Nepal third country to ban Indian spice brands

Updated: May 17th, 2024


After Singapore and Hong Kong, Nepal has also imposed a ban on the sales, usage, and import of the spices sold by Indian brands MDH and Everest.

The Food Technology and Quality Control Department of Nepal has taken this decision amid fears that this spice contains the pesticide ethylene oxide.

Spokesperson for the department, Krishna Maharjan said, "A ban has been imposed on the spices, over the reports of them containing harmful chemicals. The investigation is ongoing, and the ban will stay in place till the results arrive."

The British Food Safety Agency (FSA) is also investigating the presence of harmful elements in the spices imported from India.

Certain species from MDH and Everest were banned in Singapore and Hong Kong for containing ethylene oxide.

What is ethylene oxide?

Ethylene oxide is used as an insecticide and was also developed to sterilise medical instruments.

Exposure to ethylene oxide is said to increase the risk of cancers.

According to various studies, it increases the risk of developing cancers including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, myeloma and lymphocytic leukaemia, breast cancer, brain cancer, lung cancer, and uterine cancer.

Also read:

527 Indian food items found to have cancer-causing chemicals

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