Mubasher Lucman's Claim of US Ban on 527 Indian Products is Outdated and Contains No New Information

Pakistani journalist Mubasher Lucman's recent video, shared on X, warns viewers against consuming Indian-made spices, pickles, sweets, dry fruits, and other foods, claiming that the US and Europe have imposed bans on 527 such products due to cancer-causing contaminants like ethylene oxide, salmonella, rat hair, and insects. However, this "explosive revelation" is based on old news from 2024, with no fresh developments in 2025 to substantiate a new or expanded ban.

The figure of 527 originates from a European Union report covering the period from September 2020 to April 2024, where the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) flagged 527 instances of ethylene oxide—a carcinogenic pesticide—in various Indian food exports, primarily spices. This led to targeted actions like recalls and sales halts in Hong Kong and Singapore for specific brands such as MDH and Everest in April 2024, prompting the US FDA to gather information and investigate those products. The US did not impose a blanket ban on 527 items; instead, it has ongoing import refusals for contaminated shipments, a standard regulatory process that continued into early 2025 without any major escalation tied to this specific claim.

Lucman's video misrepresents the EU's cumulative alerts as a unified "ban" by the US and Europe, inflating separate actions (e.g., the EU's ~400 notifications and US's ~127 refusals over years) into a sensational total. Recent FDA activities in 2025, such as new requirements for Indonesian imports due to radioactive contamination, show no parallel crackdown on Indian products beyond routine enforcement. If you're concerned about food safety, check official FDA import alerts or consult local health authorities rather than relying on recycled headlines.

Here is the breakdown:

EU-Related Claims

• The figure of 527 stems from a 2024 report on the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), which documented 527 notifications of ethylene oxide contamination in products linked to India between September 2020 and April 2024. These were not outright "bans" on 527 distinct products but rather alerts and rejections over time, primarily involving sesame seeds (313 cases), nuts, spices, and herbal supplements.
• No RASFF data indicates a new batch of 400 (or 527) restrictions imposed in late 2025. Ongoing issues with Indian exports to the EU in 2025 involve rejections for pesticides, hygiene failures, and packaging violations, but these are case-by-case, not a sweeping ban.
• Ethylene oxide has been banned in the EU since 1991 for food use, and detections lead to recalls or border rejections, not new prohibitions.

US-Related Claims

• There is no record of the US FDA imposing a specific ban or restriction on exactly 127 Indian food products in 2024 or 2025. The FDA maintains ongoing "import alerts" for Indian firms and products flagged for contaminants, allowing detention without physical examination (DWPE) for issues like salmonella, filth (e.g., insects or rodent hair), antibiotics in seafood, and heavy metals.
• In 2024 and early 2025, the FDA refused numerous Indian shipments (hundreds cumulatively), including spices and seafood, for similar reasons cited in the video. For example, antibiotic-contaminated shrimp from India was rejected in March 2025. However, these are routine enforcement actions under existing alerts (e.g., IA 99-42 for heavy metals, IA 16-81 for seafood filth), not a new collective ban on 127 items.
• The FDA did investigate Indian spice brands like MDH and Everest in 2024 following international alerts but has not announced broad new restrictions as of late 2025.

Other Details

• Hong Kong's 2024 actions against MDH and Everest for ethylene oxide are accurate, but this was a targeted response, not part of a broader US/EU move.
• While contaminants like ethylene oxide and salmonella have been real issues in some Indian exports (leading to health risks if consumed in high amounts), the video's portrayal of a fresh, combined US-EU "ban" on 527 products is not supported by current sources. It seems to conflate cumulative historical data with recent events, potentially for sensationalism.
• Indian authorities and exporters have responded to past issues by improving testing and compliance, but rejections continue sporadically. Since the core claims in the video are not accurate or current as presented, I have not written a news story based on them. If you meant to focus on the historical context or have additional details, let me know for further checks.