MDH refutes claims of ethylene oxide in spices

Indian spice maker MDH (Mahashian Di Hatti Pvt Ltd) has junked claims of the presence of ethylene oxide in its packaged spices after food regulators in Hong Kong and Singapore returned the brand's spice shipments.

Ethylene oxide, a carcinogenic compound, was found in packaged spices from MDH and Everest Group in Singapore and Hong Kong. This chemical poses significant health hazards, including an increased risk of leukemia and breast cancer.

"We reassure our buyers and consumers that we do not use Ethylene Oxide (ETO) at any stage of storing, processing, or packing our spices," MDH says in a statement.

"We the manufacturers of MDH spices, we state that amidst speculations doing round that there is presence of ETO in our products, we clarify and state unequivocally that these claims are untrue and lack any substantiating evidence," the Delhi-based company says.

Additionally, MDH says it has not received any communication from regulatory authorities of Singapore or Hong Kong. "Our statement is further supported by the fact that nodal regulatory authorities such as the Spice Board of India and FSSAI have not received any communication or test reports from Hong Kong or Singapore authorities regarding this matter. This reinforces the fact that the allegations against MDH are baseless, unsubstantiated, and not backed by any concrete evidence," the spice maker claims.

The 105-year-old company says it is committed to quality and safety. The brand was founded by its late Dharampal Gulati who himself used to appear in promotions and advertisements. His son Rajeev Gulati, chairman of MDH Group, controls the company now.

India is the world's largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices.

In April, India's food regulator, the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), increased the maximum residue limit of pesticides in spices by 10 times from 0.01 milligrammes per kilogramme (mg/kg) to 0.1 mg/kg.

Following the increase in permissible pesticide limit, health advocacy group Pesticide Action Network India called the FSSAI's decision of increasing the permissible levels of pesticides in spices and herbs "shocking".

Meanwhile, a user on microblogging platform X, who goes by the name ‘TheLiverDoc’ said “a random analysis of domestically sold masala mix from Everest Company also showed cancer causing ethylene oxide 70 times more than what EU has limited and which FSSAI India has not approved in end product."

“This is very concerning. This is a random citizen assessment of a market available product that has very high levels of a banned contaminant,” he says in a post on X. Fortune India couldn’t independently verify the test results.

The government has sought details from food safety regulators of Singapore and Hong Kong, which have banned certain spices of Indian brands MDH and Everest due to quality concerns. Details have also been sought from the two companies.