Indian chilli blocked in EU
indian exporters of chilli products are smarting. The eu has all but shut the door on them after recently detecting the presence of Sudan red 1, a carcinogenic industrial dye, in one of their consignments to France. And the Spices Board of India has cracked the whip on the three export companies whose products were found contaminated. The unsavoury row has thrown up serious questions regarding the domestic market, too, where adulteration is said to be rampant.
But the authorities merely cite laws to parry the posers. "The Prevention of Food Adulteration (pfa) Rules, 1955, prohibit the use of any colouring matter in chilli powder sold in India,' explains a senior official of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's pfa division. "The Central Food Laboratories test samples of the product and are equipped to detect the presence of any colouring matter,' he adds. It may be noted that a Pune-based research organisation has found adulterants such as Sudan 1 in some branded and non-branded chilli products. So much for the safeguards!
The export fiasco which took place in May saw the European Commission (ec) stipulating that in the absence of documentary evidence of purity, no hot chilli or chilli products from India would be allowed to enter the eu market. The ec's decision is likely to have an adverse impact on the export of these products, which account for 20 per cent of the us $300 million Indian spice exports industry. The eu authorities justify their action, highlighting the serious health effects of Sudan red 1. "It is a chemical dye and is not permitted in food,' says a spokesperson of the ec (see box: Chilling facts).
The Spices Board of India has suspended the licences of three Mumbai-based companies