A fifth of all herbs and spices sold in EU are adulterated, claims new study

Almost a fifth of all herbs and spices sold in the EU are suspected of being adulterated with other ingredients, says a new research.

The largest ever investigation- done by the EU’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and commissioned by Brussels- into the authenticity of culinary herbs and spices sold to consumers in the EU found that 17 per cent of all products were suspected of containing unauthorised products, colouring or dyes, as reported by The Times.

JRC carried out almost 10,000 tests on 1,900 samples of mostly ground or crushed herbs and spices, including 63 samples from Ireland.

As per the study, almost half of all samples of oregano found to contain other ingredients, mostly olive leaves while 17 per cent of pepper samples 14 per cent of cumin, 11 per cent of turmeric, 11 per cent of saffron and 6 per cent of paprika/chili were found to be adulterated.

The most common adulteration of herbs and spices involved unapproved ingredients, additives or dyes being added to products or not being lawfully declared in a list of ingredients, the report said. Some herbs and spices might also have a valuable constituent omitted or removed.

Supply chains in the herbs and spices sectors tend to be “long, complex and can pass through many countries”, states the report, adding that herbs and spices are usually farmed at a subsistence scale in non-EU countries and there are frequently many intermediaries in the supply chain offering opportunities for malpractices and/or fraudulent practices.

The JRC noted that some spices like paprika and turmeric had a history of fraudulent colour enhancement, while pepper was prone to substitution by other ingredients.

About 100,000 tons of herbs and spices are produced in the EU each year with over 379,000 tons imported from non-EU countries, mostly in east Asia.

"Food fraud must be tackled to protect the health and interests of consumers. It is also important that while doing that we create a level playing field for compliant industry and that we ensure that fraudsters operating food chains don’t gain unfair competitive advantage,” Peter Whelan, director of audits and investigation of Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), which participated in the research, was quoted as saying by The Times.