High levels of Profenofos and Methyl Parathion were found in many samples of dry ginger and cardamom in Kerala, India.
A team from the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) headed by Thomas Biju Mathew, Professor and Associate Director at KAU, sampled vegetables, fruits, spices and condiments from vegetable shops, super and hyper markets and vegetable fairs and organic shops from Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta and Thrissur.
While 30 sample of 13 types of spices and masalas were found to be safe, 25 samples of 12 items were found unsafe.
Not only did they have a higher than permissible residue of pesticides and insecticides, the team found that many of the samples had two pesticides that were banned by the Kerala government in 2011: Profenofos and Methyl Parathion, also called cotton poison.
