I just read one journal called Spice India published for the month of July 2006 by the Spices Board of the Indian Ministry of Commerce & Industry and the news and statements mentioned there are quite disturbing.
For an example, on page 35, the journal stated that, quote:
“The study conducted on samples collected from farmers, traders and exporters revealed that extraneous matter, moreover macro contaminants, are more in trader’s samples than in farmer’s samples. The reason for this may be various. One reason is the mixing of low graded spices with premium quality by some traders at middle level. Moreover they do not dry spices properly, as it leads to lose in weight, which in turn make loose money. Another factor is that some traders spread the spices on the floor carelessly without proper covering, which will allow the entry of reptiles such as lizard, cockroach, spiders, rodents and may contaminate the spices with excreta which will enhance the microbial load also. The extraneous matter like human hairs, mud, stones, dirt etc may enter in to the spices due to unhygienic and unscientific practices.”On page 36, the journal further added that, quote:
“The filth content in spices/spice products is a major objectionable criterion for USFDA. The occurrence of filth contaminants is due to the processing of insect infested/rodent attacked material without proper cleaning. After the analysis for physical contaminants the product is analyzed for the identification of filth contamination. The filth contaminants can be classified as heavy filth and light filth.
Heavy filth includes ‘any objectionable miscellaneous heavy matter such as sand and soil, ferrous/non-ferrous material fragments, glass parts or any other objectionable matter contributed by insanitary conditions. It is separated by sedimentation based on density difference in liquids like CHCl3, CCl4 etc between food particle and heavy filth. Association of official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) describes detailed procedures in the manual of ‘Official methods of Analysis’ Light filth means ‘any objectionable matter contributed by animal contamination or product such as rodent, insect or bird matter or any other objectionable matter contributed by insanitary conditions. Contamination by insects and rodents can be determined to be pre-processing or postprocessing. The liability in many cases can be determined. Light filth can be detected by flotation technique. The light filth in oil- aqueous solvent mixture can be separated and filtered and dried and examined through microscope at 30X magnification."
Interesting, isn’t it?
I was told that most of those expensive Indian spices that we have in the market today are those that have been certified clean and hygienic. But let us ponder on this for a while. Who wants to import expensive Indian spices from India when they can easily import incredibly cheap Indian spices that was concocted or manufactured by unscrupulous spice makers, traders and exporters who did not give a damn about hygiene and cleanliness into Malaysia?
Yeah, this whole thing is definitely yucky yuck yuck!
In a sense, PPIM (Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia) has indirectly highlighted this matter in their posting published on the 27th of August 2007. They raised a very disturbing scenario all right. They claimed that 95% of food served by Muslim food operators is not Halal! Their conclusion was based upon a survey that they have conducted recently over in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya with more than 200 respondents. Some Malaysian Muslims dismissed their finding as ridiculous but we must not take it for granted. There is a valid cause for concern there and we should not take it lightly.
The magic question now is; would the greedy Pharaohs at the top take a serious look at this matter? I would not be surprised if they decide to sweep this under their big carpet and play down the issue for the sake of saving their business interests and connections. :-(
I wonder what those folks over at MalaysiaKini and Malaysia Today would say about this matter. Hmm…
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4 comments:
while i am not a muslim i do find the results most revealing and also shameful on the restaurant operators who will do such a thing for the sake of a few bucks.
nevertheless, i would like to ask, if a muslim were to eat a food in good conscience that it is halal and were to found later on in life that it isnt halal, is he or she guilty of sinning? i mean, in this case, the restaurant declares itself to be 'mamak' using indian spices, i bet some of the restaurant operators would not have guessed that the spices are not halal as well!
This story has been denied by the Perstuan Kedai Makan Mamak. So it is not true. However you must remember that some Malay customs like marrying first cousins is offensive to most societies because it is like marrying your own brother or sister. Besides the number of birth defects in children of such couples also increase. But you don't hear the non-Muslim in Malaysia speak of this because they don't want to offend Muslims.
Crap notice.
I got freshly ground Indian spices
and no grain of it was filthy.
Dont tarnish the image image of Indian Spices. They are a boon to gourmets.
Hello there TechieGeek,
Good for you! I'm happy to hear that your Indian spices are 100% clean. :-)
My common sense however told me that nothing in this world can be 100% clean and hygienic especially when it involves human intervention.
Can you guarantee that every single ounce of those Indian spices is 100% clean?
You can't give me such guarantee, can you? :-)
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