Spices from India ‘could be contaminated with pesticide’

The report, carried out by the FSA and Queen’s University, found that “authenticity testing” of herbs and spices is not being carried out at British ports because there is no statutory requirement to do so. Public analyst laboratories surveyed in the report also said they are receiving “very few samples” of herbs and spices as authenticity testing is “not a priority” for local authorities. Christopher Elliott, a food security professor who led the Government’s response to the horsemeat scandal, said that spices not being subject to authenticity checks at the border was a “glaring loophole”. “It could be chalk dust, it could be brick dust – anything really that criminals can get their hands on.” This year, Bia Analytical, Prof Elliott’s food-testing company, launched a revolutionary portable authenticity testing tool allowing those involved in the spice production chain to detect fraud before their products make it onto supermarket shelves. Prof Elliott said a “complex and opaque” supply chains for spices was also driving the increase in spice fraud.