Food regulator orders Everest to recall cumin powder after finding unsafe levels of pesticides
· Scroll
Food products manufacturer Everest has been directed to immediately recall a batch of its packaged cumin powder from the market after a food analysis report found that a sample collected from a resort in Goa was found to have unsafe levels of pesticide residues, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India said on Sunday.
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The sample taken from Riverside Resorts and Holiday Homes was found containing Azoxystrobin and Thiamethoxam at “levels exceeding the prescribed limits”, stated the food regulator.
Azoxystrobin and thiamethoxam are agricultural chemicals used to protect crops from fungal diseases and insect pests, respectively. While both are widely used in farming, exposure to residues above prescribed regulatory limits in food can pose risks to human health.
The regulator said that its food analyst had concluded that the sample did not comply with the 2006 Food Safety and Standards Act. A food laboratory that the sample was sent to also confirmed that the sample was unsafe.
“The FBO [food business operator] was provided an opportunity to appeal against the food analyst’s report, following which the sample was referred to the referred food laboratory” it added.
The regulator also directed Everest to undertake corrective measures to prevent such incidents from occurring again and submit a report upon completing the recall.
In a separate instance,...