First Hong Kong and Singapore banned Indian masalas. Now, the EU has yanked 527 food products linked to India. All of them contain the contaminant—a known carcinogen called ethylene oxide.
Wait, what? There are cancer-causing ingredients in masalas?
According to overseas authorities, yes. It all kicked off last week when Hong Kong recalled three powders from MDH—Madras Curry, Sambhar Masala Mixed Masala and Curry Mixed Masala—and one from Everest: Curry Masala. Regulators said they contained a carcinogenic substance called ethylene oxide (more on that later). Soon after, Singapore banned Everest fish curry masala for the same reason.
Meanwhile, in the US: This isn’t the first time Indian masalas have gotten into trouble overseas. In 2023, US regulators recalled Everest’s garam and sambar masalas—and Maggi Magic masala—due to salmonella contamination.
According to the Indian Express, 31% of all MDH masalas were rejected by US Customs due to salmonella contamination in the past six months. In fact, the rejection rate has doubled since October. Irony alert: One of the uses of ethylene oxide is to kill salmonella. Quote to note:
The FDA had physically inspected MDH’s manufacturing plant in January 2022, during which it noted that the “plant did not have adequate sanitary facilities and accommodations”. It also observed that the plant’s “equipment and utensils were not designed and constructed to be adequately cleaned or maintained to protect against contamination.”
The overall US stats are unflattering. “A total of 3,925 food-related shipments from India were refused entry between FY20 and FY23: Of these, 953 shipments (24%) were refused entry for being “filthy” and 786 shipments (20%) were refused for containing salmonella.” Our rejection rate is 0.15%—which sounds low except it’s 7X of China and 6X of Mexico.
What MDH said: The company issued a strong denial—calling the findings “baseless”:
MDH reassured consumers, stating, "We do not use ethylene oxide at any stage of our spice production. Our products adhere to stringent health and safety standards both in India and internationally." The company also noted that neither the Spice Board of India nor the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had been contacted by the regulatory bodies of Hong Kong or Singapore regarding these findings.
Unfortunately for MDH, hiding behind the government agency’s petticoats soon proved futile.
What the government said: First, the Commerce Ministry played dumb—saying it had reached out to Hong Kong and Singapore authorities to find out why they banned the masalas (it was right there in the press release). Then the FSSAI said it has commissioned quality checks on MDH and Everest. But the exercise is only aimed at checking whether they meet Indian standards. FYI: Ethylene oxide is banned in food products in India, as well.
As for exports: “The regulator may not have much role to play as it is the duty of the importing country to test the products and allow their entry.” That’s pretty much what the Indian drug regulators said about poisonous cough syrup that killed babies in Africa.
Key data point to note: India is the largest exporter of spices in the world. Its exports grew 12.3% in FY2024 to $4.2 billion dollars.
And that same thing happened in the EU?
Yes, the Hong Kong findings triggered a Deccan Herald investigation—which produced even more damaging results. The newspaper looked at the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF)—an online database that records all recalls of food products. It found that between September 2020 and April 2024, food safety regulators found ethylene oxide in 527 products linked to India—“most of them nuts and sesame seeds (313), herbs and spices (60), dietetic foods (48) and other food products (34).”
It gets worse: Of these, India was the sole country of origin for 332 products. However, contaminated Indian ingredients had also got into hundreds of products made elsewhere:
A look at the full list of the products, many of which were issued rejection notices, shows the spread of the chemical across the products. Be it the hummus made in Spain by adding sesame seeds from India, or bakery items, and even herbal food supplements.
Adding insult to injury, “at least 54 were marked 'organic' on their labels—from sesame seeds to black pepper and ashwagandha, while others contained labels like ‘premium immunity enhancers’.”
Point to note: In 2020, the EU launched the largest recall of food products in its history because of ethylene oxide found in sesame seed products from India. This soon spread to all products containing locust bean gum contaminated with ethylene oxide—which included ice creams, meat products, confectioneries, and cheese—even from a range of European countries.
And all these had ethylene oxide which is…?
A flammable colourless gas with “a sweet odour.” It is used to produce other unpleasant, toxic products like antifreeze. It is mainly used to sterilise medical equipment—and most importantly—as a pesticide.
Why it can kill: Ethylene oxide is very effective as a pesticide because it destroys the “cellular metabolism and reproductive processes” of yeasts, moulds, bacteria, spores etc. Since it is a gas, It penetrates packaging—and thoroughly sterilises food products—which in turn extends their shelf life.
But things can get very nasty if the manufacturer doesn’t remove every last trace of ethylene oxide:
Whenever food is sterilized with Ethylene Oxide and is not aerated properly, Ethylene Oxide generally remains as a residue. This leads to the formation of highly toxic compounds such as 2-Chloroethanol (2-CE), Ethylene Chlorohydrin (ECH) and Ethylene Glycol (EG) . ETO and its breakdown products are carcinogenic and can cause severe organ damage.
Looping back to dead babies: Children in Gambia, Uzbekistan, and Nigeria died after drinking made-in-India cough syrup that contained ethylene glycol.
Point to note: Ethylene oxide is widely used in the food processing industry in India—according to medical experts:
While ethylene oxide effectively kills bacteria, fungi, and insects...its use as a fumigant in food products is regulated due to its carcinogenic nature. Improper use or excessive application in the food supply chain, particularly in the spice industry, where hygiene standards require strict microbial control, has led to significant contamination issues.
But it’s banned in India, right?
Yes—it is against the law to use it in any food manufacturing process. And it’s pretty much banned in the EU since 1991—there’s a cap of 0.1 mg per kg for any food substance treated with ethylene oxide. Oddly enough, the US is yet to set a cap on its presence in food products. The raging controversy in the US is over the use of ethylene oxide to sterilise medical equipment.
But, but, but: In India, the law on the books hardly matters. In 2021, the EU delisted five Indian certifying agencies—who had greenlit products containing ethylene oxide back—especially sesame seeds. A more recent EU audit of organic farms in India showed a laughable lack of even basic monitoring or compliance:
In one case, a farmer had a large pile of various plastic materials, partly burned in the middle of an organic field. “While this was recorded as a non-compliance, the inspector did not notice an unburned plastic jug on the top of the pile that had contained Chlorothalonil (a non-systemic fungicide), not allowed for organic production,” the audit pointed out.
In another case, on a field where wheat had just been sown after the harvest of a rice crop, a sachet containing hybrid sorghum seed and a plastic bottle with Monocrotophos (an organophosphate insecticide) were overlooked by the inspector.
The bottomline: is best summed up by this New Indian Express editorial: “[I]f banned substances are being found in exported products, one dreads to think what is being dumped in the domestic market.”
Reading list
Deccan Herald broke the story on the EU data. Indian Express has the stats from the US. New York Times has more on the battle over the use of ethylene oxide in sterilisation of medical instruments. This New Indian Express editorial offers a good overall take on this mess. Bureau Veritas is best on ethylene oxide—while Indian Express looks at its use in India. For more on the masala ban in Singapore and Hong Kong, read The Wire. Business Standard has the most on the government’s response.
