FSSAI Cancels Manufacturing Licenses of 111 Spice Brands: Know More

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has cancelled the manufacturing licences of 111 spice producers over the past month, instructing them to halt the entire production immediately.

Recently, Singapore and Hong Kong banned the Indian spice brands MDH and Everest, after carcinogenic pesticide ethylene oxide was detected in many of the products. After this, FSSAI started collecting samples of spices from different cities to do safety checks.  There is a possibility of more cancellations as FSSAI continues to test 4,000 samples nationwide. These samples include products from well-known brands such as Everest, MDH, Catch, and Badshah, among others.

A source told a news portal, "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 has been already scrapped with immediate effect and production has been stopped.”

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

According to reports, small-scale spice producers in Kerala and Tamil Nadu own most of the canceled permits, but businesses in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh are also being investigated. Because they don't have official websites, phone numbers, or email addresses, the majority of these 111 tiny businesses are inaccessible.