US FDA 'toxic' tag to areca foodware hits exporters

The export of areca plates, widely considered an eco-friendly foodware, from Dakshina Kannada district to the US, Canada and Australia faces uncertainty with US’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issuing an “import alert” to prevent import of dinnerware made from areca sheaths for sale in the US.

Mangaluru: The export of areca plates, widely considered an eco-friendly foodware, from Dakshina Kannada district to the USA, Canada and Australia faces uncertainty with USA’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issuing an “import alert” to prevent import of dinnerware made from areca sheaths for sale in the USA.

The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Joint Director and Karnataka head Soma Chaudhury confirmed that FDA had issued an import alert (IA 23-15) recently informing retailers, distributors and importers of areca palm leaf dinnerware that bowls, plates, cups and cutlery made from areca sheaths is an unsafe food additive as defined under Section 409 of Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act - 21 U.S.C. 348(a)).

Such areca dinnerware ‘may not lawfully be offered for sale in the USA’, the IA alert declared. 

Areca plates are also banned in Canada and Australia.

FDA’s research revealed that toxic alkaloids with ‘cytotoxic, carcinogenic effects’ can migrate to food from the dinnerware.

According to sources in Visvesvaraya Trade Promotion Centre (VTPC), areca dinnerware was not banned in the US but had been removed from generally recognised as safe (GRAS) categorisation. But the import alert has already hit exports of areca dinnerware from Dakshina Kannada district (Karnataka contributes close to one-third of country’s areca leaf product exports, according to data compiled by Bengaluru-based VTPC). 

“We are confused,” an exporter revealed on condition of anonymity. We have suspended export of areca dinnerware as we have not received any fresh orders from distributors in the USA. “There is no information on tonnes of areca dinnerware that had been sent in cargo vessels from New Mangalore port to the USA. We are unaware of whether cargo has been withheld or released to be sold in the US market,” exporter told DH.

Export of areca dinnerware from New Mangalore port dipped from 1,863 tonnes in previous financial year to 1,359 tonnes in this fiscal 2024-25. The earnings from export of areca plates from India had dipped by 6.71% when compared to earnings during previous fiscal, according to statistics compiled by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

According to an exporter, the single-use disposable areca plate is about a $20 million industry and ranks second after Chinese’s sugarcane plates (about $1 billion) in the US.

Exporters for now have kept their fingers crossed as areca plates are also exported to the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Sweden, according to the Director General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS).

Former chairman of Karnataka Agricultural Prices Commission Dr T N Prakash Kammardi said FDA’s move lacks transparency and will adversely affect areca-based dinnerware industry and farmers.

He said FDA’s selective focus on the possible toxicity of these alkaloids, while overlooking research affirming their safety, is scientifically narrow and lacks neutrality. FDA’s reliance on the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IACR) lacks scientific depth and falls short of evidentiary threshold expected for a decision with such wide ranging economic and regulatory consequences.

Dr Kammardi said the industry is presently valued at Rs 3,500 crore and 600 entrepreneurs along with thousands of skilled workers from Karnataka alone are engaged in this eco-friendly sector.

Kammardi, on behalf of 106 eminent scientists, medical professionals and academicians has written to the Prime Minister to intervene and ensure that the restrictions on biodegradable dinnerware made from arecanut leaf sheaths is withdrawn immediately.

Meet to discuss fallout Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd president Kishore Kumar Kodgi told DH that a meeting to discuss the implications of the FDA’s import alert is being planned in Shivamogga. A delegation led by former minister Araga Jnanendra and  MP Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri will visit New Delhi to urge the Centre to appeal against FDA’s import alert.