Mangaluru, 13 September 2026: A transparent and independent scientific study should be conducted into the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) action against tableware made from arecanut leaf sheaths, said Agrileaf founder Avinash Rao and scientist Dr. Gopal Marathe.
Speaking at a press conference, they said the FDA had placed arecanut leaf tableware under Import Alert 23-15 on May 8, 2025, following reports that four naturally occurring alkaloids - arecoline, arecaidine, guvacoline and guvasine - could migrate into food when such products are used.
According to them, the FDA action has adversely affected thousands of small and micro manufacturing units involved in producing arecanut leaf plates and other tableware.
Dr. Marathe, a professor and former head of the Department of Biochemistry, said a scientific assessment was undertaken under his guidance in collaboration with researchers and experts from institutions including the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, MAHE Life Sciences, Manipal, and Glimetomics, Bengaluru.
As part of the study, samples of Agrileaf products were tested for the presence of the alkaloids referred to in the FDA-related studies. The levels detected in the tested samples were lower than those reported in the study cited by the US FDA, they said.
They further claimed that, based on the testing methods followed during the assessment, no harmful substances were detected in the arecanut leaf products tested.
Avinash Rao said the company was committed to working with the Government of India, researchers, industry associations and international scientific organisations to present credible scientific evidence before the US FDA and other regulatory authorities.
The speakers called for a transparent scientific evaluation of arecanut leaf tableware, saying that regulatory decisions should be assessed against product-specific evidence and reliable testing.
Keywords: arecanut leaf plates, US FDA import alert, arecanut leaf tableware, Avinash Rao Agrileaf, Dr Gopal Marathe, arecanut industry Karnataka