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Reports on pesticides are baseless : FSSAI

  • Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issues clarification
  • FSSAI allows much less pesticides than the global standards

New Delhi – Several media outlets had claimed that the food regulator of India allows 10 times more pesticides than prescribed standards in herbs and spices. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has refuted all these reports, calling them baseless. It said through a press release that all such reports are false and malicious.

The press release further states,

1. FSSAI has said that it has one of the most stringent standards of Maximum Residue Levels (MRL) of pesticides. The MRLs of pesticides are fixed differently for different food commodities based on their risk assessments.

2. Backing the claim of false reports, FSSAI said the MRL of 0.01 mg/kg was applicable in case of pesticides. The limit was increased to 0.1 mg/kg only in cases of spices and is applicable only for those pesticides which are not registered in India by Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee (CIB & RC). The move was recommended by the Scientific Panel on Pesticide Residues.

3. India has registered over 295 pesticides, with 139 approved for use in spices alone, the regulator said. These pesticides are subject to varying MRLs based on the specific crop and risk assessment data.

4. As per FSSAI, the MRLs fixed by CODEX for Myclobutanil used for Chilli is 20 mg/kg whereas limit set by FSSAI is 2mg/kg.

5. Citing another example of this, the authority said that for Spiromesifen, used for Chilli, Codex limit is 5 mg/kg whereas FSSAI limit is 1 mg/kg.

Editorial Perspective

Foreign establishments accusing Indian spices and other food items should now be asked for scientific evidence, otherwise they should be compelled to issue an apology to India !

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