Bengaluru CEO to launch spices, masalas amid MDH, Everest safety concerns: 'Determined to fight adulteration
PC Musthafa, CEO of Bengaluru-based iD Fresh Foods, said his firm is launching spice mixes amid concerns about MDH and Everest products.
PC Musthafa, CEO of Bengaluru-based iD Fresh Foods, has announced that his food products company has started work to launch its own brand of spices and masalas. The announcement comes at a time when top spice brands from India, MDH and Everest, are facing troubles over quality concerns in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Singapore and Hong Kong recently banned the sale of four spice mixes by MDH and Everest over concerns that they contain the pesticide "ethylene oxide" beyond permissible limits.
Musthafa, whose company is best known for its idli-dosa batters and ready-to-cook parottas, said he was shocked to read the latest reports on MDH and Everest.
"Determined to fight food adulteration, we have started work to launch iD spices. They will be made with love and care," he said on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.
See PC Musthafa's X post on launching spices:
Musthafa, an alumnus of IIM in Bengaluru and the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Kerala's Kozhikode, started iD Fresh Foods in 2006.
Everest Food Products on Tuesday said that all its products are safe and of high quality. The company, in a statement, also said Everest is not banned in either country. Only one out of 60 Everest products has been held for examination. This is a standard procedure and not a ban.
"We reassure our customers that our products are safe and of high quality, so there is no need for concern," the company spokesperson said.
On April 5, Hong Kong's food safety regulator said that it has found pesticide “ethylene oxide” beyond permissible limits in the samples of several kinds of pre-packaged spice-mix products of two Indian brands and asked consumers not to buy.
Taking note of the order, the Singapore Food Agency directed a recall of the products.
These products were: Everest Fish Curry Masala, MDH’s Madras Curry Powder (Spice blend for Madras Curry), MDH Sambhar Masala Mixed Masala Powder, and MDH Curry Powder Mixed Masala Powder.
