Exported products fall outside the agency's surveillance system entirely
When foreign regulators in Singapore and Hong Kong detected a known human carcinogen in spices bearing the names MDH and Everest, they exposed a quiet vulnerability at the heart of one of India's most beloved culinary traditions. Ethylene oxide, classified by the WHO as a group 1 carcinogen, had crossed international borders undetected — prompting India's food safety authority, the FSSAI, to turn its gaze inward and begin sampling the very spices stocking domestic shelves. The episode raises a question older than any single scandal: who watches over what we cannot see, and how long does harm travel before it is named?
- Hong Kong and Singapore have banned MDH and Everest spice products after finding ethylene oxide — a carcinogen with no safe threshold — at levels their regulators deemed dangerous.
- India's own standards prohibit any detectable amount of the chemical in food, yet the contamination was caught abroad first, revealing a blind spot in domestic surveillance.
- The FSSAI has ordered emergency sampling of branded spices in Indian markets, but has openly acknowledged that exported products fall entirely outside its oversight reach.
- Historical testing data adds weight to the alarm: roughly one in four food samples tested by FSSAI in recent years failed to meet regulatory standards, with spices among the most frequently examined categories.
- Neither MDH nor Everest has commented, and the regulator has issued no formal statement — leaving consumers without clarity on how long exposure may have been occurring or how wide the problem runs.
Two of India's largest spice brands, MDH and Everest, became the center of an international food safety crisis after regulators in Hong Kong and Singapore detected dangerous levels of ethylene oxide in their products. The chemical is classified by the World Health Organization as a group 1 carcinogen — meaning evidence firmly establishes it causes cancer in humans — and both countries moved swiftly to ban the affected spices from their markets.
India's food regulator, the FSSAI, responded by ordering an immediate sampling of branded spices sold domestically. Officials confirmed that Indian food safety standards prohibit any detectable amount of ethylene oxide in food products. Yet the agency also acknowledged a significant structural gap: goods exported from India fall outside its surveillance system entirely. The contamination, in other words, was caught by foreign watchdogs before India's own.
The incident lands against a troubling backdrop. In 2022-23, the FSSAI tested over 177,000 food samples nationwide — and nearly 25 percent failed to meet regulatory standards. Of those failures, thousands were classified as outright unsafe. Preliminary figures for the following year showed little improvement, with spices alone accounting for tens of thousands of the samples tested.
Neither brand had commented at the time of reporting, and the FSSAI declined to issue a formal statement. The deeper question the crisis surfaces is not simply about two companies, but about a system in which foreign regulators detected a known carcinogen in Indian exports before domestic authorities did. As the FSSAI's sampling initiative moves forward, its findings will reveal whether this is an isolated failure — or a sign of something more systemic in how India's spices are processed and monitored before they reach the kitchen.
Two of India's largest spice manufacturers found themselves at the center of an international food safety crisis this week when regulators in Hong Kong and Singapore announced they had detected dangerous levels of ethylene oxide in products bearing the MDH and Everest labels. The chemical, classified by the World Health Organization as a group 1 carcinogen—meaning there is sufficient evidence to establish it causes cancer in humans—had been found in concentrations the Asian authorities deemed unacceptable. The discovery prompted both countries to ban the affected spices from their markets.
India's own food safety regulator, the FSSAI, responded by ordering an immediate sampling program of branded spices sold domestically. According to government officials who spoke with ThePrint, the country's food safety standards prohibit any detectable amount of ethylene oxide in food products. Yet the regulator acknowledged a critical gap in its oversight: exported goods fall outside the agency's surveillance system. "The food products which are exported from India are not under our surveillance," one senior official explained, "but in the wake of the reports by food regulatory authorities in some other countries, we will sample spices being sold in the Indian market to assess whether they meet the quality standards."
The timing of the order underscores a broader pattern in India's food safety landscape. In 2022-23, the FSSAI tested 177,511 food samples across the country. Of those, nearly 45,000 were found to be non-conforming with regulatory standards—a failure rate of roughly 25 percent. Among the failures, 6,579 samples were classified as unsafe and 21,917 as substandard. An additional 16,130 were found to be mislabeled or sold in misleading packaging. The preliminary data for 2023-24 showed little improvement: of 122,795 samples tested, nearly 25,000 failed to meet standards. The spices category alone accounted for 38,661 of those tests.
Neither MDH nor Everest had responded to requests for comment at the time of reporting. The FSSAI similarly declined to issue an official statement on the matter. What remains unclear is how long contaminated products may have been circulating in Indian markets, or whether the domestic sampling will uncover similar problems in other brands. The regulator's acknowledgment that exported products sit beyond its reach raises a harder question: if Indian spices destined for international sale can contain a known carcinogen at levels serious enough to trigger foreign bans, what assurance exists that domestic consumers have been protected all along?
The discovery also exposes a structural vulnerability in how India manages food safety for its most widely consumed commodities. Spices are foundational to Indian cooking and are exported globally in enormous quantities, making them both economically vital and a matter of public health. The fact that foreign regulators detected the problem before domestic authorities did suggests the surveillance system, whatever its stated robustness, may not be catching everything. As the FSSAI moves forward with its sampling initiative, the results will determine whether this is an isolated incident involving two brands or a symptom of a deeper problem in how spices are processed and monitored before they reach Indian kitchens.
Citas Notables
The food products which are exported from India are not under our surveillance, but in the wake of reports by food regulatory authorities in some other countries, we will sample spices being sold in the Indian market to assess whether they meet the quality standards.— Senior government official to ThePrint
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why would ethylene oxide be in spices in the first place? It's not an ingredient.
It's used as a sterilizing agent during processing—to kill bacteria and other microorganisms. The problem is that it's supposed to be removed completely before the product reaches consumers. Apparently, in these cases, it wasn't.
And the fact that Hong Kong and Singapore caught it first—what does that say about Indian oversight?
It's humbling, frankly. These are smaller markets with their own regulatory systems. That they found the problem before India's own regulator did suggests our surveillance, while extensive on paper, may have blind spots in practice.
The FSSAI says exported products aren't under their watch. That seems like a massive loophole.
It is. The logic is that once a product leaves India, it's the responsibility of the importing country. But that only works if those countries are actually checking. If they weren't, contaminated goods would just circulate freely.
So domestic consumers could have been eating these spices the whole time?
That's the real fear. We don't know how long the contamination has been present, or whether it's limited to these two brands. The sampling program will help answer that, but it's reactive, not preventive.
What about the people who've already consumed these products?
That's the hardest question. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogen, but the risk depends on exposure levels and duration. Without knowing how much was in the spices or how long people consumed them, it's impossible to say what the actual health impact might be. That uncertainty is part of what makes this so troubling.