Suryaa National Desk: Surya National Desk (New Delhi): To further strengthen the quality and safety standards of India's most widely consumed tea, India's Food Safety and Standards... Surya National Desk (New Delhi): The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has taken a major step to further strengthen the quality and safety standards of India's most widely consumed tea. The Central Gazette has released the amended draft regulations revising the maximum residue limits (MRLs) of two major pesticides, acetamiprid and imidacloprid, used in tea crop. FSSAI proposed to fix the limit of acetamiprid at 20 milligrams per kilogram (20 ppm) and imidacloprid at 50 milligrams per kilogram (50 ppm) in tea powder as per the proposed regulations.
The FSSAI said that these new limits have been decided after thorough consideration of scientific analyses, international regulatory practices and the needs of the Indian agriculture sector. Officials have clarified that India's proposed limit of 20 ppm for acetamiprid is much stricter and safer than that of Japan (30 ppm) and the US (50 ppm). Apart from providing quality food products to the consumers, we are regularly reviewing the pesticide residue regulations in accordance with international standards. The average pesticide use in India is less than 0.5 kilograms per hectare, significantly lower than the global average of 2.38 kilograms, the report said.
Tea industry sources hope that these newly proposed restrictions will provide clear guidelines to tea farmers, processors, testing laboratories and business community. Experts are of the opinion that through these measures, consumer confidence in the quality of Indian tea will increase not only domestically but also in international markets.