Everest Masala and the Ethylene Oxide Controversy

Everest Spices is India's single largest spice brand by market share, commanding approximately 12–13% of the branded spice market. Founded in 1965 in Rajkot, Gujarat, by Vadilal Ramanlal Shah, Everest has grown into a household name across India. The brand is today owned by the Shah family and operates from manufacturing facilities in Gujarat and Maharashtra. It exports to over 50 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean — serving the large Indian diaspora globally.

Everest offers over 50 masala products including Tikhalal Red Chilli Powder, Kitchen King Masala, Chhole Masala, Fish Curry Masala, Meat Masala, Pav Bhaji Masala, and Sambhar Masala. Many of these blends have become integral to specific regional cuisines. Fish Curry Masala, in particular, is immensely popular in coastal Indian communities and among the Indian diaspora in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia — which is why its recall in those markets in 2024 became international news.

Despite its dominant market position, Everest — like all Indian spice manufacturers — operates in a supply chain that starts at the farm level, where pesticide use is poorly monitored, and passes through multiple intermediaries before reaching the consumer. This supply chain complexity is at the heart of the ethylene oxide contamination issue that shook the brand's global reputation in 2024.

In April 2024, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) recalled Everest Fish Curry Masala after detecting ethylene oxide at levels exceeding Singapore's permissible limit of 0.02 mg/kg. Simultaneously, Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety (CFS) recalled the same product along with three MDH products. Everest's management initially denied the recall, stating that their products complied with Indian standards — which they did, because India had not set a specific maximum residue limit (MRL) for ethylene oxide in spices at the time.

Everest denied any wrongdoing and launched its own internal investigation. The company insisted that it conducts quality checks at every stage of production and follows FSSAI regulations. However, its defense rested on a regulatory arbitrage: what was within Indian legal limits was outside international limits. This is precisely the gap that the 2024 crisis brought to global attention.

The cascade of bans was swift. Nepal suspended imports of both MDH and Everest products within days. The Maldives followed. The European Union's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) — which had already flagged 527 Indian food products for ethylene oxide between 2020 and 2024 — went on heightened alert for Indian spice imports. India's Spices Board was forced to implement emergency export testing protocols.

The FSSAI collected samples from both of Everest's manufacturing facilities. Over 300 spice samples from multiple brands were tested. The official statement in May 2024 reported no detectable ethylene oxide in the collected samples — but the lack of publicly available detailed test reports left consumers and food safety advocates questioning the methodology.

Everest's blends, like MDH's, primarily contain ground spices: coriander, cumin, turmeric, red chilli, black pepper, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and bay leaf, with specific additions for specialty masalas. Everest Fish Curry Masala, the product at the centre of the controversy, contains coriander, red chilli, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, cardamom, fennel, and fenugreek seeds. It does not contain artificial flavours, colours, or preservatives — it is a pure spice blend.

The contamination risk, therefore, is not from the ingredient formulation itself, but from what happens to those raw spices during cultivation, storage, and processing. Red chilli is one of the most heavily pesticide-treated crops in India. Coriander and cumin, typically sourced from Rajasthan and Gujarat, can harbour pesticide residues depending on agricultural practices. When these raw spices arrive at the manufacturing facility, if surface sterilisation using ethylene oxide has been part of the process — directly or indirectly through warehouse fumigation — residues can be retained in the powdered product.

Ethylene oxide also breaks down into ethylene glycol and 2-chloroethanol in food matrices, both of which are toxic. Singapore's detection may have been for ethylene oxide or its metabolites. Importantly, this degradation pathway means that even if ethylene oxide itself is undetectable, its harmful breakdown products may persist in spice powders that have been treated.

Ethylene oxide (C₂H₄O) is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) — the highest risk category, reserved for substances with conclusive evidence of causing cancer in humans. The most well-documented cancers associated with occupational ethylene oxide exposure include leukaemia, lymphoma, and breast cancer. Importantly, IARC and the US EPA note that ethylene oxide is a genotoxic carcinogen — meaning it directly damages DNA, not just disrupts hormone signalling or metabolism.

Because ethylene oxide damages DNA, there is theoretically no safe threshold of exposure from a cancer risk standpoint. This is in contrast to threshold-based toxins where small exposures are considered safe. For a genotoxic carcinogen, risk increases linearly with dose — any amount adds some degree of risk. This is why the EU banned it entirely in 2011 rather than simply setting a low MRL.

The World Health Organization's WHO Food Additives Joint Expert Committee (JECFA) has not established an ADI (acceptable daily intake) for ethylene oxide precisely because of this genotoxicity concern. Regulatory bodies that maintain MRLs (like India's Spices Board) do so using a risk-based approach, accepting very small residues in trade — but from a public health standpoint, the ideal position is zero tolerance.

For Indian consumers using masala daily in multiple meals, the exposure could be chronic. While the absolute risk from single-digit ppb levels of ethylene oxide residues is small, chronic low-level exposure to a genotoxic carcinogen over decades — combined with other dietary and environmental exposures — contributes meaningfully to lifetime cancer risk. Children, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems face higher relative risk.

The most significant policy failure exposed by the Everest crisis was the absence of a specific maximum residue limit (MRL) for ethylene oxide in Indian spice regulations at the time of the recall. India's Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011 list MRLs for dozens of pesticides in various food categories — but ethylene oxide was not among them for spices. This allowed companies to legally export spices with ethylene oxide residues without technically violating Indian law, while the same products violated the laws of importing countries.

The FSSAI announced in mid-2024 that it was reviewing and updating the contaminants regulation to include ethylene oxide limits for spices, aligning with Codex Alimentarius (the international food standards body) and EU standards. Codex has set an MRL of 0.1 mg/kg for ethylene oxide in certain food categories. The EU's limit is effectively zero. India's proposed MRL, when finalised, will likely be in the 0.05–0.1 mg/kg range — tighter than current practice but still not as strict as the EU.

Post-crisis measures by the Spices Board: From May 2024, all spice exporters are required to obtain a test certificate from an approved laboratory confirming that ethylene oxide is absent or below the importing country's limit. This applies to exports only. Domestic market protection still relies on FSSAI's routine surveillance — which is under-resourced relative to the scale of the industry.

A side-by-side look at how ethylene oxide limits compared across standard-setters at the time of the 2024 recalls:

Ethylene oxide captured headlines, but it is not the only pesticide concern in Indian spices. The broader challenge is the high use of agrochemicals in Indian spice farming. Red chilli cultivation, which supplies the bulk of chilli powder in India, involves heavy application of pesticides including cypermethrin, profenofos, chlorpyrifos, and dichlorvos. FSSAI's own surveys have detected residues of these organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides in chilli powder samples.

Turmeric, another key component in most masala blends, has been flagged for lead contamination in some studies — a concern more pronounced in loose, unbranded turmeric. However, there have also been instances of branded turmeric exceeding lead limits. Coriander and cumin may carry organochlorine residues from older pesticide applications that persist in soil.

Aflatoxins represent yet another contamination risk. Aflatoxin B1, produced by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus moulds, is a potent liver carcinogen classified as Group 1 by IARC. Poorly dried or stored chilli, coriander, and pepper are common hosts. FSSAI sets a limit of 15 ppb for total aflatoxins in spices — but inadequate monitoring means contaminated products sometimes reach consumers.

The compound effect of multiple simultaneous low-level contaminants — pesticide residues, ethylene oxide, aflatoxins, and heavy metals — in a product used daily in cooking, over decades, represents a cumulative risk that Indian food safety policy has been slow to address comprehensively. Everest and MDH are large, organised players. The risk is even higher for loose and unbranded masalas that face no systematic quality testing.

Under the NOVA food classification system — developed by researchers at the University of São Paulo and widely referenced by the WHO and PAHO — spice blends like Everest and MDH masalas fall into NOVA Group 1: Unprocessed or minimally processed foods. NOVA Group 1 includes foods with little or no processing — and grinding, drying, and blending of spices qualifies as minimal processing. These products contain no ultra-processed additives, preservatives, or artificially modified ingredients.

This is an important distinction: from a NOVA / ultra-processing standpoint, MDH and Everest masala blends are not ultra-processed foods. The health concerns are entirely about contamination, not about the food matrix itself. Masalas made from pure ground spices are nutritionally dense — they provide antioxidants (curcumin in turmeric, capsaicin in chilli, eugenol in cloves, piperine in black pepper), fibre, and trace minerals.

The irony of the ethylene oxide controversy is that these are naturally healthy products being contaminated through poor agricultural and post-harvest practices, not through the manufacturing process. The fix lies in farm-to-package traceability, organic certification, and rigorous residue testing — not in avoiding masala blends altogether.

Given the contamination risks in Indian spice brands, here is AaharIQ's practical guide to making safer masala choices:

1. Look for FSSAI certification and batch testing transparency: While all packaged foods need FSSAI registration, look for brands that publish third-party laboratory testing reports for pesticide residues and aflatoxins. Everest and MDH have not historically published such reports publicly.

2. Choose organically certified masalas: Products carrying the Jaivik Bharat logo or NPOP certification have been farmed without synthetic pesticides and are tested for pesticide residues. Brands like Organic India, 24 Mantra Organic, and Praakritik offer certified organic masalas. They cost 30–50% more but carry significantly lower contamination risk.

3. Grind fresh from whole spices: Buying whole coriander seeds, cumin, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon and grinding them fresh at home (using a small grinder) eliminates processing-related contamination risks. Whole spices are harder to adulterate or contaminate with solvents.

4. Store properly: Improper storage (high humidity, warmth) promotes aflatoxin growth. Store masalas in airtight containers in a cool, dry place. Replace opened packs every 6 months rather than using near-expiry products.

5. Scan before you buy: Use the AaharIQ app to scan the QR code or barcode on masala packets for safety alerts, FSSAI compliance status, and community health ratings before purchasing.

6. Watch for regulatory updates: FSSAI's updated contaminant regulations (expected 2025-2026) will include ethylene oxide MRLs. Products certified to these new standards will carry a safety advantage.

This is one of several brand investigations we've published — see the full index of every packaged food brand we've checked.