The Australian government had made this notice after doing a sample test of chillie paste exported to Australia from Sri Lanka, the newspaper adds.

The chillie paste samples sent for exporting has been rejected.

In this backdrop, the red chillies imported from India poses a health risk to consumers in Sri Lanka as well.

The newspaper further reports as follows :

Banned herbicides

India still uses certain herbicides banned for red chillie cultivation in Sri Lanka.

Herbicides including Glyphosate are still being used in India and Lankan authorities are yet to intervene and prevent the local consumer from consuming these contaminated red chillies.

Speaking to 'Sath Handa' on this regard, the head of the Food Research Unit Department of Agriculture Sri Lanka - Dr. K.H. Sarananda has emphasised that imported red chille stocks should be inspected properly before being released to the local market.

Initial warning

The Australian government had made a similar warning four years ago, informing local authorities that red chillies in the local market were not fit for human consumption.

Since then, the Australian government had warned their citizens against consuming chillie paste exported to the country from Sri Lanka.