Chilli controversy rubs off on draft Food Bill

Exporters say the culprit behind the delay is February’s 15-nation recall of 470 products containing the possibly carcinogencic colourant Sudan-1. The recall was worth over 15 million pounds worldwide.

Fears are, a spillover effect could severely hit India’s food export basket further, unless labelling and product traceability standards are globalised to reassure importing countries. Any food law, industry sources said, must take these matters to centrestage.

But food exporters are also worried over the costs of compliance to latest international food safety norms. A 2002 EU law, for instance, says food products should be traceable right from production and processing down to packaging. The US bioterrorism law says foreign facilities must maintain records necessary to identify the source and recipient of food products.

At the same time, the government’s offer of financial assistance to manufacturer exporters adopting high-tech processes including sterilisation, steam washing and advanced packaging, have had no takers from exporters yet.

‘‘The sooner we adopt phyto-sanitary and food traceability standards, the better it is for consumers and exports. After all, red chilli with Sudan 1 may have been consumed in India as well — not just exported,’’ says Ravi Mathur, CEO, EAN India, a non-profit industry-government body under the commerce ministry.

According to EAN, should a crisis such as red chilli recur, it should be possible to trace the source and time of supply in order to minimise risks and recall costs.

‘‘At least half India’s spice exports to the EU were impacted by the red chilli controversy, only because batch recalls are impossible since no one knows what came from where or from whom — a spillover against all Indian imports is possible,’’ says Mathur.

Though the government has said there were no carcinogenic substances in Indian red chilli exports, sources said suggestions to the draft Bill were coming in till late last week. So the GoM has little time to draft its own policy alternatives by March 10 — the deadline set on its last meeting on February 28.