Hong Kong has banned the sale of MDH Pvt. and Everest Food Products Pvt. curry spices after detecting the carcinogenic pesticide ethylene oxide in them.
MDH Group’s three spice mixes—Madras Curry Powder, Sambhar Masala Mixed Masala Powder and Curry Powder Mixed Masala Powder—while Everest Group’s Fish Curry Masala were found to contain the pesticide under routine surveillance programmes, the Centre For Food Safety of The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said in a statement dated April 5.
In a separate and similar move, Singapore pulled Everest’s products off its shelves, citing the presence of pesticides above safe levels.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified ethylene oxide as a Group 1 carcinogen. According to the Pesticide Residues in Food Regulation, a food for human consumption containing pesticide residue may only be sold if consumption of the food is not dangerous or prejudicial to health.
“The CFS has informed the vendors concerned of the irregularities and instructed them to stop sales and remove from shelves the affected products,” the statement said.
According to the CFS's instructions, the distributors/importers concerned have initiated recalls on the affected products.
“The CFS will alert the trade, continue to follow up on the incidents and take appropriate action. Investigations are ongoing,” it said.
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