Nearly one in four samples of food products tested by India’s apex food safety authority have failed to conform to standards over the past three years, the government body said on Monday without specifying details of the failures.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said 1,05,907 (24.6 per cent) among the 4,29,685 samples analysed by food safety authorities across the country during 2021, 2022 and 2023 were found “non-conforming” to standards.
The number of samples analysed in India has grown, rising to more than 4,51,000 during 2023-24, the FSSAI said in its first official statement since authorities in Hong Kong stated on April 5 that several prepackaged spice powders imported from India were found to contain a pesticide and sterilising agent called ethylene oxide.
The FSSAI, relying on scientific panels, has developed over 700 standards for food products, which include the quantitative limits of contaminants, toxins, antibiotic residues and pesticide residues, and packaging and labelling requirements.
The authorities in Hong Kong had asked people not to consume the prepackaged spice powders and also asked the trade market to stop selling the affected products. The Singapore Food Agency had recalled one of the products exported by India to Singapore.
The Hong Kong and Singapore alerts prompted consumer groups in India to ask what actions the FSSAI and state regulators had taken to curb ethylene oxide contamination in spices since the European Union had also found ethylene oxide in Indian spices in 2020.
In its statement on Monday, the FSSAI said the data on the sampling analysis “reflects the increase in cases launched and convictions, showing the efforts made by the food safety authorities concerned towards enforcement”.
The FSSAI said it had carried out pan-India surveillance initiatives to assess compliance with standards. The number of such initiatives has expanded over the years, the body said, citing the counts of various food samples analysed. In 2022, for instance, food authorities analysed 3,060 samples of jaggery, 3,554 samples of spices, 3,251 samples of tea, 798 samples of milk, among other samples.
The FSSAI statement, however, did not say what proportions of the samples of the specific products tested were found not to conform with the standards.
A query sent by this newspaper to the FSSAI asking what proportion of the spices had been found to breach the standards has not evoked a response yet.
During 2024-25, the FSSAI said it planned to conduct sample surveillance on fruits and vegetables, spices and culinary herbs, fish products, fortified rice, milk and milk products.
