Post spices controversy, FSSAI cancels manufacturing licences of 111 spice firms

New Delhi: India's top food regulator has cancelled the manufacturing licences of 111 spice makers since last month, asking them to stop production with immediate effect, according to two officials aware of the matter.

The action from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) comes after samples of spices from India were found to have more than the permissible levels of ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing pesticide, in some overseas markets recently.

The number of licences cancelled by the regulator has the potential to rise further, considering that the regulator is just a little more than halfway into its inspection of 4,000 samples taken from markets around the country for testing. The samples include those from big names such as Everest, MDH, Catch, and Badshah, among many others.

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“So far, the food regulatory body has tested 2,200 samples; out of those, 111 spice makers couldn't match the basic standard quality of product. The licence of such spice manufacturers have been already scrapped with immediate effect and production has been stopped,” the first official cited above said on condition of anonymity.

“Currently, the testing centres under FSSAI are less in number and hence it is taking time to come up with list of companies whose licences need to be cancelled," the first person cited above added. "The process of testing is still going on and the body is keeping an eye on rest of the manufacturers as well.” 

An email sent to FSSAI seeking confirmation of the cancellation of licences remained unanswered till print time.

Who are these spice makers?

According to the people cited above, most of the cancelled licences were of small spice makers from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Some companies from Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh are also under the radar.

Most of these 111 companies are small-scale and could not be contacted since they have no official website, contact number or email ids. 

According to the food regulatory body's guidelines, businesses having annual turnover between ₹12 lakh and ₹20 crore can apply for FSSAI state licence. But for exports, spice manufacturers would need an FSSAI central licence.

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India cultivates a wide variety of spices, including black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, turmeric, ginger, and more. Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana are some of the states renowned for spice production.

According to Expert Market Research's website, the Indian spices market size reached a value of ₹86,930 crore in 2023, and is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 9.2% to reach around ₹1,91,945 crore by 2032.

Big names under the scanner, too

Earlier this year, prominent India spice makers MDH and Everest came under the scanner in overseas markets including the US, Hong Kong and Singapore owing to quality concerns. The health authorities in Singapore and Hong Kong said they found ethylene oxide in these masalas above the acceptable limits.

MDH had stated in an official statement in April, “We reassure our buyers and consumers that we do not use ethylene oxide at any stage of storing, processing, or packing our spices.” 

It further stated that India's FSSAI and Spices Board have not received any communication or test report from authorities in Hong Kong or Singapore. Hence, the allegations against MDH are baseless, unsubstantiated, and not backed by any concrete evidence, it added.

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Ethylene oxide is linked with several harmful side-effects such as respiratory irritation and lung injury, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, shortness of breath, and cyanosis (where skin, lips or nails turn blue due to lack of oxygen). 

Chronic exposure has been associated with the occurrence of cancer, impact on reproduction, mutagenic changes (or genetic mutation), neurotoxicity (where chemical agents cause adverse changes in nervous system), and sensitization (becoming susceptible to stimulus).