Spices with cancerous agents sold widely in state
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, May 12 2024:
Inspite of being banned in Singapore and Hong Kong subsequent to detection of carcinogenic ingredients, products from Indian spice brand MDH are widely available and popular in the state.
Nevertheless, veracity of the report and the actual harm caused to the human body by the presence of carcinogens remain uncertain.
Only when tested by reputed agency and results disclosed can the question of safety or risk in consumption be finally addressed.
However, Hong Kong and Singapore have raised concerns over the safety of the products of popular Indian spice brands namely MDH and Everest which reportedly contain ethylene oxide, a pesticide deemed unsuitable for human consumption and classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The Centre for Food Safety, Hong Kong's food and environmental regulatory body, said it collected samples of some products under its routine food surveillance programme and found presence of pesticide ethylene oxide.
The MDH products are curry powder (spice blend for Madras curry), mixed masala powder, and sambhar masala.
In its April 5 announcement, it said that they had informed the vendors concerned of the irregularities and instructed them to stop the sale and remove the affected products from the shelves.
Ethylene oxide has been found to be associated with cancers such as lymphoma in males and breast cancer in females.
It is not the first time that the MDH spices are found to contain such carcinogenic ingredients.
In June last year, the US Food and Drugs Authority had asked Everest Food Products to recall its two products, sambhar masala, garam masala, and maggi masala after testing positive for Salmonella, a bacteria that can cause foodborne illnesses such as diarrhoea and abdominal cramps, fever, nausea and vomiting.
Despite its ban in other countries, the spices products are still found sold in markets all over India including Manipur with people buying them without any hesitation.
In Manipur, there is also the.
presence of State Food Safety Authority mandated to check presence of carcinogenic substances which are harmful to the human body.
However, no routine food surveillance programme is in place.
Therefore, it is imperative for the state's authorities concerned to treat such cases seriously, especially at a time of increasing population and a growing trend of food businesses focused on profit-making.