices on April 22.
A senior official at the Spices Board of India, which oversees quality standards and testing guidelines, said on April 23 that the companies have been asked to explain how the products were tested and if all regulations were met.
“We need to get the relevant details on how this has happened... We need to check if the conditions required by importing countries were met and if our regulations were met,” said the official, who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
An executive vice-president for MDH, Mr Rajinder Kumar, declined to comment, while Everest did not respond to queries on the Spices Board’s decision.
MDH and Everest are among the biggest players in India’s spices market, which Zion Market Research estimates was worth US$10.44 billion (S$14.2 billion) in 2022. The Spices Board says India exported products worth US$4 billion during 2022 to 2023.
Everest counts Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassadors. MDH, started in the 1930s, rose to popularity with ads and packaging featuring its founder Dharampal Gulati, who sported a hook moustache and a turban. He was often dubbed India’s “Spice King” and died in 2020.
Everest said in a statement on April 23 that its spices were safe for consumption and its products were exported “only after receiving necessary clearances and approval from the laboratories of the Spices Board of India”.
Singapore had held only one of 60 Everest products for checks, Mr Rajiv Shah, a director at Everest, said in the statement. REUTERS
