Indian Food Exports Not Banned Due to Carcinogens: Govt

New Delhi, July 26 (PTI) The government on Friday informed Parliament that during the last ten years, no country has banned the export of Indian food products due to the presence of carcinogens, a cancer-causing chemical.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State (MoS) for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said that export consignments of food products are tested as per specifications of importing countries and as per norms fixed by competent authorities functioning under the ministry.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) conduct regular enforcement, surveillance, monitoring, inspection and random sampling of food products, to check and verify compliance with quality and safety requirements.

"During the past ten years, no country has banned the export of food products due to the presence of Group 1 carcinogens," Prasada said.

Recently certain spices of Indian brands MDH and Everest faced ban in Singapore and Hong Kong due to quality concerns on account of the presence of ethylene oxide.

"In cases where the food samples are found to be non-conforming viz., sub-standard, misbranded, misleading and unsafe including substances /adulterants being potential carcinogenic, penal actions are initiated against the defaulting food business operators, as per provisions," he added.