Page 138 - CW E-Magazine (28-5-2024)

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COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENT
American industry body clarifies ethylene oxide

treatment in spices approved for use in US

The American Spice Trade Associa- for ETO permitted in major markets, or Maximum Residue Levels is set
tion (ASTA) has written to the Spices including the EU, the UK, the US in the at 7 ppm for herbs and spices. “Both,
Board of India clarifying that ethylene guidelines. the US Food and Drug Administration
oxide (ET) is approved for use on spices (FDA) and the US Environmental Pro-
in the US under prescribed tolerance Risk of pathogens tection Agency (EPA), have concluded
limits. Reacting to the recent criticism ASTA pointed out that the US im- that consumption of spices treated with
over use of ETO in spices, the industry ports more than 1,00,000-mt of spices ETO is safe. The US spice industry re-
body added that any move to prohibit from India, valued at over $360-mn an- lies on ETO sterilisation as one of the
“this critical treatment method” could nually. “All of which needs to be treated primary methods to comply with the
result in “unintended implications” re- with a validated kill step such as ETO FDA regulations,” it added. ETO has
garding compliance of Indian spices (ethylene oxide), prior to being sold been one of the key methods used by
with US food safety regulations. ASTA in the US market. Current US regula- the US spice importers to comply with
represents over 200 companies that are tions permit the use of ETO treatment these requirements.
involved in manufacturing and market- on imported spices and spice products
ing of spices in the US. as long as residues adhere to the pres- “Spices that do not undergo a “vali-
cribed tolerances. Moreover, without dated kill step” prior to import to the US
This comes at a time when some the use of ETO on spices, imported will be deemed “Not Ready-To-Eat”
spice products were recalled by food products are at a higher risk of the pre- and are required to be labelled with a
safety regulators in Hong Kong and sence of pathogens and non-compliance “Not Processed to Control Microbial
Singapore. This led Spices Board of India with FDA food safety regulations,” the Hazards” disclosure,” it added. ASTA
to issue guidelines advising exporters ASTA letter stated. stressed “prohibiting this critical treat-
against using ETO as a sterilising agent ment method has the potential to result
in spices consignments suggesting Stating that ETO is an approved anti- in serious unintended implications re-
alternatives. It has also provided the microbial fumigant in the US, ASTA garding compliance of Indian spices
Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) also pointed out that its tolerance limit with US food safety regulations.”

FRAGRANCE PRODUCTION
S H Kelkar shifts production to Mumbai site post

fire at Vashivali

Mumbai-based fragrances & flavours pany has converted its flavour facility at vestments,” the company informed.
major, Keva, formerly known as S H Mulund, which has a capacity of 4,000 Customer servicing resumed from April
Kelkar and Company Ltd., had reported tonnes per shift per year, for fragrance 30, 2024, ensuring that our commit-
a major fire incident at its fragrance faci- manufacturing. With these facilities ope- ments to clients continue to be met pro-
lity, located in Vashivali, Maharashtra, rating in double shifts, the company gressively. This transition has resulted
on the evening of 23 April 2024. No loss claimed to have adequate capacity to ser- in a backlog of around 10 days which
of human life was reported. vice all customer requirements. the company is confident to restore to
normal service level by the end of May.
To mitigate the impact of fire on the “The entire flavour manufacturing
Vashivali unit, the company has shifted (domestic and export) will get consoli- The company said it has a compre-
its production to its site in Mulund dated at Vashivali site which was not hensive insurance coverage to cover for
(Mumbai), which houses Keva Fragrance’s impacted by fire and has adequate in- the losses at Vashivali. The surveyor and
export unit with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes frastructure to support entire flavour the insurance company are in the pro-
per shift per year. Additionally, the com- operation without any additional in- cess of ascertaining the loss, it added.

138 Chemical Weekly May 28, 2024

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