UK Food Watchdog Imposes Extra Measures On Indian Spice Imports

The UK's Food Standards Agency has enforced extra control measures on all spices imported from India. FSA is among the first to mount scrutiny on all Indian spices after contamination allegations against two Indian spice brands—MDH and Everest.

The agency said that it has already been issuing early warning alerts for ethylene oxide in various spices from India since before January 2023, in response to the queries sent by NDTV Profit.

Last month, Hong Kong also stopped the sale of three spices made by MDH and one by Everest, claiming they contained the cancer-causing pesticide, ethylene oxide. Everest's fish curry masala was also recalled in Singapore due to similar claims.

New Zealand, India, Australia and the United States are looking into issues related to the two brands.

MDH and Everest export their products to many regions, including the US, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Australia.

Food regulators in India have also conducted tests and inspected samples of all the spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest. No results have been made public yet.