Between September 2020 and April 2024, food safety authorities in the European Union have found contamination 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).
Ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing chemical whose traces led to a ban on Indian products in Hong Kong and Singapore, has been routinely found in Indian products by the European Food Safety Authority but no proactive steps have been taken by officials to ban the use of the chemical.
Between September 2020 and April 2024, food safety authorities in the European Union have found contamination 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). As many as 87 of the consignments were rejected at the border while many of the remaining were removed from the markets later.
Ethylene oxide, a colourless gas, is used as a pesticide and sterilising agent, though the chemical was originally intended to sterilise medical devices. Exposure to the ethylene oxide is said to cause lymphoma and leukemia among other cancers.
Data available from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), an online system that traces safety of food in the European Union member countries, shows the chemical was found in 525 food products and two feed products. While India was mentioned as the sole origin country for 332 of them, authorities tagged other countries where the chemical was found for the remaining products.
Jubin George Joseph, Chief Operating Officer, Ramaiah Advanced Testing Labs, said besides the direct exposure to ethylene oxide, consumers are susceptible to two more chemicals produced by the presence of the chemical in a food product.
Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/india/eu-found-cancer-causing-chemical-in-527-indian-items-2991515