FSSAI Orders Everest to Recall Cumin Powder After Two Lab Tests Confirm Pesticide Residues, Suspends Bakery Chain's License

Since FSSAI flagged a Nestle dairy whitener sample from a Delhi hotel as unsafe on October 3, the regulator has moved to another household name. On Sunday, October 4, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India ordered Everest Food Products Pvt Ltd to recall a batch of its pre-packed cumin powder after confirming pesticide residues above legal limits, according to FSSAI's own social media statement cited by the Press Trust of India and carried by The Economic Times, Rediff Money, and The Federal.

The Statesman identified the specific batch: E080668761. The regulatory sample was pulled from the premises of Riverside Resorts & Holiday Homes Pvt Ltd in Goa, not from a retail shelf.

FSSAI's Food Analyst found two pesticides, Azoxystrobin and Thiamethoxam, at levels exceeding the prescribed maximum limits. Under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the analyst declared the sample "UNSAFE."

Everest was given a chance to appeal. The company did, and the sample went to a Referral Food Laboratory for a second opinion. The referral lab upheld the original finding, confirming both pesticides exceeded the legal thresholds, according to FSSAI.

Times of India's headline framing, "Unsafe after 2 tests," captures something the other outlets mention only in passing: this wasn't a single lab's call. Everest had an opportunity to contest the first result and lost on the second test too. This is due process working as designed, not a regulator jumping the gun on one technician's reading.

FSSAI has now ordered the entire implicated batch pulled from the market immediately. Everest must keep complete records of the recalled product, submit status reports on a set timeline, and file a corrective action plan explaining how it will prevent a repeat, per the regulator's statement.

A Second Company Lost Its License the Same Day

FSSAI didn't stop at cumin powder. The same Sunday post suspended the license of Creative Bakers and Confectioners Pvt Ltd, effective immediately, over what the regulator called severe hygiene deficiencies.

Hindustan Times provided detail the other outlets skipped entirely: Creative Bakers operates the retail chain The Sugarr & Spice across multiple outlets in Eastern India. FSSAI inspectors reportedly found dirt, grease, dust, cobwebs, and flies in food production and handling areas. Perishable raw materials were being stored openly. Containers used for raw and semi-finished product were rusted and inadequately cleaned.

Inspectors also documented significant pest infestation, according to Hindustan Times, including ineffective fly control, no proper rodent control, and windows or openings without insect-proof mesh. These findings can put people in a hospital bed with food poisoning.

The Fair Question: Is This Regulatory Overreach?

A skeptic could reasonably ask whether FSSAI is now running a public-relations campaign, naming big brands on social media before due process fully plays out, to look tough. Everest is a household spice brand in millions of Indian kitchens, and a recall order dents its reputation even before any court or tribunal weighs in on penalties.

That concern deserves a fair hearing. But the record here doesn't support it. Everest got a formal appeal opportunity and a second independent lab test, exactly the safeguard critics of hasty enforcement usually demand. Both tests landed on the same unsafe finding. This isn't a regulator skipping steps, it's one that followed its own process and still arrived at a recall.

FSSAI has told multiple outlets, including The Federal and Rediff Money, that it has escalated enforcement actions against food operators and e-commerce platforms over the past several months and is publicizing those actions on social media to inform the public. Hindustan Times reports the same ramp-up over roughly the last six months. That's a regulator doing the job it's funded to do: keeping pesticide-laced spice and filth-ridden bakeries off the market, by name, in public, where consumers can see it.

No criminal charges have been filed against Everest or Creative Bakers in connection with these findings. These are regulatory recall and license-suspension orders, not indictments, and FSSAI's own notices make clear both companies retain the right to submit corrective action plans and compliance reports. What remains unresolved is whether Everest faces any further penalty once it completes the recall, and whether Creative Bakers can get its license reinstated once it fixes the pest and sanitation problems FSSAI documented.