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Banned abroad, sold in India (and the other way round): additives and foods compared

By Blacklisted editorial team· Updated [object Ob

In short

Lists of 'foods banned abroad but sold in India' are usually half right. India banned potassium bromate in 2016 while the US still allows it; the EU banned titanium dioxide in 2022 while India and the US still allow it; the US dropped brominated vegetable oil in 2024 and India never listed it. This guide gives the status on each side with dates, and marks what we could not confirm.

How to read a "banned abroad" claim

Food additive law works on positive lists. An additive is legal in a country only if it appears on that country's list, for the named foods, at the stated level. So "banned in the EU" often means "never added to the EU list", and "allowed in India" means "on India's Appendix A for some foods". The comparison only makes sense additive by additive, and the answer changes over time. Here is the state of play on the seven items readers ask about most, as of 20 September 2026.

Potassium bromate is a flour treatment agent that strengthens dough. In May 2016 the Centre for Science and Environment reported that 84 per cent of 38 packaged bread samples from Delhi contained potassium bromate or potassium iodate. Bread makers stopped using bromate from 27 May 2016, and on 21 June 2016 FSSAI's chief executive confirmed a notification removing it from the permitted list. It has been prohibited in India since. Potassium iodate was referred to a scientific panel at the time (status:, being verified

The European Union has not permitted it for decades; the International Agency for Research on Cancer classed it as possibly carcinogenic (Group 2B) in 1999. The United States still permits it under federal rules, though California has legislated a state ban taking effect in 2027 (being verified) So this one runs the other way from the usual headline: banned in India, still legal in America.

Titanium dioxide is a white pigment used on sweets, chewing gum, sauces and some supplements. Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/63 of 14 January 2022 removed it from the EU's permitted additives, in force from 7 February 2022 with a transition period for products already on the market (being verified) The trigger was a European Food Safety Authority opinion that genotoxicity could not be ruled out.

In India, INS 171 remains on Appendix A of the Food Products Standards and Food Additives Regulations: for example, up to 100 ppm in powdered soft drink concentrates and fruit beverage mixes, and up to 10,000 ppm in another category in the same table (being verified) Some Indian blogs say it is not permitted here; the regulation says otherwise. The United States permits it up to 1 per cent by weight. A pack that lists "INS 171" in India is legal.

Ethylene oxide: not permitted in India; residues found by Hong Kong and Singapore

Ethylene oxide is a gas used to sterilise spices against microbes. It is classed by IARC as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). It is not a permitted additive or treatment in India, and India's contaminants regulations set no residue limit for it, so its presence in a domestic sample would be a non-compliance rather than a matter of degree (being verified)

On 5 April 2024 Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety flagged three MDH products (Madras Curry Powder, Sambhar Masala, Curry Powder Mixed Masala) and Everest Fish Curry Masala for ethylene oxide, and on 18 April 2024 the Singapore Food Agency ordered a recall of Everest Fish Curry Masala. FSSAI commissioned testing on 22 April 2024. By 21 May 2024 it reported that 28 of 34 lab reports on MDH and Everest samples from their Indian plants had been cleared with no ethylene oxide, and that more than 300 samples of other brands showed none. The products were recalled in Hong Kong and Singapore. They were not recalled or banned in India.

Brominated vegetable oil: dropped by the US in 2024, never on India's list

Brominated vegetable oil kept citrus flavour from separating in some soft drinks. The US Food and Drug Administration published a final rule revoking its authorisation on 3 July 2024, effective 2 August 2024, with a compliance date of 2 August 2025, after studies with the National Institutes of Health. The FDA noted it was already not permitted in the European Union, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

In India, brominated vegetable oil does not appear on the 2011 Appendix A list of permitted additives that we checked, which means it is not permitted (being verified) So the "banned abroad, sold here" framing is wrong for BVO: neither side allows it now.

Azodicarbonamide is a dough conditioner and flour bleaching agent, better known as a foaming agent for plastics. It is not on India's positive list and has never been cleared for food here. The EU does not permit it either. The United States permits it in flour up to 45 ppm (being verified) Indian bread should not contain it, and an imported bakery product is held to the Indian list.

Ractopamine is a feed additive that makes pigs and cattle leaner. The European Union bans it, citing insufficient safety data, and China prohibits it and has rejected imports containing residues. The United States has approved it, and Canada accepts the US findings and permits it in pork, cattle and turkeys.

India's position is harder to state. The Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations list veterinary drugs that may not be used at any stage of meat, milk, poultry, egg and aquaculture production, including clenbuterol, chloramphenicol, nitrofurans and steroids, and set tolerance limits for others. Ractopamine appears in neither list in the version we read (version IX, 3 February 2026). With no approval and no tolerance limit on record, it has no lawful basis for use here, but we found no order that names it. Status:, being verified

Chinese garlic: banned by India, sold freely elsewhere

This is the reverse case. India prohibited imports of garlic from China in 2014 on plant-quarantine grounds, citing fungal infestation and pesticide concerns; the exact instrument is being verified. China's garlic is sold lawfully in the US, the EU and most of Asia. The Indian ban protects Indian crops, not Indian stomachs: no Indian regulator has published a finding that Chinese garlic is unsafe to eat. It still arrives through Nepal and Bangladesh. In October 2024 The Federal reported smuggled Chinese garlic selling at Rs 50 to 60 a kilo in Karnataka against Rs 250 for Indian garlic, and seizures in Udupi. If you see it in a market, it is illegal stock, not a poisoned product.

The pattern

Put side by side, the seven cases split three ways. Banned in India, legal in the US: potassium bromate, Chinese garlic. Legal in India, banned in the EU: titanium dioxide. Not permitted on either side, whatever the headline says: ethylene oxide, brominated vegetable oil, azodicarbonamide, and probably ractopamine. Before sharing a list, check which of the three a product falls into, and the date.

Sources

Researched and written by The Blacklisted team
We are not doctors or pharmacists. Everything on this page comes from the documents listed above, which you can open and check. Last checked [object Ob. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.