The most common complaints with Indian oilseeds are aflatoxin in peanuts, Salmonella and ethylene oxide in sesame, and pesticide residues above the importing country's limits. Physical problems follow: moisture and mould, insects, foreign matter, wrong count or purity, rancidity and short weight.
Most can be prevented with a clear spec, a capable processor, independent testing and supervised loading. Knowing which problems are common for your seed tells you where to focus those checks.
Safety complaints
- Aflatoxin in peanuts: the biggest single issue for groundnut. See why Indian peanut shipments are rejected in the EU.
- Salmonella in sesame: a recurring cause of rejections, especially for hulled sesame used in ready-to-eat food.
- Ethylene oxide residues: found in Indian sesame by the EU from 2020, leading to recalls and stricter checks. See why Indian sesame was under extra EU checks.
- Pesticide residues above the MRLs of the importing country.
- Toxic weed seeds in mustard, such as argemone.
Physical and handling complaints
- Moisture above spec, causing mould, caking or heating in transit.
- Live insects or insect damage, often from long storage before processing.
- Foreign matter: stones, shells, stalks, dust, plastic or string from bags.
- Wrong count in peanuts, or mixed sizes within a stated count.
- Low purity, unhulled seeds or discoloured seeds in hulled sesame.
- Rancid or stale taste and high free fatty acids from old or badly stored seed.
- Low oil content in castor or mustard bought on an oil basis.
- Short weight, torn bags and poor stacking.
Why they happen
Many problems start before the processor. Rain at harvest, poor drying on the farm and damp storage raise aflatoxin and mould risk. Mixed seed from many farmers makes residues and purity less consistent.
Others start in the plant. Under-capacity sortex lines, skipped sterilisation steps and poor hygiene after hulling all show up as complaints. Some come from loading: wet containers, loading in rain or damp pallets.
Some complaints are really spec gaps. If the contract never stated a count tolerance or a Salmonella sample size, the supplier can argue the lot complied. Write it down before the first order.
A first lot can be excellent and later lots worse. The pattern is covered in why quality drops after the first container.
How to reduce the risk
- Write a spec with measurable limits for every item above.
- Audit the processing plant, not just the office.
- Test pre-shipment samples at an independent NABL-accredited lab, not only the supplier's lab.
- Require no ETO treatment in writing, and test for it.
- Supervise loading and photograph the container, lining and seal.
- Keep sealed counter-samples to support any claim.
How we help
We test every pre-shipment sample at an NABL-accredited lab and share the original reports, then supervise loading. If something still goes wrong, we help you assemble the evidence and pursue the claim with the supplier. Ask for a free sourcing review.