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The Spices Board - which has five quality evaluation labs - has issued guidelines to exporters to check for use of ethylene oxide.

"India has been a spice exporter for centuries. But this image has been declining in the last few years, with the government's inadequate attention. We do not yet know at which stage the contamination is happening. Ethylene oxide is not used by farmers. It is most probably a post-harvest, post-processing residue," says Narasimha Reddy Donthi, an independent researcher and environmental justice activist.

Last month, Singapore and Hong Kong halted sales of some spices produced by Indian companies MDH and Everest over suspected elevated levels of ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing pesticide.

Earlier this month, Hong Kong suspended sales of three spice mixes made by MDH and another by Everest over alleged high levels of ethylene oxide.

Singapore has also recalled the Everest mix for fish curries, saying the alleged high levels of ethylene oxide posed a cancer risk.