New Delhi: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a statement calling recent reports that the amount of pesticides allowed in herbs and spices – called the maximum residue limit (MRL) – had been increased by up to 10 times “false and malicious”.
The authority also claimed that “India has one of the most stringent standards of Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) in the world and MRLs of pesticides are fixed differently for different food commodities based on their risk assessments.”
Earlier this week, reports stated that the FSSAI had increased the MRL from 0.01 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) to 0.1 mg/kg. Experts had said that this would lead to more Indian spices being deemed unfit for consumption on the international market.
The statement continued that the FSSAI has a ‘Scientific Panel on Pesticides Residues’ which “recommends the MRLs after performing risk assessment considering the dietary consumption of Indian population and health concerns in respect of all age groups”.
India has registered over 295 pesticides, with 139 approved for use in spices alone, the authority’s statement said. Different crops and products grown using these pesticides have different MRLs. “The MRL of 0.01 mg/kg was applicable in case of pesticides for which MRLs have not been fixed. This limit was increased to 0.1 mg/kg only in cases of spices and is applicable only for those pesticides which are not registered in India,” FSSAI has stated.
According to Economic Times, the FSSAI’s issued clarification means that since the increased MRL is not for pesticides registered in India, it will only be applicable on imported goods.
Paresh G. Shah, former head of the Pesticide Residue Laboratory, also reiterated FSSAI’s statement. Shah said, “The default limit of 0.1 mg/Kg was fixed for monitoring purpose only for those pesticides which are not permitted for use in India.”
“The MRLs fixed in India are harmonised with CODEX and in several cases, they are much more stringent than limits established by EU, Australia, New Zealand, Japan etc. for most of the pesticides for spices. For example, EU limit of Fosetyl- AI on Cardamom is 400 mg/Kg whereas in India, its limit is 0.2 mg/ Kg. For Azoxystrobin in Cumin, Indian limits are 0.03 mg/kg, while EU has established limit of 0.1 mg/kg and Japan 5 mg/kg (all spices). For Carbosulfan in Cumin, Indian limits are 0.07 mg/ Kg, EU its 0.1 mg/kg and Japan its 0.1 mg) kg (all spices and herbs),” he continued.
Last month Hong Kong, Singapore and Maldives had banned the sale of MDH and Everest brands of species for being high in pesticide content. Their food regulators had found a high content of pesticide ethylene oxide, which is also cancer-causing. These countries had advised their citizens not to use these products. The MDH had rejected the reports of foreign regulators and claimed their species were completely safe.
