India has stringent standards for pesticide residue limits, revision in norms for spices done on recommendation of scientific panel

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Sunday, said that India has “one of the most stringent standards of Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) for pesticides in the world.” It added that MRLs are dynamic in nature and revised based on scientific data. Revision of limits is in line with global standards and done to ensure that MRL revisions are made on a scientifically valid basis, reflecting the latest findings and international norms, it added.

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The food safety authority also clarified that limits of 0.01 mg/kg has been increased to 0.1 mg/kgs only for those pesticide residues in spices which are “not registered” in India with Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee (CIB & RC). It further added that this change was done on a recommendation made by the Scientific Panel on Pesticide Residues.

The food safety authority’s statement comes after some media reports stated that India has relaxed maximum residue limits for pesticides in spices and herbs in April by 10 times, a move which was criticised by some activists.

“The MRL of 0.01 mg/kg was applicable in case of pesticides for which MRLs have not been fixed. This 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 CIB & RC. This was recommended by Scientific Panel on Pesticide Residues after considering the adoption of MRLs in the range 0.1 mg/kg and above by Codex Alimentarius Commission on Pesticide Residues on spices during 2021-23 in a phased manner for various spices in the world,” the statement added.

Pesticides are registered, banned or restricted by CIB & RC. The Scientific Panel on Pesticides Residues examines the data received from CIB & RC and then recommends the MRLs after performing risk assessment. “MRLs of pesticides are fixed differently for different food commodities based on the risk assessment data,” the statement added. For instance, the use of Monocrotophos is allowed in Rice at 0.03 mg/kg, Citrus fruits at 0.2 mg/kg, Coffee beans at 0.1 mg/kg and Cardamom 0.5 mg/kg, Chilli at 0.2 mg/kg.

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It also pointed out that in many cases, India’s standards in terms of MRLs of pesticides are more stringent than CODEX standards. “The MRLs fixed by CODEX for Myclobutanil used for Chilli is 20 mg/kg whereas the limit set by FSSAI is 2 mg/kg. For Spiromesifen, used for Chilli, Codex limit is 5 mg/kg whereas FSSAI limit is 1 mg/kg. Similarly, Codex standards for Metalaxyl and Metalaxyl-M used for black pepper is 2mg/kg whereas the limit set by FSSAI is 0.5 mg/kg,” the statement added.

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