Spice trade: India
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Exports: 2012-13
Feb 20 2015
From antiquity to the present, India has been known for its wide range of spices. The spice trade was among the key drivers of the world economy from the end of the Middle Ages to modern times. Even today, spices account for a considerable chunk of India's exports. According to the Spice Board of India, in 2012-13, India exported spices worth about Rs 12,000 crore. Data on 17 major spices shows that the US is the largest importer of spices like pepper, ginger and turmeric. Indonesia imports the highest quantity of garlic from India. The largest volume of chillies goes to Vietnam, while China is the largest importer of mint-based products from India.
Malpractices
Andhra Pradesh: "Dangerous" adulteration
The Hindu, November 6, 2016
P. SAMUEL JONATHAN
Probe reveals ‘dangerous’ adulteration of chilli powder
A.P. sleuths unearth low quality adulterant which can have devastating effects on the digestive system
Bags of low quality chilli powder, laced with chemical extracts, unfit for human consumption and used as a mere husk in furnaces in China, are being supplied to hotels, hostels and other mass consumption centres in Andhra Pradesh, Vigilance and Enforcement sleuths probing the incidents of adulterated chilli powder have found.
During a raid on a cold storage, adulterated chilli powder stacked in 4,500 bags was seized by the Vigilance Department. The stock was registered in seven different names, but their identification could not be proved.
Preliminary chemical analysis of the powder revealed some shocking truths. The powder is an extract made of low quality, discoloured chillis, red oxide and cooking oil. Further investigations revealed that the powder is made at a unit in Khammam. The powder, known in local parlance as “Chinese powder”, is being exported to China for use as an additive in furnaces.
‘Unfit for consumption’
“We were perplexed when local manufacturers in Khammam told us that the powder exported to China is marked ‘not fit for consumption’, and we are probing how the bags were stacked in cold storages here and sold locally. Often, the inferior quality chilli powder is mixed with quality powder and sold when the prices are high,” said an officer.
Consumption of adulterated chilli powder could have devastating effects on the digestive system. Extract containing red oxide having carcinogenic properties could prove fatal, if consumed.
The “Chinese powder” is usually exported during February-May. The dry inferior quality is powdered, mixed with red oxide and oil, and again dried to form into a powder. It retains some pungency due to the presence of dry chilli.
