Over the past six months, more than 500 cases of contaminated sesame seeds have been reported in Europe, including certified organic ones.

News of the contamination initially broke out in Belgium, where Indian sesame containing excessive amounts of ethylene oxide was found in September 2020. Ethylene oxide is a pesticide used to kill Salmonella bacteria. The European Union classifies the substance as carcinogenic and has banned it since 1991. Other countries, including India, still allow its use. The country supplies almost half of the European Union’s imported sesame. As a result, contaminated batches of the product have been discovered across Europe. Given the widespread use of sesame seeds in the food industry, a variety of goods have been affected, from biscuits and crackers to cereals, condiments and bagels.

Organic products have not been spared, with at least two Indian exporters involved. This is particularly worrying since organics are often associated with higher safety standards and the absence of chemical residues. So, what went wrong?

Paolo Carnemolla, secretary of the Italian Federation for organic agriculture, thinks the scandal is the result of two failures in the organic supply chain. First, in India, where the authorities in charge of certification failed to implement the necessary checks. This allowed the application of ethylene oxide to containers carrying organically-grown sesame. Second, in Denmark and Holland, where the imported sesame entered Europe. Here the authorities did not go beyond simply checking the paperwork that stated the product was organic. Standard pesticide screenings are unable to detect ethylene oxide, and testing specifically for the presence of the substance is expensive.

This new food scare, then, has been due to the length and complexity of the commodity chain linking farmers and consumers. In Carnemolla’s view, unless retailers find a way of carrying out checks along the entire supply chain, guaranteeing the safety of bulk foods grown in distant countries will remain difficult.

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