Nepal: Earlier Hong Kong nation puut up objection on Indian spices, after few days Nepal is also now banning Indian spices. Consumers of Nepal are now returning spices to locally manufactured and packaged spices after the government banned Indian spices. after several countries found a high level of ethylene oxide in them.
Ason ancient market, have wide range spices and other traditional ingredients, has seen people in Nepal buying locally manufactured spices in both processed and raw or unprocessed forms.
Kathmandu media highlighted that they sell locally manufactured spices with a formula that has been passed down through generations.
With immediate effect Himalayan Nation’s food safety agency has banned the sales and imports of MDH and Everest. The quality-regulating body, the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control, also decided to recall and seize products currently in the customs clearance process.
This move was already followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Maldives, and scrutiny by the Australian authorities.
Earlier on Saturday, the Federation of Indian Spice Stakeholders stepped into the matter of Indian spices being banned in Singapore and Hong Kong and said that the treatment of Ethylene oxide (EtO) is done to save people from the harmful effects of processed food.
Chairman of the Federation of Indian Spice Stakeholders (FISS), while speaking to ANI, Ashwin Nayak, “This Ethylene oxide treatment is done only for the health of the people. If the spices used in food are not processed properly, microbiological parameters are found in them, like Salmonella, E-Coli, Aflatoxin, and Coliform, all of these are also dangerous for the body and digestive system of stomach. When we treat them with ethylene oxide, microbiological parameters come under control and their dangerous effects are eliminated.”
The federation of spices of India further said that in a release, assures all consumers concerned that Ethylene oxide is not a pesticide. EtO is a sterilizing agent that is used to contain or minimize microbial elements in spices to protect spices for a long time and food products, including life-threatening pathogens like Salmonella, E Coli etc. The presence of ethylene oxide, which is a flammable colourless gas with a sweet odour, in the spices is concerning, as varieties of the products of both companies are easily available in Nepal and are popular too.
EtO is primarily used to produce other chemicals, including antifreeze. In smaller amounts, it is also used as a pesticide for prducing crops and sterilising agent.
The most frequently associated cancers with occupational exposure to ethylene oxide are lymphoma and leukemia. Moreover, stomach and breast cancers may also be linked to ethylene oxide exposure.
Nepal’s food watchdog agency has also directed the National Food and Feed Reference Laboratory to prioritize testing for ethylene oxide. Meanwhile, shopkeepers also are making customers aware of the update on the issue.
India is the world’s largest spice producer, consumer and exporter.
According to Zion Market Research estimates India’s domestic spice market to be worth USD 10.44 billion in 2022, and the Spices Board said India exported products worth USD 4 billion during 2022-23.
According to the Department of Customs, Nepal imported 946.42 tons of various Everest brand spices from India and other countries, amounting to Rs 120 million, in the last fiscal year ending mid-July 2023. Spice imports from India alone amounted to 478 tons worth Rs 74.65 million.