Compounded asafoetida from 2 major spice brands faces ban as FSSAI finds serious quality problems

India’s food safety watchdog has cracked down on two of the nation's most famous spice giants. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued immediate bans on several staple kitchen products. Millions of households across the country use these brands daily to flavour their meals. The regulator has ordered an outright halt to the sale of compounding asafoetida, locally known as hing, manufactured by Everest Food Products and Laljee Godhoo.

Watchdog spots severe quality failures in Everest samples

Safety inspectors found glaring issues with Everest’s hing variants. The official food analyst reported that samples of the brand's hing powder were found to be "Misbranded and Sub-standard". Detailed laboratory tests on Yellow Hing Powder and Black Hing Powder revealed that they fell well below national safety benchmarks.

The core issue lies in the soluble extracts. Under Indian regulations, hing must contain at least 5% of alcohol-soluble extract. Shockingly, some Everest articles returned a score of 0.00%. Other variants managed only 3.29% and 4.4%. This was not a minor, one-off error. Routine market surveillance confirmed a consistent and ongoing pattern of sub-standard products across various locations.

It gets worse for the company. The FSSAI noted that previous compliance reviews had already flagged issues with Everest’s Chicken Masala, Garam Masala and Egg Curry Powder. These packages failed to declare high salt content exceeding 5% or list spice contents clearly on the label.

Excess starch and adulteration triggers Laljee Godhoo ban

Everest is not alone in the regulator's crosshairs. Laljee Godhoo and Company has also been hit with an immediate ban after its products were found to be "sub-standard and adulterated".

The regulator tested six raw hing varieties, labelled A to F, used to manufacture their final products. Every single variety failed because of "excess starch". Under the law, starch content in hing must never exceed 1% of its total weight. The watchdog's findings indicate that this contamination was "pervasive across batches" of the brand's finished hing.

In response to these findings, the regulator has prohibited the sale of "Compounded Asafoetida" with all its variants by Everest and "Compounded Asafoetida / Compounded Hing" by Laljee Godhoo with immediate effect.

Both firms must now submit detailed action plans to fix their manufacturing processes and clean up their supply chains. The watchdog warned that Everest must stop its "continued malpractice of selling substandard Compounded Hing/Asafoetida". If the spice giants fail to comply or provide satisfactory answers, they will face further legal action