US health officials probe spice pesticide claims

The US Food and Drug Administration is looking into products made by 2 Indian spice makers for allegedly containing a cancer-causing pesticide.

Earlier this month, Hong Kong suspended income of 3 spice mixes made by MDH and different by Everest implicit alleged precocious levels of ethylene oxide.

MDH and Everest products are among the astir fashionable successful India and worldwide.

Everest has antecedently said its products are harmless for consumption, portion MDH has not commented.

"The FDA is alert of the reports and is gathering further accusation astir the situation," an FDA spokesperson told Reuters quality agency.

Singapore has besides recalled the Everest premix for food curries, saying the alleged precocious levels of ethylene oxide posed a crab risk.

India's Spices Board - the government's regulator for spice exports - said earlier this week that it was seeking accusation connected some companies' exports successful Hong Kong and Singapore, and was moving with the, to find the "root cause" of the prime issues arsenic inspections started astatine their plants.

Both companies' websites were offline connected Saturday.

Ethylene oxide is utilized for respective purposes successful industry, including arsenic a fumigating cause for spices. The US's Environmental Protection Agency says the chemic is carcinogenic to humans.

"Evidence successful humans indicates that vulnerability to ethylene oxide increases the hazard of lymphoid crab and, for females, bosom cancer," the EPA wrote successful 2018.

The BBC has contacted MDH and Everest for comment.

Back successful 2019, a fewer batches of MDH products were recalled successful the US owed to fears of salmonella contamination.