The European Comission has published the largest investigation to date on the marketing of aromatic herbs and spices in the 21 EU countries, plus Norway and Switzerland. And the conclusions are worrying.
Of the 1,885 samples of spices analysed, for sale throughout Europe, 17% were not what they claimed to be. But there are big differences between different products.
By far, the aromatic herb where more fraud is committed is oregano: 48% of the samples were suspected of fraudmostly because the aromatic herb was mixed with olive leaves.
Pepper (17%), cumin (14%), turmeric (11%), saffron (11%) and paprika (6%) follow in volume of fraud. In addition, in 2% of the samples of were located unauthorized colorants.
Health hazards are limited
As the Commission explains in the report, “culinary herbs and spices are a globally traded commodity with a complex supply chain, that includes many steps before reaching the end users, that is, the food and hospitality industry and consumers”.
It is due to this complexity of the distribution chain, explain the European authorities, that “there are multiple opportunities to adulterate herbs aromatic herbs and spices to improve economic benefits”.
Most of the detected frauds correspond to undeclared plant material. This, in general, does not cause health problems, although it can be a risk, for example, for people who are sensitive or allergic to those other botanical species that are not correctly labelled.
The most serious thing is that in 2% of the analyzed samples, unauthorized colorants. In one sample, even a high level of lead chromatea highly toxic compound that is often used to make paints.
In addition, in two samples of cumin, 45 of oregano and four of pepper, the copper compounds are above the maximum residue limits allowed by European law.
The Commission urges the health inspectorate and the food industry to use this new data to strengthen preventive measures to combat food fraud, although he acknowledges that the report does not indicate a specific trend regarding the rate of possible fraudulent manipulations throughout the supply chain. The picaresque extends throughout the entire chain although, yes, it focuses more on some spices than others.
Images | istock
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