10g of Parathion Methyl, Please!
This is what you might also be eating when you spice up your food.
If you are fond of cooking (and eating!) like me, I am sure at a certain point you have used spices to add flavour to your dishes. Maybe you used saffron to cook risotto, or baked some cinnamon cookies. Perhaps, during a cold winter night, you decided to treat yourself to a hot cup of ginger tea to boost your immune system. Well, if that’s the case, you are not alone!
The spice market is constantly growing: in 2018, in Europe, Germany’s spices import value was 515 million €, accounting for 20% of total EU imports, followed by France (407 million €) and the Netherlands (345 million €). According to Grand View Research, the global spices market size was valued at USD 13.77 billion in 2019 and is expected to rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.3% from 2020 to 2027.
Spices are great for your health…
But spices are not used only in the food industry. They are a key component in the worldwide production of several different commodities, spanning from food to cosmetics and medicine. Many spices have strong antioxidant properties that can be used to treat several diseases; turmeric, for instance, can help to prevent cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, while cumin has antiseptic properties (Tapsell et al., 2006).
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), India represents both the major producer of spices in the world and the main exporter, accounting for 48% in terms of volume and a quarter in terms of value of the spices’ global world trade. Smallholder farmers are the main producers of Indian spices, which also represent the largest share of their income.
…but they may contain a hidden threat
Nevertheless, the widespread use of poor agricultural practices such as the use of highly toxic pesticides or unsafe working conditions, prevent Indian farmers from accessing the international market, regulated by strict rules on sustainable sourcing products, limiting their income potential. The mismanaged use of hazardous agrochemicals, has also a detrimental impact on the environment, leading to biodiversity loss and ecosystem damage (Damalas & Eleftherohorinos, 2011).
A study conducted by the Kerala Agriculture University between January and March 2017 on the levels of insecticides and pesticides residues found in spice samples (coriander, dried ginger powder, dried red chili, cardamom, cumin powder, pickle powder, garam masala, curd chili, chili powder, fennel seeds, Kashmiri chili powder, rasam powder, and curry powder), revealed that the problem is far from being solved.
Out of 74 samples of 25 types of spices collected in both hypermarkets and organic markets, 25 samples of 12 items had high levels of agrochemicals’ residues. Endosulfan, an organochlorine insecticide, was found in samples of coriander, while samples of cumin were contaminated by chlorpyrifos, ethion, malathion, methyl parathion, and profenofos. A sample of cardamom contained 3.39 ppm (parts per million) of profenofos, an organophosphate insecticide banned in the European Union since 2015. The permissible limit for profenofos in countries where it is authorized is 0.01 ppm. Another organophosphorus insecticide, parathion methyl, no longer authorized in the EU, China, Japan, and the US, was found to be between 4 to 5 times higher in concentration compared to the permissible limit in places where it is still used. Also ginger showed high levels of parathion methyl (1.1–4.85 mg/kg). According to Thomas Biju Mathew, Associate Director of Plant Protection at Kerala Agricultural University, such a high level of “cotton poison” (another name of parathion methyl) is possible only if the insecticide had been sprayed over the dry ginger rhizomes during storage, in order to kill Stegobium paniceum, a drugstore beetle which infests dried plant products. The reason is simple: parathion methyl is not widely used to control pests by direct application in ginger fields. The same insecticide was also found in samples of chilies, cumin seeds, and cumin powder.
On the other hand, organic production doesn’t always seem to be reliable. A study by the Consumer Education and Research Center (CERC) found the presence of arsenic and copper in leading brands of organic turmeric powder.
A light at the end of the tunnel?
Public awareness for responsible sourcing products is growing along with the spices’ market demand. This led the Government of India to ban twenty-seven insecticide compounds, found to be highly hazardous towards both humans and animals. According to AISEF (All India Spices Exporters Forum), a draft order to pursue the banning was published on May 14, 2020. This measure is expected to boost the Indian spice industry, granting both the provision of safe products for the local consumers and allowing for an expansion on the international market, regulated by more and more strict rules on sustainable sourcing products.
Yes and no…
Although the elimination of hazardous agrochemicals from the spice production could potentially also improve the livelihoods and welfare of rural communities, which would be able to sell their products on a broader market, according to AISEF, the spice industry is aware that export-oriented programmes are not sufficient to eliminate the use of cheap hazardous pesticides. Furthermore, since the Kerala state in India banned the use of parathion methyl in 2011 but this was found in studies conducted 6 years later, it is not sure whether a full ban on pesticides will anyway be able to free the fields, the market, and of course the spices of toxic agrochemicals.
We have to be aware that what we eat might have a cost in terms of our health, that of the producers, and the environment which supports the production if it is not conducted in a responsible manner. Sustainable solutions are possible. The question now is if they will be capable to cope with the demand rate at which the spice market is growing?
For the moment, I am off to my cup of ginger tea. Organic of course! (and hopefully heavy metal-free...)
References
Damalas, C. A., & Eleftherohorinos, I. G. (2011). Pesticide Exposure, Safety Issues, and Risk Assessment Indicators. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 8(5), 1402–1419. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8051402
Tapsell, L. C., Hemphill, I., Cobiac, L., Sullivan, D. R., Fenech, M., Patch, C. S., Roodenrys, S., Keogh, J. B., Clifton, P. M., Williams, P. G., Fazio, V. A., & Inge, K. E. (2006). Health benefits of herbs and spices: The past, the present, the future. Medical Journal of Australia, 185(S4).
