Tested, but not OK: Indian food exports hit quality wall. Here’s how to regain the lost flavour

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A villager processes dried fish in West Bengal, on December 26, 2018.

Synopsis
From mixing dill seeds in jeera to the presence of high traces of insecticides in basmati and unauthorised colour in turmeric, Indian food products are increasingly facing rejection in major export markets on various grounds. To revive the demand for its agricultural products in lucrative markets, the country must take immediate steps to check adulteration and misbranding.

Indian agri-and-processed food products are fast losing flavour in the exports market. From basmati rice to spices to marine products, consignments from the country are increasingly flunking quality tests in several lucrative export destinations. For instance, as recently as a fortnight ago, quality concerns were flagged in Greece after a consignment of sesame seeds from India was found to have presence of salmonella. The US alone rejected