New Delhi: The Food Safety and Quality Authority of India (FSSAI) has announced that the licenses of 111 curry masala companies, including those in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, have been canceled last month. They were also asked to stop the production immediately. Kerala and Tamil Nadu have the highest number of license cancellations. It is also noteworthy that most of the licenses of small companies were removed.
Products from popular brands MDH and Everest were banned by Singapore and Hong Kong following the discovery of the carcinogenic pesticide ethylene oxide. Following this, the FSSAI authorities had collected samples of curry spices from all regions of the country since April. Four thousand samples have been collected so far and the testing of half of them has been completed. It is known that more products are likely to be banned after the rest of the tests are completed.
The ban also includes products of popular brands like Everest, MDH, Catch and Badshah. Many companies in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are under the agency’s watch. The poison was found in the powders of turmeric, chilli, black pepper, coriander and cinnamon. Manufacturers have tried to reduce manufacturing costs and increase volume by adding starch, baking powder, artificial colors and coloring chemicals to curry spices. According to FSSAI, there has been a fall in quality and food safety. With complaints of adulteration rampant, the FSSAI recently said it would increase the permissible pesticide dosage by 10 times to curb it.
