Last month, the country’s apex food safety regulator approved a ten-fold increase in the maximum level of pesticide residue allowed in spices and herbs, which will be applicable in cases where the limits are not defined in Indian or international regulations.
The default limit for spices was increased to 0.1 g/kg, as against the previous 0.01 mg/kg. The default MRL for other food products remains the same at 0.01 mg/kg.
The order from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said that for pesticides that are registered with the ministry of agriculture but don’t have maximum residue limits (MRL) under Indian regulation for spices, the global Codex Alimentarius Commission standards will be used. If it is not mentioned in the Codex, then the MRL of 0.1 mg/ Kg will be followed. For pesticides that aren’t registered with the ministry of agriculture at all, the MRL of 0.1 mg/ kg will be applicable, the order read.
This comes at a time when some Indian spice mixes were removed from shelves in Singapore and Hong Kong after higher than permissible limits of a pesticide ethylene oxide was found. The Indian regulator maintained that the use of the pesticide is not allowed in India at all. A nation-wide special drive was launched to test all brands of spice and spice mixes available in the domestic market.
An expert from the scientific advisory committee that recommended the move said that even at higher 0.1 mg/Kg it is a trace amount and unlikely to harm human health. The person added that deciding MRL is a dynamic exercise based on results of field trials submitted by spice manufacturers to the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee (CIB&RC). “The limits are decided and revised based on data from the field trials and available evidence on the impact of the pesticides on human health,” the expert said, asking to remain anonymous.
The government in a statement said: “Some media reports are claiming that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) allows 10 times more pesticide residue in herbs and spices. Such reports are false and malicious. It is clarified that India has one of the most stringent standards of Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) in the world.” In the same statement it added: “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 by CIB & RC.”
The limit was increased for spices because it is not possible to keep it under the 0.01mg/kg limit owing to the confounding effects of the phenols present in spices, according to the expert panel member. “Restricting to the limit of 0.01 mg per kg is not really feasible because the presence of phenols in the spices confounds the results. And, even the sensitive high end equipment can detect it at about 0.1 mg/ kg,” the expert said.
While the use of pesticides that are not registered and for which food standards are not defined is not permitted, in reality they are used by farmers. And, the problem is compounded in the case of spices for which a limited range of pesticides have been approved due to a lack of field trial data.
The expert said: “Technically, use of pesticides that have not been registered with the CIB & RC is illegal but the reality is that farmers use whatever molecule is available to them to protect crops. The problem with spices is that very few compounds have been approved. At around 40 molecules, the maximum number of pesticides is perhaps allowed for chillies, which are cultivated over large areas and have a lot of commercial interest. For pepper, there are around four molecules and for cardamom probably just two. This is because companies do not want to invest a lot of money in conducting field trials for smaller crops — thereby limiting the number of pesticides that can be used in these crops.”
A statement from the government said: “Total pesticides registered by CIB & RC in India are more than 295 out of which 139 pesticides are registered for use in spices. Codex has adopted total 243 pesticides out of which 75 pesticides are applicable for spices.”
While activists have questioned why should there be an MRL for pesticides that are not registered with the CIBRC and hence its use not allowed in India, an official from FSSAI explained: “The default limit is essential because some of the imported products might contain residue of pesticides that are probably allowed in other countries but not India. These are also needed in case of the residues seeping from one product to another — for example, a pesticide may be allowed for use in tomatoes but not chilli, but there could be cross contamination. In such cases, the international standards have to be followed,” the official said.