How healthy or unhealthy are your daily Spices?

The spicy truth of the daily spices is not as palatable as we taste the spices! Turmeric, chili, Coriander, ginger, Cardamom, cumin powder, fennel seeds, rasam powder, saffron etc. are regularly used in foods by Indian households not only to add taste but also for their therapeutic values. But the purity of these high value ground powders are being risked by adulteration as the consumers cannot easily evaluate its quality based on sensory input alone.

According to a Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry data, there has been a drastic increase in the food adulteration in the last three years across Maharashtra (As reported by The Free Press Journal on Mar 26, 2018).

In February, the food safety officials seized poor quality of 600 kg of chili powder prepared with chili waste and sawdust in a raid conducted at a manufacturing in Delhi. They also seized 100 kg of salt and 100 kg of black gram. There were more than 200 such criminal cases against such frauds in India at that time, as per The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI).

FoodSafety and Standards, Regulations, 2011 has set standards as per the guidelines of the FSSAI. This prescribes the maximum limit of different chemicals like additives, preservatives and permitted colours that can be allowed in the food. But these are violated on regular basis mainly on the packaged foods like milk and spices.

The long supply chain of these spices gives the frauds an opportunity to adulterate these spices at any level. Starting from the grower, local trader, primary and secondary processor, manufacturer and exporter, there are lots of stages to contaminate your spice. The more new methods are being developed to detect adulteration in spices, the more advanced techniques are being developed by these frauds.

These adulterated spices can cause a lot of hazard leading to health complications like cancer and several other lifestyle diseases as these are consumed daily along with our food. Due to adulteration in spices, the food prepared with it also loses its nutritive value. The children can be the worst sufferers as the impacts can even show up in their teens. The elderly people are equally vulnerable.

The turmeric powder, which is adulterated with lead chromate can cause Brain damage, Anemia, Paralysis and abortions. The food colour used beyond safety limit can lead to Allergies, Liver damage, Cancer, Hyperactivity, Infertility and Birth defects.

The law will its course in due time but we cannot sit idly till the vast racket of food adulteration is put behind the bar. It is best to avoid these health hazards through prevention. The starting point can be the place from where you buy these ingredients. Keep a check that you’re buying from a reputed retailer shop and also don’t forget to check the expiry date as well as the source of the product. Even a small amount of contamination can cause a serious problem after some time which might turn non-reversible by then.

You can check this link to get some ideas that you can opt to test if the spices used in your kitchen are adulterated or not!