92% of Turmeric Samples Contaminated with Lead

By: Damini Mehta

According to the study, of the 17 cities sampled in India, three had lead levels above the permissible limit of 10 μg/g with Patna at the top followed by Guwahati and Chennai.

A study published in the Science of The Total Environment has turned heads towards yet another contamination of food items. This time, the focus is the powerhouse spice, turmeric. The study was conducted across countries in the Indian subcontinent and has found dangerously high levels of lead contamination in turmeric from India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of turmeric in the world. In the year 2022-23, India produced 11.61 lakh tonnes which is over 75% of global turmeric production. Turmeric is grown across 20 states in India with more than 30 varieties in production. Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu top the list of largest producing states of Turmeric.

Turmeric is not only an integral part of the Indian cuisine but plays a key role as a medicinal component in the traditional systems. The study found exorbitantly high levels of lead in Turmeric collected from markets across cities from which samples were collected between December 2020 and March 2021.

According to the study, of the 17 cities sampled in India, three had lead levels above the permissible limit of 10 μg/g with Patna at the top followed by Guwahati and Chennai. Lead concentration in Patna was as high as 2,274 μg/g and 92% of the samples collected from the city had lead levels above the legally safe limit. In Guwahati, lead levels were at 127 μg/g.

India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) places the limit for lead in turmeric powder at just 10 μg/g. Notably, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) no level of lead is safe for human consumption. Experts opine that long-term exposure to lead, particularly through daily consumption items like turmeric, can have severe and often irreversible health consequences such as neurological damage, damage to the kidney, cardiovascular problems, and reproductive and bone health issues. Moreover, lead poisoning and damage particularly due to exposure over long periods cannot be fully reversed.

Lead contamination in turmeric is likely due to adulteration practices by adding non-edible substances such as lead chromate to enhance turmeric’s colour. The last few years have witnessed the emergence of a range of controversies around food contamination in India right from very large companies such as Nestle in the case of lead in Maggi to smaller venders using acidic substances to ‘clean’ vegetables. More recently, India’s famous inground spice brand MDH came under the attack when some of its products were banned in other countries.

While regulatory rules and measures to check adulteration of food items is in place in India, the enforcement remains lackadaisical as a result of which lives of crores of Indians are put in danger.