Why the Same Spice Lot Passes in One Country and Fails in Another

Because each border is hunting for something different. In my count of official records from January 2021 to September 2026, Indian spices failed the EU mostly on pesticide residues, the US mostly on Salmonella and filth, and Australia almost entirely on Salmonella. A lot can be clean on one of those questions and fail the other, so one "export quality" test report rarely covers both.

I'm not here to tell you Indian spices are unsafe. India is the default origin for most of them, and its grading systems are real. My point is narrower, and more useful - the test panel has to follow the destination, and the failures change by spice as well as by border. The food import testing guide sets out the method for any food, so this post sticks to spices, one at a time.

1. Why Do the EU and the US Fail Different Things?

They're asking different questions. The EU hunts residues, and its limits for many farm chemicals in spices sit at 0.01 or 0.05 mg/kg, which is tiny. Of all 1,765 EU notifications on Indian food over the period, pesticides came up 584 times (RASFF, our count).

The US polices hygiene and facilities instead. Salmonella, "filthy" and "manufactured under insanitary conditions" dominate its refusals, and it often acts on the firm through import alerts rather than on a fresh sample. Australia tests its listed risk foods against its own food code, and for Indian spices that has meant Salmonella nearly every time.

One caution before the detail. These sources count different things - RASFF counts notifications, the FDA counts refused entry lines (one shipment can create several) and Australia counts failing test records. So compare which hazard leads, and never add the numbers up.

2. Which Spices Fail Where?

Cumin fails the EU. It was 151 of the 453 Indian spice notifications, and its hazards read like a pesticide shopping list - chlorpyrifos 72, thiamethoxam 68, clothianidin 66, acetamiprid 62, tricyclazole 50. It also picked up 17 notifications for pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are plant toxins from weeds harvested along with the crop (RASFF, our count). In the US, cumin had only 58 refused lines.

Black pepper fails the US. It had 316 refused lines, with filth on 283 and Salmonella on 262. Black pepper from India has also sat under a country-wide US import alert, 28-02, since 1987, and that's why the US asks for the export inspection certificate the alert describes (FDA import alerts, India (opens in a new tab)). Grades and buying are on the black pepper page.

Chilli fails Australia. Salmonella drove 77 of the 88 Indian spice failures there, and chilli powders were most of them. If you want the detail, Kashmiri chilli counts included, it's in Indian food failures at the Australian border.

Mixes fail on more than one count. In the EU, ethylene oxide led for curry powders and mixes, 40 of 65 notifications. In the US, mixes and seasonings had 285 refused lines, Salmonella on 111 and unsafe colour on 57.

Fennel fails the US on colour. It had 63 refused lines, 41 for unsafe colour and 38 for colour labelling. In my data synthetic colour in fennel and mixes is a US problem far more than an EU one.

3. What Changed Over Time?

In 2021 the EU story was ethylene oxide, the sterilising gas, which turned up in 30 of 69 Indian spice notifications that year. By 2025 it was in 5 of 82. Over the same years farm pesticides took over - chlorpyrifos went from 10 notifications in 2021 to 39 in 2024, and thiamethoxam from 2 to 30 (RASFF, our count).

That's a real improvement in processing, and Indian exporters deserve the credit. But it pushed the problem upstream to the farm, where a factory process can't fix it, and a lot that was steam-sterilised perfectly can still carry field residues.

So the EU test you needed in 2021 is not the one you need now.

4. Does a Lab Certificate Protect Me?

Not on its own. In the US, 149 refused Indian spice lines had a private lab analysis on record, and the FDA sampled only 87 lines itself (FDA import refusals, our count). Most refusals rested on import-alert status or the importer's own lab submission. If your supplier sits on Salmonella alert 99-19 then a clean certificate won't release the goods, so check the supplier against the alerts before you order, as FDA import alerts explains.

In the EU, the paperwork fails too. 70 of the 453 spice notifications were certificate or documentation problems, usually an analytical report that didn't match the lot. Boring, yes, but easy to fix - make sure the lot number on the report is the lot number on the bags.

5. What Should Your Test Panel Look Like?

It should follow the destination. Here's how I'd set it up -

If one lot is going to two markets then it needs two panels. That's no failing on the supplier's part, just the cost of selling across borders that ask different questions. Limits change by commodity and date, so confirm the current ones for your exact product with your lab before you ship.

Australian buyers should also read biosecurity for natural goods.

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